DuckTales: Remastered

About DuckTales: Remastered

Capcom and Disney Interactive released DuckTales Remastered in August 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and various mobile systems. This title reimagines the 1989 NES classic with full hand-drawn animation and voice acting from the original cartoon cast. You play as Scrooge McDuck leading his nephews on a global quest to recover five legendary treasures before the Beagle Boys or Magica De Spell get there first. The game swaps pixel art for lush, animated backgrounds while keeping the tight platforming mechanics intact. It includes a new tutorial level to teach controls and a museum hub to track your progress against other players.

Gameplay

You control Scrooge with a cane that lets you swing across gaps or bash enemies. A pogo jump mechanic allows you to bounce on foes to reach high platforms. Each of the five levels presents unique environmental hazards and puzzles tied to specific themes like an Incan temple or a Transylvanian mansion. You must find keys, solve riddles involving torn maps, and avoid traps set by ghosts or Terra-Firmians. The gameplay loop involves precise jumping, shooting your money gun to hit switches, and collecting gold coins to unlock achievements. A tutorial stage introduces these moves before you face the full challenges of each world without any multiplayer options available.

What Players Think

Players on IGDB rate this game at 75.6 out of 100 based on 124 ratings. The community mood leans positive toward the visuals and music but remains divided on difficulty spikes in later levels. Average playtime sits around 8 hours for a standard run, though completionists spend much longer hunting for all 20 achievements. Only 27.3% of players unlock every trophy, with the rarest being "Smarter Than The Smarties" at just 1.90%. Critics praise the hand-drawn art and voice work as major upgrades over the original 8-bit source material. Many reviewers note that the game feels more accessible now thanks to the new tutorial section added in this remaster.

PlayPile's Take

This is a solid platformer for anyone who grew up with the NES version or enjoys classic Disney IP. The $13.64 price point makes it an easy buy during sales. While the achievement difficulty might frustrate some, the 20 trophies offer plenty of reason to explore every corner. It succeeds in updating the visuals without losing the charm of the original soundtrack or dialogue. Avoid this if you hate precise jumping puzzles or need modern quality-of-life features like checkpoints that aren't there. The game is worth playing for the nostalgia factor and the sheer quality of its animation.

Storyline

The Beagle Boys attempt another raid on Scrooge's money bin, with Baggy, Burger and Bouncer Beagle capturing Huey, Dewey and Louie. After Scrooge rescues them, he finds Big Time Beagle in his office with a painting in his hands. With the help of Duckworth, Big Time is defeated and retreats. The painting reveals the locations of five treasures, and Scrooge wastes no time to set out for them. Scrooge and Launchpad visit the Amazon to find the Sceptre of the Incan King. Using eight golden coins, they uncover the hidden temple of Manco Capquack, but the sceptre is lost and the temple is destroyed by its guardian statue. The chief of the natives then approaches Scrooge and Launchpad and thanks them for returning their city to them, and gives Scrooge the recovered sceptre in return, which was just the king's back scratcher. Scrooge, the nephews and Webby visit the castle of Drake Von Vladstone, also known as Dracula Duck, who was the heir to the Coin of the Lost Realm. The boys fall into a trap door and are spread throughout the Transylvanian mansion, but Scrooge saves them from the Beagle Boys, disguised as ghosts. Each of the beagle boys were also carrying a torn sheet of paper which contained part of a riddle. They uncover a mirror where Scrooge solves the riddle, and Magica De Spell reveals herself, who is also after the coin. Scrooge and Magica then face off for it, and the sorceress is defeated and retreats empty-handed. Scrooge and the nephews travel to the African Mines to find the Giant Diamond of the Inner Earth, but they find the workers are being scared off by voices and earthquakes, claiming the mine is haunted. Deep underground, Scrooge discovers that the Terra-Firmians and their games are the cause, and after interfering he is attacked by their king. Defeated, the king makes an agreement with Scrooge to stop the games in exchange for the mining operations to continue, as it will rid them of the diamonds they consider to be "garbage rocks". He gives Scrooge the Giant Diamond of the Inner Earth to start with.