Retrospective: DuckTales

By John Teti Published 17 July, 2010

Tales of derring-do.

DuckTales, oo-oo!
Tales of derring-do, bad and good luck tales, oo-oo!
D-d-d-danger, watch behind you!
There's a stranger out to find you!
What to do? Just grab onto some DuckTales, oo-oo!

This song has come up on my mental playlist often during the last 20 years - maybe yours, too, if you watched the DuckTales series in the late eighties. I have such a blinding fondness for Scrooge McDuck & Friends that I was well into adulthood before I realised the DuckTales theme doesn't make a terrible lot of sense. "Derring-do"? "Luck tales"? And I don't see how grabbing onto DuckTales - whatever that means - is going to help me with my pressing danger and/or stranger situation.

No matter. When you're dealing with talking ducks, cold rationality heads out for a smoke break. Capcom's DuckTales for the NES was no paragon of logic, either, and it's still a highlight of platformers' golden age. The game's premise (explained only in the instruction booklet, quaintly enough): Uncle Scrooge is in a race with archrival Flintheart Glomgold to capture the world's greatest treasures from five exotic locales. That's a solid concept, but the great race is forgotten almost immediately. You don't even see Glomgold until the closing seconds of the quest.

The real premise is simply that you're an old duck whose cane doubles as a high-powered pogo stick, so hey, let's go bounce on some stuff. Loyal fans of the TV show will recall all the occasions that Scrooge whipped out his pogo cane, such as never. This never happened. Yet this weird, springy non sequitur of locomotion is DuckTales' most distinctive feature, infusing the game with a peppiness that sets it apart from its contemporaries.

'Retrospective: DuckTales' Screenshot 1

The springy cane is a perfect way to access self-levitating treasure chests.

I understand, on an aesthetic level, why the pogo-stick dynamic never caught on, but in terms of kinetic feel, it's a blast. The five stages of DuckTales - The Amazon, Transylvania, African Mines, The Himalayas, and The Moon (!) - are typical early-nineties run-and-jump layouts, but if you're running, you're a chump. You might as well jog laps on a trampoline.

This game is all about catching air. The pogo cane bounces off land, enemies and even sharp spikes, typically the universal game symbol of insta-death. In portions of the Himalayas stage you can't bounce because Scrooge's cane will get stuck in the snow. It's awful. The developers take away their gift to remind you of what you have. "I'll never take it for granted again," you say, and the game's all, "OK, you rapscallion, you've learned your lesson." And you say, "I will now bounce around on the freaking moon."

The genius of the pogo cane is brilliant but obvious. After all, in the run-plus-jump formula, why not put all the emphasis on jump? Running is old hat for us mortals. Even those of us who don't run regularly do a more modest form of running, called walking. It's how we get from the couch to the ice-cream sandwiches in the freezer. But jumping! Game characters are outrageously better than humans at jumping. Scrooge can jump about five times his own height. I can barely jump five times.

All that glorious hopping and careering is the most immediate charm of DuckTales. The more gradual pleasure comes from exploring the game's twisting landscapes. Given the memory constraints of a 1990 NES cart, the five stages on offer are modest little worlds. To a new player, though, they feel vast, because the level designers use a crafty psychological trick: the illusion of choice.

DuckTales' levels aren't laid out in standard left-to-right fashion. They branch out, double back on themselves, use vertical space. Players often come to a juncture where they can choose between two routes - up or left, say. Both directions will continue on for a while, and they might both be valid ways of reaching the boss. You can only choose one at a time, though. There could be anything on the path not taken. And in our brains, that unknown "anything" feels huge, a reality that wasn't lost on the clever folks at Capcom.

Over a couple completions of DuckTales - which doesn't take long, as the game isn't especially challenging - you explore all the side routes and catalogue the vast unknown. You undo the deception that made DuckTales appear much bigger than it was. The upshot is that the world coalesces from a confusing sprawl to something more manageable.

'Retrospective: DuckTales' Screenshot 2

The cane also serves as a golf club in a pinch. Pictured: a pinch.

When we talk about "completionists" in modern games, we're typically talking about obsessives like the Assassin Creed II feather collectors. DuckTales springs from a time when completionism wasn't such a chore. With a bit of work you can memorise all the maps of the game and commit the whole playthrough to muscle memory - in other words, get it in your brain and get it in your hands. That intimate, thorough knowledge of the game is possible because DuckTales is simple, yet it's gratifying because DuckTales seems complex.

I'd be remiss not to mention that the soundtrack, composed by Capcom mainstay Yoshihiro Sakaguchi, is among the NES' best. In particular, the extraordinary theme for the Moon stage somehow creates a grand sense of odyssey from the system's boops and bleeps. Do a search on YouTube and you'll find not only the original, iconic chiptune but also a slew of worthwhile remixes.

Thanks to the briar patch of intellectual-property contract law that surrounds a licensed game like this, you shouldn't expect to see DuckTales on Virtual Console anytime soon. That's the distressing downside of the 8-bit renaissance - the legacy of the medium is being shaped on the basis of commercial expediency, and inevitably, important titles get left behind.

If you want to play DuckTales today and don't own the original cartridge, you'll have to try your luck on the used market or otherwise track down a copy. (Use your imagination!) It's one of those cases where the fan community has to fill in the blanks created by corporate inertia, as this winningly weird platformer deserves to be remembered. What to do? Just grab onto some DuckTales.

Picture of John.

About John Teti

John Teti is a writer and producer based in New York. His interests include games, TV, cake, and being a writer and producer based in New York.

Read more articles from John by visiting the John Teti archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Destria #1 2 years ago

    It's such a shame there's no possible way to play these games without trying to track down a copy of the original cartridge.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #2 2 years ago

    Hopefully this will find its way to Virtual Console. I loved this game when I was a kid - I still listen to the soundtrack sometimes these days. Thanks for mentioning it in this article, I am generally more interested in the music which (for me) does a lot more for atmosphere than graphics.

  • Nemesis #3 2 years ago

    If you've a bit of room in your head tonight, oooOO.

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=CMU2NwaaXEA

  • itamae #4 2 years ago

    Ah yes, I had this for the Gameboy. That version was great, too. Is the sequel any good?

  • Shadman #5 2 years ago

    I remember this game, I used to love it. I didn't realise it was considered a classic worthy of a Retrospective! If only my teenage self hadn't sold my NES...

  • DFawkes #6 2 years ago

    I loved this game. I remember just having a total blank on how to play it the first time, but once you learn the use of that lovely cane it's one of the best 8-bit platformers there is :)

  • dudefella #7 2 years ago

    Hell yeah Ducktales! The Moon theme... sigh. So fantastic. http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=WU9SNOvLW6E

  • figaro7 #8 2 years ago

    A glorious platformer back in the day!

  • OnlyMe #9 2 years ago

    Unfortunately, I was blessed with an Amiga back then, so Ducktales for me meant The Quest For Gold, a collection of mini-games that had the Ducks travel all over the world, trying to earn/find as much money as possible within thirty days, a competition between Scrooge McDuck and his sworn rival. Great game!

  • GooseUK #10 2 years ago

    moon theme

  • Login Industry #11 2 years ago

    Is it not "daring do", as in an act of daring/bravery?

    /another case of misheard lyrics from the time of after school cartoons.

    I remember the Round the World with Willy Fogg one and misheard Willy's foreign euro accent often. As in the titles when he's singing about his partner who was the mascot. I thought he said (in a Spanish or Italian type voice) "he's a mad a' scott" !!!

    I wondered why there was no insane Scottish mascots in it for ages....

    Hear it for yourself : [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=6nqN_7eGItM
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=6nqN_7eGItM
    [/link]
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/10 @ 01:18

  • Rodney #12 2 years ago

    I never played this, but I did have Quackshot which was one of my favourite 16-bit platformers.Still play it now and again.

  • grenade_master #13 2 years ago

    LOL @ Destria! You know about this thing called the Internet?

    I've got all my NES and SEGA favourites in a 200MB folder on my laptop (saves take up most of the space)

  • 8bitMofo #14 2 years ago

    This, and Chip & Dale co-op.

    Great, great times!

  • Stuz359 #15 2 years ago

    Has there ever been a bad game that's featured ducks?

  • Ka-blamo #16 2 years ago

    Ducktales Ooooooooooooo

  • Futaba #17 2 years ago

    "I never played this, but I did have Quackshot which was one of my favourite 16-bit platformers.Still play it now and again. "

    Same here. Was it on SNES and Megadrive? I had it for the megadrive.

  • the_dudefather #18 2 years ago

    Capcom + Disney = awesomeness

    The games might have been on the easy side sometimes, but had a lot of replay value

  • Sylos #19 2 years ago

    If you've not heard the song by Brentalfloss, based on the moon level of this game, listen to it now:
    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=fHEgzRtKC5o
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=fHEgzRtKC5o
    [/link]
    Crazy duck in space.

  • Kami #20 2 years ago

    What has lived on from this, for me personally, was the music. Specifically composed for the game, it was a tour-de-force and as said, The Moon theme has been remixed to within an inch of its life, and every time it sounds right. Not that you can mess with perfection, but remixes - from techno trance to beautiful piano performances - never seem to sound wrong with it.

    The game itself was fun, if somewhat lacking in grace but it was a simpler time and I forgive it for those weaknesses. I still love Duck Tales deeply and lament its disappearance. Kids these days don't know what they're missing out on really. But the music - goddamn, the music of this game. Every time I hear The Moon, or a mix, I am whisked away to my childhood. So beautiful. So utterly perfect. There's never been anything like it for me, and after hearing it again - and all the remixes - I am so happy it's not rose-tinted nostalgia specs.

    Absolutely nothing else can transport me back to simpler times like this does. Bring back Duck Tales! Repeats mind you, I don't ever want to see a modern "reimagining". They shall NOT defile the perfection!

  • Skurmedel #21 2 years ago

    This game is so awesome, I love it and I still remember the title music. Even have a cover of the moon level theme on Spotify. Although my favourite in game level was probably the Amazon one, which I thought was Atlantis back then in my 5 year old head.

    Still have the NES and the cartridge too :)

    If you have Spotify type this in your search bar: spotify:track:7LOyk6JmHNeBWgWNda10FS
    Edited by 6 at 18/07/10 @ 03:54

  • grouch666 #22 2 years ago

    Love quackshot love the game for the master system and I faintly remember one for windows 95 classics!!!!

  • SlapLaB #23 2 years ago

    I never owned a NES and never played DuckTales through...
    But I remember looking forward to every trip to the supermarket, just to play that game on the demo stand...
    Funny, at that time it seemed awfully difficult to me ;-)

  • DaemonSpawn #24 2 years ago

    Thankfully, emulation is still the way to go. PSP has great NES emulator with pretty good upscaler, so it's a perfect platform for playing those older titles from PS One, NES, SNES and Sega's consoles, let alone Neo-Geo. If you don't have PSP, you can find these emulators for practically any device, depending on its calculating power (for instance, NES emulator is ok for Nokia's Symbian, but there's not PS ONe emul), and definitely everything for PC.
    What about ROMs - don't know, where you can find them, but using your imagination can help ok=).

  • FooAtari #25 2 years ago

    Yeah DaemonSpawn think I'll have a go of this on the PSP right now. I have complete rom sets and image for most computers and consoles of the 80's and early 90's on PC and PSP.

  • domoslaf #26 2 years ago

    I never owned an NES, but I played this one on an original Game Boy and loved it to bits. Was it any different from the NES version (except the colours, of course)?

  • paul_haine #27 2 years ago

    Derring-do

    And it isn't 'luck tales', it's 'bad and good luck tales', i.e., tales of bad luck and tales of good luck. All makes perfect sense.

  • davisorle #28 2 years ago

    John thank you for this reminder. I still have all the games I owned with NES and this awesome game. It was indeed from the best games back then when I got it. Its probably also the only game that I played through so so many times.... Variety and original about everything was that gem. You will make me hook up my NES after .. It must be at least 10 years now to be honest. This might be a first thing to do as I am a person that gets so carried away from better graphics ( GPU enthusiast ) that I tend to find it hard to older generations. Eve if thats to just one step back.

    Thnx and I might as well do it and hook it up :) Honestly desearves it.

  • Destria #29 2 years ago

    "LOL @ Destria! You know about this thing called the Internet?

    I've got all my NES and SEGA favourites in a 200MB folder on my laptop (saves take up most of the space) "

    Intriguing.... tell me more of this "internet" of which you speak. And how I can possibly emulate this ability to play NES and SEGA games on a laptop.

  • SleepyDeathFred #30 2 years ago

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=NmpAx8Z5z40

  • photoboy #31 2 years ago

    @itamae

    I had the GameBoy version too, it was pretty much a perfect replica of the NES version.

    Personally I would say Duck Tales 2 is better than the first. It's not hugely different but it does make a few key improvements to the gameplay like an item shop, not needing to hold down to use the pogo while jumping and a hidden level to be found by finding pieces of a treasure map hidden in each stage.

    All in all I think it's slightly better, but I think they're both really fantastic, and I actually finished both just the other week on my AV Famicom using a PowerPak from RetroUSB.com. (I do own the originals as well, but they're buried in the garage).

    Sadly Duck Tales 2 didn't sell very well as it arrived well into the 16-bit era so it was largely ignored. It's a real pity it wasn't successful as I would have loved to see a sequel on the SNES.

    Random bit of trivia, apparently both games were based on the MegaMan engine.
    Edited by 1 at 18/07/10 @ 10:03

  • Stomp224 #32 2 years ago

    I loved playing DuckTales at my friends house when I was younger. But I preffered the MegaDrive Disney games Castle of illusion & Quackshot.

    I still play Quackshot frequently. I loved the music of that game. I just hope someone at Disney is reading so they can negotiate PSN/XBL/VC releases for these classics with Sega/Capcom

  • dr_faulk #33 2 years ago

    I played both the NES and Gameboy versions to death. Nice retrospective.

  • dr_faulk #34 2 years ago

    @8BitMofo

    Chip'n'Dale!!! Yeeeah! I could only play it in US import, as it never got released in lil' old Eire, but man, that was a fun game.

  • Shinetop #35 2 years ago

    I had hoped that this would be about DuckTales: The Quest For Gold which is amazingly still quite entertaining. Alas.

  • Skurmedel #36 2 years ago

    Ahh Chip'N'Dale... I remember hooking it up to a GameShark (basically a big NES cartridge which you put in the NES, then you put your game in the GameShark cartridge), which was basically a commercial cheat trainer. You could unlock all kinds of weird cheats. The best thing about the game was the graphics though, it was kinda like Micro Machines, you ran around in a giant's world, on top of stacked books and jars. And you could co-op if I remember correctly.

    Another fine game was Super Mario Bros. 2, with the very weird giant bird end bosses.

  • Skurmedel #37 2 years ago

    Thought_Criminal: You're absolutely right, it was a GameGenie... very similar names.

    Baldur's Gate 2 had a whole slew of genies ("djinn's";), that was the last I saw of them in a game.

  • sega #38 2 years ago

    "Capcom + Disney = awesomeness"

    Sega + Disney = awesomeness-er

  • LiamK #39 2 years ago

    "It won't be a faithful repeat of the originals for kids to enjoy, but a horrible bunch of remakes, animated via that shitty looking computer animation that all kids cartoons seem to be done with these days, by some horrific sweatshop in Korea.

    Gizmoduck will be a jive-talkin' yoof from da hood with spinning chrome rims, Huey will be gay, Dewey will be in a wheelchair, Louie will be female and Uncle Scrooge will be voiced by Bobby Kotick. "

    Your impression of "cartoons these days" doesn't actually match up with what "cartoons these days" are actually like. Unless you're one of those crazy people who think that the original Transformers cartoon was better than TF: Animated.

  • Mr.DNA #40 2 years ago

    Duck Tales is one of those NES games that almost everyone who had a NES seems to have experience of. Just a wonderful, beautifully-constructed game with superb controls and game mechanics. No-one ever seems to have a bad word to say about that game. And that music- amongst the best ever heard on the NES. The music for "The Moon" stage is tattooed on the inside of my skull.

    I wrote the page for Duck Tales on Giant Bomb a few years ago.

    http://ww w.giantbomb.com/ducktales/61-15...

    It was my first edit on that site, followed by an entry for Snake, Rattle n Roll. Peerless classics.
    Edited by 2 at 18/07/10 @ 13:34

  • grenade_master #41 2 years ago

    @Destria

    http://lmgtfy.com/?q =emulate+nes

  • curtlikesmeat #42 2 years ago

    I don't remember this but as others have said I have fond memories of a Ducktales based game on the Megadrive. This also reminds me of a game with Mickey (mouse) and Donald which was sort of.... weird, kind of had an alternative vibe to it.

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=L6ivVXu6l0w

  • danathjo #43 2 years ago

    @grenade_master post #15
    just wanted to say....well derr!!

  • iamluca #44 2 years ago

    This review took me way back to my childhood! So emotional.

    I don't know if this is the exact same game as it says Ducktales 2 but you can play this and loads more retro games here.
    [link url=http://nint endo8.com/game/2/duck_tales_2/
    ]http://nint endo8.com/game/2/duck_tales_2/
    [/link]

    Beats watching the youtube clips for memories anyway! Ducktales... ooo ooo!

  • Acteon #45 2 years ago

    I never played the NES version, but I covet my gameboy cart. It really is one of the best platformers of its generation.

  • smelly #46 2 years ago

    Crazy Duck in Space!

  • Daryoon #47 2 years ago

    Made more awesome by the multiple endings determined by how much treasure you found (in particular the big, super-secret ones). Getting everything in a single run-through was a challenge because, unlike today, there wasn't an opportunity to replay previous levels.

  • smelly #48 2 years ago

    "It's such a shame there's no possible way to play these games without trying to track down a copy of the original cartridge. "


    Erm... pretty sure duck tales is on virtual console isnt it?

  • iamtheoneneo #49 2 years ago

    i remember this game, i remember i played it loads and it was pretty hard!

  • MaxiSleep #50 2 years ago

    Donald duck beats the mouse any bloody day. Epic Donald please!

  • johnteti #51 2 years ago

    Thanks for the comments, all. I'm glad many of you remember this game, too. Mr. DNA put it nicely: "Duck Tales is one of those NES games that almost everyone who had a NES seems to have experience of."

    A couple of quick replies:

    @OnlyMe: I love that you brought up Quest For Gold, kudos. I played a lot of QFG, too, albeit the somewhat inferior DOS version rather than Amiga. (Jealous!) I had a lot of fun with it. I'm not sure how well it holds up now, though. I remember the platforming sections being somewhat clumsy. Have you played it lately?

    @photoboy: Likewise, thanks for raising DuckTales 2. I couldn't find a good place to mention it into the piece, but it's a great sequel and does indeed improve on the original in many ways. The music is very good in the second one, as well. Dig that pirate-ship tune.

    @Destria: Isn't it, though?

  • Sunyavadin #52 2 years ago

    Aw, I thought this was going to be about the infinitely more awesome Amiga game.

  • alcides #53 2 years ago

    "That's the distressing downside of the 8-bit renaissance - the legacy of the medium is being shaped on the basis of commercial expediency, and inevitably, important titles get left behind."

    Intellectual Property: It's MY imaginary ball and you can't play with it.

  • Gandelin #54 2 years ago

    I played this game for days! on the Sega Master system, all the while listening to Michael Jackson's Dangerous album (they came out around the same time) heheh good times

  • OnlyMe #55 2 years ago

    johnteti: Yeah, I've played it recently. The platforming is clumsy but playable. It depends on how well you focus, really, rush it and you'll never manage to get to the end of the jungle levels.

  • johnteti #56 2 years ago

    @OnlyMe: Ah, yes, that brings back memories of some intense moments at the PC. I was only remembering the mountain levels, not the jungle levels, which I think were my favorite -- tough but fun. I like a game that forces you to focus.

  • Destria #57 2 years ago

    "Erm... pretty sure duck tales is on virtual console isnt it? "

    I don't think it is.

    Also, sarcasm detector!

  • sonicyoda #58 2 years ago

    Now I feel like diving into a pile of gold coins.

  • Kaminari #59 2 years ago

    Ah, the good old times when Capcom was still making games...

  • GAmbrose #60 2 years ago

    @Dr_faulk

    Wasn't it easier to import UK games?

  • captain-future #61 2 years ago

    TV series was great... games were so-so but not too shabby, I guess.

  • kickerconspiracy #62 2 years ago

    Holy recommending piracy type article Batman!

  • Acrid #63 2 years ago

    @Thought_Criminal
    "It's time to bring the genie back. And no, marketing executives, that doesn't mean a gritty reboot where a genie masquerades as a detective solving the mystery of a psychopathic paedophile ring."

    I'd buy this.