One of the biggest surprise announcements this year has definitely been DuckTales: Remastered, a HD remake of the NES & Game Boy title from 1990. Promising hand-drawn 2D characters against a 3D backdrop, most of the original voice cast (including the 93 year old Alan Young as Scrooge, who returned from retirement for this) and new elements, DuckTales: Remastered is everything a fan could want.

The visuals are spectacular. WayForward Technologies has managed to capture the look of the cartoon that inspired the game, with some wonderful animated flourishes. In the demo we played there were a number of cut-scenes that acted as mini-episodes, with plenty of wit and warmth.

There were two levels available to play, one taking place in the Amazonian rain forest and another in a castle. Each level had its own unique visuals, with the Amazonian level providing plenty of lush greens and wildlife, while the castle level offered eerie lighting.

Just as with the original, you play as Scrooge McDuck as he looks after his nephews, while also exploring for treasures. His trusty cane is used to both attack and bounce on like a pogo-stick, which is a must when you come across thorny paths. In order to bounce on it, you must jump up and press another button, so there are times when you can easily make a mistake and hurt yourself, but it is part of the learning curve.

Both of the levels on offer were surprisingly long. Normally, demos are short 5-10 minute affairs, but the levels had a variety of routes to explore and some essential backtracking in order to progress. If the whole game is like this, you can expect for it to take many hours to complete fully.

Fans of the series, or the original game, will be pleased to hear characters such as Lauchpad, Mrs. Bleakly and Magica De Spell all feature in DuckTales: Remastered. The cut-scenes are a showcase for the game's humour, it is just a shame you can't speed them up (i.e. press a button to skip the audio, but read the text at your own speed). You can outright skip them, but then you miss both the story and the jokes.

We only played a small part of the complete game, but it already looks promising. Fans of the series, or the original game, will be in heaven when DuckTales: Remastered is released later in the year. Even if you've not played the original, it will be worth checking this game out for its platforming merits alone. And, of course, there's the theme song.