DuckTales was a firm cartoon favourite of mine back in the late eighties and the DuckTales NES game was one of the most played games of my youth. Back then I could appreciate what the game had; non-linear levels, bosses with attack patterns to memorize and that several secret passages could be hidden everywhere. Scrooge McDuck’s treasure hunt prepared me for what games were going to become in the future.

Everything has been given a massive tune up in DuckTales Remastered; the 8-bit sprites have been transformed into hand-drawn characters with 3D backgrounds and the instantly recognizable soundtrack has been given a jazzy makeover and will sit in your head for days, with the option to relive the classic 8-bit themes after completion. One of the most evident additions is the voice acting for all the characters from the original voice artists (those who are still alive) including Alan Young, who at the age of 93 can still perform as an excellent Scrooge McDuck.

You have five levels to take on: African Mines, Transylvania, the Amazon, the Himalayas and the Moon. They can be taken on in any order and offer their fair amount of challenges and pitfalls to overcome before reaching a boss fight, complete with new attack patterns so even those who have the element of nostalgia will find themselves at a loss.

Due to the lack of save function in the 1990 NES original, the levels have been expanded with added secret areas, puzzles and extended gameplay. For instance, in the Moon level a remote was simply needed to summon GizmoDuck to blast down a wall to progress. In DuckTales Remastered you need to retrieve three pieces of GizmoDuck’s suit before returning it to alter ego Fenton Crackshell for him to transform and follow you to the offending blockade. Even without the nostalgia factor, DuckTales Remastered is still fun to play. There are no long combo attacks to remember as your cane is your tool to pogo on enemies, over obstacles and swinging objects forward and upward.

The original was a simple treasure hunt, and Remastered follows a similar trend, but added cutscenes give further meaning to events and explaining certain situations, like how Scrooge is able to breathe on the Moon. It’s down to oxygen enriched taffy, obviously. But it can get a bit much at times as they can crop up halfway through a level and mention something trivial, when all you want to do is move forward. Scrooge’s nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie act like disobedient little so-and-sos several times during the game and need to be told off, again and again, which disrupts the gameplay.

Replay value can be found by returning to levels to find more treasure, which is found in abundance in every level, most of the time literally appearing out of thin air. It’s with these jewels that you can purchase concept art, character sheets and eventually the music to each level.  In order to unlock everything, you will require several trips to find enough gemstones.

Taken from an era 'gameplay' meant 'to be challenged' and didn’t need any frills to stand out from the masses, DuckTales was widely regarded as one of the greatest games the NES had. Whilst it may appear too simple by today’s standards, there is no denying DuckTales has been more than just remade. It has been remastered.