Mark this day my friends, because in certain circles the DuckTales Remastered reveal will be considered to be the greatest video game news that has been announced in the last two decades.
For those of you not alive during the reign of the almighty Nintendo Entertainment System, DuckTales is fondly remembered by almost everyone who played it, and is often held up as the shining example of one of the greatest licensed video games ever made. The original NES game (which counted Keiji Inafune as one of its developers) was released in 1989 in the U.S. and became extremely popular thanks to its solid gameplay mechanics and tie in with Disney’s DuckTales animated series.
DuckTales Remastered follows same plot line as the original, and has players take on the role of Scrooge McDuck as he explores differently themed levels to collect their treasures and become the world’s richest duck.
WayForward has taken the levels and layout from the original 1989 release and used them as a foundation to expand upon for DuckTales Remastered. The game is said to use “about 70%” of the original content, but now features beautiful high-definition hand-drawn and animated sprites and re-envisioned level backgrounds. Additionally, the game uses authentic Disney character voices, including some from the cartoon series, and contains the classic melodies of the original soundtrack, with a “modern twist”.
The developers have also included an all new tutorial level (those didn’t even exist back when DuckTales was released) where players can get familiar with the pogo jump and cane swing. On top of that, Scrooge McDuck’s Museum allows players to track all their stats, compare their progress with others using global leaderboards, and take a swim in Scrooge’s giant money vault!
DuckTales Remastered is scheduled to launch digitally on Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network (PS3), and on the Wii U eShop sometime this Summer. Make sure to check out the incredibly awesome debut trailer embedded below, and we will let you know as soon as the game’s release date is nailed down.
[Update] Now with screenshots and some awesome box art!