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[rhino4evr]

I've almost beaten the game a few times now, but the final stage is really a bitch. I'm at the point where I feel that I know the stage and the boss well enough to get to the end with all my lives, but I'm still not really confident I'll beat it because of the stupid rope jumping in the escape at the end.

Playing the final stage over and over has also led me to a very unfortunate conclusion: Ducktales Remastered is not a very well designed remake. It might be full of heart, but in their earnest passion to pay "true" homage to the original, I feel that they have also missed a large part of the point in the original game's design. Ducktales can be challenging at times, but it was ultimately a game about open discovery and secrets. The stages were designed to have many optional areas for completionists to explore, and secret areas which reward players for finding them.

There's still some of that in the remake, but Wayforward's insistence on making the majority of optional areas into actual parts of the progression have mostly ruined that feeling. This artificial extension of the stages also makes the pacing feel more bloated at times, and makes replays more frustrating because players cannot customize how they feel like playing the game depending on their mood (Do I want to explore everything and get tons of money today? Or do I want to try for a speed run and head straight for the bosses avoiding all the powerups and cash?) and are instead forced to play everything, each and every time.

The problems with the stage pacing and the artificial difficulty getting in the way of the fun is best highlighted in the final stage which is a Wayforward original. It is devoid of anything which makes Ducktales the fun and joyful game it is to play, and instead capitalizes on all the more frustrating parts of the game instead to make a "hardcore" experience. There is no exploration, there aren't many secrets, there is no balance of easier segments which are fun to play and shows off new enemies along with harder segments which require more effort. Every area requires "effort", and is designed in an in-your-face-look-how-hardcore-this-is way. Spiked floors, pitfalls, killer rocks, minecarts, etc.

The stage itself is extremely linear, but still long, the boss battle is relatively challenging the first time you fight it, with several new patterns to learn, and after the boss fight there is a short climbing race, which would qualify as a fun post-battle wind down epilogue like the original - not too challenging, but something a bit different and plays on the humor of the source material. Instead, here too Wayforward has to ruin the pace and tone of the original by adding yet another area after this. An actual escape as the deadly lava rises. Every mistake here means certain death, and unless you have a large stock of lives left, it could mean redoing the entire stage all over again entirely, just because you slipped on a rope. And there are many, many ropes to slip from.

I have nothing against hard games, and I actually love fair and fun challenges designed to make players learn things about a game and get better at it. But by the end of the game here, I feel the point has entirely been lost. It's not longer about designing a series of challenges which are fun to overcome and feel satisfying when you figure it out. Instead it's about seeing how many times they can punch the player in the balls. The last thing most players want to see after winning the final boss fight and feeling great, is some extra instant death platforming and rope jumping which could result in nullifying their accomplishments before this. Truly a case of how less is sometimes more.

Did you ever play NES? Metroid? Plenty of people on this board have completed the game. I don't know how you could say this isn't faithful to the original game. Personally I like that's they fleshed out the levels. If they hadn't the game would be even shorter then it is now

 

[eerik]

Is there a changelog available somewhere? Steam has downloaded already three updates, I think, and all of them over 100 megabytes.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

I definitely agree with Duckroll's post. The level is hard for the sake of being hard, and the linearity clashes hard with the main five levels.

I have the feeling that the section after beating

Spoiler

Count Dracula Duck

was added just to pad out the game time. There's no way someone could beat that section on their first try, and it's very likely that they would have lost all of their lives and had to start the level over.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I've almost beaten the game a few times now, but the final stage is really a bitch. I'm at the point where I feel that I know the stage and the boss well enough to get to the end with all my lives, but I'm still not really confident I'll beat it because of the stupid rope jumping in the escape at the end.

Playing the final stage over and over has also led me to a very unfortunate conclusion: Ducktales Remastered is not a very well designed remake. It might be full of heart, but in their earnest passion to pay "true" homage to the original, I feel that they have also missed a large part of the point in the original game's design. Ducktales can be challenging at times, but it was ultimately a game about open discovery and secrets. The stages were designed to have many optional areas for completionists to explore, and secret areas which reward players for finding them.

There's still some of that in the remake, but Wayforward's insistence on making the majority of optional areas into actual parts of the progression have mostly ruined that feeling. This artificial extension of the stages also makes the pacing feel more bloated at times, and makes replays more frustrating because players cannot customize how they feel like playing the game depending on their mood (Do I want to explore everything and get tons of money today? Or do I want to try for a speed run and head straight for the bosses avoiding all the powerups and cash?) and are instead forced to play everything, each and every time.

The problems with the stage pacing and the artificial difficulty getting in the way of the fun is best highlighted in the final stage which is a Wayforward original. It is devoid of anything which makes Ducktales the fun and joyful game it is to play, and instead capitalizes on all the more frustrating parts of the game instead to make a "hardcore" experience. There is no exploration, there aren't many secrets, there is no balance of easier segments which are fun to play and shows off new enemies along with harder segments which require more effort. Every area requires "effort", and is designed in an in-your-face-look-how-hardcore-this-is way. Spiked floors, pitfalls, killer rocks, minecarts, etc.

The stage itself is extremely linear, but still long, the boss battle is relatively challenging the first time you fight it, with several new patterns to learn, and after the boss fight there is a short climbing race, which would qualify as a fun post-battle wind down epilogue like the original - not too challenging, but something a bit different and plays on the humor of the source material. Instead, here too Wayforward has to ruin the pace and tone of the original by adding yet another area after this. An actual escape as the deadly lava rises. Every mistake here means certain death, and unless you have a large stock of lives left, it could mean redoing the entire stage all over again entirely, just because you slipped on a rope. And there are many, many ropes to slip from.

I have nothing against hard games, and I actually love fair and fun challenges designed to make players learn things about a game and get better at it. But by the end of the game here, I feel the point has entirely been lost. It's not longer about designing a series of challenges which are fun to overcome and feel satisfying when you figure it out. Instead it's about seeing how many times they can punch the player in the balls. The last thing most players want to see after winning the final boss fight and feeling great, is some extra instant death platforming and rope jumping which could result in nullifying their accomplishments before this. Truly a case of how less is sometimes more.

On the last part where you have to jump from chain to chain(the part where there's 3 or 4 hanging chains with the rising lava), I find it's much quicker and easier to just pogo from the ledge all the way onto the farthest chain hanging on the right. Navigating from chain to chain just takes up too much time and leaves too much room for error. Hope this helps.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Aww yiss got all trophies. Too bad it's such a bronzefest .

Expert was quite easy after I did Himalayas first. Also good thing the very last playable section in the game has a checkpoint.

 

[quest]

Finally got a chance to play it last night and I like it a lot. Going to take a lot of practice to get back my 2d platforming skills again. IMO this is a remaster done right for the most part. I did love the original when I was a kid. I am not to far into the game since I suck right now so not much to complain about except how much my skills have declined in this type of game.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Did you ever play NES? Metroid? Plenty of people on this board have completed the game. I don't know how you could say this isn't faithful to the original game. Personally I like that's they fleshed out the levels. If they hadn't the game would be even shorter then it is now

I think you should read his post again.

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

Just picked this up on Wii U, in part because of Gamepad play in bed, but also because.. well, I want to play this on a Nintendo console like when I was a kid. I'm completely in love with it. I love the updated artwork and the remixed music, and every cutscene is nostalgia overload. The only thing missing is an unlockable original NES version.

 

[phileep]

There's no way someone could beat that section on their first try, and it's very likely that they would have lost all of their lives and had to start the level over.

I made it to that section with one life left and cleared it on my first try. I must have been lucky. I didn't think it was so bad until I saw a bunch of people writing about it.

That said, I'm not trying to say I'm amazing at this game or anything. I got plenty of Game Overs elsewhere, including the first time I fought the final boss.

 

[dallow_bg]

GameStop still hasn't gotten the box in.

 

[duckroll]

I made it to that section with one life left and cleared it on my first try. I must have been lucky. I didn't think it was so bad until I saw a bunch of people writing about it.

That said, I'm not trying to say I'm amazing at this game or anything. I got plenty of Game Overs elsewhere, including the first time I fought the final boss.

I don't think the section is actually hard, it's just prone to error because of the way the controls work when you're jumping from rope to rope. The design issue here being that error = death at any portion of this sequence. There isn't much to "learn" in terms of clearing it, instead its just a case of hoping that you don't make some minor mistake or that the game doesn't fail to register you grabbing the next rope after you jump. I think that's what makes the sequence frustrating, because when you fail, it's often something you cannot learn from, it just feels like an unlucky moment which results in death.

There's a segment before the boss in the final stage which also feels like that, to a lesser degree. The part where you have to bounce off the rolling boulders to get to the rope at the end. At any point during this segment, if your pogo stops working for whatever reason and you fall on the spikes, it's likely that a boulder will hit you resulting in instant death (even if you're in a damage animation loop). Considering how the pogo seems to stop working randomly sometimes, that can result in some pretty shitty moments if it happens there.

 

[phileep]

Considering how the pogo seems to stop working randomly sometimes, that can result in some pretty shitty moments if it happens there.

I haven't had any issues with the ropes yet, surprisingly. I guess I've had good luck with them so far too. The pogo on the other hand, I don't even know how they shipped the game with the way it currently works. Have you also had problems where even easy pogo doesn't work?

The day it released I asked the director through Twitter about the pogo. He said he noticed zero issues with it and played tons of the Wii U version (which is what I played). I questioned him a little more about it and was never followed up with an answer. I had asked to see if it was intentional that they switched the way hard pogo works from the original game (NES you can hit down + b in either order and it works. Has to be down first then B in this one). But that's also on top of it just not working sometimes, like even on easy pogo.

It just kind of amazes me they shipped a game where the main function is broken. Can you imagine a Contra game where sometimes you just don't shoot? I think that's the biggest issue with the game. Stuff like the amount of padding added to it and amount of cutscenes, that's all down to one's opinion whether or not they're negatives. A broken core mechanic though is a crime.

 

[Andrew.]

GameStop still hasn't gotten the box in.

Thats because it doesnt come into stores until the 20th.

-----

Finished it last night. I had a fucking blast. I went into the last section anticipating some frustration but it was surprisingly much easier than I expected. Some of you made it seem like some DKC Returns shit.

For that chain sequence, just make sure you climb to the very top of each chain and then hold diagonal downl/forward and you'll land on each one. It's what I did. Only died once there and on the race to

Spoiler

The Lucky Dime

.

Seemed to me as if the bosses got easier as you went on. The Amazon boss was definitely the hardest for me, but the Mine boss was a complete pushover and even the final boss wasn't that bad either.

 

[Ardenyal]

ame where the main function is broken. Can you imagine a Contra game where sometimes you just don't shoot? I think that's the biggest issue with the game. Stuff like the amount of padding added to it and amount of cutscenes, that's all down to one's opinion whether or not they're negatives. A broken core mechanic though is a crime.

Agreed. Game is close to unplayable for me. Especially in the sections where you need to cancel the pogo midair so you don't hit spikes in the ceiling... good luck with that when the pogo only works 3 times out of 4.

 

[Guevara]

Downloaded this game last night on PSN. Played through the intro level and the moon stage. I played the shit out of this game as a kid and to me it plays exactly the same as it used to. I'm kind of surprised by all the control complaints.

 

[halfbeast]

finished it on easy. ugh, the last level killed my nostalgia buzz. I hate those auto-scrolling levels (in mario too) and when the controls fail as well, it's just not fun anymore. :/

overall, I guess, it was a good game - if there's a possibility to fix the controls I'm trying all the other difficulties, if not well, no biggie.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Downloaded this game last night on PSN. Played through the intro level and the moon stage. I played the shit out of this game as a kid and to me it plays exactly the same as it used to. I'm kind of surprised by all the control complaints.

Same. I have no idea what to make of it. It's obviously not limited to just a few people. I sat down with the game and just fudged around with the controls for an hour to find out what people are talking about, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. The controls worked the way they're supposed to on my end. I thought it might be other versions of the game, but I've seen other WiiU owners complaining about the issue as well. No clue, no clue.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Oh by the way. Guys.

In case you were not aware, recently Fantagraphics has begun doing hardcover reprintings of Carl Barks' original Uncle Scrooge comic books. For those not aware, these things do not stay in print long and when they do go out of print, they usually shoot up in price. Currently, there's 4 volumes out there that you can buy for about 20 bucks each on Amazon. They're about 240 pages each and have been meticulously remastered to make them as pin-point accurate to the original comics as possible. Strongly, strongly recommended for any of you DuckTales fans. Or for any fans of great comics.

 

[Lijik]

Is the NES version of Ducktales 2 differnt from the GB one, too? Because I only have the GB one, if it is different I might buy the NES version of DT2 and the GB version of DT1 to complete my "collection" of Ducktales games ^^.

Yeah, it does the same remix level designs as well as adding in a few new mechanics. Theres chests that give Scrooge additional help in finding the other chests (like one a stage that lets you know how many other chests are left) that wasnt in the original NES version.

 

[Sanjuro]

Just beat the game.

Shocked some of you find this difficult to be honest. I played through it on hard difficulty without a hitch. Maybe I just remembered more about the original, even not having played it for well over a decade.

The piano moon theme is really nice. Absolutely loved everything about this remake...unlike Turtles in Time! Fuckers.

 

[Javier]

Is this a known issue? Every time I try viewing the leaderboards for total cash earned, the game crashes (Wii U version).

 

[SandMan2233]

Bought the game last night... Started it up today. Got through the Amazon stage just now. I said "Wow!" Loving this so far. The sprites look soooo good and the gameplay is solid, as expected.

(I am using the normal pogo though, so I can't really comment on any of the hard pogo issues mentioned in this thread.)

I'm really digging the presentation too. The cutscenes are properly funny, and it's swell that Wayforward and Capcom got the original cast to reprise their speaking roles. Plus, the music is phenomenal and stays true to the original whilst giving it a modern makeover.

Very, very happy with this purchase. Good on Capcom/Wayforward for this nostalgia-bender of a video game.

 

[Santar]

Are the two secret treasures from the NES original not in this one? I beat the game just now and did not come across any.
Apart from that I loved it, it was just a joy to play trough, loved the visuals, the music, and the voices was amazing i thought. Alan Young did an amazing job.

 

[Lee Chaolan]

I'm certainly taking my sweet time with this. Just beat the Mines. Onto the Himalayas.

 

[dallow_bg]

Thats because it doesnt come into stores until the 20th

Oh, they lied to me twice then.

 

[DeVeAn]

So can I carry over my completed stuff over to new difficulty?

 

[chun li's thighs]

Are the two secret treasures from the NES original not in this one? I beat the game just now and did not come across any.
Apart from that I loved it, it was just a joy to play trough, loved the visuals, the music, and the voices was amazing i thought. Alan Young did an amazing job.

They there but only in medium and hard mode. They are not in the same place as before though.

 

[Letep]

I'm torn on which system to get this for.

Wii U or PS3.

Opinions?

 

[Lee Chaolan]

I'm torn on which system to get this for.

Wii U or PS3.

Opinions?

If you're going to use Hard Pogo to play it like the NES version, then get Wii U version. D-Pad is definitely better for that. If you like Trophies, then you got your PS3 version.

I had credit enough for the PS3 version, but I wanted to get it on Wii U as the original was NES and I'm quite happy with the Wii U version.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Same. I have no idea what to make of it. It's obviously not limited to just a few people. I sat down with the game and just fudged around with the controls for an hour to find out what people are talking about, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. The controls worked the way they're supposed to on my end. I thought it might be other versions of the game, but I've seen other WiiU owners complaining about the issue as well. No clue, no clue.

I have the PS3 version, and the issue I'm having with pogo is that sometimes I'll press the button and Scrooge just won't do the pogo. I'm using easy pogo, too.

 

[Xav]

I'm torn on which system to get this for.

Wii U or PS3.

Opinions?

Wii U has Off-TV Play support and you can have the GamePad act as a map screen which is more convenient than pressing start to access it. If like me your ideal way of playing 2D platformers is via a D-Pad then Wii U is again the one to get since no one does D-Pads better than Nintendo. The PlayStation 3 version has trophy support so I guess for some people that will lead into more replay value.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I laughed.

 

[Cuburt]

There's a segment before the boss in the final stage which also feels like that, to a lesser degree. The part where you have to bounce off the rolling boulders to get to the rope at the end. At any point during this segment, if your pogo stops working for whatever reason and you fall on the spikes, it's likely that a boulder will hit you resulting in instant death (even if you're in a damage animation loop). Considering how the pogo seems to stop working randomly sometimes, that can result in some pretty shitty moments if it happens there.

You mean the part where it looks like you have to pogo on the boulder but you can just pogo across the spikes like in the rest of the game?

 

[Nairume]

Anybody else have the game freeze up after finishing the Mine level? It's happened to me twice now.

 

[Andrew.]

Anybody else have the game freeze up after finishing the Mine level? It's happened to me twice now.

Yup. My only freeze my entire playthrough. Froze on the save screen. PS3 totally locked up. Did a hard reset, started the game up, and it picked up right at the score screen after I hit continue. The trophy popped too. I was shocked.

 

[JoeFenix]

I almost didn't pick this game up because a good friend of mine was saying the controls were broken for the pogo stick. Dude is a kickass gamer and I trust his opinion but I was still curious enough to pull the trigger this morning since I had no work to do today.

At first I was doing OK in the Bank level, but when I got to the underground part in the Amazon level I started getting mad at the controls. I was playing on Hard with Hard pogo and the game just kept dropping inputs, pogo just wouldn't come out sometimes. So I decided to mess around with the mechanics for a couple minutes and realized that if you hold down first and then press square it will work every single time.

Love the game so much, ended up doing a marathon and just beat it on Expert. Last part was nerve wracking but other than that it wasn't too bad. I just had a feeling that Wayforward wouldn't put out a game that was broken mechanically. Such a fun game, music is amazing, cool boss fights and other than the cutscenes getting in the way I had no complaints. Atleast you can skip them super fast.

It's a shame to see this getting some really low scores, it's obviously a high quality title. Haven't read the thread yet but what seems to be the general consensus on the game here?

 

[Lordwindowlicker]

Anybody else have the game freeze up after finishing the Mine level? It's happened to me twice now.

I had it freeze while going from the unlocking artwork screen back to the main room. I had to do a hard-reset of my Wii U.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

if you hold down first and then press square it will work every single time.

This is true, but why would they change it? Even then, sometimes it does not work.

 

[Eterniti]

I almost didn't pick this game up because a good friend of mine was saying the controls were broken for the pogo stick. Dude is a kickass gamer and I trust his opinion but I was still curious enough to pull the trigger this morning since I had no work to do today.

At first I was doing OK in the Bank level, but when I got to the underground part in the Amazon level I started getting mad at the controls. I was playing on Hard with Hard pogo and the game just kept dropping inputs, pogo just wouldn't come out sometimes. So I decided to mess around with the mechanics for a couple minutes and realized that if you hold down first and then press square it will work every single time.

Love the game so much, ended up doing a marathon and just beat it on Expert. Last part was nerve wracking but other than that it wasn't too bad. I just had a feeling that Wayforward wouldn't put out a game that was broken mechanically. Such a fun game, music is amazing, cool boss fights and other than the cutscenes getting in the way I had no complaints. Atleast you can skip them super fast.

It's a shame to see this getting some really low scores, it's obviously a really high quality title. Haven't read the thread yet but what seems to be the general consensus on the game here?

From what little I've read so far, it seems like there's something weird with the pogo not coming out sometimes. I've had this problem too during my playthrough, and this is even with Hard Pogo set to Off. I don't recall if the NES version was like this, but it's increasingly frustrating when you're trying to make some critical jumps.

Also, the game has cutscenes that, for me, seem to break the action unnecessarily throughout some levels. An option to have turned these off completely or to not play back after replaying the areas would've been nice... but when you're getting 8 coins in the Amazon and you gotta go through each cutscenes every single time. Though I guess you can skip them

 

[Mzo]

Are the two secret treasures from the NES original not in this one? I beat the game just now and did not come across any.
Apart from that I loved it, it was just a joy to play trough, loved the visuals, the music, and the voices was amazing i thought. Alan Young did an amazing job.

They've been replaced by extra heart containers on Easy and Normal.

They're there on Hard and Expert.

 

[georgetheplushie]

The PC version was patched to fix Hard Pogo. Holding B followed by a down input now produces a pogo. They're probably going to kick that out to consoles, but it's probably locked behind certification for now.

 

[Lijik]

The PC version was patched to fix Hard Pogo. Holding B followed by a down input now produces a pogo. They're probably going to kick that out to consoles, but it's probably locked behind certification for now.

Thank god. Maybe I can do the boulder portion in the amazon without having to take a hit. Cant seem to do it even with hard pogo off.

 

[Mzo]

I noticed they patched out the omg what the hell is this =[

Played it through on Extreme today and beat it with no deaths. I didn't have a single issue with the pogo the entire run. I thought it was because I switched to a PS3 controller and my evo monitor but I guess they patched it to be like the NES game.

Whatever did it if you're still screwing up on the PC game it's all on you at this point.

 

[MegalonJJ]

They're aware of the lock-up issues re leaderboards on Wii U version, at least according to Capcom Unity. Also, for anyone having lock-ups/issues, definitely post it over there, as they're no doubt compiling a list of things to fix asap.

Played it earlier today...dem memories

 

[Ein Bear]

This just came out on the eShop today in the UK, so I bought it after work. I never played the original NES game, but was a huge fan of the cartoon.

This game is absolutely incredible. Even without the experience of the NES game, it feels so damn good to be playing a classic platformer like this again. The spritework is beautiful too, the game honestly feels like I'm playing an episode from the cartoon. For what it's worth, I'd say the Wii U is definitely the way to go - it's dead handy having the map displayed on the GamePad, and you get that superior D-Pad.

The complaints about difficulty don't really make much sense. There's an easy mode which has infinite lives and generous checkpoints, I went through the game on that for my first playthrough and had a blast.

Loving the classic voices too, Alan Young totally still has it. 'Look at that lustre!!'

 

[ZSaberLink]

The PC version was patched to fix Hard Pogo. Holding B followed by a down input now produces a pogo. They're probably going to kick that out to consoles, but it's probably locked behind certification for now.

Awesome to hear. I thought it was odd that it only worked in one direction.

 

[BassForever]

Just beat the WiiU version on normal, fantastic game had a blast the whole way though. Never had an issue with the hard pogo and while the added wayforward levels are easy to spot I didn't mind them because the mechanics work well enough to keep the game enjoyable the whole way though. The boss fights really stood out as fun and challenging.

 

[WatTsu]

So, I've been playing this on PS3. I think it's great, I think the negative reviews are pretty off-base.

That said, I'm not using Hard Pogo either. I like the way they have it set by default. Is there a reason to use it other than to be faithful to the NES game? Because I think the default works better.

 

[Zonic]

Weird, went to GameStop to make sure they were getting the "retail" version after hearing some stories of people saying it wasn't in their systems & they said they were getting it, but there was no reservation slots, so I couldn't pre-order. Oh well, guess I'll have to check on launch or the day after.

 

[Dark Schala]

Weird, went to GameStop to make sure they were getting the "retail" version after hearing some stories of people saying it wasn't in their systems & they said they were getting it, but there was no reservation slots, so I couldn't pre-order. Oh well, guess I'll have to check on launch or the day after.

That's strange. I was able to order it with EB Games here in0store...

You can always order it from their site if you feel that the S&H is worth it.