DuckTales
1989 · Platform · NES
Overview
DuckTales is a 1989 platform game developed and published by Capcom and based on the Disney animated TV series of the same name. It was first released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989 and was later ported to the Game Boy in 1990. The story involves Scrooge McDuck traveling around the globe collecting treasure and outwitting his rival Flintheart Glomgold to become the world's richest duck.
Deep Dive
DuckTales is a 1989 platform game developed and published by Capcom and based on the Disney animated TV series of the same name. It was first released in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989 and was later ported to the Game Boy in 1990. The story involves Scrooge McDuck traveling around the globe collecting treasure and outwitting his rival Flintheart Glomgold to become the world's richest duck.
Developer Story
DuckTales was developed by Capcom in 1989, designed by Tokuro Fujiwara. Despite being a Disney licensed game, Capcom was given significant creative freedom and created one of the NES's best platform games. The pogo stick mechanic — using Scrooge's cane to bounce on enemies and objects — was novel. The five non-linear levels and the Moon theme music made it iconic.
Did You Know?
- DuckTales' Moon theme, composed by Hiroshige Tonomura, became one of the most beloved pieces of video game music — it has been covered thousands of times.
- The pogo stick mechanic — bouncing on enemies with a cane — was a completely original traversal and attack system.
- The five worlds could be completed in any order — a non-linear structure that rewarded different strategies on different playthroughs.
- Capcom was given unusual creative freedom by Disney, resulting in a better game than most licensed titles of the era.
- A remastered version, DuckTales: Remastered, was released in 2013 and featured voice acting from the original cartoon cast.
