DuckTales

Produced by key personnel from the Mega Man series, DuckTales sold over a million copies worldwide on each system, becoming Capcom's best-selling title for both platforms. The game was praised for its controls, unique and open-ended gameplay and bright presentation, and is often regarded as one of the best titles for the NES, appearing on numerous "Best of" lists. Followed by a sequel, DuckTales 2, in 1993. A remastered version of DuckTales developed by WayForward Technologies, featuring high resolution graphics and performances by the then-surviving members of the show's voice cast, named DuckTales: Remastered, was released in 2013 for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U. The original 8-bit version of the game was also included in The Disney Afternoon Collection compilation for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 by Atari in 2026.

• Title — DuckTales • Developer — Capcom • Publisher — Capcom • Producer — Tokuro Fujiwara David Mullich Darlene Waddington • Programmer — Nobuyuki Matsushima • Artist — Keiji Inafune Naoya Tomita Hironori Matsumara Miki Kijima • Composer — Hiroshige Tonomura • Platforms — NES, Game Boy • Released — NESOctober 1989Game Boy • Genre — Platform • Modes — Single-player • Director — Keiji Inafune

• Illustration — Gameplay screenshot of Scrooge in the African Mines level Players control Scrooge McDuck as he travels around the world and in outer space in search of five treasures to further increase his fortune. Scrooge is able to attack enemies and get around using his cane. On the ground, Scrooge can swing his cane to attack enemies and to break open or throw certain objects. While jumping, Scrooge can bounce on his cane similarly to a pogo stick and attack enemies from above. This also allows him to reach higher areas as well as bounce across hazardous areas. Along the way, Scrooge can find various diamonds, hidden inside treasure chests or appearing in certain areas, to increase his fortune and ice cream that can restore his health. Scrooge will also encounter various characters from the series who have a variety of roles, such as providing hints, offering useful items, opening access to new areas, or attempting to stop Scrooge's progress. Hidden in the game is a secret life-restoring cheat, accessed by pressing the select button while standing still, that will refill Scrooge's heart points for $3,000,000. The game features five levels: African Mines, The Amazon, The Himalayas, Transylvania, and the Moon. The player can visit any of the destinations to pursue the treasures in any order. However, The African Mines and Transylvania must be revisited to acquire certain essential items. Two secret treasures are scattered between all five destinations. Each destination's treasure is protected by a boss that Scrooge must defeat to retrieve. When all five main treasures are collected, the player returns to Transylvania for a final boss fight against Dracula Duck. After defeating him, the player must contend with Flintheart Glomgold and Magica DeSpell for the final treasure. Upon completing the game, players can receive one of three endings based on their performance: a regular ending for simply clearing the game, a great ending for clearing the game with at least $10,000,000, and a bad ending for clearing the game with $0. As the player is given $1,000,000 for each level's treasure, the bad ending is only achievable by spending all accumulated money on the life-restore cheat before the player ends the game. In order to do that, the player has to collect exactly $1,000,000 to get a total money of $6,000,000 because one gets a total of $5,000,000 from the bosses. Then, the player has to apply the life-restore cheat two times to end up with $0.

Although Capcom had previously worked with Disney by publishing the Hudson-produced Mickey Mousecapade in North America in 1988, DuckTales became the first licensed game that the company developed, and shared many key personnel with the original Mega Man series including producer Tokuro Fujiwara, character designer Keiji Inafune, and sound programmer Yoshihiro Sakaguchi. Revisions to the game included the removal of crosses from the coffins in the Transylvania stage, replacing them with the letters "RIP", replacing hamburgers as power-ups with ice cream, and the omission of an option for Scrooge to give his money up, an action deemed too "un-Scrooge-like". Scrooge McDuck's shirt sprite was changed from blue to red to make him stand out and pop more against the blue and dark backgrounds. A leaked prototype cartridge from a private collector reveals several differences between the original, unfinished version and the final release, such as different level names, unused music for the Transylvania stage, slower tempo on the music for the Moon stage, unused or altered text, and the character Gizmoduck going by his Japanese name "RoboDuck". Despite the changes, images of the unfinished beta version could be seen in the 1990 books Consumer Guide: Hot Tips for the Coolest Nintendo Games and the NES Game Atlas by Nintendo. DuckTales was later ported to the Game Boy in late 1990. This version features the same gameplay, music and levels of the original console release, though the layout of each level was changed to accommodate the handheld's lower resolution screen.

The game was followed by a sequel, DuckTales 2, in 1993. A remake of the game, titled DuckTales: Remastered, was released in 2013 for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and in 2015 for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Developed by WayForward Technologies, Remastered features updated graphics and music, expanded story content, and full voice-acting for the characters, including the surviving members of the animated series' cast. The original game's levels are included, but expanded with new areas and new boss patterns, along with two new levels exclusive to Remastered.