Before there was Wario trying to get rich, Nintendo had a duck after loot that wasn't his.  Duck Tales, featuring Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck's uncle, the crabby, miserly, wealthiest duck in the world! He is on a treasure hunt, colleting rare, highly valuable objects in several geographical locations. You will play as Scrooge, who must infiltrate a Transylvanian spooky mansion, a deep african mine, and lost ruins of the amazon.  The good news is this globe trotting duck has a really great game!

You maybe an old duck, but hes got some spring in his step, literally. He can bounce on his walking cane - and do this repeatedly. Its an important step to learn. Less used, he can also do golf swings with his club. You cannot normally jump on enemies, but a pogo cane will beat them!

Each stage has hidden diamonds, in various size and color, that walking over or jumping will get them to appear (look for a small cloud of smoke then they appear. You can also use the pilot, Launchpad, to take you back to the stage select, and pad your wallet by doing the stage over. But he only does this as long as you have not beat that current level.

Graphics: 7
The bright graphics give a kid-friendly vibe, and the locations are given to different shades of color and overall theme is well detailed on the NES. The ghostly manor actually has ghosts, and a mine cart ride in a few levels is pretty fun. You also have to deal with a boss for each level, and its here the game stumbles a bit, they are often no bigger than the richest duck in the world, and are not impressive.  There is a fair amount of enemy types, some reused for other zones.

Sound: 8
This game had a great soundtrack. The Duck Tales TV show had the same bass theme you hear on the title screen. The Moon stage music is over the moon good. The sound effects suffer a bit, being mostly a squeaky death sound when enemies leave the screen, and the sound of all those coins entering Scrooge's vault. Get used to the sound of diamonds being collected. Duck's gotta eat!

Addictiveness: 9
This is a really, really fun game. I owned this game and probably played it fifty times. It can be short, but its cause time goes fast. The levels are all unique enough they don't feel just tacked on for something else to do. The bosses are again, a weak point, but the sheer greed of our hero works well in this game. Even local wildlife are mere obstacles to Scrooge, who will hop over snow rabbits to get to those diamonds, and so will you!

Story: 7
The TV show had many characters, and a fair number of them are present in this. It is not required to understand the game though. You collect the treasures; helping Donald's pesky nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie a few times along the way, and eventually face off against Scrooge's rival, Glomgold. There can be only one richest duck in the world, make sure its you!

Depth: 8
There is not a lot  to Scrooge's moves, he doesn't learn new things, the same old pogo attacks is used the whole game. The enmies are not particularly clever either. But surprisingly, there is a lot of hidden secrets in this game. From markers that raise your max health, even more hidden diamonds, to super rare items that can only be found on select areas. You can rack up huge piles of cash if you find these things! Explore everywhere! The treasure hoarding does go into what ending you get - while not much of an ending, it is fun to see the different piles of loot at the end of the game.


Difficulty: 3
Duck Tales lends itself to a younger audience, and fortunately, this is not a hard game. Its well made and aside from a few tricky jumps I don't see any one getting stuck with this.


Final Verdict: 8.6
Its level design and controls are super tight, letting players of all ages enjoy it. And thats its biggest success. Don't let Wario get all the treasure, let Scrooge show you the wonders of the world.. and pad his pocketbook and your fun meter.