Unranked: Duck Tales II

Duck Tales II
Nintendo Entertainment System
Capcom
1993

I had not played Duck Tales II until the Disney Afternoon Collection came out a few years ago. I only had the vaguest idea it even existed. The game came out in June 1993 and seems to have had a short shelf run. The game is generally not that bad, but certainly not as good as the original Duck Tales, which is one of the best video games ever made.

One major issue with this game is how samey a lot of the levels in the game are to the first Duck Tales game. This is a bit surprising, looking back, given how different many sequels were to the originals on the NES, This game did come out so late though in the NES’ cycle. Look at how many series by then, whether on the NES or Super Nintendo had “returned to form” already by then, like Zelda, Castlevania, and others.

This game does try out some new ideas for the series: Rafts come over from Super Ghouls and Ghosts. There is the seemingly prerequisite stage where there is a rainstorm. Rope climbs in this game work very similarly to how ladder climbing works in the Mega Man series. All of this is very cool.

One of the things that makes Duck Tales such an incredible game is the smooth play control. In Duck Tales II, play control is just “off” enough that it is bothersome. Jumps can be very heavy, ala its late 92/early 93 contemporary Mega Man V.

It is also odd how every character in the game refers to Scrooge McDuck as “Uncle Scrooge.” Shouldn’t the kids be the only ones who do that? It is very jarring when it happens.

Another disappointment about this game is the good, but not really great, soundtrack. The first Duck Tales game has one of the best soundtracks of the era. The moon theme has become a timeless, iconic, track. This games soundtrack, like its levels, are very samey to Duck Tales.