Ducktales (Commodore 64)

by: Disney

Publication date: 1990

Topics: Commodore 64, Ducktales

This game follows the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his three nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie.

The aim of the game is shown in the introduction. Flintheart Glomgold challenges Scrooge to a competition to see who the richest duck in the world is. They each have 30 days to see who can get the most money together and finally their dispute will be settled.

Scrooge’s office is your headquarters. Here you have three options – you can go exploring for treasure, play the stock market or dive into your money bin, occasionally finding a rare coin which adds to you treasure total. You need to get some money first before you can play the stock market though.

You main source of income comes from the exploration map which hangs on the wall. From here, you can pick a destination, which you can travel to. There are four different scenarios when travelling to various parts of the world. It’s these levels that are the most fun. You can choose to go mountain climbing, jungle bashing, search a cavern, or photograph some rare animals depending on your location. On screen information tells you which scenario it is, how long the trip will take and how much the treasure is worth. There’s also an island in the Indian Ocean you can visit to check on who’s winning between you and Glomgold.

You have to fly to each location and your transport is LaunchPad McQuack! You have to take off at the airport and fly to the destination. There are obstacles along the way though, watch out for powerlines (these are really funny, you run into them and boing! bounce back); hot air balloons dropping refrigerators, anvils, 10 ton weights and pianos; cumulo nimbus clouds shooting lightening and fluffly clouds; whales blowing water out their spouts; tall mountains, rocky outcrops, fireworks, hay barns among other things. Landing on the other side requires a special skill … Launchpads! You have to crash into the airport to land! Crash the plane though and it takes two days of your valuable time limit for Gyro Gearloose to fix it.

Using Huey, Dewey and Louie, each being one of your three lives in the mountain climbing level, you must get from the base of the mountain to the top to get your treasure. Using the boys, you can hop from ledge to ledge, or when the going gets tough, use your grappling hook! This is a lot of fun and requires precision. There are also caves in the side of the mountain, which can transport you up or down the mountain. But watch out for bears in the caves. Other obstacles include falling rocks, the Beagle Boys dropping objects from above, mountain goats, Magica de Spell and more.

The jungle features Scrooges’ nephews again. Here you must use swinging vines, branches and even hippopotamus’ backs to get to the treasure. Sleeping pumas, snakes, macaws and monkeys hamper you progress.

Searching a cavern involves Scrooge, his nephews and niece, navigating a maze using the map at the bottom of the screen to get to the treasure whilst avoiding the yeti tracking them down.

Photography, with Webbigail, Scrooge’s niece, involves her taking snaps of rare animals in a forest. Some animals get you more money for your snaps than others.

Once the thirty day marker is reached, whoever has the most gold between Scrooge and Glomgold is the winner.