DuckTales Remastered

The original DuckTales NES game is one I have played and completed many times over, but not one I’ve played in the last 20 years.  I had no idea how the game would hold up or if it would be short by today’s standards.  I am however very familiar with the show, and when DuckTales Remastered was announced, I took the time to introduce my children to the show and was really satisfied with how well it held up.  

The best thing about DuckTales Remastered is that it pays homage to the show more than the game.  We now have an action game set in DuckTales  world that really has the characters, voices, and look of the TV show.  The animated models are completely redone but still invoke the classic characters.  The voices are provided by surviving show cast, and the voices are needed since the game finally has a story.  A new intro level with the Beagle Boys sets the stage for a new treasure hunt, and from Scrooge’s Money Bin you can access the 5 classic stages in any order.  New dialog, introductions, and animation in between and during each stage make this feel more like a new 5 part episode of the series.

My daughter cheered along watching me play the game as if it were the show she already loves. That is the best review I can give.

Now, Disney.  Seriously.  Release the remaining DuckTales episodes on DVD, or at least license the rest for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Tomb Raider

I’ve flirted with Tomb Raider before.  In fact I played Legend just a few months ago.  But I’ve never actually sat down and really seriously played a game in the series.  This new Lara Croft origin story is really remarkable.  Some would say it takes a page from Uncharted, but really most of the climbing, treasure hunting, puzzles, etc were already present in Tomb Raider, this game just takes on Uncharted’s cinematic approach. 

After a few hours of play I think it is as enjoyable as any of Naughty Dog’s series, though a fair amount more brutal.  The first hour is Lara taking hard hits, getting burned, stabbed, etc.  Really breaking her character so that she transitions to a survivalist.  She shows a great deal of remorse when she has to kill to survive, something Nathan Drake would’ve brushed off with a one-liner.

Now I’ve reached the mid point of the game and am really looking forward to seeing the end of the narrative as much as I enjoy the gameplay.  I hope I run into more puzzles and less enemies along the way though, as the idea of a person who has been shipwrecked, stabbed, burned, and sleep deprived killing a small army of armed mercenaries becomes less and less plausible as this wears on.

Halo 4 

Yep.  Still playing this.  Champions Bundle adds a new game type that is basically like NFL with guns.  Enjoyable.

Rocket Knight

I honestly had no idea this game also got any kind of remake treatment.  And I guess that is because it isn’t a remake, it is a sequel to the old Sega Genesis game Rocket Knight Adventures.  And it came out 3 years ago!

Rocket Knight is an Opossum with a suit of armor, a sword, and a jet pack.  Fly around, collect jewels, slash enemies.  Pretty great old platform action game.  

Only played through the demo so far, but it is $3.74 on Xbox right now, so I’ll probably go ahead and buy the rest soon.