DuckTales: The Quest for Gold

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DuckTales: The Quest for Gold
Developer(s)	Incredible Technologies
Publisher(s)	Walt Disney Computer Software
Designer(s)	David Mullich, R. Scott Morrison, Denise Wallner & Bill Zielinski
Engine	Custom
Release date(s)	1990
Genre(s)	Action, Platform game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS
Media	Floppy
Input	joystick, keyboard

Duck Tales: The Quest for Gold is a platform game developed by Incredible Technologies for the Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64 and DOS. It was released in 1990 and published by Walt Disney Computer Software. The game bears little resemblance to the Capcom game known simply as DuckTales that was released for the NES and Game Boy.

The game theme and music are largely resemblant to that of the DuckTales television series.

[edit] Plot and gameplay

The game starts as Flintheart Glomgold walks into Scrooge McDuck's office and challenges him to see who is the richest duck in the world. Assuming the role of Scrooge, the player then gets 30 days to collect treasures from all around the world. Scrooge is assisted by his grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and pilot Launchpad McQuack. Flying to different destinations is one of the many different sequences in the game. Many of these destinations are fictitious or imaginative, names often being puns on real locations.

Upon reaching a destination, the player has to play through a certain scenario to reach the treasure. The four different scenarios are divided equally among the many destinations, and are typical for the environment. Some of these scenarios, namely the mountain and the jungle, are platform-based levels where the player plays as Huey (later Dewey and Louie if the player fails the first attempt). Other level types include the cave, which is a labyrinth the player must navigate through, and the wildlife reservation which features Webby Vanderquack taking pictures of animals. The pictures, especially ones with rare animals such as pink elephants, bring rewards for the player similar to the treasure chest in the other levels.

Photography levels are rather easy to play, seeing as there are no real obstacles. In flying sequences, the Beagle Boys try to hinder the player by methods such as dropping pianos. If the plane crashes, the player will lose money as well a couple of days while Gyro Gearloose repairs the plane. The Beagle Boys also appear in mountain levels together with falling boulders, mountain goats, bears and even Magica De Spell. In the horizontal jungle levels, the player must overcome toucans, panthers and coconut-throwing monkeys. Hippopotami which swim in the water below the player may be useful for transportation, but they are slightly unpredictable since they might duck underwater at any moment, causing the player to fall in the water. Peculiarly, Huey, Dewey and Louie cannot swim. When playing in the cave, the player must maneuver on a map which looks slightly like a chinese chess board. Around in the cave lurks a mummy which the player must avoid in addition to shafts. Due to the somewhat higher difficulty of cave levels, the treasure chests usually bring quite high rewards.

Two other ways of getting money exist, should the player not want to travel the globe for treasures. One way features Scrooge diving in his money vault, on occasions finding a rare coin worth $1000. In addition, it is possible to play the stock market. From time to time, Scrooge's rival Glomgold takes some of the treasures. [1]

When 30 days have passed, the game is over and the duck who has gained the larger amount of money wins.

[edit] Trivia

• The contest between Scrooge and Glomgold is reminiscent of the one they had in the Firefly Fruit Contest four-parter from the series. Although the contest on the show was held by the Grand Kishke of the Island of Macaroon, in this game, it is being run by Dime Magazine. However, at the end of the game, Scrooge and Glomgold do weigh their fortunes on giant scales on the Island of Macaroon.
• Many of the locations and treasures featured in the game have been taken directly from specific episodes of the television show. Examples include the locales of Montedumas and Swansylvania, which originate from the episodes The Duck in the Iron Mask and Hotel Strangeduck respectively. Examples of treasures include Drakesphere's lost play from the episode Much Ado About Scrooge and the pearl of wisdom from the episode of the same name.
• One of the game's treasures is Bombastium. If you manage to obtain it, Gyro will use it to build a matter transporter that can transport you to any location from Scrooge's office instantly.
• Fenton Crackshell has a small cameo in this game as Scrooge's accountant. Although he appears, he doesn't appear to actually do anything aside from reminding the player to stop swimming in the vault and continue on with the game. Additionally, Fenton wears a blue jacket in this game, even though he wears a purple one on the show. Gizmoduck is nowhere to be found.
• In at least the Amiga version of the game, a flying saucer can rarely be seen during the flight sequence. The condition which triggers the event is not known.

[edit] External links

• DuckTales: The Quest for Gold on Internet Movie Database
• Disney's Duck Tales: The Quest for Gold on MobyGames

DuckTales view • talk • edit
Characters
Main characters	Scrooge McDuck | Huey, Dewey and Louie | Launchpad McQuack | Webby Vanderquack | Mrs. Beakley | Duckworth | Gyro Gearloose | Doofus | Bubba | Fenton Crackshell/GizmoDuck
Villains	Flintheart Glomgold | Magica De Spell | Poe De Spell | The Beagle Boys | Ma Beagle | The Beagle Brats | The Beagle Babes | Black Pete | Dijon | Merlock
Minor characters	Donald Duck | Mrs. Featherby | Goldie O'Gilt | Gandra Dee | Little Bulb | Gladstone Gander | Ludwig Von Drake
Other
Misc	Duckburg | Calisota | Money Bin | Scrooge's Number One Dime | Characters
Media	Episodes | DVDs | DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp | DuckTales (video game) | DuckTales 2 | DuckTales: The Quest for Gold | Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers
TV movies & specials	Treasure of the Golden Suns | Catch as Cash Can | Time Is Money | Super DuckTales | The Golden Goose
See also	Scrooge McDuck universe | Carl Barks | Darkwing Duck | Quack Pack | The Disney Afternoon