| Here we shall take a glimpse at several general differences between the final version of Ducktales and its prototype counterpart. |
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Whelp, here's the cart! Being dated "5/25/89", you can see it wasn't too long before the game's actual release (holiday season 89). The game is definitely in a state of completion, although quite a few changes were made between this date and the public release. BELOW: I show you the game board of the prototype, just cuz I can. |
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Right away we can see quite a bit is different between the two games. The copyright info was punched up for the final release, and interestingly enough, the continue mode removed. Considering the game's level of challenge, the programmers may have thought including a continue option to be rather moot. |
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Hmph... Capcom never did get around to fixing the fact that we see two Louies and no Dewey. :P Four of the five locations would later be given more specific names. And yet, "MOON SURFACE" would later be retitled under a more vague "THE MOON". The world map looks completely ridiculous in both versions. |
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The value of diamonds were also changed in the game. In the proto the little diamonds were worth $200; regular jewels were $1000, and red diamonds were $3000. Inflation must have kicked in during the months between this version and final release, as in the final the diamonds are worth $2000, $10000, and $50000, respectively. |
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Ok, try to figure this one out: as absurd an idea it is that Unca Scrooge is healed by eating fatty foods, Capcom actually changed what kind of junk food he ate between proto and final release! Although now that I look at it, the burger bears a striking resemblance to Mayor McCheese... |
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Thank GOD Capcom expanded those text windows! I kinda like that the text color is different from the border in the proto version, but that didn't apply for every stage anyways. The dialogue in the final version loses a bit of that "8-bit engrish" we've come to know and love from our NES games, although the punctuation is still screwed up. |
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Naturally, with the gems being worth different sums of money, the amount of money you need to access the bonus game differs. In the final release, you should go back to Duckburg when you have between $x70000 and $x79000 (in other words, a seven in the ten-thousands place); in the proto, I got the bonus stage with only $15000 (I assume you can still get it if you have up to $15800; have a five in the thousands place). |
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Just a quick comparison of punched up text when finding hidden treasures. |
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When I was going through the innards of this rom looking to see if I had missed any text, I found this snippet. Now maybe it's because I haven't really played much Duck Tales in the past decade, but I have NO IDEA where this text appears in the game, if at all. The text for the prototype is as follows: I/BROUGHT/YOU A/PRSENT [sic]/ KING OF/TERRA/FERMICS [sic]. On the right is what appears in the final version: HERE'S A/GIFT FOR YOU/OH KING OF THE/TERRA FERMIES. If you wanna look in the rom yourself, the text appears at 13C25h in the final version and 13D61h in the prototype. The Terra Fermie king, btw is the boss to the African mines stage, and The Cutting Room Floor speculates there may have been a time when you needed to get past him to enter the mines, not Louie. |
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Do you want to know the fascinating story behind the Duck Tales prototype? I didn't think so... but here it is anyways.
This game originally popped up without much warning on eBay A bidding war ensued over these games. On one side were Flash forward about a year later, when, in conversation And uhh... that's it. DuckTales was graciously dumped |
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...is not here.
But dude, it's been like, 15+ years since it made its way |
