Duck Tales was released on the NES in 1989 and followed Scrooge McDuck on his travels around the world to gather treasure in order to become the world’s richest duck. It sold 1.67 million copies world wide and is ranked the 13th best NES game. Although the story doesn’t sound too astonishing today, the soundtrack of the game is truly phenomenal with some unbelievable tracks.
A timeless classic track of Duck Tales comes from the very beginning-the title screen. The track that accompanies the title screen gives you a good idea of what the rest of the soundtrack is like. Despite it being short, the track is very upbeat and very funky, in a sort of 8-bit swing style. If there was ever such a thing as 8-bit jazz then look no further than the Duck Tales title music. Like all the tracks of Duck Tales, you can tell that the developers used the most of the five sound channels that the NES had.
Another of the more catchy tracks on Duck Tales is the African Mines stage. Although being one of the shorter stages in Duck Tales, the music compensates greatly. In true Duck Tales fashion, this track is incredibly funky and the constant changes in pitch and rhythm make it highly entertaining to listen to. The extremities of pitch used in this track are probably it’s signature feature, using the majority of the 25Hz to 28kHz frequency range of the NES. Needless to say, this is another great song.
You may have noticed I have yet to cover one particular track. This track is truly great, perhaps one of the best NES sound tracks. It is of course the music for the Moon stage. The opening is somewhat reminiscent of the intro to the 1960′s Star Trek television show, and it has a very intergalactic feel to it. The rest of the track follows on in classic Duck Tales style and is very upbeat. However it does not continue with the swing style of the other tracks which is a shame. Despite this, this is truly the best track on the game, bringing with it an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.
