DuckTales

わんぱくダック夢冒険 (Wanpaku Dakku Yume Bōken)NES, Game Boy, Windows, PlayStation 4 +31989

  1. JP1990
  2. NA1989
  3. EU1990
  4. RUDendy

DuckTales was sold in the West as Disney's DuckTales (in France with the subtitle La Bande à Picsou) and in Japan as わんぱくダック夢冒険 (Wanpaku Dakku Yume Bōken), after the Japanese name of the TV series. The easiest legal way to play the NES original today is The Disney Afternoon Collection on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch or Switch 2.

DuckTales is a platformer developed and published by Capcom for the NES in 1989, based on the Disney animated series and directed by Keiji Inafune. Scrooge McDuck attacks enemies and reaches high places by bouncing on his cane like a pogo stick. The game has three endings, normal, great and bad, depending on how much money Scrooge has at the end; the great ending requires at least $10,000,000. The development team shared staff with the Mega Man series, and IGN described the game as built on Capcom's Mega Man architecture. The Moon stage theme is its best-known piece of music and is often called one of the best 8-bit compositions.

In Japan the game came out on 26 January 1990 as わんぱくダック夢冒険, and a Game Boy version followed the same year with reworked level layouts. The NES version sold about 1.67 million copies and the Game Boy version about 1.43 million.

The original NES game is included in The Disney Afternoon Collection (2017), which came to Switch and Switch 2 in 2026. DuckTales: Remastered (2013), developed by WayForward, is a separate high-definition remake and is not covered on this page.123

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Disney's DuckTalesTCRF gives 14 September 1989; Wikipedia gives October 1989 NES September 1989 CapcomNES-UK 4
NA Disney's DuckTales Game Boy November 1990 CapcomDMG-DT-USA 5
NA Disney's DuckTalesRe-release Game Boy 1992 THQDMG-DT-USA-1 5
JP わんぱくダック夢冒険Wanpaku Dakku Yume Bōken NES Jan 26, 1990 CapcomCAP-UK 4
JP ダックテールスDakku Tērusu Game Boy Sep 21, 1990 CapcomDMG-DTJ 5
EU Disney's DuckTales NES Dec 14, 1990 CapcomNES-UK-UKV 4
EU Disney's DuckTales: La Bande à PicsouFrench release NES Dec 14, 1990 CapcomNES-UK-FRA 4
EU Disney's DuckTales Game Boy 1991 CapcomDMG-DT-NOE 5
EU Disney's DuckTalesGerman release NES 1991 CapcomNES-UK-NOE 4
WW The Disney Afternoon CollectionCompilation by Digital Eclipse Windows Apr 18, 2017 Capcom 6
WW The Disney Afternoon CollectionCompilation by Digital Eclipse PlayStation 4 Apr 18, 2017 Capcom 7
WW The Disney Afternoon CollectionCompilation by Digital Eclipse Xbox One Apr 18, 2017 Capcom 8
WW The Disney Afternoon CollectionExpanded edition adding Goof Troop and Bonkers Switch Feb 26, 2026 Atari 9
WW The Disney Afternoon CollectionExpanded edition adding Goof Troop and Bonkers Switch 2 Feb 26, 2026 Atari 10

Also known as: Disney's DuckTales NA4わんぱくダック夢冒険 JP2Wanpaku Dakku Yume Bōken JP1ダックテールス JP2Dakku Tērusu JP2Disney's DuckTales: La Bande à Picsou EU4Утиные истории RU11

Box art by region

  • Disney's DuckTales box art, North America release
    NA Disney's DuckTales
  • Disney's DuckTales box art, Europe release
    EU Disney's DuckTales
  • わんぱくダック夢冒険 box art, Japan release
    JP わんぱくダック夢冒険

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • TitleNES (JP)

    The Japanese version is titled Wanpaku Dakku Yume Bōken (わんぱくダック夢冒険) after the show's Japanese name, uses a logo without the winking Scrooge head and shows the title-screen options in white.12

  • TextNES (JP)

    The Japanese release keeps the prototype's ending screen, while the US and European versions use a newer one. It also blanks out an unused line of text about the King of the Terra-Firmies in the African Mines.12

  • GameplayNES (EU)

    The PAL version speeds Scrooge up to compensate for the slower 50 Hz refresh rate; as a side effect, he can barely clear the big gap in the second part of the Amazon without Launchpad's help.12

All differences (7)

Where to play legally today

  • Nintendo eShop Purchase

    The Disney Afternoon Collection

    DuckTales (NES) inside the compilation

    Checked: 2026-10-139nintendo.com

  • Nintendo eShop Purchase

    The Disney Afternoon Collection

    DuckTales (NES) inside the compilation

    Checked: 2026-10-1310nintendo.com

  • PlayStation Store Purchase

    The Disney Afternoon Collection

    DuckTales (NES) inside the compilation

    Checked: 2026-10-137store.playstation.com

  • Steam Purchase

    The Disney Afternoon Collection

    DuckTales (NES) inside the compilation

    Checked: 2026-10-136store.steampowered.com

  • Microsoft Store (Xbox) Purchase

    The Disney Afternoon Collection

    DuckTales (NES) inside the compilation

    Checked: 2026-10-138xbox.com

Reception

The NES and Game Boy versions sold about 1.67 million and 1.43 million copies respectively, each Capcom's best-selling title on its platform. In 2009 IGN ranked it 10th among the 100 greatest NES games.1

In lists

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org
  3. 3en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4gamefaqs.gamespot.com
  5. 5gamefaqs.gamespot.com
  6. 6store.steampowered.com
  7. 7store.playstation.com
  8. 8xbox.com
  9. 9nintendo.com
  10. 10nintendo.com
  11. 11stopgame.ru
  12. 12tcrf.net
  13. 13cyber.sports.ru
  14. 14ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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