LO1 Ducktales (NES) Game Analysis Form

Game title	Ducktales	Platform tested:	NES
Genre What style of game is this? What genre does it belong to? How does it show stylistic conventions of the genre? How does it sit within the genre in comparison to others titles?	Platform game, challenge is to win the levels by jumping over enemies and obstacles, collect all of the treasure in the level.  The controls are similar to Mega Man in how Scrooge’s weight and jump height goes, but the exploration is similar to something like Metroid but not quite.
Narrative What story is being told through the game? How does the story inform the gameplay? How does the story affect your approach to the characters and your interaction with them? How does the story connect with the target audience?	Scrooge McDuck wants more money so he goes around the world to collect more money with his nephews and niece. This gives you a reason as to why you’re going to different places and collecting treasures. You may have to rescue one of your nephews or they may tell you if you need to collect something to progress. This would have been a more children intended game so the child-like story appeals to them.
Production process How was this game produced? What elements of production are developed specifically to enhance the gameplay? How are elements such as game physics and mechanics managed to enhance gameplay?	Capcom developed the game, based off of the Disney cartoon of the same name. They would’ve had to research parts of the source material like characters, levels, music and plot. Inspired by the Mega Man games Capcom also developed, they made the levels to be able to be completed in any order aside from the final level.
Characterisation How are characters relevant to the target audience? What appeal do the characters have to the target audience? How does the characterisation match the conventions of the genre? How strong do you feel the characters are?	The characters in Ducktales appear cartoonish and therefore relate to the target audience of mostly children. Also since it is a licensed game, and the locations of the game don’t completely relate to the cartoon it is based on, the characters alone are the key to the game’s success. Also the cartoony characters fit the genre of platformer as seeing what you’re jumping on and over is the key to success in the genre. The characters aren’t very developed but they don’t need to be as it is about the gameplay first.

Gameplay What challenge is present in the game? How does the level and type of challenge engage the player? What elements of the gameplay are key to the game’s success? How does the gameplay engage with the narrative? How is gameplay consistently evolving to keep the player’s attention?	The challenge is to beat the levels and collect the required treasure, all while avoiding enemies and bottomless pits. The levels are non-linear and are full of dangerous enemies to avoid, engaging the player to explore the levels, find its secrets and try and beat the enemies by improving on when to jump and attack. Elements of the gameplay that made Ducktales successful is its tight controls similar to Megaman, and how there’s nothing quite like Ducktales in it being in levels that are non-linear, rather than one big non-linear world or a bunch of linear levels.
Target Audience Who are the target audience? What indicators are there that this game is produced for this target audience? How does the game appeal directly to the target audience? How does the game compare to other games targeting the same audience?	The target audience for Ducktales would be primarily children since it is based off a Disney Cartoon which also appealed to children as it has nothing offensive or inappropriate in it with morals and such, and since you’re cartoony animals fighting other cartoony animals then the target audience makes sense.
Platform What platform is this game available for? Is the game more suited to any one of these platforms? How is the game suited to this platform?	Ducktales is on the NES and it suits this platform since it uses two buttons (like the NES controller has) and the levels are generally made up of blocks to work with the NES’ graphical limitations. There is also a Gameboy version which is similar to the NES in amount of buttons and graphical limitation, and there is also a HD remake on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U which has hand drawn art and 3D backgrounds to suit the newer platforms.