Ducktales - NES (all versions)

Bad Ending Guide
Author - wagamamalullaby
June 2013

This guide will show you how to get the little known secret ending in
Ducktales, the bad ending. It's almost impossible to get by normal means.
Maybe at some point of development, other ways for Scrooge to lose money were
planned, but the bad ending was kept. It's very possible that people don't
know of the existence of this ending, the means for getting it are so obscure.

Some people think that this ending is impossible to get without cheating. But
it is possible, and very satisfying, to do this without using cheats,
especially on the console instead of an emulator. With practice, this can
easily be done on the console, after practicing on an emulator using save
states.

Getting the ending

To get the secret ending, you must complete the game with zero dollars. There
is a trick for regaining health, you press select, exactly 3 million dollars
is consumed, and your health bar is refilled. If you have exactly 6 million
dollars, you do this trick twice to end up with zero dollars.

Completing the game normally, finishing all 5 levels, and collecting no other
treasures or enemy drops (except ice cream), leaves you with exactly 5
million. To get the additional 1 million, you must collect one of the 2
secret treasures. This guide ignores the Moon secret treasure and collects
the one in the African Mines.

But there is one other trick. You need to wait until at least 9 seconds are
left on the game clock before collecting the treasure at the end of each
stage, otherwise money will be added to your total. This is where practice on
an emulator is handy, as you can speed the game up to make the clock run
faster.

It is also possible to play the game normally and collect pickups. But this
makes getting a multiple of 3 million very difficult.

General tips

You cannot collect any treasure at all in the levels, except the one after
the boss. If you collect even one tiny jewel, then you need to reset.

Avoid invincibility. You can walk through an enemy and pick up a jewel without
even knowing it.

Play on the easiest difficulty setting, so you can take more hits. The ending
is the same regardless of what difficulty you play on.

Practice the Moon glitch before you do a run. It's easy to do after a few
attempts, and it cuts out a risky, and by risky I mean collecting something
accidentally, portion of the level.

This guide assumes familiarity with the game. So I don't go into too much
detail on the walkthrough. Consult another guide if you aren't familiar with
the levels, or play through it a couple of times to get used to it.

The shortcut to the boss in the Amazon can easily mess up a run. That is why
I recommend doing this level first. Practice getting to the secret area
without collecting the contents of the treasure chest you need to pogo to.
And remember to hold up on the d-pad! If you don't, you'll fall onto the
pillar and collect the contents of the chest. With practice, you can even
pogo to the top of the chest, stop pogoing mid air by letting go of B at the
right moment and land safely on it without it opening. Then you can jump up
and climb the rope.

The reason that you must wait to collect the treasure after killing the boss
is because you get time added to your money when you complete a stage, in
multiples of 10. If you wait until at least 9 seconds are left, you get
nothing added at all, which is what you want. Any time between 1 second and 9
seconds is sufficient.

Out of the 2 secret treasures, the African Mines one is the easiest by far,
as you will pass it anyway. By doing the wall glitch in the Moon, you cut out
the ufo section, and this is where the secret treasure is. So ignore it.

This guide, and the moon glitch, work on all version of the NES game.

Collecting ice cream for health is ok, it adds nothing to your money total.

Feel free to go your own way at some points of the level, if you want. This
means you can complete the Moon level normally if you wish. This guide kind
of functions as a speed run as well, because it gets to the boss quickly.
This gets the level over with as soon as possible, by moving quickly, you
minimise the risk of accidental pickups. But it also means the wait is longer
at the end of the level. This is a worthy trade off, though.

Don't rush too much and be careless though. It's ok to die occasionally, it
has no impact on the run. But a game over will force you to start again from
the beginning.

It's ok to get hit occassionally. Sometimes it's easier to get hit than to
risk a pickup after a kill. This is why it's better to play on the easiest
difficulty setting.

Walkthrough

The Amazon

This is the hardest level, so it's a good idea to get it finished first.
And the chance of money appearing above your head is very high. But if you
keep moving, you won't collect anything. If you collect something
accidentally, you need to reset.

Keep moving all the way to the right, climbing the rope at the end. At the
top, work your way to the left carefully. It's easy to die in this area if
you are rushing too much so be careful. Watch out for those annoying bees!
When you reach the far left, after the collapsing bridge, climb the vine and
head right, past the ball that chases you.

When you reach the pillar, immediately after the ball chases you, a chest
will appear above your head in the bit where there is a gap at the top. If
it hasn't appeared, jump up (not pogo) to make it appear. Bounce on it and
jump up into the middle of the gap and hold up on the d-pad to climb a hidden
rope. Be careful not to collect the treasure as you do this!

At the top, jump over the rocks and down the other side to reach the boss.
Kill it and remember to wait until 9 seconds or less to collect the treasure.

Once this level is done, then you have completed the hardest part of the run.
It all gets easier from here.

Transylvania

High chance of treasure appearing here, especially on the stairs. No problem
if you keep moving. Up first rope, head right. Kill the mummies by using your
cane on the ball next to them, then running through them before a treasure
has a chance to appear.

Up the next rope, right through the invisible wall, enter the furthest mirror
away. Head left, moving quickly, as treasure can appear here. You might have
to take a hit on the ghosts. Kill the boss.

African Mines

At the start, keep moving to the right from the moment you appear in the
stage! 3 jewels will appear, and it is very easy to accidentally collect them.
Get the key from transylvania from the first mirror, and make sure you hold
right as before to avoid collecting the jewels when you restart the stage.

Head right to the rope, drop down and take the first right, jump on the green
enemies to pass the empty cavern and collect the secret treasure. Drop down
the rope and take the first left, then kill the boss.

Himalayas

High chance of collecting falling jewels at the start, so keep moving. Head
right, down the first hole, hold left so you land on the first platform. Walk
all the way to the left, up the first rope, all the way to the right, to the
boss. Kill it.

The Moon

Probably the easiest level, but you need to use a glitch if you want to avoid
the ufo. You can get the key/remote control if you want, but the glitch is
easy to activate. Walk to the far right, ignoring the rope leading into the
ufo. There is zero chance of any random money appearing on the way, only ice
cream. But beware of enemy drops.

When you get to the green barrier, walk back to the left. As soon as you
reach the crater, touch the right side of it and quickly turn back and run to
the right. The flying robot will follow you. Stand right next to the green
wall, touching it, facing right. When he comes very close, press left to face
him as he hits you, and you will glitch under the wall. It might take a
couple of tries.

Once you are under, head to the right and bounce next to the right wall to
get 2 ice creams to refill your health, then go all the way to the left.
There are no random treasures in this area, only ice cream. But be careful
you don't collect anything by killing the enemies here in this tight area.
Kill the boss.

Transylvania

You are now in the home stretch, the final level with exactly 6 million.
Head to the same boss area as before. At the boss, get hit until you lose a
ball of health. Then press select. This will consume 3 million. Do the same
again. Now you have nothing! Complete the game as normal to get the bad
ending!

Any questions, please email me at [email protected].

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