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 wagamamalullaby@gmail.com.