The 1992 NES game Darkwing Duck is possibly one of the most underrated classics on Nintendo's console. Few remember it, it never got a sequel, and to this day its character, the superhero duck, remains a very marginal part of Disney's eclectic roster. But that could have changed last year, when Headcannon (the studio behind the brilliant Sonic Mania) approached Capcom with a prototype for a direct sequel. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
The good news, however, is that you can download the prototype presented to Capcom right now and play it without delay. It has only one level and is quite rough, but it gives a good approximation of what Headcannon had in mind. Had it been greenlit, as Aaron Sparrow mentioned on his Twitter (writer at Boom! Studios and a huge Darkwing Duck fan), the game would have featured illustrations by James Silvani (artist of the Darkwing Duck comic for Boom! Studios) and much of the original voice cast.
Darkwing Duck would have been a 'spiritual sequel' to the classic NES game (and it shows, since the gameplay is identical in every way) and would have taken place between the events in the series and those that could be read in the comic “The Duck Knight Returns.” The villains to beat would have been Steelbeak, Taurus Bulba, and the Fearsome Five. Between levels, the game would have had narrative bridges in the form of animated comics drawn by James Silvani.
The prototype, which you can download from Headcannon's website (or from this alternative link just in case), is short and not as polished as one would expect from the makers of Sonic Mania. Of course, it was only a sketch to present the idea to Capcom, which had already shown some interest in updating its classic games with DuckTales Remastered. The level in the short demo takes place in the sewers and has all kinds of dangers, from infinite pits to soldiers of the F.O.W.L. organization (Fiendish Organization for World Larceny). Darkwing has the same powers as in the NES version. He can block projectiles with his cape, shoot with his gas gun, and has the hook and rope to hang and reach difficult places. So yes, a spiritual sequel in every sense.
Despite the good intentions, Capcom never gave the green light to the project, and it may never be seen as it could have been. However, I wouldn't doubt that at some point in the future, when the developer's coffers demand it, a HD version will be made to capitalize on the nostalgia of older players. Personally, if that were the case, and as I did with DuckTales Remastered, I would avoid it entirely in favor of the original versions, playable today on any machine with any emulator.
