In addition to this, the soundtracks contain both new arrangements and adaptations of songs from the films, creating music that sounds like it pushes the limits of what the 16-bit sound chip technology could do. Despite the humble 16-bit graphics, most of the sprite work and animation is impressively close to what was present in the films themselves, and it still looks quite excellent even by modern standards. ![]() Disney contributed some key members of its animation teams to assist in the development of these games’ art directions and it definitely shows in the bright colours and expressive designs. One way in which both games have managed to wow, however, is in their utterly stellar presentation quality. Given the tight turnaround times the original developers were given for these releases – we’re talking just a few months here from start to finish – it’s admirable that they were able to produce titles of such relative quality, but it’s nonetheless quite difficult to ignore the glaring issues present in such foundational aspects of both releases. On top of this, there’s not a clear direction to the flow of most levels, as the ‘main’ path often loops back on itself several times to make it seem like the level is much longer than it truly is. The homogenous nature of the level design is broken up somewhat by the odd inclusion of a bonus level, such as a magic carpet ride in Aladdin or a bug hunt in Lion King, but we were rather disappointed by how little the developers tended to experiment. Though each stage is visually distinct from the last, the hour-long runtimes ensure that there aren’t a whole lot of new ideas introduced as you move through levels. The 2D sidescrolling action in either game is serviceable, if not particularly memorable, mostly because there’s no notable rhyme or reason to level designs. Play with modern features, and you’re looking at two games that can be beaten in an afternoon.īoth games adapt the storylines of the films they represent while throwing in a few extra levels or designs here or there that weren’t present in the films, such as a level in Aladdin in which the titular thief enters a world within Genie’s lamp. ![]() Play without modern features, and you’re looking at two deliberately frustrating experiences that hardly hold up to modern game design standards. Nowadays, it’s difficult to recommend these releases, mostly because you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place in regards to how you play them. These are cruel games in so many ways, merciless in how they punish the new player for their mistakes, and – right or wrong – they were intentionally designed to be that way. If you choose to play that way instead, the meandering level design, blind leaps of faith, and instant death traps are sure to add several more hours to your total play time as continuous, gruelling trial and error carries you to victory. Beloved as they may be, both games can be beaten in about an hour if you don’t play them ‘purely’. The new features do act as a double-edged sword, however, as they also expose the rather antiquated game design that lies at the heart of the main versions of both these releases. Aside from the somewhat odd omission of the Capcom-developed SNES Aladdin release, it’s clear that a lot of love went into making this collection a well-rounded package. ![]() In addition to this, Aladdin has a short demo version that was available only on trade show floors, and each game has a whole wealth of concept art, developer interviews, and other such goodies for those that are interested in the development history of these popular releases. Both games have five versions available with a Game Boy, Super Game Boy, Genesis and Japanese release being common between them while the fifth version is either a “final cut” (in Aladdin’s case) or a SNES version (in The Lion King’s case). So, let’s get all the differences and inclusions in Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King straight. Judged on their own merits, neither of these games have held up particularly well, but the nostalgia value and quality of additional extras like filters and behind-the-scenes content help to make this a worthwhile package overall. Back in the day, the video game adaptations of Aladdin and The Lion King stood firmly at the ‘quality’ end of tie-in spectrum, and now that they’re being re-released in modern times under one banner, the question is whether they still hold that same value. Often, the games seem to be something of an afterthought or simply advertisement fodder for the film they're based on, but every now and then, tie-ins can surprise with how well they stand on their own. ![]() Movie tie-in games can be notoriously hit-or-miss in their quality.
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