Disney Gaming Part 2

    Greetings everyone! I am excited to say that Capcom has announced that they will be releasing several of their classic Disney games on PC, Xbox One, and PS4. Included in the pack will be classic NES games that go by the names of Duck Tales, Duck Tales 2, Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Darkwing Duck, and Tale Spin. Needless to say that as both a Disney nut and a huge gamer that I am beyond hyped for this pack to come out. Some of the new features will include a rewind feature, time attack, and a boss rush mode. The games are not being remade into HD remakes, but they will look a lot crisper than they did on the NES. So with that major announcement I figure now is the perfect time to look at a few more of Disney's past video games.

    The 16-bit era seemed to be a hotbed for classic Disney movies to be remade into games. The Jungle book is no exception to this as the game was released on the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. Today I'll be looking quickly at the SNES version while keeping in mind that the Sega version is a little different. Growing up, The Jungle Book was one of my favorite Disney movies. I loved the characters, the music, the animation, all of it. So how did the SNES game hold up compared to the movie? As was the case with a handful of Disney games, so so. The levels are all beautiful and bright, the plot for the most part follows along with the movie, the music is great with some of the most popular songs from the movie present in 16-bit form, and Mowgli gets to pelt monkeys and other enemies with bananas all day long. Sounds pretty good to me. As you explore the jungle you'll run across the villains of the movie such as Kaa the python. The boss battles are not overly difficult once you figure out the patterns, but are intimidating nonetheless.

    So the biggest question is how does the game play? As Mowgli you can do a variety of things ranging from jumping to climbing to swinging to throwing various vegetation. There is a lot of platforming in the jungle and this game strives at making that platforming more of a chore than it ever needed to be. Personally, I love a good challenge. If I didn't I wouldn't pride myself on being able to plow through Donkey Kong Country games, however the challenge in this game is the controls from start to finish which is very frustrating. Mowgli feels more like Dumbo as each jump just feels very floaty which makes landing where you want to land difficult. This wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't usually some kind of enemy right next to you when landing. Often times getting hit is unavoidable when these situations arise (often). Honestly, the controls I feel are the low point of the game. There are other issues, one of them being that Mowgli seems way too big and takes up way too much of the screen that add more challenge, but not in a frustrating way like the controls. That being said, the camera being so close to Mowgli causes you to take leaps of faith that don't always pan out well at all.

    The Jungle Book was the last animated film that Walt Disney worked on. Twenty seven years after the release of that movie, the game was released and did a so so job at recreating the magic. The music and visuals are great, but the bad controls really put a damper on it alongside the other smaller issues the game has. Honestly, try it out on the Sega, it just feels a bit better than on the SNES.

    Let us take a trip back in time briefly. We arrive in a year where a company known as Sega had unleashed it's brand new 16-bit console, the Sega Genesis. In doing so Sega took the opportunity to showcase the power it's new system had over the aging Nintendo Entertainment System. One of the games that Sega showcased is a game known as Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse!

    The plot of the game is simple enough. Minnie is captured by an evil wizard and it is up to Mickey to brave the massive Castle of Illusion to rescue the girl he will never marry (despite there being plenty of Mickey and Minnie wedding products out there.... a thought for another time and place). As Mickey progresses through the five "rooms" of the castle he runs into all kinds of enemies and environments that all look beautiful on the Sega. Just a couple off the top of my head are a creepy forest and the equivalent of a toy box. The attention to detail in this game for when it was released is outstanding. Everything looks simply great. Strangely enough it would be Mickey Mouse and not Mario or Sonic or anybody else that would have a game where his facial expressions would change with virtually any given situation. This was something virtually unheard of at the time and it would be Disney's Mickey who really had the first successful venture with this. Yes Sonic can look annoyed and other characters have obviously had facial expressions, but none as vibrant and detailed as Mickey's. 

    So enough about the graphics as I've said time and time again that graphics don't make a game good. Sound wise, the game does pretty well. Considering I'm not the biggest fan of a lot of music on the Sega, I feel like Castle of Illusion did a pretty good job at capturing the feel for the various areas of the castle. Gameplay wise I have to ask this. Why in God's name did they not copy the gameplay in this game for Fantasia?! There is nothing overly difficult platforming wise, but if there was, the controls in this game would have allowed for it to be done in a very efficient way. Mickey can jump on and throw apples at enemies which is a nice combo to have in a game like this. Another awesome gameplay moment is in the Toy Box area where Mickey literally flips the level and you play on the ceiling versus the floor. That was mind blowing to me the first time I saw it and if it wasn't already easy to tell, it became easy to tell why this game was used to showcase the Sega. 

    The only downside to this game is the length. The game is nowhere near as challenging as some of the other Disney games that are out there and it is only five stages long. It really left me wanting more, but for what the game is, I think it is a must play and was really the first game to give Mickey a spotlight he deserved. 

    While the Sega Genesis had what I would call Mickey's first masterpiece of a game, the Nintendo Entertainment System had a masterpiece with another character. Of all the character's in Disney's bad at the time it would be Scrooge McDuck that would star in what I consider one of the best Disney games of all time.

    Where oh where do I begin with Duck Tales? I guess I can start with the downsides and just get them out of the way. After careful thinking I found one thing wrong with this game. It is too short. Much like Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, the game left me wanting more. Not in that way where I felt there wasn't enough content though. It left me feeling that way the same way Pokemon Red Version left me wanting more as a kid. Basically what I'm saying is I love this game and simply wished it was longer so I could play more. Outside of that, this is an NES game that does pretty much everything right.

    Now onto a little bit about this game. For those of you who do not know anything about Duck Tales, it was originally a T.V. show starring the richest duck in the world, Scrooge McDuck as he ventures the world in search of more riches. Along the way he endangers his nephews and friends, but in the end it all works out. The game is no different. plot wise. You set out to collect a bunch of riches over five very different areas of the world... or moon... Along the way Scrooge runs into various characters from the popular T.V. show. So the game actually does follow the show pretty well.

    For an NES game, this game simply looks great. The colors are bright and clear, the characters all look great and easy to see and differentiate, and best of all, it looks like a cartoon. The first time I played this game I was honestly impressed with just how beautiful it looked. Keep in mind that that is coming from someone who grew up with the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. For an 8-bit game, this certainly looks like one of the better ones I've ever seen. So Duck Tales totally checks out good in the graphics department.

    Sound wise the game does not disappoint. I figured that out not even three seconds into the game as the Duck Tales T.V. theme plays in an 8-bit rendition as the main menu music. That got my head bobbing and instantly wanting to dive in.... or go watch Duck Tales... The rest of the in game sounds are clear and fun. There' really no sound that got on my nerves here at all. So the game gets a pass on two of the three things that I think make an outstanding game. Lastly is the game play. Unlike other platformers such as Super Mario Brothers, Scrooge is unable to simply jump on his enemies. Instead he must use his cane as a pogo-stick and literally drive it into the skulls of his enemies. Sounds dark right, well it's of course done in a rated G way. Platforming with the pogo-cane is a lot of fun and there really is no gripes about having to land perfectly or anything like that. In addition to running and jumping and pogoing, Scrooge can climb and discover all kinds of hidden chests that contain all kinds of treasures. 

   

     Enough can't be said about this game in this blog. Eventually I will be doing a full review on this game as it really is, in my opinion anyway, one of the best in the NES library as a whole. This game has remained so popular that it is going to be a part of the package of classic NES games that Capcom will soon be releasing on the PC, Xbox One, and PS4. In addition the game saw a full HD remake in 2013 across multiple consoles. In this remake the original cast from the show provides voice overs for all the characters. It's a pretty fun remake that I suggest checking out, but certainly find a way to play the original first if you can. It is one of the best Disney games that has ever been made and that's a pretty impressive thing given the sheer number that has come out since then. 

    So how will I be following up one of the best Disney games of all time on this list? Well today I'm not. Duck Tales is such a high mark in Disney gaming that I can't bring myself to follow it up with a bad game. Same can be said for Castle of Illusion. Two of the best Disney games ever made wound up on the NES and Sega Genesis. Yes, the Super Nintendo and other platforms have great games too, but I have yet to play another Disney game that left me wanting more the way that both Castle of Illusion and Duck Tales did. That being said, my next blog will be a return to my thoughts on the Donkey Kong Country games. There I will be taking a look at the Game Boy Advance remakes of the original trilogy.

    Surprise! Coming down the pipe is something a little different. This blog will actually have a special guest author. This guy is has been a friend on mine for many years and has agreed to share some of his thoughts and what not on some games as well. He is actually an author and his work can be found at Winged Hussar Publishing. When the time comes he will surely introduce himself and give you guys more details on who he is and about his books. For now though feel free to click the link above and check out his work as well as the rest of what Winged Hussar Publishing does. They're a great company and from what I have seen have a great group of books that are certainly worth checking out.  As always thanks for reading!