System: Sega Genesis
Title: Lion King
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Circa: 1994
Overall Rating:
 

Intro

This system, the Genesis is always a blast from the past for me. Lots of good memories of fun and challenging games are from this system and the SNES. This particular game saw its release on both. I only bothered to buy it for this one system, so it set which I would review it for years ago. It’s a good game for a good movie. One of the few cases the game wasn’t too bad for being based on a movie.

Story

If you’ve seen the Lion King, you know the story. But it’s got a good bit of depth to it. As well there were parts that were exclusive to the game. Simba plays both as cub and lion. He loses his father, has to run away, lives with his friends Timon and Pumba, eventually coming back to challenge Scar.

Gameplay

Simba is featured playing around, running into the Elephant Graveyard, running away, living with Timon and Pumba. Some of the more influential songs of the movie like “I just can’t wait to be King” and “Hakuna matata” have their own stages. Which it’s reduced down to just the instrumental portions and converted to fit onto a cartridge, it’s still well done. I also enjoy the sound bits of the actor’s voices. While they are short, they are tastefully used and not overly used, instead well spaced out.

Multiplayer

Sadly, not present in this game.

Controls

Some of the movement based attacks take some getting used to or to remember. This is a game where the manual helps with getting the controls and all the character’s abilities quickly. It is also worth noting that Simba as a cub and a lion have very different abilities.

Graphics

The game stays very true to the movie. Simba as a cub usually is jubilant and more somber as an adult. The colors fit well to the style of the movie, with no great divergence. The song based stages are very fun to play.

Sound Effects & Music

The music, as mentioned throughout, is good. It never bothered much, but it probably would be a bad idea to stick on one stage for over an hour or so. The roar and voice samples within the game alone merit mention for how well they were done. Most of the music in the game was featured in the movie. So anyone who enjoyed that in the movie will enjoy this in the game. As well as a few of the better known quotes from the movie were featured in the game as well. I forever and always chuckle a little with the game opening with Timon saying “It starts”.

Obscurity

This game can’t really be called obscure.

Summary/Author’s Take

This game, like many for the Genesis, has a lot of memories. I had to pry this game from a few friends' fingers because they wanted the game itself. I wanted to hold onto it because I like the game quite a bit. The game encapsulated the movie, but while it used the movie obviously as inspiration, it didn’t restrict itself to just the material in the movie. The designers did good to do that. It’s a trap that many modern movie-based games fall into. The Lion King itself stands alone and doesn’t let the movie restrain it. The game definitely benefited from Disney’s diligent vocal work with tasteful use of sound bits at the start of the game and continue screen. This is a game for the children to see what a good movie video game is like.