One of the best games based on a movie licence to be made to date! :D
User Rating: 10 | The Lion King SNES
This game came out at exactly the right place at exactly the right time! While Disney had been successful in the world of video games from 1987 to 1994, Disney knew that the writing was on the wall and that their success was about to come to an abrupt end. Capcom was no longer making games for Disney, so Disney was left without a video game designer. This led to the unfortunate creation of the mostly disasterous Disney video game division. Games designed to make a buck, big on flash but woefully inadequate in soul. But for this game, Disney knew that it couldn't just be a regular game type of game, it needed to have substance and accurately reflect the story told in the movie. So while Disney built their video game division, they hired a temporary video game company called Virgin games to make "The Lion King," which Disney eventually acquired to complete it's division. While Virgin was no Capcom by any means, it proved that if left alone, it could make a great video game! And Virgin pulled out all the stops and left nothing to chance for the Super NES version of this game! They got really crisp voice track samples, good story graphics, fluid moving characters, beautiful backgrounds, music that sounds just like its big screen counterpart, and an adventure filled with brillantly designed levels, enemies to overcome, and challenges to face. There was an ostrich racing level, a running level which forced Simba to come towards the screen and avoid the oncoming Wildebeests and surprise falling rocks. There was a volcano level, and there was a cave maze level. While there are only two real bosses to speak of, the levels themselves were challenging enough that players didn't even notice the lack of them. Plus, the gameplay was brillantly designed to. Both young Simba and adult Simba moved and behaved in different ways, showing that the developer's were paying attention to the mechanics of what was reasonably possible for the characters. And there was also the fun bug hunt mini-games to gain additional lives. And of course, being able to play out one of the best movies on a video game to a relatively accurate degree (at least by 1994 standards) this video game was heads and tails above the rest of the competition, and continues to be one today. While many other games have tried, very few have managed to live up to their movie counterparts such as "The Lion King" has. That is why it is one game that I still remember fondly today. :idea: Enough said! ;)
--