Seemingly out of nowhere, three Disney platforming classics from the 90s have been released on GOG.com. Disney’s Aladdin, Disney’s The Lion King, and Disney’s The Jungle Book have been updated to work with modern systems on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
All three games were released in the mid 90s for both Sega Genesis/Mega Drive as well as MS-DOS. Due to their platforming nature, the games were way more popular on consoles. They also epitomized the golden age of the 2D platforming era with bright, vibrant visuals and impeccable level design.
Note that this is the Sega version of Aladdin, not the SNES one. The two versions were completely different and represent much of the 90s console wars. The SNES version was produced by Capcom.
The Sega one is superior by the way. He’s got a sword! (We’ve all got swords)!
I never played The Jungle Book but Aladdin and The Lion King are two of the best games of their time. Disney and Virgin Games went all out with the production, using beautifully rendered sprites produced by Disney animators. The games looked like they were lifted straight from the movies.
On top of incredible visuals lie fantastic controls and level designs, letting you play through familiar events during a time when Disney movies had begun their explosive resurgence in pop culture.
The 16-bit classics are available exclusively on GOG.com. Despite my high praise they’re a little pricey at $10 a pop for 20+ year old games. A launch promo has them for 10% off. A better bundle deal nets you all three for $20. The deals last until August 8.
