Review: Lion King (Sega video game)
Dave Woodall
get too long winded, I want to say that I *really* wanted this to
be a good game - as a fan of Disney and the Lion King...
Animation: Great - how else could it be, considering Disney
animators did the work?
Graphics: Average. I didn't think the detail and colors were
as well done as in the Aladdin and Jungle Book games. In level 2,
I *really* got tired of orange backgrounds! In some areas, there's
no detail (just big areas of one color), and in others, there's too
much (like the monkeys hanging in the trees). The Genny just doesn't
have the resolution to make their skinny arms and tails look good.
Control: Awful. One of (young) Simba's tricks is that you can
get "under" a baddie by pressing "down", and rolling into it. Well,
this works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't and YOU get zinged.
I suspect poor sprite collision detection as the problem. You can
also pounce on baddies, but again, sometimes you get zinded instead
of the baddie - even it you land "perfectly" on top of it!!! And
while I'm on this subject, the box says you get to play as young
and old Simba, Timon and Pumbaa. This leads you to believe that you
can choose which one you want. WRONG. :-( You are forced to start
with young Simba, and later are changed into adult Simba. You only
get to play as Timon and Pumbaa in cheesy "bonus" rounds. Yuck.
This single "misrepresentation" instantly turned my 7 year-old
daughter off of the game (and she's a HUGE Lion King fan!).
Gameplay: Awful: In level 2, you have to ride an ostrich and
jump/duck things in trees. A MAJOR problem is that some of the
tree branches/leaf "bundles" will knock you down, and some you can
jump right in front of without incident - but there is NO visual
cue/clue as to which is which!!! THIS REALLY SUCKS!!! So, I
suppose you are supposed to memorize which ones will knock you
down??? In the area where you climb the trees to scare the monkeys
the game really has a tough time telling where you are and where
the bird nests are. You can sometimes jump/fall right through
them, and other times, you'll land. Later in this level, you
have to swing from hippo tail to hippo tail. Problem: Once again,
the game doesn't do a good job of telling where you are, and even
though you jump RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE TAIL, the game doesn't
recognize this, and you fall in the water, losing a life. Did
I mention that this sucks???? IT DOES!!!!
The game lets you select difficulty: Easy/Normal/Hard. The
difference??? 8/4/1 lives. That's it. Nothing in the game is
different! And if you lose a life, it's back to the start of
the level most of the time, since the "markers" aren't too
plentiful.
In short, we were more than disappointed in this game. It
really makes me wonder how it got past the beta testers - or
maybe it was released anyway. Don't buy this game, don't even
rent it. I hate to say this, because I really wanted it to
be a great game! Want a great Disney game? Get Mickey Mania!
Dave
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| Dave Woodall | e-mail: woo...@dseg.ti.com | Plano, TX |
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Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads! Dr. E. L. Brown
Dave Woodall
>the last siggraph. I am happy with it. As far as I can tell, only
>level 2 has the sucky graphics, but those are so it is faithful to
>the movie. Gameplay is good, sound is good, the whole game is good...
I'm glad you liked it (I guess somebody has to). In your attack
of my review, I wished you had included some detail as to what about
the game you really liked and why. Comments like "I guess you haven't
been watching what you roll into" are useless and waste bandwidth.
Of course I watch what I roll into. I've played just about every
platform game for the Genesis, and I can tell what the game expects
of the player. When it isn't consistent, it isn't good.
Andrew Paik
> We rented TLK video game (by Virgin/Disney software). Before I
> get too long winded, I want to say that I *really* wanted this to
> be a good game - as a fan of Disney and the Lion King...
Well, you should be happy, it is a good game...
> Graphics: Average. I didn't think the detail and colors were
> as well done as in the Aladdin and Jungle Book games. In level 2,
> I *really* got tired of orange backgrounds! In some areas, there's
> no detail (just big areas of one color), and in others, there's too
> much (like the monkeys hanging in the trees). The Genny just doesn't
> have the resolution to make their skinny arms and tails look good.
Didn't you see the movie? Level 2 is the game version of Simba's "I
Just Can't Wait to be King" dance routine. If you remember, it is exactly
the same no detail background, cheesy hippo/giraffe/monkey graphics that
were in that one section of the movie. I hated it in the movie, but fidelity
is no reason to knock it in the game.
> Control: Awful. One of (young) Simba's tricks is that you can
> get "under" a baddie by pressing "down", and rolling into it. Well,
> this works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't and YOU get zinged.
> I suspect poor sprite collision detection as the problem.
I suspect you haven't been watching what you roll into. As far as I can
tell you can only roll into the hedgehogs. Rolling into other things costs
you health.
> You can also pounce on baddies, but again, sometimes you get zinded
> instead of the baddie - even it you land "perfectly" on top of it!!!
I think that you are having problems with the hedgehogs again. If you
pounce on a hedgehog, you loose health. THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM OTHER
THINGS. Even if you roll it over first, you have to pounce on the head
end to be safe.
> And while I'm on this subject, the box says you get to play as young
> and old Simba, Timon and Pumbaa. This leads you to believe that you
> can choose which one you want. WRONG. :-( You are forced to start
> with young Simba, and later are changed into adult Simba. You only
> get to play as Timon and Pumbaa in cheesy "bonus" rounds. Yuck.
> This single "misrepresentation" instantly turned my 7 year-old
> daughter off of the game (and she's a HUGE Lion King fan!).
I didn't think that you could play any all the time. Did you and your
daughter really think Pumba or Timon could take on Scar? That is clearly
the big climax...
> Gameplay: Awful: In level 2, you have to ride an ostrich and
> jump/duck things in trees. A MAJOR problem is that some of the
> tree branches/leaf "bundles" will knock you down, and some you can
> jump right in front of without incident - but there is NO visual
> cue/clue as to which is which!!! THIS REALLY SUCKS!!! So, I
> suppose you are supposed to memorize which ones will knock you
> down???
What, didn't you see the pink rhinos and the birds nests? If there is a
nest (bundle) duck. If there is a rhino, jump. If there is a rhino AND
a nest, jump really high. No memorization required.
> In the area where you climb the trees to scare the monkeys
> the game really has a tough time telling where you are and where
> the bird nests are. You can sometimes jump/fall right through
> them, and other times, you'll land.
I never noticed this...
> Later in this level, you have to swing from hippo tail to hippo tail.
> Problem: Once again, the game doesn't do a good job of telling where you
> are, and even though you jump RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE TAIL, the game
> doesn't recognize this, and you fall in the water, losing a life. Did
> I mention that this sucks???? IT DOES!!!!
IT DOES NOT SUCK!!! Sure, it takes practice to learn to time of your jumps
to the swing of the tails. It took me about an hour. Now I can do it without
any trouble. It is no worse than any other rope-swing/time-the-jump in
any of a hundred other games...
> The game lets you select difficulty: Easy/Normal/Hard. The
> difference??? 8/4/1 lives. That's it. Nothing in the game is
> different!
Try fighting the hyena at the end of level one on hard and you will see
that it is much harder than on easy... You also get continues on easy
that aren't on hard.
> In short, we were more than disappointed in this game. It
> really makes me wonder how it got past the beta testers - or
> maybe it was released anyway. Don't buy this game, don't even
> rent it. I hate to say this, because I really wanted it to
> be a great game! Want a great Disney game? Get Mickey Mania!
I bought it the day it came out after playing a demo version at
the last siggraph. I am happy with it. As far as I can tell, only
level 2 has the sucky graphics, but those are so it is faithful to
the movie. Gameplay is good, sound is good, the whole game is good...
Andy
pa...@crl.com
nukulkij poom
Games scroll that we've all encountered and come to love in such titles as
Cool Spot, Robocop v. Terminator, and Aladdin? Just wondering...
And really broke right now, so any games or even rentals are out of the
question...
Poom! (Bring it on!)