News – Three Classic 16-Bit Disney Titles To Be Re-Released

Games and movies have always had a troubled relationship. However, during the 16-bit days, that relationship was a lot more amicable. In fact, there were numerous quality movie tie-ins, such as the Super Star Wars series, Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, and various Disney animation tie-ins.

These 16-bit tie-ins based on some of Disney’s most iconic movies were instant classics back in the 90s. That’s why it’s extremely good news to hear that thanks to Disney and GOG.com, three of the best will be getting updated and re-released. Namely the critically acclaimed Aladdin, The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

16-bit Disney Banner

As mentioned, these titles are neither remaster or HD remake. No, instead they fall somewhere in the middle, being described as having been:

meticulously updated to be compatible with modern operating systems while preserving the original graphics, sound, and gameplay.

In fact, the games all retain their original 4:3 display by default, with the border being decorated with Disney artwork.

In essence, these are all quite simply faithful re-releases. Ones that will give gamers the opportunity to revisit these classics, or jump into them for the first time. In fact, it’s kind of what Disney does every time it releases the iconic movies that these games are based on. And it’s very much welcome.

Back in the 90s all three titles were not only well received, but they also constituted a massive step forward in quality too. Thanks to Digital technology, Disney and Virgin (developers of the Mega Drive release of Aladdin and The Jungle Book), alongside Westwood Studios (developer of The Lion King) were able to utilise hand-drawn cel animations within their games. As such, players were able to play within a world literally hand-drawn by Disney’s animation studio.

Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Jungle Book’s 16-bit tie-ins are all playable across Windows, OSX, and Linux, and are individually priced at $9.99 each / £6.99. What’s more, as these are being released in conjunction with GOG, they will all be DRM free. Trust me, if you’ve never played any of them then go grab them, especially Aladdin. You definitely won’t regret it.

16-Bit Disney Retro

Oh, and for anyone wanting to know he answer to that all important question – yes this updated version of Aladdin is based on the superior 1993 Disney Software and Virgin Games release for the Mega Drive / Genesis. And for anyone who thinks that the Super Nintendo version is superior, well even the creator of that version the legendary Shinki Mikami believes the Mega Drive version is better.

Sophia Aubrey Drake

A lifelong gamer with a fanatical love of all things Nintendo and Japan. So much so that she's written a thesis on one and lived in the other. Currently on a quest to catch every last Pokémon. Follow me on twitter via @DivaXChill or @RingsandCoins.

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