Sunday, February 8, 2026

Platform Game Compilation Review: Disney Classic Games - Aladdin and the Lion King


Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King is a compilation of two of the most well remembered platform game adaptation of Disney films. It brings the Virgin Games version of Aladdin and The Lion King by Westwood Studios to consoles and Windows through emulation by Digital Eclipse.

The headlining game is a bit controversial. There were three versions of Aladdin, one by Virgin Games, one by Capcom, and one by Sega. Since the 16-bit days, there has been a lot of debate over whether the Virgin Games or the Capcom version of Aladdin was the best. In most debates, the Virgin one, primarily released on the Sega Genesis, just barely comes out on top, over the Capcom version, which was primarily released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Virgin game is the version included in this compilation. Digital Eclipse included both the Sega Genesis and Game Boy versions of Aladdin. The Genesis version is, without a doubt, the better version, but it's interesting to get to play the Game Boy port in the compilation as a curio.

The other game is not controversial at all, bar it's difficulty. The Westwood Studios game adaptation of The Lion King was released for both Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. Both of those versions are included in the compilation, and this one really comes down to audio preference due to the difference in the sound hardware between the two systems. Digital Eclipse also included the Game Boy version of this game as well, although, like with Aladdin, it's merely a curio since it's not a great port.

A neat inclusion is a prototype version of Aladdin that was compiled the same month as the version that was demonstrated at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1993. It's a really cool inclusion, and it's really neat to see what changed from the prototype stage to the final release. The level inside the lamp, in particular, is quite different. Since this is an unfinished build, I recommend you play through the full Sega Genesis version of the game first before trying the CES version.

Disney Classic Games - Aladdin and the Lion King is a nice compilation of two of the most popular Disney video game adaptations of the early 1990s. It was created by Digital Eclipse, the studio that has been releasing emulation-based re-releases since its release of Williams arcade games in 1994, so the emulation is quite good. The regular emulation features like rewind and save anywhere really help for these games, since the 16-bit era was one where difficult platformers were still the norm. This version of the compilation doesn't have Capcom's Aladdin included, which is a bit of a bummer, but what is there is done really well, especially the inclusions of the original artwork and the CES prototype of Aladdin.

Final Verdict:
4 our of 5

No comments: