It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t know Disney.
Just about everyone grows up with the company whether it’s toys, movies, or even video
games.
And while licensed games often have a stigma of poor quality, that’s certainly not the
case with the NES games made by Capcom based on the Disney Afternoon lineup of the late
80s and early 90s.
This is a huge source of nostalgia for me, and I still have fond memories of these shows
like DuckTales and Darkwing Duck.
So the announcement of the Disney Afternoon Collection, developed by Digital Eclipse,
who also handled the Mega Man Legacy Collection, was exciting, especially since I loved half
the games and never played the rest.
So how does this compilation stand up?
Six games are included in the Disney Afternoon Collection: DuckTales, DuckTales 2, Chip N
Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Rescue Rangers 2, Talespin, and Darkwing Duck.
The menus are designed to evoke the colorful pop aesthetic of the early 90s and everything
is well organized by release year.
There’s also options to look through art galleries containing old ads, clean box art,
and development materials that show just how closely Nintendo worked with Capcom.
It’s fascinating for old school fans like myself.
But let’s get to the games.
DuckTales is a pure platformer with players able to choose from any of five stages in
any order.
But what makes the game so different is Scrooge McDuck’s cane.
With it, he can knock away objects or pogo jump which is really the star of the entire
game.
It’s how Scrooge reaches high places, crosses spiky traps, and defeats enemies.
It’s simple but immediately satisfying when you work out exactly when and how to use the
cane.
Adding to that are the gems hidden everywhere in every level.
Collecting them has no innate value but it does lead to the best ending if you can get
enough.
The treasure also appears everywhere.
Jumping over spots will cause gems to appear and allow you to collect them.
And this truly facilitates exploration with hidden treasures, health upgrades, and extra
lives to find since there’s no way to get continues.
It can be tough, but the levels are so well designed and music remains as catchy as ever
that it never bothered me.
The game naturally made me want to do better.
And it still maintains that after all these years.
Meanwhile, DuckTales 2 is a game I had never played before this point, and you can how
the developers were trying to improve upon previous ideas.
Like before, you can choose between any of five levels in any order.
This time around though, Scrooge’s cane has seen quite the upgrade.
It’s now much easier to activate and has additional utility like pulling objects, hanging
from hooks, and even getting additional features like a stronger bounce or swing.
The improvements are noticeable, but I feel it lacks some of the charm of the original.
And that may be because the gems don’t appear nearly as often owing to a different goal.
Rather than amassing as much treasure as possible, Scrooge is looking for pieces of a map.
Finding all of them leads to the best ending.
However, after you complete your fifth level, you’re immediately railroaded to the finale.
So if you haven’t found all the map pieces yet, you’re out of luck.
It encourages replayability, but it still bothered me that I missed out on the best
ending.
Then again, there are plenty of improvements like the fact that the Treasure can be spent
in exchange for health upgrades, extra lives, and continues making collecting the gems more
worthwhile.
It makes for a game that’s technically better, but not as memorable as the original, especially
when it comes to the music which is fine but leaves no impression.
Fortunately, you don’t really have to choose between the two when it comes to this collection.
Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers is a platformer in a similar vein to DuckTales.
However, instead of bouncing around, Chip and Dale are able to pick up objects like
crates, apples, or stone blocks.
They have no other way of defending themselves but fortunately, there’s always ammunition
nearby.
And picking up the crates reveals more flower icons which eventually lead to extra lives.
It makes for a platformer where you have to plan out your moves.
And there’s lots of versatility in these objects.
They can be thrown straight ahead or above you, you can hide inside them for enemies
to trip over, and they can be thrown from that position for a lower arc.
And the enemies all encourage these different tactics.
It’s a tight platformer with some fantastic music and even a two player mode.
Unfortunately, I was unable to test it for this review, but I remember it well from my
time as a kid.
The fact that you can pick up, throw, and even daze your partner makes it much harder
than single player as you’re more likely to kill each other than the enemies on-screen.
Still, Rescue Rangers holds up incredibly well.
Rescue Rangers 2, like the DuckTales sequel, sought to improve on many of these ideas.
What surprised me most was just how good the game looked.
The spritework was often impressive and they actually tried to tell their own story kind
of like an episode of the series.
It’s simple, but I felt like there was some real confidence here.
And while the gameplay mostly remained the same, there were some new tricks like being
able to throw objects at an angle or collecting enough Rescue Rangers icons to increase your
max health.
But my favorite change was the boss battles.
In the first game, a ball was provided that you would throw at the boss while dodging
their attacks.
With the sequel, you have to dodge their attacks while looking for something to throw back
at them.
This made each encounter feel fresh and different unlike the original’s admittedly samey boss
fights.
On the other hand, the levels also felt shorter and the regular enemies had less variety.
I never felt the need to use all my tricks this time around.
Thankfully the music, while not quite as catchy as the original, still had some standout tracks.
Rescue Rangers 2 is a good follow-up, but I’m not sure if it’s as memorable.
Talespin is quite different from the rest of the games in the collection.
Since the show focused on planes, it’s more of a shooter.
However, in a strange way, it still has some platforming elements.
While the game seems to be constantly pushing you forward, it’s possible to flip your
plane upside down to not only shoot what’s behind you but move the camera that way as
well.
This allows you to pick up items you might have missed.
And these items are crucial as the plane is pretty pitiful at the outset.
It can only fire one bullet at a time while still throwing a ton of obstacles at you.
It’s very much all about dodging and trying to collect as much as you can to acquire cash.
This money can then be spent to upgrade your plane allowing it to shoot more bullets, move
faster, or buy yourself lives and continues.
But this also gives it a strange difficulty curve where the beginning and end felt like
the hardest parts while the middle showed a game that could be clever and fun.
And the bosses reflected this weird curve with some being quite simple while others
required incredibly deft dodging.
And here feels like the best time to mention one of the features added to the Disney Afternoon
Collection.
At any time, players can rewind the game in order to avoid a nasty pit, a sucker punch
from a hidden enemy, or dying outright.
And this can be used as often and for as long as you desire.
It naturally makes all the games much easier, but it’s a welcome addition in making them
approachable.
None of the games here have infinite continues.
If you don’t play well, you’re starting over from the beginning.
So I like the fact that players have an option to use this feature or not.
I certainly used it the most in Talespin.
It also felt necessary at times as the game could just feel brutal.
I don’t think it stands out as much as the others, but the controls are tight, the levels
are unique, and I could see the fun in it.
But the barrier of entry might be a little much for players if they decide not to use
the rewind functionality.
Finally, there’s Darkwing Duck.
It’s best compared to Mega Man with Darkwing equipped with a gas gun to take down enemies.
He can only shoot in a straight line, but he is able to duck for lower shots.
But what makes his gameplay different from Mega Man is the ability to cling to objects
allowing him to climb higher or cross chasms.
There are really fun platforming moments where you have to decide when to jump over something
or cling below to avoid taking damage.
Darkwing is also able to find power-ups that allow him to use three different kinds of
special shots leading to different strategies in how some areas are taken on.
But the game holds no punches.
It can be quite difficult at times though it tends to be generous when it comes to health
items.
Lives on the other hand can be scarce which makes facing off against the bosses a bit
of a scary proposition, especially the final boss.
Still, it holds up as a unique action platformer.
In addition to the Gallery, the Music Room, and the rewind function, the Disney Afternoon
Collection also includes Time Attack and Boss Rush modes for each game.
These turn off the ability to rewind as you attempt to beat the challenges as fast as
possible.
Even better, there are leaderboards for each mode to compete against as well as options
to have those times play at the same time as you, allowing you to measure against them.
It’s also possible to watch them play on their own to see what tactics were used to
get such a fast time.
It naturally lends to competition and adds replayability to games that tend to be a little
short, especially when using Rewinds.
All the games look crisp and support 1080p with options for various sizes and filters.
But like the Mega Man Legacy Collection, there’s been no effort to improve the games.
Graphical glitches, weird flickers, and slowdown are still apparent, but the goal is to have
as close to classic experience as possible.
And in that way, I totally did.
Nostalgia plays a key role, but I don’t believe you need to be a fan of these franchises
in order to enjoy them.
I ended up liking it a lot.
Some are definitely better than others, but the gameplay ideas hold up incredibly well.
And it doesn’t hurt that many of them are pretty hard to find otherwise.
If you have any kind of interest in these NES classics, definitely pick up the the Disney
Afternoon Collection.
Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe to GameXplain for more on 90s nostalgia and
other things gaming.