Mimi Walker ’16/ Emertainment Monthly Staff
Disney Interactive was one of the premier video game companies of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and it’s still going today. There’s something still to be said about the old-time PC action games. The scopes were wide and ambitious, the story lines were compelling, and the range of player’s customization was the cherry on top. Here are the top 5 games that still haven’t aged: 5. A Bug’s Life Photo courtesy of: www.ebay.com.
Although I didn’t play it very much as a kid, I loved that it took itself so seriously; you had to work and really focus on getting past a certain area. It always took a long time to reach an out-of-reach checkpoint (thanks to the high cliffs), but the payoff was unbelievably satisfying. Throwing seeds and jumping on them lead to bouncy mushrooms or a super-fan that made you fly over canyons; which is still pretty innovative fifteen years later. This game taught me patience and cleverness are key to rising to the top. 4. Tarzan Action Game Photo courtesy of www.cdaccess.com.
This game used creative illustrations to transition each level. Remember playing as young Tarzan up until Level 5? Then you could play as Big Tarzan, Jane, Terk, and Tantar on other levels. The orchestrations by Phil Collins from the movie were in each level which made the atmosphere even better. I loved jumping on canopies, thrusting power berries at evil baboons, swinging like a madman on the vines, sliding on the prison ship, and especially the tree surfing. Also, beating Sabor is still an exercise! 3. Donald Duck: Goin’ Qu@ckers*! Photo courtesy of www.arcadeartwork.org.
You could choose to beat the levels in any order you wanted, which I loved to play around with as a kid. So many DuckTales characters were featured in the game like Gladstone, Gyro, Beagle Boys, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Gladstone’s races were always the best because you became more apt at getting your timing right on the slippery controls. Outfit changes were always a plus!(Magician, Indiana Jones, a nightgown, etc.) The bosses were really clever too, from an obese chicken to Magica de Spell, a bear to just a floating hand trying to kill you. I’d say the best part was just the set-up: rescuing Daisy from this wizard she was doing a news story on. The sense of urgency is both goofy and exciting even today. 2. 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue Photo courtesy of www.ebay.com.
They really amped up the story in this game, which always intrigued me. Cruella was a toymaker who wanted to taxidermy the kidnapped puppies into stuffed animals (and she had a really wimpy boyfriend). Morbidity aside, the scope of this game was really inspiring. Examples of fun activities: Swimming in Regent’s Park, prank-calling people in Picadilly Circus, and throwing watermelons at Cruella off of Big Ben. You saw Jasper, Horace, and LePelt and trapped them in wondrous ways. You made friends with a squirrel, a pig, a rabbit, a bat, a mole, and plenty of other characters with their own unique personalities. Also, killing Jack-in-the-Boxes and evil Toasters by barking or rolling into them is still hilarious. Also, remember the mini-games? They were so much fun! 1. Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue Photo courtesy of strategywiki.org.
If you are someone who likes to roam around levels, explore, and try all different things in order to achieve a goal or win the level, then this will satiate that craving. Although you needed to keep collecting Pizza Planet tokens, the game allowed you total freedom in which ways you wanted to earn more. That’s what made the game so unique: you could beat it in hundreds of different combinations. I would always challenge myself as a kid: “Let’s try defeating the dinosaur boss instead of getting Hamm’s coins in Level 7 this time!” This game taught me that trying new things can lead to all kinds of unique results, and that’s always a good thing to learn in gaming. This game was the Holy Grail in terms of pushing me to be a better gamer, and it’s still one of my favorites to this day.
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