The Lion King

"This game just can't wait to be king"

Let me say, this has to be one of the best games Disney ever made (They're now hawking up Disney's Xtreme Skate Adventure). The artistic style of the movie is mimicked almost flawlessly. Sure, it's just a mere cash-in attempt, but the best one Disney has thought up of! Everything brings back fond memories of the film, except no Elton John music.

Story: 10/10
Uh, hello? If you haven't noticed, this is the Lion King were talking about, the movie that currently sets the standard for animated excellence. You play Simba, the soon-to-be-king. You're all excited, and you jump of the faces of countless giraffes. Your uncle, Scar, is jealous. With the help of his hyena henchmen, he banishes you from Pride Rock, and into the unforgiving desert. You crawl and crawl until you pass out, and two folks named Timon (A meerkat) and Puumba (A Warthog) drag him to he nearby jungle. He spends a few years there, until his girlfriend, Nala, finds him. Now, he must regain kingship and defeat his evil uncle once and for all.

Gameplay: 7/10
The score got decreased becaused the gameplay mimics Mario too much, but is still high because it is well executed. Mst levels are platforming, except for the fourth level, where you must dodge oncoming wildebeast. The li'l fella can jump really high, and kills most of his enemies by jumping on them. I think it's just the chubby Italian plumber in disguise, but I'll trust him for now. Also, when you grow up, you get two new attacks, scratch and roar. You must collect various bugs for health, as shown by your colorful meter, which gets bigger every time you eat a ladybug. With this much health, you must kill the dreaded creatures, like a bug that crawls around and when attacked, creates a fiery explosion. You have to do a lot of this, but it still stays fun.

Sound: 4/10
Whenever you get hurt, you sound like a diseased calf, or when an Octorok (Legend of Zelda) shoots a rock out of it's mouth. You get the idea of what the sound is like.

Music: 8/10
The music is almost a perfect copy of the tunes in the movie. There's ''Hakuna Matata'', ''Be Prepared'', you name it. The game's fault is some annoying tunes, and one that is just plain painful to hear.

Graphics: 10/10
Wow. Just, wow. This game looks so much like the movie, you think you shoved a Lion King video tape in your Sega Genesis! The games visuals are pretty, from the colorful ''Can't wiat to be king'' level to the dark, gloomy ''Elephant Graveyard'' level.

Buy/Rent?: BUY. If you love the Lion King, you'll love this game, faithful to the movie (Except for the orange-tossing gorilla boss on the ''Hakuna Matata'' level). This is the first game I got for my Genesis, and I'm glad I chose this instead of Jungle Commando or whatever that other game was.

Overall: 9/10
One of the best video games based on a movie I've seen, to put it simply.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/03