Welcome dudes and dudettes to another edition of 16-bit beach, where the best video games of all time retire in glory. Or do they? This week, it’s time to forget about your worry and your strife, because 16-bit beach is going to look for the simple bare necessities of a good game. But can this weeks game truly survive the harsh jungle of the 16-bit world? Let’s find out by looking at the Sega Genesis version of Disney’s The Jungle Book.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1994
PUBLISHER: Virgin Interactive
DEVELOPER: Virgin Interactive/Eurocom
GENRE: Action Platformer
By 1994, Capcom’s license with Disney was starting to die out. Though they would still make a few games like the Magical Quest series, and a game based on Disney’s Bonkers, the license would go directly to Virgin Interactive, who had impressed Disney with the massive success of Aladdin the year prior.
With the Disney license in full swing, Virgin looked to try new routes with the license, and one would be an adaptation of the 1967 Disney animated classic The Jungle Book. The game was slated for a 1993 release, but due to setbacks, the game would be delayed until 1994 due to Virgin developers like David Perry leaving to form Shiny Interactive. Virgin would get the help of the developers at Eurocom to finish up the game.
The Jungle Book got ported to practically every major console. The Master System, the Super Nintendo (a new game completely from Eurocom), the game boy, the game gear. It was even one of the very last titles for the NES. And, as this article will focus on, it also got a port for the Sega Genesis. It earned decent reviews for the Genesis port, even earning Gamefan Magazine’s award for best Genesis Movie-to-Game adaptation of 1994. But are these accolades warranted? Let’s delve deeper.
COVER STORY
A very solid eye catcher cover. You have Mowgli in a great action pose as you see the game’s main villains in the background. Can’t help but admit that I’m a sucker for classic Disney art such as this, and much like Aladdin for the Genesis, this really helps sell the game.
STORY
The story of the game mirrors that of the film. Mowgli is a man cub, a boy raised by wolves. However, his jungle life is threatened when the evil Shere Khan is now hunting him. Mowgli has to make it to the village to escape the tiger’s clutches. But with evil hypotic snakes, and menacing monkeys in his way, can Mowgli find the bare necessities needed to survive?
GAMEPLAY
The Jungle Book is a one player action platformer. You control the man cub Mowgli as he must go from level to level finding gems and making your way to the next level. You move Mowgli with the D-Pad, toggle weapons with the A button, fire weapons with the B button, and jump with the A button.
The object of each level is to find up to 15 gems littered throughout the level. You have to find a set number before the time runs out before you can exit the level. The amount needed is dependent on the difficulty chosen before starting. With the gems all scattered through the level, it can be tricky to find them all at once. But the game gives you an advantage with a compass you can find in each level. This becomes a massive help, especially for the trickier to find gems. Find all 15 in a level to earn a bonus stage to earn extra lives.
Mowgli has two methods of attack. He can jump on the heads of enemies (which feels a bit off at times with hit detection), but for the most part will fire bananas at his foes. He can fire left, right, straight up, and diagonally. You’ll also find other items like double bananas for extra accuracy, boomerangs that fly back, and powerful coconut shots. The best item you can find is a tiki mask which will give Mowgli invincibility for as many tiki points you have with each one collected. So you are well strapped for this battle.
You have a health bar represented by Mowgli’s face. If it runs out, you lose a life. Finding hearts will replenish your health. You can also rack up lives quite easily by collecting random fruit as well as Mowgli heads. However, like most games at the time, you can only rack up to 9 lives at one time. The other major item in the game is the hourglass which will add some extra time.
The game follows most of the major events of the film. Mowgli meeting Bagheera the panther in the jungle, facing off with Kaa the Snake, dealing with the elephants on the dawn patrol. You’ll meet Baloo the bear at the river, battle the witch doctor monkeys in the tree village, followed by a battle with King Louie. And after dealing with the jungle at night, it’s down to the final battle with the feared tiger, Shere Khan.
The game controls well enough. Mowgli has a decent length jump, and solid movement. However, there are some major issues with hit detection, and I feel that while Mowgli has a solid jump, he can miss platforms at time if he isn’t pixel perfect. Other than that, the game feels solid for a platformer.
GRAPHICS
The game has solid graphics for the Genesis. Levels are nice and colorful and give off not just a jungle feel, but stick close to the style of the film. All the classic Jungle Book characters are well represented with their character sprites and look almost like they came straight from the film. I will saw however that unlike Aladdin, which added more comedic elements to both the sprites and the backgrounds, The Jungle Book is lacking in that department, but it doesn’t deter from what is a great looking Genesis game.
SOUND
It’s a great sounding game. Plenty of decent sound effects, followed by a great soundtrack for the Genesis. It includes a couple different renditions of classic songs from the movie like “I Wanna Be Like You” and “Bare Necessities”, and the original music in the game sounds fitting for the areas they’re used, making for a game that won’t be annoying to the ear.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
The Jungle Book is a by the books platformer, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any stretch of the imagination. It controls well enough, has great graphics, and a decent difficulty. Much like so many Disney games at the time, it’s a fun play. But because there were so many Disney games with fun play at the time, it’s easy to see how this one got lost in the shuffle. But if you can find it, give it a play.
RATING: Thumbs Up