Young Simba can only do his little baby lion roar and pounce on the other animals, but as an adult his roar has a little more bass in it plus he can swat with his massive lion paws and maul his prey. Young Simba eats bugs in the Pride Lands and against better judgement explores the outdoor ossuary that is the elephant graveyard. There are a variety of levels that match the locations seen in the movie. Am I allowed to say badass in a Disney game review? I think the image softening attempt is failing. And like the movie, when Simba returns as an adult he is much more of a badass and ready to do battle with mean ole uncle Scar.

How exactly the monarchical government is maintained among the different species is not fully clear, nor is the procedure on how usurping the throne works in the animal kingdom, but this is a platforming game, not a political simulator. The latter half is when he is a full grown lion and must return to the Pride Lands to take back his kingdom from his evil uncle.

The Lion King follows the plot of the movie and as such roughly half the game is spent as a rather nonthreatening Simba cub prior to Scar exiling him through the use of his hired goons hyena goons. The Lion King saw its video game release in the final days of 1994, several months after its cinematic counterpart had made the phrase hakuna matata permanently etched into everyone’s consciousness.

Whether it is my not so secret love of Scandinavian metal, my extensive time spent in prison or my admiration of the mountain of masculinity that is Montana, the commander in chief at Hardcore Gamer decided I need a kinder, gentler image, so the equivalent of video game journalism sensitivity training is to appoint me as the designated writer for the three Virgin Disney titles that have been released from the vault to be experienced by a new generation of gamers, or to be bought as a nostalgia fueled impulse purchase.

Lion king drinking game