Disney has an interesting track record with games over the years. During the early days of the industry, licensed Disney titles often ended up as some of the best adaptations of preexisting properties into the medium. There are countless SNES and Genesis Disney games that fans would gleefully consider classics. Even the PS1 has some great Disney titles.
But Disney has gotten a bit worse with their licensing games since then, with plenty of duds along the way. Even some of their earlier titles are truly dire. The company partnered with Capcom for quite a while, but there’s no real consistency in quality even among those. Some are in desperate need of a remake, while others hold up well today.
10 Deserve A Remake: Darkwing Duck (GB)
Let’s get dangerous. Darkwing Duck was developed for both the NES and Game Boy, but only one version is actually worth playing: the latter. One of the best platformers Capcom developed for the handheld (and they developed some great ones between Mega Man V and Xtreme 2,) Darkwing Duck needs a modern reimagining.
Just a visual upgrade is enough. Slap a $5-$10 price tag on it and call it a day. It’ll sell itself. Darkwing Duck is one of Disney’s best properties as far as genuine quality goes, and a remake would be a fantastic way of invigorating some interest in the series.
9 Don’t: Adventures In The Magic Kingdom (NES)
Per Macbeth, ambition is the root of all evil. Per Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, ambition is the root of all bad NES games. An 8-bit tour of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, this was a good idea, in theory, offering audiences an opportunity to visit the park at home, but the technology was not there in 8-bit and any attempt at recreating Magic Kingdom is purely superficial.
The game itself is also painfully obtuse and tedious, but at least it’s strange enough to warrant some play time. One has to wonder what exactly the developers were thinking when developing Magic Kingdom. Most of the game seems haphazardly stitched together in a way even an amateur wouldn’t be proud of.
8 Deserve A Remake: Disney’s Aladdin (SNES)
Disney’s Aladdin is an amazing action-platformer. On the Sega Genesis. On the Super Nintendo, it’s just a pretty good platformer. That’s not a bad thing by any means and the SNES Aladdin is undeniably a good game, but the Genesis version is just so much better it’s almost unreal.
Now, this isn’t to say the SNES version should be remade to be more in line with the Genesis port. Rather, a remake of the SNES Aladdin could simply help make the platforming more engaging with better level design. A potential remake could also just go in a different direction entirely, perhaps playing with combat & puzzle solving in a 3D space ala The Legend of Zelda.
7 Don’t: Mickey Mousecapade (NES)
An 8-bit 2D platformer for the NES, Mickey Mousecapade is a rare misfire for Disney as far as their early licensed games go. It’s not just a little bad, though. This is genuinely one of the absolute worst games in the NES’ catalog, right down there with the likes of Adventures in the Magic Kingdom.
Where Adventures in the Magic Kingdom is at least strange enough to make up for its lack of quality (to some degree,) Mickey Mousecapade is just an aggressively bad game throughout. It’s not so bad, it’s good, and it’s not that funny to make fun of. Mickey Mousecapade should just be forgotten by time.
6 Deserve A Remake: Disney’s The Lion King (SNES)
The Lion King saw a recent rerelease for all current-gen consoles, but it’s a rough game. It would be unfair to say it doesn’t hold up well as that implies it ever held up at all. Even at launch, The Lion King was an overly difficult, tedious mess that only survived because the movie it was based on was so good. (Also, the game does look nice.)
A remake that looks even more in line with the original animated classic would be phenomenal, and with 2D platforming better than ever thanks to the indie scene, a remake of The Lion King would be a perfect fit. Like with the SNES Aladdin, it could do with a serious makeover.
5 Don’t: Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse (NGC)
Despite having a fairly strong run across the 16- and 32-bit generations, Disney started to fumble as the medium embraced 3D more. While the company would continue to see good licensed games, the quality would drop considerably heading into the PS2 and GameCube’s heyday.
Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse had everything it needed to be a great game, but it’s short, boring, easy, and less a game and more a vehicle for Disney to print money. What’s frustrating is that the game was even developed by Capcom, but instead of being a high-quality platformer, it’s a low-quality point and click game.
4 Deserve A Remake: The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge (PS2)
This is unironically one of the better hack and slashers on the PlayStation 2. It isn’t too in-depth and fans of Devil May Cry will more than likely find the lack of challenge underwhelming, but for a Nightmare Before Christmas video game, this is so much better than it has any right being. As is, it’s a fun action game. With a remake, it could be so much more.
The genre has evolved considerably since the PS2 era and a remake of Oogie’s Revenge could bring the game more in line with its contemporaries. Just imagine a Jack Skellington with the mobility and combat potential of Bayonetta or Nero.
3 Don’t: Fantasia (Sega Genesis)
Fantasia is one of the absolute worst Disney games ever made. It is one of the most aggressive examples of phoning it in for licensed games. Fantasia stands out even worse due to Disney’s track record at this time. Their 16-bit games were generally very high quality, and Fantasia barely functions on a mechanical level.
The game looks and sounds decent enough (you’d hope so from a game based on Fantasia), but it’s such a miserable experience otherwise. Mickey isn’t fun to control, platforming is a chore, and the gameplay loop never goes beyond the bare minimum. Let’s leave Fantasia as a movie.
2 Deserve A Remake: DuckTales 2
The original DuckTales is considered by many to be one of the finest platformers on the NES and it’s not hard to see why. Capcom was on their A-game back in the day, and DuckTales, while a licensed property, clearly shows a considerable amount of love for the property (and for the medium) on Capcom’s part.
Unfortunately, that same care wasn’t quite reserved for either the remake or DuckTales’ sequel. DuckTales didn’t need a remake, but DuckTales 2 does. A remake could bring the sequel around on par with the original. It’s not as good on a design level, but modern design conventions could help iron out the kinks.
1 Don’t: Epic Mickey
It’s just not worth it in the grand scheme of things. Epic Mickey was an interesting project that garnered more hyped than it deserved and ultimately killed any real interest in the game considering the concept art was just so much better than the final game. That said, it’s not like Epic MIckey is a bad game per se. It’s just not that great.
A mediocre action-adventure game, Epic Mickey was good enough to justify one other sequel but said a follow-up wasn’t good enough to justify the series continuing any further. Remaking Epic Mickey might give fans the game they were looking for, but Disney would never allow that game to be made and Epic Mickey just doesn’t have the goodwill.
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