NES – Adventures in the Magic Kingdom
November 21, 2008 - 9:17 am - Posted by Sean
Disney’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom for the NES lets you freely explore a virtual Disney amusement park, with the rides represented by mini-games.
Wandering around the park should be fun, but why does it look so sparse? All of the different areas are represented like Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and Liberty Square, but there’s minimal detail. Instead of paths and roads between areas, there’s just grass. Pretty lame.
Your goal is to collect silver keys hidden in the five attractions. Space Mountain is a simplistic first-person space shooter that demands quick reflexes, Autopia is a clumsy overhead racer, and Big Thunder lets you steer speeding mine-carts while trying to avoid dead-ends. The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean are the real highlights. These two addictive side-scrollers look great and control well.
In Pirates of the Caribbean, you wander through burning towns and treasure-filled caves while trying to save six prisoners. The Haunted Mansion features some wonderfully creepy ghouls and decrepit scenery, along with clever touches like spooks that appear in mirrors as you pass by. If only there wasn’t so much emphasis on tedious platform hopping between floating chandeliers and chairs.
When playing any of the games, you can hit Select to trade in stars for bonuses like free lives, invincibility, or freezing enemies. A sixth silver key can be acquired by correctly answering trivia questions posed by kids standing around the park. Don’t worry if you get a question wrong – just go back and ask again.
On the surface, Adventures in Magic Kingdom seems aimed squarely at kids, but even adults will enjoy the challenge of collecting all of the keys. The game could have used a few more attractions (the Jungle Cruise comes to mind), or at least a few hidden surprises around the park.
As it stands, Disney’s Adventures in the Magic Kingdom is a pleasant collection of mini-games that should appeal to Disney fans of all ages.
Hey, I think I actually remember this game! That candle the dude’s holding in the second screenshot is actually a weapon, right?
@Luke: Yes the candle looking thing can be used as a weapon. You throw them at ghosts, etc.
one interesting thing about this game is the music. it was one of the first games scored by Yoko Shimomura, famous for her music in “Super Mario RPG”, “Parasite Eve”, and “Kingdom Hearts”.