Together Retro: Licensed to Thrill (Licensed 2D Platformers)

[Xeogred]

Yeah I really dug the Toyland levels. The vertical one where you end up sliding back down it after getting the key, then I was surprised to see some gravity reversing in the next level. Loved the graphics too.

[Exhuminator]

I was surprised to see some gravity reversing in the next level

That part was pretty wicked, the way all the sprites squash-scaled and inverted upside down. I liked how the result killed the enemies too by making them fall on their heads.

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I did some further spelunking tonight, and found some more licensed platformers I'm interested in, that aren't all just Disney stuff. I'll keep those ideas as surprises. I think this TR will have some legs! Looking forward to seeing what other folks choose to play for their retro licensed platformers.

[Sarge]

Quackshot is pretty cool, I enjoyed my time with it for sure. I liked the non-linearity there.

[alienjesus]

I love Castle of Illusion and Quackshot a whole bunch, although I think I prefer the latter for it's ambition.

Is it just me who feels a little queasy when Mickey hits his head on a ceiling mid jump in Castle of Illusion and it goes 'THOK'? I feel sympathy pain in my skull

Most people think Castle on the Mega Drive is the strongest of the Illusion series, but I say you need to give all 5 old-school games a play - That's Castle of Illusion and World of Illusion on Mega Drive and Castle of Illusion, Land of Illusion and Legend of Illusion on Master System/Game Gear. Castle of Illusion on 8 bit is a different game to it's 16 bit incarnation, but still great.

I've not played the 3D reboot of Castle of Illusion yet, but I've heard good stuff. I've heard less good stuff about Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for 3DS though, which is kind of a tribute to the old school games.


Mickey isn't the only one with some interesting 8-bit games by Sega either - Donald Duck has 2 SMS/GG games too - The Lucky Dime Caper and Deep Duck Trouble. For my money they're not as good as the 8 bit Mickey games, but they're still decent fun.

If you want to finished up the 8-bit Sega licensed platformer set, please do check out Asterix or Asterix and the Secret Mission for Master System if you can - they're simple games but they're solid fun too!

[noiseredux]

AJ, I always love your enthusiasm for the SMS.

[marurun]

Don't forget the licensed Disney games on TurboGrafx 16: Darkwing Duck and Talespin! They're both awful...

[dsheinem]

Don't forget the licensed Disney games on TurboGrafx 16: Darkwing Duck and Talespin! They're both awful...

Hmmm...are they much different than the NES titles?

[Ack]

How about some hidden gems, folks? How many of you have tried out Hook on the SNES? You really need to give it a go. It's a wonderful game.

Also there are a bunch of Looney Tunes games for the Super Nintendo, though with mixed results. I'm quite partial to Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday, but Bugs Bunny in Rabbit Rampage is a title I loathe. Anybody spend much time with these? We have been talking about Disney a lot...

[alienjesus]

If we want to move away from Disney, I've played a few other licensed titles I can discuss, but it's not all good - I'll leave off Tiny Toons Adventures: Buster Busts Loose and Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu as I'[ve already recommended those.


Animaniacs for the Mega Drive is an interesting platformer with more of a focus on puzzling than hopping and bopping. You play as Yakko, Wakko and Dot, and each has a special skill you can make use of - Yakko can push and pull crates, as well as having a stunning bat and ball attack. Yakko can hit things with a big mallet. Dot blows kisses to convince characters to help you. You can switch sibling at any time, and there are 5 stages to work through, the first 4 in any order. However, the game can be a bit clunky to play, and the difficulrty is inconsistent and suffers from difficulty spikes. It's certainly not bad though, I enjoyed it.

Which is more than can be said for Speedy Gonzales in Cheese Cat-astrophe for Mega Drive, another one I had as a kid. Speedy moves too fast to control properly, and his main attack (throwing his hat) hurts him. The level design is terrible too, and you have to find all the hidden mice to finish the stage, which sucks. Avoid this one.



On the theme of looking at something lesser known, all the games being discussed so far are for 8 and 16 bit home consoles. Does anyone have some good ideas for portable titles to play, or perhaps 32 bit side-scrolling platformers? I remember Tarzan being decent, as well as Disney's Action Game starring Hercules - which was pretty solid despite it's crazy high difficulty and terrible name. Sorry that both these recommendations were Disney again though Ack!

[marurun]

Don't forget the licensed Disney games on TurboGrafx 16: Darkwing Duck and Talespin! They're both awful...

Hmmm...are they much different than the NES titles?

They are much different. And both suffer some real hit and/or platform detection issues. That's really what sinks them both. If someone hacked in smaller hit-boxes for the player and a wider platform standing base it would fix lots.