No Problem With Licensed Games / Disney

Disney tends to have some of the better licensed games, although they are also known for often being quite difficult:

• There are two completely distinct Aladdin games, one by Capcom (released on SNES and Game Boy Advance) and one by Virgin (released on Genesis/Mega Drive and PC) — and both of them are good (even if the latter is a bit Nintendo Hard, specially the Cave of Wonders bordering on Luck-Based Mission). The latter game also has a strong adherence to the film's story, hand-drawn animations from Disney's own studio, and another wonderful Tommy Tallarico soundtrack, all of which contributed towards Aladdin being the Genesis' third most successful game with 4 million copies sold.^note Only the first two Sonic the Hedgehog titles were more successful.
• There were two licensed games based on the 2010 Alice in Wonderland movie. The Wii version (a 3D action adventure) got fairly average reviews, but the DS version was hailed by many critics as an aversion of this trope. Even though it didn't follow the movie, reviewers were surprised by the stylized cartoon graphics and the 2D platform-puzzle gameplay.
• Based on the 1951 movie, Alice In Wonderland for the Game Boy Color was a well-received platformer that follows the movie and characters to the letter, featuring impressive graphics, animations, and spritework for the Game Boy, among them several scene and character art from the movie that translated very well and pushed the handheld to its limits, with only the games' sound quality being regarded as a minor weak point (The game was so impressive the developers ran out of space for everything else!).
• Sierra's The Black Cauldron is a classic and is notable for having context sensitive commands (Use/Look) instead of the then standard text parser years before "point and click" made this interface standard for adventure gaming.
• A Bug's Life also had a pretty good licensed game (though this only applies to the home console versions; the GBC game is more along the lines of the other page) - it was a level-based 3D platformer with above-average graphics, good music, and nice level design. It helps that it was developed by Traveller's Tales, who also handled Toy Story 2.
  • The home console versions also included an interesting mechanic involving growing various plants to help you, all from one single seed...only given you had collected the power-up beforehand. These ranged from platforms to springs to fans to health generators. This mechanic was used extensively and made for a different experience than most licensed games.
• Cars 2: The Video Game was a solid racing game with hours of content to unlock. The original movie's game, Cars, is also a decent open-world racing game, and it got a sequel in the form of Cars: Mater-National Championship.
• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse was one of the best games of its day, its 8-bit versions for Game Gear and Master System equally impressive, and the sequel World of Illusion was even better. Helps that the former got an HD remake in 2013; and it was just as good as the original with its updated graphics and level design.
• Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is considered the gold standard to which other co-op platformers are judged and is the first in line to be remastered if DuckTales is followed up on. Its little-known sequel took what was already great and improved it in every possible way.
• The two video games based off Chicken Little were both good. The second one, based on the movie within a movie was a lot more action packed. Both games got good reviews.
• The Darkwing Duck NES game was a Mega Man-inspired scrolling shooter. It was really good. It occurred towards the end of the NES's lifespan so the graphics were good, especially those of the characters. The controls were responsive and precise, the music ranged from inoffensive to good, and the only real complaint with the game was the nastily difficult last level.
  • The TurboGrafx-16 game by Interactive Designs, however, belongs on the other page.
• A Disney-themed skateboarding game sounds like a recipe for disaster, but Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure manages to be surprisingly solid game by itself while serving as a good entry point for young and old beginners to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. It treats the source materials used (The Lion King, Tarzan, and Toy Story) with a good deal of respect and includes multiple playable characters from all three movies. The game controls are simplified versions of those in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater without feeling like they've been totally dumbed down, making the game easy for a series beginner to pick up and play, while also giving the player the option to upgrade to the standard Pro Skater controls as they get better at the game. All in all, the game makes the ridiculous-sounding premise work and offers something for everyone, whether they're a Disney fan or a skateboarding fan looking to get into the Pro Skater series.
• Disney's Kim Possible: What's the Switch? and Disney's Kim Possible 3: Team Possible are quite fun games. The first is Kim's only console game for whatever reason, but it's praised by the fanbase (and may also be helped by the fact that you get to play as Shego). The latter is a sidescroller, a rather good one at that.
  • KP 2: Drakken's Demise and KP 5: Global Gemini are also fun, solid platformers. KP 4: Kimmunicator isn't a bad game necessarily, but it's not up to par with the others.
• The Disney's Magical Quest trilogy is another beloved trio of classics starring Mickey Mouse. The first game was good, Mickey gets to obtain new outfits that give him unique abilities, and it has nice music, too. The second game drops the turn-based two player in favor of two-player co-op and lets you choose to play as Minnie as well. And in the third game, Minnie is replaced with Donald, who now has unique abilities, you get to play a more interactive co-op, and it's also considered the best game of the trilogy. The first game was also ported to the Game Boy Advance alongside the other two and particularly featured Minnie as an alternate playable character alongside Mickey himself.
• Disney Infinity takes what you love about games like Skylanders and Minecraft, and adds the brilliant Disney magic to the mix. Each Play Set works well enough to be its own game, and the Toy Box mode lets you use your creativity with the stuff you unlocked while playing, to make extremely fun games and amazing worlds to explore.
  • 2.0 not only adds Marvel characters to the mix, but adds tons more Disney characters and fun new additions to the Toy Box like building interior, and more fun stuff.
  • And 3.0 adds Star Wars characters, from the original trilogy to The Force Awakens, making it a huge, three-way box of fun. Plus, now there's a farming system that can boost stats faster, instant access to toys, more items to play with, and best of all, more of the Disney characters you know and love. It was getting to the point where you could see just how much potential this little franchise had.
• Disney Magical World for the 3DS is a fun and pretty game where you help various Disney characters and some NPS. It's a fun Simulation Game and even got a sequel in 2015. Said sequel was popular enough to receive a port onto the Switch.
• Donald Duck: Goin' Qu@ckers (also known as Quack Attack) by Ubisoft. The gameplay was really good; but while the music of the first versions (Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and PC) was OK, the music from the PlayStation version proved to be really awesome and truly fitting for the game's cartoony style, and it was also used for the PS2 and GameCube remakes.
• Donald in Maui Mallard made Donald Duck into a gun-wielding detective who has ninja abilities and goes into a far darker and violent adventure than the ones seen in its fellow Disney games. What could go so wrong turned out to be incredibly radical, with competent gameplay, beautiful levels, and great music by Michael Giacchino.
• DuckTales is still considered one of the best NES games ever, and is the first of a (potential) line of remastered NES Disney/Capcom games.
  • Its sequel was no slouch either. While it did play similarly to the first game, it did reward the player for exploration and adding a shop after completing levels where you can turn your money into useful rewards. Merlock from the movie appeared as one of the bosses of that game. Unfortunately, it came out very late in the NES' cycle, but it was ported to the Game Boy several months later.
  • DuckTales: Remastered was deemed a great remake, despite the show being cancelled for almost 20 years and the reboot yet to be announced.
• The Emperor's New Groove was just as humorous and satirical as the movie is, hanging lampshades on video game clichés long before The Simpsons Game did. However, there are changes to the plot, such as game Kuzco knowing Yzma is trying to kill him right from the start, while in the movie he did not learn that until after the diner scene. We should also note that Yzma's crocodiles are, shall we say, more competent guards than they were in the movie.
• Epic Mickey. Disney fandom plus nostalgia plus the grand return of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit equals a hell of a game. The sequel, however, didn't fare nearly as well, and resulted in the closing of the game's development studio.
• Although it may not fit the rigid definition of "licensed", what with the main focus being on its original characters (not to mention its connections to an actual video game franchise in Final Fantasy) the Kingdom Hearts series, with all of its bountiful Disney characters, turned out to be quite decent and popular.
• Gargoyles received an excellent action-platformer for the Sega Genesis. The game featured eleven stages, and its plot revolved around the "Eye of Odin", an Artifact of Doom created by the Vikings. The Eye of Odin would later be introduced to the animated series, but significantly altered both in appearance and origin. Gargoyles featured hand-drawn sprites for Goliath, Demona and the Vikings, and rendered graphics for robotic enemies like the Steel Clan. The game's only flaw - if one can call it that - is that it is very, very difficult.
• The G-Force game is much better than the movie itself. It's a badass third person action game where you fight against hordes of horrible machines using high-tech gadgets and a huge arsenal of deadly weapons. It's an amazing game in which the developers put in tons of effort. Sometimes you wonder how a mediocre movie could get such a cool game.
• Goof Troop, for the SNES. One of the most beloved two-player co-op games of the console, it features very fun puzzles, nice graphics, various items to use as the game goes on, and is just generally addictive.
• The Haunted Mansion videogame was praised for creating an original storyline and was very fun, with some solid gameplay, great puzzles, Mythology Gag filled areas, and some Nightmare Fuel added in, it's worth picking up if you have a system it works on.
• The PS1 and PC Hercules video game. It followed the story of the film really well, had graphics that looked right out of the movie, a lot of humor, and great gameplay, that played almost all the powers and abilites of the hero and offered lots and lots of secrets. Even the gameplay change in the "rush levels" was interesting in spite of a difficulty spike. It's even available for contemporary play in both Steam\GOG and PSN.
• The Incredibles video game on PS2, GameCube, and Xbox is a pretty fun action game with some pretty challenging moments as well as unlockables, a wide variety of levels, and multiple styles of play. Granted, it's incredibly short (it can only be beaten in around 4 hours or so), Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl's original voice actors don't return, and Frozone is not playable, but it's still worth a playthrough.
  • Similarly, The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer was an excellent game. Designed to be co-op but still playable solo, the player gets to play as either Mr. Incredible or Frozone as they smash through armies of robots, bosses, and eventually, the Underminer himself, featuring an intriguing story and loads of side missions and ways to level up. While the main game is fairly short, its replay value is immense, and both of the main characters are used to their fullest.
• The Jungle Book: Groove Party on the original PlayStation was an enjoyable Rhythm Game (despite being extremely short and fairly easy) with some good songs and a power-up system that adds a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay at times.
  • The 1994 game by Virgin is a cherished classic, especially the Sega Genesis version. Like Virgin's other licensed Disney games, it is a fun, polished platformer with sprites resembling the movie. It helps that that game was delayed from its intended holiday 1993 release to about six months later to give the developers the time they needed to iron out the game's programming problems, averting the Christmas Rushed trope.
• Kinect: Disneyland Adventures also fits the bill. Although the fact that it uses Kinect makes it debatable for some—although the remaster renders it optional—this game does have the feel of the famous park and the company's characters down to a T. That and it's also an open world Kinect game, with a decent (if a bit cumbersome) control system that actually makes it work, helping to make it stand out as one of the better-rated games for the sensor.
• Lilo & Stitch's Game Boy Advance tie-in is considered to be the best video game in that franchise, with quality Metal Slug-inspired Run-and-Gun gameplay in Stitch's main levels, good stealth Puzzle Platformer gameplay in Lilo's levels, bright graphics and good animation. Tellingly, the game was so good that the tie-in game for Lilo & Stitch: The Series (Lilo & Stitch 2: Hämsterviel Havoc) based itself on that game, adding some changes and refinements.
  • Somehow, even a Flash game made by Disney is highly beloved. Such is the case with 625 Sandwich Stacker. The simple yet addictive gameplay makes it very easy to hop in and out of rounds for a high score. It's also highly beloved with many of the people that played it as kids looking back on it fondly.
• The Lion King video game (at least for the SNES, Sega Genesis and MS-DOS, the NES version and arguably the GB version belong on the other list) by Westwood Studios is a well-remembered game too, despite getting horribly difficult right in the second level. To drive the point home, one of the co-producers of this game admitted that very few of the people who worked on the game could actually beat it, and actually expressed delight that all of two people in the room he was talking to actually had.
  • The Virgin Interactive games were made in partnership with the actual Disney Studios. The Disney animators designed the sprites for them and applied The Twelve Principles of Animation. Aladdin was the final game in which Capcom held the Nintendo license for, so while SNES owners missed out on this version of Aladdin, Virgin was able to release the same basic version of The Lion King for both consoles, although, for some reason, the Genesis version had more multi-plane scrolling in the backrounds.
• Capcom's The Little Mermaid on the NES was pretty enjoyable, and was enjoyed by some boys who didn't care for the mushiness of the movie.
  • The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy for the Game Boy Color is a very fun Pinball game. It has two big beautiful tables, one is based on the first movie and one is based on the second, and they contain lots of fun minigames in addition to the really nice tables. In fact it's probably one of the best pinball games on either Game Boy, period.
• Mickey Mania for the SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and PlayStation was also very highly regarded, though rather notorious for its difficulty. The CD version in particular has some gorgeous graphics, high quality music, and more sound bites, making it the definitive version.
• Mickey's Speedway USA is a kart racing game for the Nintendo 64 made by Rareware, which is well known for many high quality games on the Nintendo 64 including licensed titles (they made GoldenEye, which is also considered a classic), so it's no surprise they did a good job with this one. It's basically just like Mario Kart with Mickey Mouse and his friends.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King for the GBA has good gameplay, gorgeous visuals, and a story that actually makes sense, especially since it's a prequel for the movie.
  • Oogie's Revenge is a PS2 sequel to the movie. Excellent plot, Scenery Porn like you wouldn't believe, excellent voice acting and character models, the ability to attack Lock, Shock, and Barrel, and decent remakes of most of the songs. And a game engine with similarities to Devil May Cry. Albeit, fighting's a bit repetitive, and the camera can be very cruel in certain levels, but it's not bad if you're a big fan of the movie.
• 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue got decent reviews on all platforms. It was notable for taking many characters from both the live action and cartoon films and putting them together in a combined continuity. It also has awesome music.
• Peter Pan The Legend Of Never Land is an Action-Adventure game for the PlayStation 2 that has an original story, and is quite difficult. It was developed by Blue 52^note Yes, it's that Blue 52..
• Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension for Wii and PlayStation 3 is a pretty decent game. It takes place during the part in the movie where they are traveling through each dimension, and it's pretty fun. Sure, the 3D models are quite low-res for PS3 standards, and it doesn't utilize the PS Move's capabilities that well, but it's a decent and enjoyable game, and highly recommended for all Phineas and Ferb fans.
  • The DS version was also fairly decent (as you got to play as Phineas, Ferb, and Perry, as well as unlock costumes for them), even if it was extremely easy.
  • Some other Phineas and Ferb games were decent, but needed more things to do so they could be longer.
• The Genesis and SNES versions of Pinocchio. A fairly linear platformer with a Simon Says Minigame early on, but it becomes a very fun platformer, and even lets you fight and kill the Coachman.
• Piglet's Big Game for the PS2, Game Boy Advance and GameCube, while being very simple in terms of gameplay, has a nice and fairly original story, great sound effects, the original voice actors and an awesome visual style. It even manages to deliver a few genuinely creepy moments - as far as Winnie the Pooh games go, anyway. And the game might not be as good as Piglet's Big Game, but Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure can definitely hold up as a decent successor with its similar playstyle.
  • The PC / Mac version is another story, as the game is too easy even for young children (all Piglet does is get ingredients for a soup).
• The first Pirates of the Caribbean game, published by Bethesda, was actually a very good pirate game. Which is because it wasn't a film adaptation at all but a sequel to an earlier game, Sea Dogs, that Bethesda bought the publishing rights to and hastily retooled into a POTC themed game, resulting in a product that, apart from the opening narration voiced by Keira Knightley and the Black Pearl being the boss, has almost nothing to do with the film. However, it was fairly buggy.
  • Dead Man's Chest for the GBA has numerous islands, a detailed (and timed) overworld with ship-to-ship combat ^note thankfully, not that kind (although the sloops are quite fast, making the battles against them quite hard), weapon and ship upgrades, tons of awesome attacks, and secrets. There is a ton of treasure, much of which powers you up once you get it (although the Statue of Ehecatl is kind of a letdown, because you have to get the body, legs, and head, and there is another treasure that does the same thing as it.)
• QuackShot Starring Donald Duck was just as good. Featuring Donald Duck in an Indiana Jones inspired hunt for treasure.
• The Tarzan game for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation and PC is a really fun platformer with various difficulty settings based on the levels. The version for the Game Boy Color is also really good, having gameplay similar to that of the Donkey Kong Country games and boasting a very good music score that's sampled, and thus of better quality than the average GBC game's music, graphics that have been said to be similar to 16-bit games, and a very good FMV that starts off the game.
• Then there's Tigger's Honey Hunt for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64, which actually manages to be a solid platformer; it's clear that the developers went the extra mile. It's a rather short game, but the music is amazingly good and the graphics are nice too.
• The Toy Story 3 video game has gotten surprisingly good reviews, both because it's a solid platformer and because its Toy Box mode offers a level of customization and exploration that you would normally find in sandbox games. The games of the previous two movies (Toy Story on SNES and Genesis and Toy Story 2 on PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast) were developed by Traveller's Tales, and weren't too shabby either.
  • Saying the video game adaptation of Toy Story 2 wasn't shabby would be selling it short (especially the PS1 version). You cannot fault its catchy music, solid platforming, and well designed levels.
  • The popularity and success of the Toy Story 3 game would lead to a large chunk of it being reused for Disney Infinity, which also became equally as successful if not more because of it (at least for a while).
• Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon is an excellent naval simulator, with very detailed graphics for its time (not many games of the 2000s had specific textures to show the holes caused by the cannonballs) that are still decent today. It is still widely played on Steam, and it has a loyal modding community.
• The Mouse has been cheerfully running on this Trope since at least 1982. TRON, arguably the original "movie video game", has two movies, but about ten games. The 1982 arcade game actually made more money than the movie did in its original run.
  • There were also three Intellivision games that were all solid performers. They were varying levels of Nintendo Hard, but are still surprisingly playable. Daft Punk cheerfully used samples of the sound effects from them in Legacy's soundtrack.
    • The least known of these, Solar Sailer, was one of the first games ever to include voice acting and made extensive use of Wendy Carlos's soundtrack.
  • There's also Tron 2.0, an original sequel to the game which transplanted the Tron world into an FPS backdrop, and was a surprisingly original game throughout, despite suffering slightly from problems such as cheap deaths and no autosave function whatsoever. It is still a Cult Classic among gamers despite becoming Canon Discontinuity once TRON: Legacy came out - up until that point, it was the official sequel, and even with Legacy taking its place, it couldn't help but borrow a few elements from 2.0.
  • TRON: Evolution covers a ton of backstory and unanswered questions from the films. The controls are tight and responsive, and it's not known for any major bugs. However, it also ends up in the other trope due to level design, inconsistent pacing, and being mostly linear while also requiring exploration to find items that give the whole story. Overall, though, it's pretty good.
  • The latest is called Tron Run/r, and is a solid Cult Classic platformer with positive reviews on Steam, despite developer Sanzaru Games having a negative reputation elsewhere.
  • The original film's inclusion in Kingdom Hearts II has been critically acclaimed, and the showdown with the MCP is regarded as one of the game's best bosses and Signature Scenes. It was so memorable, that Legacy was adapted for Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] to similar acclaim.
• Villainous is a pretty good board game that uses the source material well. There are numerous villains to play as, and the game carefully recreates what they do in the movies.
• Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour is a little known early '00s kart racer, but those that do know it hold it in high regard. The console and PC versions have surprisingly tight driving physics, a great sense of speed, and a mostly faithful evocation of the park, with the game's tracks and vehicle designs lovingly detailed. Many tracks even use music from the actual rides! The only real complaint is the lack of established Disney characters; legal tape tied up the most popular ones and Disney was VERY reluctant to allow too many others, forcing the game designers to fill the roster with all-new characters inspired by the attractions. While this was one of the more common critical marks against the game, the original characters still have plenty of fans who find them charming.
  • Sadly, the Game Boy Color version swings to the other side of the trope, with terribly scaled back presentation and subpar collision detection. At least the chiptune music sounded good.
• Wreck-It Ralph for iOS/Android - completely different from the subpar Wii/3DS game - is a very enjoyable collection of arcade-style minigames, including the Fix-It Felix Jr. arcade seen in the movie.

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