While sprawling amusement parks and beloved animated movies often spring to mind when you think of the House of Mouse, the company has also produced a wealth of video games over the last three decades. Beyond the classic 2D platformers of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, Disney has delivered a diverse range of titles and with the highly anticipated Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed on the horizon, there’s no better time to revisit the best Disney games ever made.
13. Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers (NES)
Released on the humble NES home console back in 1990, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers is a side-scrolling, 2D platformer which invites one or two players to get stuck in. Though far from stellar and certainly much too short, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers nonetheless does an entertainingly wholesome job of putting people in the really rather tiny shoes of Chip and Dale, as they pick up objects to smash enemies and leap and dash across a range of themed levels in a bid to rescue a missing kitten. D’aww. Nowadays, you can play Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers as part of the Disney Afternoon Collection which was released for PC, Xbox One and PS4 back in 2017.
12. Disney Speedstorm (PC, Consoles)
A free-to-play kart racer from developer Gameloft, Disney Speedstorm is actually a surprisingly decent genre effort for a number of reasons. Not only does it play very responsively and boast a vivid visual presentation that makes good use of current hardware, but it also does a good job of assembling Disney folks from all manner of properties, allowing players to play as characters from Monsters Inc., Beauty and the Beast, Mickey Mouse, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Unfortunately, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, as its free-to-play monetisation strategies mean a good chunk of grinding awaits those unwilling to unburden their wallets.
11. Disneyland Adventures (PC, Xbox)
Less of a game in the strictest sense and more of an experience, Disneyland Adventures almost feels like an extension of the advertising arm for Disney’s most famous amusement park. Filled with collect-a-thon style tasks, a spread of uneven minigames and a whole lot of trotting about, it’s fair to say that as a game, Disneyland Adventures hardly thrills. However, as a Disneyland ‘sim’, Disneyland Adventures excels as it provides an unparalleled digital replication of the Happiest Place on Earth and encourages players to meet and frolic with a range of classic Disney characters. Great for the little ones and adults alike, if you want to tide yourself over until your next visit to the real-life thing, this is the next best thing.
10. The Lion King (Super Nintendo)
The video game adaptation of Disney’s most iconic film of the last 30 years was always going to come under a whole heap of scrutiny and luckily, for the most part, it delivers a platforming romp that deftly echoes its big-screen counterpart. Essentially splitting the game into two halves, players take control of a young Simba in the first half as the heir apparent leaps about the African plains, defeating enemies and using his adorable roar to progress through puzzles. Predictably in the second half, Simba matures into a full-sized lion-beast and gains access to a range of combat-focused moves as the game shifts in tone accordingly.
Doing a great job of matching the movie’s memorable audiovisual presentation (an impressive feat considering the limitations of the 16-bit hardware of the time), The Lion King is a great Disney video game adaptation that sadly finds itself undercut by a punishing level of difficulty, mainly due to an abundance of enemies on screen at once and all-too-frequent blind jumps that must be taken on faith.
9. Hercules (PSOne)
Much like its strapping protagonist, Disney’s Hercules video game adaptation is brash, colourful and loud in ways that fans of both the movie and side-scrolling action efforts will surely appreciate. Cast as the titular Olympian, Hercules is a combat-focused platformer that has our well-meaning meathead smashing up all manner of baddies from the depths of Greek mythology. With an eye-opening blend of 2D art and 3D visuals, Hercules certainly looks the part, though an overly safe adherence to the gameplay style of the Disney titles from the older 16-bit era, albeit with a far shinier veneer, means that Hercules doesn’t stand quite as tall in this list as his namesake might suggest.
8. QuackShot (Sega Genesis)
Often overlooked, QuackShot was yet another standout Disney-licensed effort of the 16-bit console era that lingers long in the memories of those who were lucky enough to play it. As you might well infer from the title, QuackShot has players taking control of a predictably grumpy Donald Duck as he sets off on a journey to claim a bountiful lost treasure belonging to a great duck king of antiquity. A well-pitched mixture of platforming, puzzle-solving and with a dash of side-scrolling blasting and a hefty helping of Disney whimsy to boot, QuackShot has the ornery waterbird using a rather unique gun that can fire out popcorn, bubble gum and plungers as he blasts his way to a towering fortune.
7. Castle of Illusion (Sega Genesis, PC, Xbox)
Disney’s Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (to give its longer, more exasperating title), was widely regarded as one of the best non-Sonic The Hedgehog platformers on Sega’s 16-bit Genesis system when it popped onto store shelves back in 1990. Putting players in the big, ungainly-looking yellow shoes of Mickey Mouse, Castle of Illusion has our iconic-eared hero leaping his way through gorgeously realised 2D worlds as he attempts to rescue his beloved Minnie Mouse from a dastardly witch. With an audiovisual presentation that pushed the envelope of what one would expect from 16-bit hardware, together with some super responsive platforming shenanigans and enough Disney charm to weigh down Dumbo, Castle of Illusion is a great slice of Disney platforming that everybody should play.
Wonderfully, Castle of Illusion was remade in a 3D art style (whilst maintaining the 2.5D gameplay) back in 2013 for PC and console and can be nabbed right now on those respective digital stores.
6. World of Illusion (Sega Genesis)
Much like the excellent Castle of Illusion before it, World of Illusion is a splendid little 2D platformer that once more has Mickey Mouse tangling with a nefarious magician in order to find a way home (what is it with Mr. Mouse and rogue arcane practitioners?). Where World of Illusion meaningfully separates itself from its predecessor is in the inclusion of a two-player cooperative mode which sees both Mickey Mouse and his frequent friend Donald Duck leaping onto the noggins of enemies and learning new spells that allow them to swim, fly and much more besides.
5. Epic Mickey (PC, Consoles)
An entirely original and unexpected Disney romp from the mind of Deus Ex and System Shock designer Warren Spector, Epic Mickey envisions a scenario where our titular protagonist finds himself imprisoned in a mysterious world which is a dark reflection of Disneyland itself (Main Street U.S.A. being renamed as ‘Mean Street’ should give you an idea of where they were going with this).
A fully 3D platforming adventure, where Epic Mickey excels is in how it enables Mickey to leverage a magic paintbrush to conjure up quantities of paint and thinner that can be used to alter the very structure of the environment in ways that felt genuinely innovative for the time. Throw in an unexpectedly introspective look at Disney and its amusement parks and it soon becomes clear that Epic Mickey deserved far more than the muted commercial response it received on release. Here’s hoping its remaster gets a better reception!
4. Disney Dreamlight Valley (PC, Consoles)
Disney Dreamlight Valley is a life sim that since its release in 2022 has proven to be enduringly (and often horrendously) engaging in ways that have proven troublesome for social calendars all around the globe. As an original adult character visiting their Disney buds from the past, you’ll get to customise your Dreamlight Valley settlement to your liking, invite a whos-who of Disney royalty to visit and take part in the proceedings as you complete quests for your residents, harvest the land, craft equipment, make new friends and all that other lovely, warm fuzzy stuff. I wasn’t joking either – it’s really best that you don’t have any social life of any kind before playing this, because you certainly won’t have one after you start.
3. DuckTales (PC, Consoles)
Easily one of the most fondly remembered Disney games in this list, DuckTales is based on the late 1980s Disney television show of the same name and is a stellar little platforming effort in its own right. Though the plot, which has Scrooge McDuck travelling the world to make his hoarded fortune even larger by robbing a bunch of lost treasures, held little water, DuckTales nonetheless played magnificently as Scrooge leaps and wallops (with his trusty walking stick) his way from the depths of the Amazon to the cold vacuum of the Moon in search of his precious treasure.
Absolutely stuffed to the brim with Disney charm and enough legitimately challenging platforming to keep even the most committed genre fan grinning from ear to ear, players who aren’t crusty enough to remember DuckTales in its original 8-bit incarnation can get stuck into DuckTales: Remastered, an entirely revamped and superbly remade take on that Disney classic courtesy of the talented folks at WayForward.
2. Kingdom Hearts (PC, Consoles)
Kingdom Hearts is a third-person action RPG that sees a young lad called Sora flanked by his loyal friends Donald and Goofy, as they leap across and into various Disney worlds in order to save his missing friends from a mysterious darkness known as the Heartless. From the dusty streets of Aladdin’s Agrabah to the vibrant messiness of Andy’s playroom in Toy Story and so many other iconic locations, Kingdom Hearts is a veritable kaleidoscopic dreamscape of different iconic Disney characters and locales that just beg to be explored.
What keeps the Kingdom Hearts games from claiming the top spot in this list – and again, this is just the opinion of this scribe (you’ll find plenty to the contrary) – is the sanity-eroding story which becomes far too convoluted, far too quickly, across the many games in the series. Coupled with some gorgeous visuals and great voice acting performances, the sugar rush appeal of leaping in and out of various Disney worlds with a massive cast of Disney characters is an evergreen attraction. You just need to decide whether you want to either dig into that almost impenetrable narrative or just ignore it altogether and stay for the ample quantities of Disney fan service.
1. Aladdin (Sega Genesis, PC, Consoles)
Disney’s Aladdin is everything you could want – at least in the words of this humble scribe – from a licensed Disney video game. From the beautifully animated sprites that deftly evoke their big screen counterparts to the precise and ultra-responsive 2D platforming, perfectly judged level of difficulty and a frankly spot-on recreation of Alan Silvestri’s finger-rapping, earwigging movie soundtrack, Aladdin is the quintessential Disney game that everybody should play regardless of their age. Want some amazing news? Aladdin is available as part of the Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King twin pack on modern platforms – so there is literally no reason not to enjoy it in all its glory!
