The Lion King Review: Is This Iconic 16-Bit Platformer REALLY That Hard?

Game Title: The Lion King
Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Release: November 9, 1994
Platforms: Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and many more

The Lion King. Need I say more? Regarded as one of the finest pieces of animation ever put to film with an incredible voice cast, amazing score, fantastic animation, and a heart-wrenching story—the Disney classic is the complete package.

Of course it has a video game adaptation!

The Lion King game, regardless of version, is widely considered to be one of the most frustratingly difficult video games from its era. The difficulty spikes are intentional and the developers have gone on record in more recent years to explain that it was a design decision implemented by Disney to incentivize purchases or multiple rentals over a single weekend playthrough. They wanted you to suffer and buy it since they couldn’t drain your quarters at the arcade with this one.

Does it live up to that reputation? Is it REALLY that hard of a game? Let’s dig in and see.

I like to talk about the presentation of a physical retro game up front because, back in the day, that’s how many of us were introduced to these games. There wasn’t YouTube, or the internet in most cases, and in this time period specifically, we didn’t even have TV coverage much at all yet. You’d get a few magazines, maybe, but other than peers telling you about games you were left with browsing game aisles at stores and rental shops. That’s about it.

Naturally, The Lion King has incredible box art. The fire, intensity, and authentic art from the film told you immediately what you were in for. Once you flipped the box around you could see various different levels that seemed to be ripped straight out of the movie as well. This was peak licensed gaming at a time when Disney games were already highly regarded.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the manual with my copy but well done to the folks at Disney, Westwood Studios, and Virgin Interactive.

I could never beat this game growing up and I have a feeling that’s probably the case for the vast majority of people that played it back in the day or the ones that have tried to play it in the years since. It’s just a very, very difficult game.

That’s what I remember most. When I’d try to beat it, I’d rarely get up to the point you become adult Simba and would instead run out of lives and continues far before then.

When I finally decided to get good and beat it live on stream earlier this year, a lot of viewers would remark in the latter half of the game they had no idea you could even become adult Simba! That’s how tough the game was for folks.

Beyond that though, the music and pixel art are several steps above most of its contemporaries. The actual character sprites were drawn by animators from Disney itself and the music and voice lines were sampled directly from the film prior to its release. It was one of the first games to ever be developed right alongside the movie it was based on and I think that contributed heavily to its quality and success.

Earlier this year I took the time to actually beat The Lion King on original hardware. You can see the proof right here in this YouTube Shorts clip from my TikTok livestream. Ultimately I agree that it’s a very tough game, but I think a little bit of patience is all it really takes to learn its quirks and figure things out.

Once you understand how to play the game and get a feel for the physics of how things move and where things are in the levels, like any game, it’s really not that hard—just a bit frustrating.

For example, the infamous monkey and ostrich level is the second stage in the game. When you realize the order you need to roar at the monkeys and the timing for the ostrich jumps, it’s one of the easiest levels in the game.

On the other hand, the third to last level, the massive lava level for adult Simba when you’re on your way back to face Scar, now that’s the level that never gets easier. The lava tube explosions, the lava dripping from the cave ceiling, the hidden bats, the hyenas, the tigers—it’s an onslaught of stuff trying to stun-lock you at every step and it’s absolutely brutal.

Usually, my goal is to reach this level without ever wasting a single continue up to that point because I’m gonna burn at least two entire life pools and continues just trying to get through that one.

If you have the patience and thumb dexterity to push through all of that, the delicious center of this game is something full of love, attention to detail, and real heart. It’s a tremendous accomplishment that they were able to craft something that looks, sounds, and plays this great in a tight timeframe for these classic systems.

Compared to something like Mickey Mouse in Castle of Illusion or even Aladdin on Genesis, controls in The Lion King are extremely tight. Simba doesn’t float around when he jumps in this game as he has real weight behind his movements.

And then once you become adult Simba, you lose the ability to roll, but gain the ability to swipe and pounce. He controls heavier, feels more powerful, and in some ways is a tiny bit slower as well. They really nailed how different it might be to embody a lion cub versus an adult lion vying for his kingdom’s throne. Just really great stuff.

The Lion King was regarded quite highly at release and it, unsurprisingly, sold incredibly well. Over 1.2 million copies sold for the SNES version alone and in total it amassed over 4.5 million copies across all versions. In the 90s, that’s a ludicrous number.

There were ports to MS-DOS, Game Gear, Game Boy, and more, but I know far less about those versions. The Sega Genesis is where my love and nostalgia resides the most.

Reviews lauded the visuals and music, but often critiqued the repetition and difficulty. I’m not sure I understand the repetition complaints since every level is dramatically different and there are two entirely separate versions of Simba to play as. Not to mention it follows the plot of the film about as closely as you could expect. Developer Westwood Studios really, truly, nailed it with this one.

If you want to try it for yourself but don’t have a working old console, have no fear! The Lion King and the Sega Genesis version of Aladdin have been re-released in a bundle for $20 on Switch, PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, and Xbox. You can also grab The Jungle Book and the SNES version of Aladdin as an optional add-on as well for a great quadrilogy of punishing 16-bit platforming goodness.

Honestly, I consider The Lion King to be one of the best platformers of the entire generation and I’ll go to war on that hill. Visually it’s one of the best-looking games from the entire generation if you ask me, it has a tremendous soundtrack that wiggles its way into your brain and doesn’t leave, and the satisfaction you get from finally conquering it is indescribable.

If you manage to look past the “one of the hardest games ever made” reputation and give it a chance, I really think you might be surprised by how much you love it.

And I’ll do a bit of a humble brag and say that beating it on original hardware, on my actual Sega Genesis, was definitely worth the struggle. Absolutely legendary stuff.

Do you have any favorite retro games or hidden gems you feel like don’t get enough love? Let me know in the comments and maybe I’ll take a look for a future review if I have the system. Also, I’m slowly collecting, playing, and reviewing every Sega Dreamcast game, which is a pretty fun project! Check it out:

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Have you played The Lion King on either Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!