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Sunday 8 March 2015

DISNEY'S ANIMATED STORYBOOK: HERCULES


So far, our more twisted inmates have been chosen to be freed from the Collection Chamber, but today I'd like to introduce you to a more innocuous detainee; Disney's Hercules: The Animated Storybook...

I'm sure you're all familiar with the movie, one many would consider one of Disney's minor flicks after the triumphs that were Aladdin and The Lion King. It is one that the young and young at heart can truly embrace. In my opinion it is one of Disney's best, before ice-cold lesbian metaphors became all the rage.
The Animated Storybook series are strictly aimed at primary schoolers. They were mainly released to coincide with a movie's theatrical or home video release and Hercules is no different in this respect. Where it does differ is in the often wry humour that runs throughout, one that - like the movie - can transcend the age barrier.

Now, I'm not talking Monty Python levels of wit here, and most jokes do nothing for those over the age of five. What we do get is a wobbly Baccus offering 'grape juice' to the newborn Hercules in front of the scorning parents, a subtly sardonic Hermes and an ever-entertaining James Woods as Hades. All actors reprise their roles from the movie keeping a nice and rarely seen continuity.

But what is absolutely brilliant about these games, and one that I cannot stress enough, is that any mini people bounding around your heels will be transfixed by them. And it promotes reading too if you want them to learn and be quiet at the same time.

At its heart, it is a picture book, with the text highlighted when read out loud by the characters (a nice touch is that some words are annotated and explained in rhyme). It is then a sandbox of wacky things to interact with on each page, mini-games (including checkers) and a sing-a-long if your brave enough.

So why hasn't this series endured to include all of Disney's offerings? The last game in the series of 10 came in 1999 (based on Winnie the Pooh rather than their newest feature, Tarzan) without much since.  Games like this would be perfect on modern tablet devices, yet Disney seem to be content with releasing uninspired cheap mini-games without the care and respect for the source material these had.

I believe that the novelty of Microsoft Windows and CD-based multi-media titles had worn off at the turn of the millennium. Games such as this quickly became out-of-fashion, but to its credit, this series did last longer than most.

So I present to you and the rugrats in your life, the recently reformed Hercules: A Disney Animated Storybook. Do these titles deserve a second chance or are quality kid games a thing of the past? Turn your child-like mind on, play the game and let me know your thoughts.

*The subject of today's post was brought to you by my 5-year-old nephew who goes by the gamer-tag of Hat.


To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses DOSBox running Microsoft Windows 3.1 to get the game working on modern systems. Tested on Windows 10.
  01.07.2015 Version 2 - Improved installer
  02.05.2016 Version 3 - Autoclose Windows 3.1 when exiting the game

File Size: 333 Mb.  Install Size: 592 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download


Disney's Animated Storybook: Hercules is © Disney Interactive
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King  UFOs  Tequila & Boom Boom

17 comments:

  1. Do you take requests? There are two games I can't figure out how to get, and the disney animated story books you posted all worked great for me!!!

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    1. I do. Can't say with certainty I'll be able to get them to work though. Clandestiny and Johnny Mnemonic were both requested games. Which games were you thinking about?

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    2. The Lost Mind of Dr Brain, The Great Word Adventure, or any of the Disney Activity Venters! :)

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    3. Hey Kyrie, look at today's post! Are you psychic? :)

      I've got the Dr. Brain series on the backburner, including Lost Mind. I wanted to put them all in a single collection rather than have multiple posts which does take more time. I know I have them all working. I've not heard of The Great Word Adventure, though I'll take a look.

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    4. I just saw and downloaded them all!!! YAY!!!! And that is a cool idea! I have been trying to get Dr. Brain and can't get it anywhere. I used to play it all the time when I was a kid. And The great word adventure is a game, there were a series, the great word, math and reading, but I mostly loved the word version it was by Howie Mandel!!! It was my favorite PC game as a kid. And they have a download from like some other site for free, but you have to know how to do all the technical aspects of manual controlling dosbox, or doing some win extract thing. And I don't understand how to do that, I just like to have it install, and it connect to my dosbox. Like that's what your links do on my computer which makes it easier to just download and play, not stress hours on end trying to make it work haha.

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  2. Would you upload the game called Rugrats the Adventure game please? :)

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    Replies
    1. Didn't know there was one! I'll see if I can somewhere down the line

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  3. Every time i try to download the .exe file for Hercules, it tells me there is insufficient permission and it wont work no matter what i try.

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    Replies
    1. 4Shared limits the amount you can download per day as well as per month. Check out the Chamber FAQ and the 4Shared FAQ link in it for more info.

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    2. I still cant download it. I have fresh space and when i go to download it still gives me the same message. And after i couldnt download Hercules, i was still able to download other titles.

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    3. I've tested the download and it does work. Perhaps deleting your cookies/cache files would help. Could it be your virus checker bringing up a false positive and halting download? Have you tried using another browser?

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  4. Hi, can you change the language?

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    1. Hello Joaquin. I'm afraid I only support the English language versions of the games. Replacing the ISO in the CD folder with one from your desired language may work though I cannot guarantee it.

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  5. This was one of my favorites growing up! I am so excited to replay these games with my baby girl! Thank you! You rock! Just out of curiosity but do you have Magic School Bus games, Putt Putt, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Spellbound or Rockett's New School. I tried finding them but anything I have found hasn't worked. You make downloading and set up a breeze! If not, no worries! You are still amazing lol! Just thought I'd ask!

    ~Amber

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    Replies
    1. Oh, and Jumpstart start games. I just played Disney's Villains' Revenge with my Ava and she loved it!! Thank you!

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  6. keep getting 64bit error

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