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DISNEY'S THE LION KING - ACTIVITY CENTRE


The second Activity Centre based on a Disney property came out a year after Aladdin's translation to a kid-friendly CD-Rom. It also came out a year after the movie it is based on hit cinemas. That being said, The Lion King was such a phenomenon that it didn't hurt this delayed tie-in.

Not much has changed over the first game in the series. It's is still a collection of movie clips, mini-games and an age-appropriate paint programme, but if you take a closer look you see just how little has changed. There are three areas to explore: the Great Tree, the Jungle and the Elephant Graveyard. A nearby lake also doubles as a theatre to view clips. This time each has their own collection of games as opposed to a re-skinned variant.

The Jungle houses hangman featuring Pumbaa (which had my nephew in stitches) and the traditional spot the difference along with the new addition of a hidden image puzzle. You are shown a nicely drawn vista in which to find a number of animals. These aren't as clever or unique as the hidden image paintings that can be found all over the internet. They don't even have the same charm or invention as something like Where's Wally (aka Where's Waldo). Instead, line drawings of animals that featured in the movie are randomly placed over the 256-colour background image. The line thickness varies depending on the difficulty, but it makes the puzzle either incredibly easy or nigh-on impossible. When you solve it by guesswork as opposed to observation, it feels like a false victory.

The Elephant Graveyard plays host to three more games that have come before. There's the Simon Says game, pairs and a selection of mazes. The latter adds a Pac-Man like element where you have to avoid the hyenas that run after you. It's not as good as it sounds. The mazes are designed with one solution makes any wrong turn a death sentence, especially in the more complex harder levels.

In the Great Tree resides the best selection of diversions. The puzzle is no longer of the sliding variety but an actual jigsaw. It doesn't make it any more interesting for those past Primary School, but at least it differs from what Aladdin gave us. The same feature-packed paint studio is also found here and makes for a fun distraction for the little ones. It may be the exact same thing as what's come before but the Lion King images surprisingly make up for it.

You can also play a game of naughts and crosses with the surprising uncompetitive Rafiki. There is an interesting twist here which I don't think I've ever seen before. Once each player has placed all four of their pieces and there's no winner, you take turns in moving them like Chinese Checkers until someone does. It adds another layer of strategy to the mix but it ultimately makes it almost impossible for the second player to win. At least you know ol' Rafiki won't be a bad loser.

Overall, my conclusion for the Lion King Activity Centre is much the same as Aladdin's. It has a high production value in the animation and presentation only go so far to keep older gamers interested in the very simple mini-games. For those young enough to fit into its ESRB rating, it'll be a bloody good time.


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.

File Size: 160 Mb.  Install Size: 317 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download


Disney's The Lion King: Activity Centre is © Disney Interactive
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

Like this? Try These...

Disney's Toy Story - Activity Centre  Disney's Animated Storybook - The Lion King  ZooCube

9 comments:

  1. oh gosh, I had this one :'D it was so fun to play it xD

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    Replies
    1. I wish I grew up with these. I only had a demo for the Toy Story Activity Centre as a kid. That's good too. You should try it.

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  2. So happy to be playing this again :)

    My only complaint is at the magic pool it always plays the same movie (no.5, the fight at Pride Rock) no matter which one you select.

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    1. Hmm, I;ve just done a test and they all play differently for me (1=Circle of Life, 2=Morning Report, 3=Cant wait to be King, 4="Pinned ya", 5=Eating grubs, 6=Pride Rock Fight)

      Did it install correctly? Follow the points laid out in the FAQ and install again to see if that helps.

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    2. Reinstalled the game, it worked fine, then I reloaded and it was stuck playing the movie I finished with last time. Then, I ran it in Compatibility mode (Win-XP SP 2) and now it seems to work perfectly. "They call me Mr. Pig!"

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  3. What does it mean to run DOSBOX in Windows 3.1? How does one do that?

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    Replies
    1. It's not DOSBox running in Windows 3.1, but the other way round. Essentially, it means is not emulating the game, but the OS running the game.

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  4. Thank you so much for this, I can now relive my childhood thanks to you! If I could recommend a game for download, I'm dying to play the old Petz 5 simulation games as well as Lion King II Simba's Pride Gamebreak.

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  5. How can you delete players from the sign-in list without having to reinstall the game? Do you need to go to Program Files (x86) and edit one of the batch files from there? If not, how?

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