Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (NES Review)
September 8, 2023 1 Comment
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developed by Capcom
First Released June, 1990
NEVER BEEN RE-RELEASED
The generic cowboy character was a mistake. It probably looked confusing from a marketing perspective. “Wait, which Disney character is this?” “Well, it’s not a Disney character at all. It’s YOU, a park visitor.” “What is this? The 1950s? Kids don’t walk around dressed like cowboys anymore. It’s 1990!” “I thought it was 2023?” “Don’t be a smart ass, hypothetical 1990 game consumer.” Ah crap, people, Cathy is having a running dialog with herself. Call the white coats.
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom is one of the most bizarre and creatively frustrating games I’ve ever played in my entire life. It’s based on a cross between Tokyo Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I first played it in June of 2020, and I came to the conclusion that it was unfinished. There’s clues that more had been planned and dropped, although known prototypes of the ROM don’t seem to show it. The object of the game is to play through five Magic Kingdom attractions and collect six silver keys. Yea, I said six keys. Yes, I also said five attractions. One of the keys you get by walking around the park and answering trivia questions, which will eventually lead to you finding Pluto and having to answer TWO questions to earn one of the keys. I don’t think this was the original plan. I think there had originally been NINE attractions.
First, look at It’s a Small World.
You actually don’t physically line up with the door. You’ll always be half-a-character-length on the door and half on the bricks, so it’s impossible to physically walk through it. But, maybe it wasn’t always so.
Now look at Tom Sawyer Island.
And they could have probably reused sprites from Pirates of the Caribbean for this level.
And here’s the Jungle Cruise, which you would think would lend itself perfectly to this type of game.
This is the launch building for The Jungle Cruise, which lines up perfectly with the 1990 map of the Magic Kingdom in Florida, with Pirates of the Caribbean northwest of it.
And finally, the door to Cinderella Castle has an entry point too.
Again, it looks like it has a door, but you can’t psychically line-up with it.
Adventures of the Magic Kingdom has only two platforming levels, which are easily the highlight of the game. I have a hunch that there was originally going to be six platforming levels: Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, Tom Sawyer Island, the Jungle Cruise, and Cinderella Castle. Then, either they ran out of ideas or time or budget and instead we ended up with two measly platforming sections and the bizarre hodgepodge of “events” that make up the Autopia, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Also missing? The Matterhorn, which is exclusive to Disneyland and would have lent itself perfectly to a snow level with an Abominable Snowman for a boss. Splash Mountain was also exclusively at Disneyland at the time this game was made (fun fact: I’m exactly six days older than Splash Mountain!) Obviously, they couldn’t do Star Tours without the Star Wars license. Still, the fact that only five attractions are actually playable is stunningly lazy for this concept.
Oddly, there is only one flat ride shown: the now extinct Rocket Jets. The Disneyland version of the Rocket Jets were torn down in 1997 to be turned into a crappier version called the Astro Orbiter. When I was a little kid, I was more scared of this ride than any other at the park. It was the same as the Dumbo ride, only it was three stories off the ground. You had to wait in line FOREVER for it, and since it had no seat belts and you were so high up, it was kind of terrifying for a little kid. Especially when their sadistic father kept the rocket at its highest point. You traumatized me, pops. Today, the Astro Orbiter sits at the ground level, and the magic is gone. Now it’s just a sci-fi Dumbo. I don’t even think it moves faster.
There’s tons of stuff that’s missing. There’s NO Fantasyland attractions here. Dark rides like Peter Pan’s Flight or Snow White’s Scary Adventures are missing entirely. Iconic flat rides like Dumbo the Flying Elephant, which is probably the most famous Disney Park flat ride EVER, is missing entirely. No graphical representation on the map. Same with the Mad Tea Party. You would think they could make nifty bonus games out of them, right? But hell, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a now-torn-down but at the time very famous ride built around a large lagoon, isn’t shown on the map. Again, it would lend itself perfectly to a level in a game like this, right? I’m very curious if this started more ambitious and a lot of content got vetoed in planning. Seriously, the great Tokuro Fujiwara couldn’t come up with a Jungle Cruise level? No way. So, what DO you do in Adventures in the Magic Kingdom?
ANSWER TRIVIA QUESTIONS
A glorified fetch quest where you walk around the map and, when you spot an NPC, you stand in front of them and answer trivia questions. Funny enough, I thought these would be lay-ups along the lines of “what kind of animal is Goofy.” That’s an actual question in the game, by the way. It’s a kid’s game from 1990, so it’s busy work to extend the run time, right? Except, there’s also questions like “what is Donald Duck’s middle name?” Wait, Donald Duck has a middle name? “Which Winnie the Pooh character was originally named Edward?” Wait.. really? Either Winnie, Christopher Robin, or Tigger was going to be Edward? No way. “Who portrayed the younger brother in the Hardy Boys?” OH COME ON! Would a child in 1990 know that, let alone me, a grown-up in 2023? If you miss a question, it doesn’t cost you anything. You just get a different question and keep going until you get one right. I have no idea how many questions there are, but I’ve played this three times now and have seen only one repeat. So yea, some of the questions aren’t easy. It’s not as crappy as it could be, but I’d rather have a level.
THE AUTOPIA
I’m the red car.
The Autopia is a children’s ride that’s like the world’s most boring, restrictive form of go-karts. Here, it’s a stripped down version of Capcom’s Rally 2011 LED Storm (which I reviewed in Capcom Arcade Stadium 2). Don’t mistake the Autopia as a race. It’s not. It’s an action-driving sequence where you can lose a life and get dumped back to the overworld, and there’s also a time limit of 85 seconds. You can also stock-up on stars that are valuable for the other modes in the game. The whole autopia takes just over a minute and change to complete and is the easiest attraction in the game that doesn’t ask you what Disney character starred in the most shorts (Donald Duck? REALLY?) or what Mickey Mouse’s officially recognized birthday is.
What’s really strange is you’re incentivized to NOT do the fun stuff, like the jumps, since the stars are usually placed behind the ramps instead of in front of them. There’s a point to the stars: they’re the pause menu’s form of currency. In some of the levels, you can pause the game to restore your health, freeze the action on-screen, make yourself invincible, or give yourself an extra life. For Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, trust me, you’ll want to restore your health. Too bad you can’t, because there’s no pause-menu shop on those levels. Only in the two platforming stages. Hah, suck it. The Autopia is plentiful with stars, but only if you play at the least fun pace. Technically, there is a time limit, so there is the barest of urgency. But, I had to screw around A LOT to run out of time.
There’s some genuinely exciting moments, like flying off jumps across gigantic gaps.
The other cars will bump you and provide a nuisance, but as long as you stay on the track, it’s pretty hard to die. The only parts where I came close were narrow docks and one section that has a bridge that you have to wait for to reach you. Surprisingly, if you don’t deliberately skip the jumps to scoop-up the stars, the Autopia actually is pretty fun. The jumps are exciting, the course layout is well done, and it’s satisfying to bump an enemy car off the road. The biggest problem is, like the other stages, it’s all over with far too quickly. I sort of wish the formula here had been removed from this game, then expanded into its own full game. I enjoyed my time with it enough to see the potential there. Oh, and you can replay it to bank stars until the cows come home. So play it once for fun, then come back to it if you’re struggling with other stages to bank currency. I’m just kidding. You won’t be struggling. The platform levels are a cinch and this whole game can be finished in about thirty minutes. Yea, this is one of Capcom’s shortest games, and it’s not all brilliant like DuckTales was.
SPACE MOUNTAIN
Unlike Dragon’s Lair, there’s no reason to look up at the “action” since, beside the meteors/ships, there’s no visual cues of WHERE you’re going or what the correct move is besides on this tiny little viewing window.
One of the two roller coaster-based “mountains” is going to go down as the hardest stage in Adventures in the Magic Kingdom. Most people would say Space Mountain is the worst. Space Mountain is basically an FMV-style quick-time-event game. There’s a small monitor at the bottom of the screen that gives you instructions of what to press on the controller, and you have a split-second to press it. Honestly, I don’t think it’s that hard. Once I understood the rules, I completed it on my very first legit attempt in 2020, then I did so again this go around. In fact, the media I took was so bad while I played it that I restarted and played it again and beat it again. Granted, I took damage this go around, but honestly, I don’t think it’s that hard for the majority of the level. Not until you get to the “E” section does Space Mountain find its teeth and “hit” you for not reacting fast enough. Until that point, it’s actually kind of easy. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever taken damage outside of the “E” zone. I guess it doesn’t stand for “easy” huh?
The only link to the on-screen visuals are the ships and meteors. You’ll always press the B button to blow-up the spaceships, and you’ll always press A to blow up the meteors. Besides that, this is just a couple minutes of reflex-testing gameplay. There’s a few sections that have branching paths, but since there’s no real visuals to see besides which direction the stars flow, that doesn’t exactly add replay value. Is it fun? I didn’t think it would be, but you know what? I actually enjoyed this well enough because it doesn’t last very long. Also, that last “level E” section is some of the most fast-paced and exciting reflex-gameplay I’ve experienced. Better still, it actually feels like the real roller coaster’s finale. I’ve probably rode Space Mountain at Disneyland over one-hundred times (including three times with the lights turned-on in 2001. HOW LUCKY AM I?). It’s my favorite Disney thrill ride. Space Mountain’s finale in Disney Adventures in the Magic Kingdom feels very true to the real ride, with lots of unexpected twists and turns to close the experience. Besides, nobody can accuse this of wearing out its welcome. It’s done in about three minutes, and it’s exciting and challenging while it lasts.
BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN
Look closely. Do you see the gate? I’m guessing this is one of those “CRT” things where it would have stood out easier once upon a time.
Big Thunder Mountain is a roller coaster themed like a runaway train, and also apparently the world’s funnest way to pass a kidney stone. Seriously, it’s a roller coaster. Why would this specific roller coaster be better at nudging a kidney stone through a body? I call B.S. The ride itself is a slightly overrated attraction at the park, while the game version is easily the worst event of Adventures in the Magic Kingdom. The object is to guide the train to the second station. Specifically the second one. Which one is the second one? Guess you’ll find out when you play it. It’s actually the second from the left, and in doing this review, I completely lucked into the right path by pure accident on my first attempt when I, not realizing the course was almost over, tried to go one way, missed the turn, and then pulled into the correct station anyway. This must be that “failing upwards” thing that’s all the rage these days.
The trick to Big Thunder Mountain is using the brakes to avoid running into dead-ends (which are an instakill) or crashing through gates that are barely visible on modern monitors. There’s also the occasional boulder that crosses the tracks. I remember hating Big Thunder Mountain when I first played the game in 2020. I didn’t so much this time, but I’m still annoyed by it. For Space Mountain, while I’d still prefer a platforming section, at least what they have feels true to the ride. Big Thunder Mountain doesn’t at all. They could have easily made this an auto-scrolling platformer based around the train. Then again, they could have done the same with Space Mountain. I can’t believe the people who made this didn’t see that the platforming stages were far and away the best aspect of the game. I also refuse to believe they weren’t creative enough to come up with platforming sections for a space-based roller coaster or a runaway mine train. I could put up with Space Mountain, but Big Thunder Mountain is just a bore.
THE HAUNTED MANSION
One of the great brain farts in 8-bit history is not making the whole game play this way. Had they taken it that direction, I think Adventures in the Magic Kingdom would be remembered as one of the greats. Up there with DuckTales and Rescue Rangers, in fact.
Now this is more like it, and it’s based on my second favorite Disney ride. For two levels, and two levels only, Adventures in the Magic Kingdom is a pretty dang decent NES platformer. In terms of the mechanics, I’d go so far to say the platforming areas of this title are some of Capcom’s best NES work. Great jumping physics. Gorgeous sprite work. Decent enough combat. Nice level design, mostly. These are easily the highlights of Adventures in the Magic Kingdom. Since you can take the stages in any order, I would totally recommend someone who has no interest at all in the previous four activities to fire this game up JUST for the two platforming sections. While they’re not amazing, they also never manage to suck. For about ten minutes combined, you get solid, enjoyable Capcom-Disney platforming goodness that feel like a proof-of-concept for a game that never happened.
Okay, so the candles aren’t the GREATEST weapon, but what could be used as a projectile weapon in both a ghost house AND a village being raided by pirates, hmm? “A gun?” Touché.
Even better is that both the platform levels play differently from each-other. Haunted Mansion is the weaker of the two, with an emphasis on combat and moving platforms. You fight enemies by throwing candles at them. Ammo is “limited” and, in the Haunted Mansion specifically, collected in bundles of five. Most of the enemies are downed by a single candle. The ones that aren’t tend to be hands sticking out of coffins, but you might as well ping them to death anyway. The candles are too abundant. You can skip collecting a couple and still never really stress running out. Well, provided your aim is true. Since the controls are crisp and the movement is silky smooth, it should be.
The boss, which I think is meant to be the “ghost host” from the ride, has a swarming attack pattern. It also doesn’t so much as blink when you hit it, let alone have an “ouch, I’ve been damaged” sprite. When you defeat it, the damn thing just falls off the screen. Then the level just hard cuts to Goofy congratulating you. It’s such an unsatisfying ending to an otherwise solid level.
The Haunted Mansion’s weakness is that it’s a simple Point A to Point B affair that uses straight hallways for the maps. It’s really uninspired, especially when the ride opens the possibilities to so much more. I would have preferred a DuckTales style maze level. If any ride at Disney World would lend itself to that, it’d be the Haunted Mansion. While it does manage to fit in lots of the best set pieces of dark ride, such as the dancers, the headstones, and even the grim, grinning ghosts, the combat is lacking and the game has too heavy an emphasis on jumping off flying chairs. The biggest problem with Haunted Mansion is it never WOWed me. It’s solid, but it has no high point, if that makes sense. It’s also too short. Takes maybe four minutes to finish. Maybe. Having said that, while it never completely reaches a crescendo, this is the second best attraction in the game.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
This beat the film franchise to leaning on the undead, supernatural element by thirteen full years.
By far the best part of Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, and hey, it happens to be based on my favorite theme park ride. Pirates of the Caribbean has a little more going for it than Haunted Mansion. Like the Haunted Mansion, it’s too short. This wouldn’t be a problem if the game had more than two platforming stages. If that were the case, this would be just a damn fine level. Alas. This time, you don’t throw candles until the final third of the stage. Instead, you have to avoid the pirates while you search the stage for six buxom wenches to rescue from the scurvy scoundrels. Since the candle-based combat in the game is just alright, not focusing on it makes for a more exciting game. Instead, there’s a few barrels around the level that you can shove into some of the pirates. I enjoyed that so much that I kind of wish they’d done more of it. Later, when you do get the candle, you can light the fuse of cannons. You don’t even need to score a hit with these. When the cannonball lands, it knocks all the pirates off the screen. Okay, come on. That’s too overpowered. This might be Capcom’s easiest game on the NES.
Both platforming levels have periods of slowdown, but Pirates has the most by a large margin. Especially in the villages, where there can be a lot of enemies in one section. Pirates of the Caribbean does have one other small issue: it leans heavily into edge-of-platform jumping. This becomes especially annoying in the treasure room, where undead pirates throw six projectiles at a time AND skeletons walk around the platforms you’re standing on. Scratching out enough clearance to be able to successfully land the jumps is a bit tough. This was the only level where I lost lives. In fact, I lost four: three from jumping, and one from timing out. I missed one of the maidens and, by the time I found her, I didn’t have enough time to make it to the pile of logs you have to light to beat the stage. Also, once again, the level is too short and leaves you wanting a lot more. But, the level design, enemies, and the objectives are more interesting than the Haunted Mansion. That’s what makes this the best part of Disney Adventures in the Magic Kingdom.
WHAT A TEASE, RIGHT?
And that’s it.
Two “real” levels. That’s what this game is. The other elements of Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, despite lasting roughly the same length as each of the platform sections do, feel more like glorified mini-games. It’s a cruel game, because it leaves you feeling like they could have added much more of the “good stuff.” And mind you, I enjoyed the Autopia and Space Mountain. Not a lot, but they weren’t a complete waste of time, and hell, the Autopia could work as its own game. Big Thunder Mountain sucks and the trivia feels like a waste of time, but really, I’m endorsing 75% of a game and walking away disappointed. When does that ever happen? Well, when a game teases you with two solid platforming stages that hint at a greater potential, and then it just ends? It’s almost painful. So yea, check out Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, and join me in saying “what the hell were they thinking?” and wiping a tear or two away at all the potential squandered.
Verdict: YES!
Indie Gamer Chick 
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