Disney's Tarzan

The Good
Remember the old Atari 2600 game "Jungle Hunt", where you ran and jumped over stuff, and had to swing from vine to vine to get to the end of the level?

Well, Tarzan is a GREATLY enhanced version of the game.

The gameplay looks and feels like a 3D platform (a la Super Mario 64), but with a restricted movement feel (a la Crash Bandicoot). So it looks 3D but it's a cover for a 2D platform game.

That aside, it is a technically good game.

The graphics are Disney, so they are top notch. Animation reminiscient of the "Aladdin" platformers, makes this game feel like you are playing the movie. Decent level design and some neat SFX tricks are all over this one. The level are stunning on a P233, although you need to play it in a window. Full screen causes some terrible slowdown, and make the game more difficult that it need be. Although the graphics are excellent, they also detract from the gameplay. (More on that later)

The sound/music is great. Whoever progammed the MIDI's for this knows music. I almost thought that the soundtrack was included, It's that good. The sound is decent, although there is not a lot you can do with monkey hoot and grunts.

The gameplay in general is unique. Remember the scenes from the movie with Tarzan "tree-surfing"? Those scenes are reproduced here, and personally, they sell the game. It's cool "surfing" the trees and jumping over (and ducking under) branches. Even the Stampede level is done well. It's reminds me of the Stampede scene from "The Lion King".

The levels themselves are fairly easy, although collecting all the "TARZAN" letters and the picture pieces can be difficult at times.

The Bad
As I said before, the graphics make this game. But also, the green/black look of the game has caused me to fall down more holes in the earth than I DARE count. A lot of memorization is required to figure out where the pits are.

Also, the control is not very intuitive, and if I'm not mistaken, you can't re-map the keys to suit your playing style.

The Bottom Line
All in all, Tarzan is a great game. Sure, it's geared for kids, but its a nice little platform game. If you liked the movie , you'll enjoy. If not, you'll get a kick out of the "tree-surfing" levels.

The Good
The gameplay is for the most part suited to the average platforming player. There's a generous amount of bananas and fruits to throw. Secrets are not very difficult to find. Bonus levels are also enjoyable, giving you plenty of opportunities to rack up your lives to survive the harder parts of the game. It's neat that you can play not only as Tarzan but also as Terk and in one instance as Jane and Tantor (Might have been nice to play as Professor Porter though). There aren't many bosses in the game, but that's fine because fighting both Sabor and Clayton is epic.

Graphically wherever you go, the rainforest is very colourful and you can distinguish just about every animal and plant you come across. To match the graphics, the presentation of cutscenes straight from the movie are placed in just the right places in between levels. And that soundtrack fits the mood of the levels and emulates the movie's music perfectly.

The Bad
The gameplay is not entirely balanced due to the spamming presence of birds that fly into you or drop coconuts on your head draining your health faster than anything else present in the levels. What do these birds have against Tarzan anyway? Another problem with the gameplay is the camera angle in the levels where the character moves towards the screen because it's hard to tell what's ahead, so you really need to memorise the abundant dangers. The camera angle is no better in "Tarzan to the Rescue" because it's hard to tell where the edges of pits are or when to duck to avoid getting hit by a branch when riding Tantor. One way or another you may overcome those problems.

The Bottom Line
This adaptation captures the spirit of the original movie very well. There's never a dull moment whether you're swinging on vines, tossing fruit at your opponents or bouncing on a rhinoceros, that's just Tarzan having the game space to be himself. That game is addictive, you're getting one of Disney's best video game adaptations. Sadly this game was not released on many consoles. If it were ported to Saturn, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, there would have been a bigger audience. Nevertheless if you acquire this game, then you have yourself a real Disney gemstone. It's probably for the best that there isn't a video game based on the uniquely bad movie sequel.