with me, but 16 bit Disney games were great. Absolute classics like Aladdin, Lion King

and this one, The Jungle Book, were some very good times. The Kipling collection of short

stories explored themes that dealt with concepts like what society does to human instincts,

survival of the fittest, and the distance between man and beast. Does this game go into

these deep concepts? Not really, but it is a really fun platformer based off the movie.

You play as the feral child Mowgli, the young boy raised in the forest and a part of the

forest. Bagheera the panther wants to introduce Mowgli to human society while other animals

like Baloo, Kaa, and King Louie fight against this, all the while Shere Khan the tiger is

hunting Mowgli. The levels are pulled right from the movie, and convey the film perfectly.

Each level looks and feels like what it is supposed to be, right down to the fantastic

music that I found myself singing along to. How can you not be overcome with the desire

to sing when you hear songs like, The Bare Necessities, and I Wan’na Be Like You. Truly

classics of our time.

The levels are big open areas, and littered throughout them are 15 gems. Mowgli has to

explore the areas and find a certain amount of the gems and then make it to the end of

the level. Sometimes the level just ends, sometimes you have to fight a boss. If you

find all the gems, you are rewarded with a bonus level. The gems can be tough to find

in big levels like these, but you are gifted with a nice little radar system in the corner,

that helps out big time.

But if it not a simple fetch mission. There are tons of enemies from monkeys, to snakes

to parrots, to bees and scorpions that are all waiting to attack. Mowgli can either jump

on their head to kill them or attack them with one of his weapons that he finds in the

levels. These mostly include types of fruit or things you find in the forest. The standard

are bananas, but you will find boomerange, double bananas, coconuts, and an invincibility

mask.

The Jungle Book is an example of a Disney game done right. It is challenging, fun, and

brings all the character and appeal of the source material to life in an interactive

way. It’s simple but fun gameplay with great style. Definitely worth playing.