Mickey Mouse appeared on the NES and took players to Disneyland. Step with me in the way,way back machine and lets see what its like on one of the Mouse House's first forrays into the video game world. As a kid I grew up far from California and Florida, so I was interested to see what it was all about, in this... electronic fabrication.


Your title screen appears and shows Cinderella's castle. So far so good. The magic kingdom? I bet Sleeping Beauty is there, and the Dragon at the end. I am told immediately to name myself. I accidentally hit start. I tells me my name is Bamboo.7, which is a really strange placeholder name. I am a boy in a cowboy hat. Wait, there was no option for gender, what if a girl named Sue puts her name in, is it still a boy? Yep, it is, you are always a boy in a cowboy hat. Named Sue. Or Bamboo.7, take your pick.

You get your first visual of Mickey, Donald and Goofy are talking about having a Parade, but they can't until you find 6 silver keys. Wugh, at first glance here, it looks like the guys here had a rough night. Mickey's animation when he moves his head from left to right is stiff as his neck after sleeping off a hangover at the Blue Bayou. Needless to say, they are not particularly well done, but are recognizable. Must be why they only appear in cut scenes, and not in the park itself. You then get your first look at the theme park, the bastion of many eager little minds. Let us see what it looks like..




OH. It looks pretty small (overall) and, well closed. I mean I was a kid with a NES when I saw this, and it did not impress. Where is all the fun? Why is there these shops and I can't do anything but walk past them? The whole park is like this. Only one person at a time besides yourself hangs out inside, giving the empty grounds the pervading stench of loneliness. This is the happiest place on earth? Yeesh.

There are things to do, specifically, 6 things to do - for the 6 keys. 5 of them are rides. The last key is gotten in a roundabout trivia game. The five rides are - Big Thunder Railroad; Space Mountain (sweet!), Pirates of the Caribbean (being murdered by pirates is cool), Haunted Mansion, and Autotopia. Making it to the end of the ride will reward you with one of these silver keys. Wait, I thought as a kid, doesn't everyone get off the ride at the end? I mean, thats why its a amusement park, right? The secret in this game is, these rides look super dangerous folks. This game to me was anti-tourism. Ahh! Don't put me on the train that can run off the tracks!

Since this game has rides within it, I thought it would be fun to rate the rides as well 

Big Thunder Railroad - 4
You are on a runaway engine running down the top of the mountain, and must not only navigate your train over broken track sections and falling boulders, but also you must finish at the bottom of the hill in the 1st marker (they are all the same distance). This you find out after just being glad you survived, and are told by Goofy, Gwarsh! You need to choose the other path at the end. Heyuck indeed.

Space Mountain - 7
This is fairly trippy 3-D space flight simulator. You are flying to a far off star, when you reach the end, you win. You have to have quick reflexes to push the correct direction on the bottom indicator (when it appears). Sometimes asteroids or enemy ships will appear (Looking very Star Wars...the merger was predicted in this game first, everyone). While this has a good sense of speed, and some pretty good graphics with the obstacles, you sadly will likely not be paying much attention to them, as the game is giving you the visual clues at the bottom of the screen the entire time. Wish there was some sound effect directions too.

Pirates of the Carribean - 8
This ride was the only one I really knew of beforehand, and I knew it took place on a boat. This does start you out on a little boat, but soon you jump out and have to rescue villagers from the pirates, and lastly light a bonfire. Different that 3 of the other attractions, this is a platformer. You have to duck and jump over the pirates and the cannonballs they throw at you. Your quest takes you through the pirate town of Tortuga, through a treasure cave, and back out. Its done pretty well, and is one of the better parts of the game.


Haunted Mansion - 6
Another platformer, it starts off strong - you have candles you throw at the ghosts. But some of the jumps are tricky, I could imagine younger Disney fans being stuck on this part. It also has the only boss in the game, who isn't too hard, but if players are not expecting him, it could be a quick end to your journey.

Autotopia - 4
I played a racing game called Bump N Jump. This is a poor man's version of that. The narrative reads you have to beat Pete at the race, but there is no Pete on the track, and you just have to cross the finish line. A few ramp jumps can foul up players, as is a disappearing suspension bridge that requires a full stop, but other than that, this is pretty boring.



Graphics: 5
So nothing looks really good, but its okay. The platformers look the best, and I wish the whole game was just some segments of those. The train and car driving parts have too little to do, while the space mountain gets the best balance of good looking graphics with twitchy play. The overall map of Disneyland is quite sparse - where is Its a Small World? Where is world of color?  Also, not having Mickey, Donald or Goofy come with you or even play as them seems a missed opportunity - they only come out when you go to the rides, but change their outfits to match the theme (space suit for Space Mountain)


Sound: 7
They do a pretty good job with the story opener, it has the classic "Mickey Mouse Club March", and the music isn't really that bad overall. Space Mountain, again, has probably the best - but Haunted Mansion is also a strong contender. I was surprised the Pirates ride didn't include their song - since hello, its the ride...  

The sound effects are variable, depending on the attraction. The 'Trivia' section to get the 6th key is probably the worst with a off-scale "BING BONG"  and barely audible buzzer foretelling your answer. Space Mountian (again) probably has the best sound effects, and the Big Thunder, probably the worst. The Autotopia sounds a bit like a lawnmower, but these are supposed to kiddie cars, so thats probably true.


Addictiveness: 5
I like the variety of games, I mean, its got different rides and that fits the theme park idea. I wish there was more of them, as they still let you walk all over the park (this is to simulate where the rides actually are in the park - as Pirates and Haunted Mansion are actually close by), and so space just seems pointless filler. Glad the suits at Disney are glad you tried to represent the park grounds accurately, but why can't I do anything cool in this game? Where is the princesses from all the movies? Dang it, where is a dragon? I'll even settle for Fox and the Hound. But no, you got Goofy, Donald and Mickey to sometimes congratulate you after you win.  There is not much replay to this game at all, but the idea of exploring the park is neat.


Story: 6
I like the idea of needing you to get the keys so they can open the park and have a parade. But if its not open, who are these trivia kids? And why aren't I seeing more Disney characters in the park? The idea to get the keys at the different rides is a great idea, though.

Depth: 5
The platformers have more to them, albeit small. The driving games seem so shallow, I felt they could have done probably 2 or 3 more copies of those to fill up the park. This game is quite short once you figure out the games, er rides. There are no secret rooms, so no Club 33 (just kidding), which is strange with so much empty park space. You also don't see Disney characters by the ton, which is super sad since this is their handout. You do-however, get to see everyone's favorite dog. No, not Goofy. This feels like the discussion in Stand By Me now. 

Difficulty: 6
Its not as easy as it looks. You can be beguilded into thinking the colorful playground will have simple, easy times for you. But the precise jumps over bottomless pits in Haunted Mansion, the really long voyage on Space Mountain, the goofy (Heyuck!), i mean silly Autotopia suspension bridge (even when I knew it was coming, i still fell in the lake alot- lol). Once you die, you can continue as many as you like - but chances are the rides will get you the first couple times as you'll be expecting a bit of a underhand throw on difficulty the whole way.

Overall: 6.5
The best things about this game for me is the selection of activities, and the Mickey Mouse Club song. Three things bog it down.
One, trivia game is a shame to take a key spot - I would much rather have another ride.
Two, the lack of having a female avatar. Girls AND boys go to the park, man.
Third , lack of Disney faces in the park seems a serious mistake. Why aren't I talking to them?