Sometimes it’s nice to take a breath and indulge in a bit of nostalgia. I did just that when I spotted this interesting piece of info the other day about The Disney Afternoon Collection. It was nostalgic for a few reasons. First off, it was nostalgic because I remember watching all the cartoons these games are based on, as a kid back in the late 80s and 90s. I also played a fair few of these games when they came to console at the time, too. The second reason this collection is nostalgic is that it was one of the earliest games I wrote about when I joined TVGB, and I can’t believe that was nearly ten years ago. For these very reasons, I had to come full circle and tell you about the Switch release of the game that we’ll be seeing soon.
Due for release February 29th, Atari and Eclipse Interactive are bringing The Disney Afternoon Collection, and with it, some of our favourite Disney toons from the NES and SNES generations back to our consoles. The collection, which will be exclusive to Switch and Switch 2 owners, has been updated with two new titles, bringing the total to eight games digitally on our Switch consoles. If you want a physical copy of the game, Switch and Switch 2 editions featuring a game cartridge, sticker sheets, postcards, milk caps and a reversible cover will ship in May.
The Disney Afternoon Collection comprises the NES classics, Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Chip n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers 1 and 2, DuckTales and DuckTales 2, and then the newly added, Bonkers and Goof Troop SNES games. That’s a lot of hours of play tied together into one bundle, and for those of us who remember any of these titles, a serious blast from the past.
If my memory serves correctly, all of these games were brutally hard, so a bit of updated functionality is bound to make the ride smoother. This is something we will be seeing in this new collection of games. These quality of life changes include a rewind function, allowing us to correct our mistakes, and save states that will allow us to save the game anywhere. Alternatively, you can just play them the way they were intended, like a masochist and bask in all their tricky, platforming glory.
Speaking of masochism, there’s nothing that says “I don’t value my own sanity” more than a good old boss rush. For those of you who love this sort of thing, a Boss Rush mode has been added to the six NES titles in the bundle, as have Time Attack modes to keep you speed runners happy. These titles have online leaderboards for the score junkies amongst you as well, so there’s lots to keep you busy outside each of the main games.
The Disney Afternoon Collection also features a Gallery, a virtual museum curated by Digital Eclipse historians, encompassing behind-the-scenes material, archival content from the Disney vault and a music player where you can enjoy the original soundtracks from all eight games.
So there you have it. Another awesome callback to some excellent classic games from the folk at Eclipse Interactive and Atari. I think it’s really important for classic titles to be remembered fondly, as they were part of the formula that makes our games what they are today. Aside from this, they were a lot of fun and the essence of many happy memories. If you want to see what The Disney Afternoon Collection has in store, you won’t have to wait much longer.
