The Disney Afternoon Collection (Switch 2) Review – Classic Cartoons, Timeless Gameplay

The Disney Afternoon Collection (Switch 2) Review

The Disney Afternoon Collection was originally released on April 18, 2017, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It was a collection of Capcom-developed NES games that were based on Disney licenses. All of those licenses were also from cartoons found in Disney’s incredibly successful “Disney Afternoon” cartoon block that was 3-5 pm every weekday from 1990-1996. The Disney Afternoon included Gummi Bears, DuckTales, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, and Bonkers. All of these cartoons got licensed video games, except for Gummi Bears.

The original Disney Afternoon Collection included the NES games DuckTales (1989), Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers (1990), TaleSpin (1991), Darkwing Duck (1992), DuckTales 2 (1993), and Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers 2 (1993). Those games are all NES-era Capcom Disney games. Now, The Disney Afternoon Collection is heading to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. The Nintendo version of the collection adds two Super Nintendo-era Capcom Disney games: Goof Troop (1993) and Bonkers (1994).

DuckTales

DuckTales 1 and 2 are my favorite part of The Disney Afternoon Collection. They’re both incredible platformers. The first game is a stone cold classic. One of the most beloved 2D platformers of all-time. DuckTales 2 isn’t as well-remembered because it came out after the release of the SNES. But it’s also a phenomenal game. Physical cartridges are also insanely expensive, so having an inexpensive modern version is extremely appreciated.

Players control Scrooge McDuck, who uses his cane as a pogo stick. Most of the time, the player will be pogoing on everything. The level design is fantastic, and levels can be played in any order, like in the Mega Man games. Both games have lots of secrets and are very well designed and balanced. DuckTales 2 is largely the same as 1, although there are a couple of gameplay tweaks, such as grapple hooking, and block dragging. The graphics are also a bit better, but still very similar.

Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers

Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 1 and 2 are also excellent platformers. They can be played as a single player or as two player co-op. The gameplay revolves around picking up and throwing mechanics. The levels are all very well designed. Similarly to DuckTales, 2 is really just more of the same excellence as 1. If I had one complaint, it’s that the Rescue Ranger games are too easy. This was great when I was a kid, and almost every NES game was too hard. But now I wish there were a bit more of a challenge. Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 is another insanely expensive NES cartridge, which makes The Disney Afternoon Collection invaluable to modern fans of retro games.

TaleSpin is very different from the other games in this collection, because it’s not a platformer. It’s a shoot-em-up. Unfortunately, TaleSpin’s also not very good. You are the slowest plane in the history of shmups, and when your plane moves up or down, it fires on a diagonal. Baloo can also only fire one bullet at a time. This means if the player stops moving to fire at something in front of them, and the plane hasn’t straightened out, there’s a long wait time between the bullet going off screen and the player’s ability to fire again. TaleSpin would be a difficult game if the plane was quick, and the controls were precise, but they’re not. It’s just not fun.

TaleSpin & Darkwing Duck

Thankfully Darkwing Duck is another gem of a platformer. Darkwing has a gun he can fire as much as he likes, right from the beginning of the game. The mechanic that sets this game apart from the other platformers is an emphasis on attaching to ceilings and using grappling hooks. It’s another gorgeous game that allows players to choose the order of the levels they’d like to play. But this time in chunks, as opposed to the “everything from the start” approach of the DuckTales games. Darkwing Duck is almost just a reskin of Mega Man, but it’s really good, so I’m not complaining.

Goof Troop is the shining star of The Disney Afternoon Collection’s Switch upgrade. It’s a top-down adventure game, like 2D Legend of Zelda. But there is a much lower emphasis on combat, and much greater emphasis on overworld puzzle solving. Imagine if the original Legend of Zelda didn’t have dungeons, but the overworld functioned like one huge dungeon. The player switches control between Goofy and Max. They have to work together to collect items and solve puzzles. The game can also be played as two player co-op. The only knock against the original game is it had a password save system, but The Disney Afternoon Collection has save states as a very welcome option. Goof Troop adds great variety to this already fantastic Disney Afternoon Collection Switch package.

Goof Troop & Bonkers

Bonkers is an unfortunate platformer that was clearly an experiment. The obvious idea was to make a Sonic the Hedgehog-like game, where Bonkers is often dashing. It’s also a game that came from an era where devs were always experimenting with controls. To dash, the player has to press a direction and the dash button at the same time. But levels aren’t designed with much space. Dashing just makes the game harder. There are enemies placed everywhere, and they respawn the second Bonkers goes back to an area that was off-screen. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dash mechanic was an afterthought. But even if the player doesn’t use it, Bonkers is a bland, yet gorgeous, 16-bit platformer.

The Disney Afternoon Collection ports are all exact recreations of the NES originals. They have original graphics, music, and gameplay. The DuckTales Remaster from 2013 isn’t included. Each of the six original games have Time Attack and Boss Rush modes attached to their menu screens, before the game is entered. Goof Troop and Bonkers don’t have these features. There are also beautiful, detailed digital instruction booklets for each game called “How to Play”. These aren’t scans of the original instruction booklets, which I wish were included. But they are cleaned up, and displayed like modernized versions of NES instruction booklets.

Modern Features

In-game, there are several fun features, which can easily be ignored if the player wants the full NES experience. Most importantly, there’s a rewind feature for players not used to NES difficulty. It can be used by holding down the ZL button. There’s also a pause menu which can be accessed by pressing ZR. This pause menu gives the player access to the How to Play guide, button configuration controls, and screen settings. I opted to get rid of the borders, and change most games’ default buttons to Y and B instead of B and A. There are also different selectable CRT filters.

The Disney Afternoon Collection’s aesthetic is hilarious. All the menus have minty pastel colors, sprinkles, triangles, cones, squiggles, etc. that give major Saved by the Bell vibes. There are also full soundtracks for each game, which are some of the all-time great 8 and 16-bit tunes. These songs are from Capcom at the height of their creative power. DuckTales’ music is especially incredible. The music from The Moon Stage is one of my longtime ringtones. There are also four art galleries showcasing pencil production art comparisons to game graphics, beautiful finished art from game boxes, magazines, etc., English language and Japanese language game boxes, and other random bits. All these extras come together to create a fine package.

Physical Copies

The Disney Afternoon Collection is finally getting physical copies! As a physical game collector, this is one of my most wanted games that I’ve only been able to get digitally. Unfortunately, they’re just for Switch and Switch 2. PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players are out of luck. They don’t get digital versions with Goof Troop or Bonkers, and they don’t get physical copies. But Switch 2 owners get the full game on a cartridge. Physical copies were originally announced for February 26, but have been pushed back to May 29.

The Disney Afternoon Collection was already one of my favorite retro game collections, and now it’s gotten even better. I was overjoyed to see the inclusion of Goof Troop and Bonkers. I really hope a new generation gets to discover Goof Troop. It’s one of the great hidden gems on the Super Nintendo. If you’re at all a fan of 2D platformers or would love to play some more of Capcom’s classic games, then The Disney Afternoon Collection is a must-play. The best version is a Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 exclusive.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***