In a time where the NES was dominating (illegally), Capcom was one of the top tier companies for the system. It held on to some big licenses, particularly Disney brand games. A number of these came from the TV shows that were airing in the late 80s and early 90s. The Disney Afternoon Collection is one that I feel doesn't get much attention despite releasing last year. It's a great set that needs to be downloaded on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Before getting into the games, let's get into the graphics and audio. Graphically, there isn't any change to them. It's the same 8-bit games and they still look amazing for the time period. Same with the audio. Nothing was altered. No need to worry about any enhanced looks or remixes or anything. Let's get into the games.
DuckTales is the headline game as you go through five levels as Scrooge McDuck searching for treasures. He's quite nimble with his pogo jump and golf swings via his cane. There are lots of goodies to collect as well as a good amount of exploration. It doesn't go overboard and the difficulty is nice. The best of its generation and the collection.
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers is more about throwing boxes at your adversaries. The two gumshoe chipmunks are on the case to rescue their team member Gadget from Fat Cat. It has ten levels and they make great use of the design of where you can place the two. You don't need to get through every level and it offers two player co-op. Notable issues are a few cheap areas and the hitbox on the chipmunks being a little larger. Still, a solid effort.
The weakest game of the bunch is TaleSpin. A unique shooter, but for the wrong reasons. Fly in eight levels on Baloo the Bear's plane as he delivers packages and avoids Don Karnage's group of employees. Your collectibles include money bags, fruit, and packages. Collecting all money bags and packages earn you more money. Big complaints include upgrades for the plane being too expensive and a bit of cheap areas that feel more artificially difficult. Shooting diagonally is cool, but almost tacked on and flying to the left side was interesting. There's worse games out there, but out of the six, not the best.
Darkwing Duck was more in line with Mega Man, Capcom's main franchise. Using gases and his main weapon, you got seven levels with some big supervillains in each one. Neither side of platforming and shooting has the advantage of being better than the other. Both are done very well and the game knows its limits. A little difficult, but not overly challenging. One of the better efforts from that era.
To the sequels. DuckTales is more or less rinse and repeat. You're still on the search for treasure. New are upgrades to the cane and a store to buy items along finding pieces of a map. Not as good as the first, but pretty good. Chip and Dale 2 is the same thing, but not as executed well. It comes off way too simplistic and almost a cakewalk. As far as sequels go, the former is a must play. The latter isn't, but if you want it for cheap, this is your only option unless you go the emulation route.
There isn't too many features. You can rewind anytime in the regular mode of each one. They add in a boss rush mode and a time attack for each game. It's a nice incentive to see how quick you can get through them. All the soundtracks can be listened to, A gallery has images of certain stuff from that era such as concept art, promotions in magazines, etc. Controls can be altered.
If you can, try to download The Disney Afternoon Collection. It's better than spending hundreds of dollars for some of the actual cartridges. There was a lot of love put into this compilation and it's one that does the licenses justice like they did back in that period of 1989 through 94. One of the must have compilations.
Score: 8 out of 10.
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