There was a time when the main burden that fell on our shoulders was to do the homework of the school. The passage of time has served to see
it from another perspective, but getting home and having to continue another time with the books in front was not a dish of good taste for almost anyone. Luck that was accompanied by small pleasures such as afternoon tea or drawings mid-afternoon, forced viewing if we had not been to play outside. In any case, cartoons were and still
are an integral part of childhood, often beyond, so it is natural that they ended up enjoying their own adaptations in the form of video games.
Using well-established characters and worlds, developers could quickly connect with that same base audience. What, of course,Disney resulted in an alliance with Capcom that resulted in some of the most iconic titles of the 8 and 16-bit eras.
Although modern audiences may associate it more with sagas such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil or Monster Hunter, since the eighties
the Japanese company had been one of the big names in the industry, adding to its history such emblematic sagas as Mega Man (which also had compilation recently),
Ghosts’ n Goblins or Bionic Commando. So, business issues aside, the Disney properties fell into the hands of people who knew how to create
something worthy of them. Series like Patoaventuras , Chip and Chop , Air Adventurers and Darkwing Duck(issued between the late eighties and mid-nineties) emerged from the effort of the multinational to expand its repertoire without recurring again and
again to Mickey Mouse, Donald or Goofy. Almost like what we like to call “shared universe” now. It may sadden that sticking to the series limits the collection,
since the collaboration with Capcom also led to adaptations as celebrated as Aladdin or Magical Quest, but at least it serves to bring those present together in a
package of greater thematic coherence. A window to a specific time that is evoked from the interface and menus common to all games.
The news: museum, counter-loops and rewind
Before focusing on the games and reviewing them individually, it is worth stopping precisely in what Digital Eclipse , the studio responsible for
this collection, has built around them. It is true that, rescaled to a higher resolution apart, remain the same as before, even with emulated defects
to replicate the original experience (something that will not be to everyone’s taste when it manifests in the form of slowdowns). But there are innovations that make
The Disney Afternoon Collection more than just a collection of ROMs . The aforementioned interface is simple and pleasing to the eye, and allows us to access from the beginning to extras such as an audio library with soundtracks ,galleries with images
of the development, covers of the different regions and some other curiosities. It is not a large amount of content, and there is no kind of documentary in the
form of video, but it is still a corner that deserves a visit from all those who grew up with these series or games, or simply have a minimum of attachment for the Disney universe.
So or more interesting, since it is real playable content, is the inclusion of time trial modes to beat our brands in “boss rushes” (jump directly from boss to boss)
or overcoming the games in full , which beyond a simple function Extra can become one of the biggest inducements not to abandon the games after
the initial contact. Several of the achievements are associated to these tests (the margins with time are usually quite generous), although they gain whole
when combined with the online rankings . In addition to the typical comparative tables, the compilation includes the option to see the
repetitions of other playersto learn their techniques or, even better, to play racesshowing our game (in real time) and theirs simultaneously on
the screen. It is a good way to increase practical utility while nourishing the competitive aspect, breathing new life into games whose bases, although simple, still work and lend themselves to these things.
Counter-loops aside, another important addition that helps narrow the gap between veterans and newcomers is the rewind option . Whenever we want, either by falling to a precipice or by receiving the final touch that empties our life, at the push of a
button we can go back in time to undo the damage. It is not the first time that the emulation of retro games allows this kind of advantages, but here it is integrated in such a natural way (as opposed to the save states, also present) that goes through one more mechanic, like the one we could see years ago in games like Braid or Prince of Persia:
The Sands of Time. Of course, those of Capcom were not developed with this ability in mind and it is something that can be played against them because it trivializes the difficulty. Obviously, its use is optional, but having it always there can change the way we
approach games or dissipate the feeling of tension. It is the kind of alteration that irremediably brings positive and negative things, although the
compilation includes an achievement dedicated to completing any game without using it, and it also deactivates it in the counter-loops, so the challenge never disappears altogether.
Finally, before commenting on the real protagonists, it goes without saying that The Disney Afternoon Collection has several options when it comes to showing the games. Since they were created for the classic 4: 3 format, we can choose between filling the
remaining space on the sides with artwork of each game, black stripes or stretch the image with the abominable distortion that entails. On the other hand, a pair of filters are also incorporated to achieve an aspect similar to that of an old TV or a monitor,
so those looking for a more “old school” look will probably prefer to opt for them. Matizado this, now we are going to review the six games included by launch order:
