Tarzan (also known asDisney's Action Game: Tarzan) is a 1999platformvideo game developed byEurocom Entertainment Software. Based on the 1999 filmof the same name, it was released bySony Computer Entertainment on thePlayStation andDisney Interactive onMicrosoft Windows on June 30, 1999, and byActivision onNintendo 64 in February 15, 2000.[4] An abridged version for theGame Boy Color developed byDigital Eclipse was released in 1999.
Tarzan | |
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![]() North American PlayStation cover art | |
Developer(s) |
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Publisher(s) | PlayStation Sony Computer Entertainment Microsoft Windows Disney Interactive Nintendo 64/Game Boy Color Activision |
Producer(s) |
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Composer(s) |
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Series | Tarzan |
Platform(s) | |
Release | Game Boy ColorPlayStationMicrosoft Windows
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Genre(s) | Platform |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Plot
editThe player takes control of the eponymousTarzan, an orphan child who was adopted and raised by gorillas. At the beginning of the game Tarzan is still a young kid who has to learn different skills from the gorillas such as climbing trees, swinging down branches or fighting small but aggressive wild animals. He eventually grows up to be a strong and skilled man who must defend himself and his fellow animal brothers' home, the jungle, from hunters led by the evil hunter Clayton.
Gameplay
editDisney's Tarzan is a2.5D side-scrolling platform game, with gameplay taking place on a two-dimensional plane but with three-dimensional models and environments. The player controls the eponymous character of Tarzan, both as a child and as an adult, through 14 different levels.[5] Along with running and jumping through levels, Tarzan is able to slam the ground in order to break open certain objects, as well as revealing hidden items and secret areas. Tarzan's main method of attacking enemies is by throwing assorted fruits, which can be thrown bothoverhand and underhand for varying throwing distances and come in 4 different levels of power marked by their colors. Aknife can also be found in certain levels and used as a close-combat weapon, and certain other weapons, such as a spear and aparasol, are exclusively used in specific levels.[6] Tarzan'shealth status is represented by a life bar that depletes as he is harmed by enemies and other hazards. The health bar can be refilled by collectingbananas, which are hidden in banana trees and other areas throughout levels.[6]
Levels feature several different collectible items, such as coins that earn the player anextra life when 100 of them are collected, and four pieces of a pencil sketch which are hidden throughout the level and unlock a bonus level when collected. Scenes from the game'srespective film can be unlocked by locating 6 letters (T-A-R-Z-A-N) in each level.[6]
The game has three difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard. In the easy and medium difficulties, little Tarzan gets tips from his friend Terk. Tarzan's enemies aremonkeys,baboons,eagles, Sabor the leopard, and different animals such assnakes andbushpigs, and some humans such as Clayton.
Development
editTheGame Boy Color version ofDisney's Tarzan was developed byDigital Eclipse, who had previously developed several ports of older games includingKlax,Joust andPaperboy. It was Digital Eclipse's first completely original video game which they had developed and designed from scratch, as their previous efforts had all been ports of other games. The game's development team was given 3 months to develop the game, and consisted of two programmers, ten artists and three level designers.[4] According to the game's technical director, Mike Mika, the initial design concept for the game was "quite ambitious", with several gameplay mechanics needing to be nixed due to time constraints. According to Mika, the team wanted to include gameplay objectives which were given to the player by talking to and interacting withnon-playable characters, and had concepts for several mechanics which went unincorporated, such as levels which involved riding on top of birds and levels that featured Tantor the elephant as a playable character.[4]
Reception
editAggregator | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
GBC | N64 | PC | PS | |
GameRankings | 74%[31] | 71.11%[32] | 82%[33] | 71.11%[34] |
Publication | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
GBC | N64 | PC | PS | |
AllGame | [7] | [8] | [9] | [10] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 6.5/10[11] | 6.25/10[12] | ||
Game Informer | 6.5/10[14] | 7.25/10[15] | 7.75/10[16] | |
GameFan | 91%[13] | |||
GameRevolution | C−[17] | |||
GameSpot | 6.9/10[18] | 7.8/10[19] | ||
IGN | 8/10[20] | 7.8/10[21] | 7.3/10[22] | 7.7/10[23] |
Next Generation | [25] | [24] | ||
Nintendo Power | 7.4/10[26] | 8.5/10[27] | ||
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [28] | |||
PC Gamer (US) | 73%[29] | |||
The Cincinnati Enquirer | [30] |
Disney's Tarzan received positive reviews upon its release, with critics praising the game's graphics and its faithfulness towards the film's story.[35]
Rick Sanchez reviewed the PlayStation version of the game forNext Generation, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "Tarzan is a solid, if uninspired, title that gets by mostly on its looks. Serious gamers won't find much of value, but it might appeal to the kiddie set flocking to the film".[24]
The PlayStation version ofDisney's Tarzan received a "Gold" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[36] indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[37]
Rick Sanchez reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game forNext Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and wrote that "Disney Interactive borrowed the best platform gaming tricks and put them together in one package. While there's nothing new or original inDisney's Tarzan, it is still a decent game".[25]
Janice Tong fromThe Sydney Morning Herald gave the game three stars out of five stating: "If you have no compunction about slaughtering Disney-cute beasties, this is the game for you".[38]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^"Disney's 'Tarzan' for Game Boy Color System Swings Onto North".Bloomberg. July 1999.
- ^"Sony Ships Tarzan Today". June 30, 1999.Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 23, 2023.
- ^"Activision Takes Nintendo Gamers into the Jungle".Bloomberg. February 15, 2000.
- ^abc"Lords of the Jungle".IGN. July 16, 1999.Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2018.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan".IGN. February 8, 2000.Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2018.
- ^abcDisney's Tarzan for Sony PlayStation instruction booklet. Disney Interactive. 1999.
- ^Williamson, Colin."Disney's Tarzan (GBC) - Review". Allgame. Archived fromthe original on November 13, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Ottoson, Joe."Disney's Tarzan (N64) - Review". Allgame. Archived fromthe original on November 13, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Olson, Kim."Disney's Tarzan Action Game - Review".Allgame. Archived fromthe original on November 13, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Ottoson, Joe."Disney's Tarzan (PS) - Review". Allgame. Archived fromthe original on November 13, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan (N64)".Electronic Gaming Monthly. 2000.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan (PS)".Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1999.
- ^Buchanan, Levi (February 14, 2000)."REVIEW for Disney's Tarzan (N64)".GameFan. Archived fromthe original on July 8, 2000. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Helgeson, Matt (August 1999)."Tarzan (GBC)".Game Informer. No. 76. p. 67. Archived fromthe original on October 21, 2000. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Reppen, Erik (March 31, 2000)."Tarzan (N64)". Game Informer. Archived fromthe original on May 27, 2000. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^McNamara, Andy (October 29, 1999)."Tarzan - PlayStation". Game Informer. Archived fromthe original on December 5, 2000. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Liu, Johnny (July 1999)."Tarzan Review (PS)".Game Revolution.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Fielder, Lauren (February 18, 2000)."Tarzan Review (N64)". GameSpot.Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Fielder, Lauren (July 14, 1999)."Tarzan Review (PS)".GameSpot.Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Schneider, Peer (July 13, 1999)."Tarzan (GBC)". IGN.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Casamassina, Matt (February 14, 2000)."Disney's Tarzan (N64)". IGN. Archived fromthe original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Lopez, Vincent (August 13, 1999)."Tarzan Action Game".IGN.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Perry, Douglass C. (July 6, 1999)."Disney's Tarzan (PS)". IGN.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^abSanchez, Rick (October 1999). "Finals".Next Generation. Vol. 2, no. 2.Imagine Media. p. 113.
- ^abSanchez, Rick (May 2000). "Finals".Next Generation. Vol. 3, no. 5.Imagine Media. p. 98.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan (GBC)".Nintendo Power. Vol. 124. September 1999.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan (N64)".Nintendo Power. Vol. 129. February 2000.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan".Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. 1999.
- ^Poole, Stephen (September 1999)."Tarzan Action Game".PC Gamer. Archived fromthe original on October 11, 2004. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^Bottorff, James (1999)."Tarzan matches movie".The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived fromthe original on April 28, 2001. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan for Game Boy Color". GameRankings.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan for Nintendo 64". GameRankings.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^"Tarzan Action Game for PC".GameRankings.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^"Disney's Tarzan for PlayStation". GameRankings.Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. RetrievedMay 19, 2014.
- ^"Revisiting the songs of 'A Goofy Movie' on its 20th anniversary | EW.com".Entertainment Weekly. Archived fromthe original on April 8, 2015.
- ^"ELSPA Sales Awards: Gold".Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived fromthe original on March 19, 2009. RetrievedJuly 26, 2019.
- ^Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008)."ELSPA:Wii Fit,Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK".Gamasutra. Archived fromthe original on September 18, 2017.
- ^Tong, Janice (October 23, 1999)."Tarzan Review".smh.com.au. Archived fromthe original on December 2, 2000. RetrievedMarch 26, 2022.