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Was the Lion King Game on SNES Intentionally Difficult?

If you’ve indulged in gaming back in the early 90s, you would have probably remembered the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). From the Super Mario series to Disney titles like Aladin and Duck Tales. But did you know that there was one Disney Game that was intentionally made to be difficult?

Disney’s The Lion King Game on SNES was created to be difficult on purpose. Disney instructed the game developers to make the game extremely difficult so that people couldn’t beat it during a single rental period at Blockbuster. The developers later apologized to the fans.

The History of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, otherwise known as Super Nintendo, is a video game console developed by Nintendo. The console was initially released in Japan and South Korea in 1990. By 1991 it was released in North America.

The console received an astounding amount of positive reviews globally. I went on to be the best-selling console of the 16-bit consoles even after the release of Sega’s Genesis. They remained popular even well into the 32-bit era, with over 49.1 million units sold worldwide. (Source: Giant Bomb)

Disney and Nintendo Collaboration

While studying at Waseda University, Hiroshi Yamauchi inherited his grandfather’s position in the company. Back then, it was called Marufuku Co. Ltd. By 1950, Yamauchi was renamed Nintendo Karuta. It was the first company in Japan to produce plastic playing cards.

Contrary to popular belief, the first collaboration Nintendo had with Disney did not begin with console games. The company struck a deal with Disney in 1959 when Disney characters were printed on the cards. The tie-up was a complete success. Nintendo was able to sell 600,000 decks in a single year. By 1962, Yamauchi listed Nintendo on the Osaka Stock Exchange. (Source: NSIDR)

Why Was the Lion King Game Difficult?

In the late 80s and early 90s, the best-selling games on the Super Nintendo platform were based on Disney titles. People didn’t know that most of these games were not as welcoming as they would seem. Most were quite challenging to play that even the most skilled players had a hard time with it.

One of the most difficult games made was The Lion King. While everyone thought it was made for children to play, it was beyond that. The first few levels aren’t as hard, but it gets more complicated with confusing puzzles and surprising traps as the game progresses.

Most gamers knew about the difficulty of the game. What they didn’t know is why. The story behind it is simple; Disney asked the developers to make the game complex enough that people wouldn’t be able to finish it within a rental period. Even if the developers initially disagreed with Disney, they went back to tweak the levels to make it hard, even if it was intended for children to play.

The developers, later on, apologized to the fans for how complicated the game is. One thing is for sure, the game may have been challenging, but it does not mean it was bad. (Source: CBR)

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