Developer: Eurocom Publisher: Activision Release: 02/15/00 Genre: Platformer
Disney licensed games were largely absent during the 32-bit era until close to the end of the generation. I suppose developers did not want to go through their growing pains in 3d with a license attached. But outside of Hercules and Mulan there was not much to make a decent title out of. But when they hit around 1999 the years of experience paid off and the games were generally good to great. Tarzan is a throwback to the 2d platformers of old mixed with 3d graphics. Although it does not reach the heights of the Disney greats it is a solid romp if a little easy.
Tarzan follows the story of the film closely as you follow the titular character from childhood to adulthood in his battle first against the leopards and then the hunter Clayton and his associates. The PlayStation version uses animated cutscenes from the film to move the plot along. The Nintendo 64 game has none of this and throws you in to each level with no context. Those darn pesky cartridges strike again.
As a platformer Tarzan has more in common with Clockwork Knight and Tomba than say Donkey Kong Country. The world is polygonal but gameplay is still on a 2d plane outside a select few instances. The camera shifts around as you move to highlight items either in the foreground or background, enemies, traps and other obstacles. You have a rather large move set as Tarzan tosses fruit as offense or attacks with a spear when available, ground pound to reveal areas and break objects, and tree surf like the film. The controls are not as tight as I would like but are serviceable. I never died unintentionally because of them but have taken hits here and there due to slow response.
For much of the game Tarzan is a standard 2d platformer. Occasionally collectible items reside in the foreground or background and you must suss out the path to collect them. The level design is solid but does get a little repetitive at times due to the singular jungle backdrop. Luckily nearly half the stages are creative diversions that add variety. Both Stampede and Baboon Chase are pursuit levels that see you running in to the screen a la Crash Bandicoot. A few levels end in fast paced tree surfing, the most memorable parts of the film. And two of the final stages, Rockin the Boat and Tarzan to the Rescue are open ended and allow some level of full 3d movement. The pace these stages out pretty well; just as you are tired of swinging from vines and such they offer a reprieve. This variety is the game’s greatest strength.
Similarly its biggest weakness is its lacking difficulty. The target audience for Tarzan is kids and as such the game is very easy on every setting. Tarzan can take many, many hits before death and life restoring fruit is always within a few feet. There are not many enemies populating the levels until later in the game and they are easily avoided. Outside of human enemies most do not seem interested in your presence. Extra lives are easy to come by and honestly most of my deaths were from confusion navigating the levels. For those that are completionists finishing every level at 100% adds a little challenge but not much. This one is not for those that want a challenge.
On both the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 Tarzan captures the look of the movie exceptionally well. The 2.5d view allows for cinematic camera shifts and such but nothing as striking as the best in this particular genre. The jungle is lush but gets old pretty fast but that is a consequence of the movie’s pacing more than the game itself. The variety does not get better until closer to the end. Both versions of the game are near identical graphically but the N64 benefits from anti-aliasing at the expense of some minor slowdown in places. As I said before on PlayStation there are animated cutscenes while 64 gamers only get still images. The differences are so minor that you cannot go wrong with either edition of the game in my opinion.
In Closing
Disney’s Tarzan is a fun throwback that is not for everyone. The action is solid if a bit predictable but the ease of completion and repetition may turn away some. I like it but do not know if I would outright recommend it. There is not enough meat on the bone and only younger gamers need apply.
