15 Best Disney Video Games

To Infinity and beyond.

disney infinity
Disney

The first game to ever dart out of the Mouse House was, quite aptly, Mickey Mouse. This Game & Watch title (that odd Nintendo handheld) arrived in 1981 and set a precedent for platforming including dodging, jumping and collecting that's felt to this day.

Today, when you look back at the games devised by Disney and created by its favoured developers - Sierra, Capcom, Virgin Interactive and the company's own Disney Studios - it's hard not to be impressed by the design that goes into each and every one.

Out of the near exhaustive list of Disney games released, it's not all been plain sailing on the good ship Steamboat Mickey, and for every fun Donald Duck romp or movie tie in, there will be a buggy Kim Possible PlayStation button-masher, or worse still, Princess Fashion Boutique that sent your copy of Windows 95 into a slumber *shudder*.

Never fear, for your happy ending is here, courtesy of a list that shoots a big red plunger though the whole lot, separating the ace from the awful, leaving us with fifteen titles to get all warm and, erm, Disney over. Enjoy.

15. The Little Mermaid (NES)

disney infinity
Disney

It’s worth remembering that The Little Mermaid’s NES adventure was quite groundbreaking for its time – this was, essentially, a game marketed solely at the girl gamer market.

Gameplay-wise, Capcom crafted a fun and flighty side scroller, where players have to guide Ariel from one end of the ocean to another. Armed only with a bubble swish attack, a degree of guile is required to know when to either stun an enemy and wing their startled body at another foe, or, simply swim away.

The boss battles are typically Nintendo, involving trial, error and a lot of getting the hell out of the way. But, never the less, cap off each level nicely.

Fishes and feminism, what a wonderful thing.

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Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.