Disney's '90s classic Aladdin game gets new level sections in 'final cut' remaster

With the Aladdin and The Lion King remakes each raking in more than $1 billion at the box office this year, it's apparently time to remaster the '90s video game adaptations of the originals. The two games, which will be packaged together as one release called Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King, will come to the Nintendo Switch, Sony PS4, Microsoft Xbox One and PC on Oct. 29 for $30.

The collection -- developed by Nighthawk Interactive and Digital Eclipse -- will also include the Sega Genesis and Nintendo Game Boy versions of Aladdin, a "final cut" version and a trade show demo that hasn't been available since 1993. Lion King will get Genesis, SNES and Game Boy versions.

Stephen Frost, senior producer at Digital Eclipse, noted that the tweaks in the "final cut" were made after consulting with the original development team and "are more on the subtle side" -- like making sure Aladdin interacts with objects consistently and does the same attack damage on enemies.

"However, there are some major adjustments that we know fans will be happy to discover, such as the improved camera system, new level sections, additional enemy variations, difficulty tweaks that include boss changes, and improved sword impact," he said in an email to CNET.

The Lion King didn't get the same treatment because Nighthawk Interactive and Digital Eclipse couldn't talk to that game's original developers to the same extent as they could with Aladdin.

The collection doesn't have the SNES version of Aladdin, which was significantly different from the Genesis one and was developed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. (We've embedded a comparison video of the SNES and Genesis versions.)

However, the package will include a world-class menagerie of new features, like the ability to swap between upscaled and original graphics, visual filters, customizable controls, a rewind feature and Blu-ray-style extras.

First published Aug. 28 at 4:52 a.m. PT.
Update, Sept. 30 at 7:35 a.m. PT: Adds developer quotes about "final cut" of Aladdin.