While Disney games tend to be hit or miss, some truly great ones do exist, not to mention that there are gamers out there who have a fondness for the movie and show tie-in games that can be found on platforms like Steam. Unfortunately, the selection of Disney games on Steam just took a drastic hit, with 14 games pulled from the marketplace on January 15.
While the internet’s current meme of choice Cory in the House DS is climbing its way to the top of the Metacritic rankings, those who unironically enjoy Disney video games woke up to disappointment today. The 14 games removed from Steam are as follows:
- Afterlife
- Armed and Dangerous
- Cars Radiator Springs Adventures
- Chicken Little Ace in Action
- Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell’s Adventure
- Disney’s Hercules
- Disney Planes
- Disney Winnie the Pooh
- Finding Nemo
- Lucidity
- Phineas and Ferb: New Inventions
- Stunt Island
- The Princess and the Frog
- Toy Story Mania
Some of these games have seemingly been removed from GOG as well (like Armed and Dangerous) with Disney thoroughly scrubbing them from the internet.
Disney is unfortunately known for vaulting its content, a process that has led to some particularly frustrating game shutdowns over the years. Pirates of the Carribean Online, Toontown, and Club Penguin are some of the most popular Disney projects that were abandoned, though fan projects have kept a version of them up and running since the official support has ceased. Unfortunately for any fans of the above titles, their singleplayer focus makes it unlikely for them to be revived like Toontown or Club Penguin, so this sudden Steam removal is particularly problematic.
Which of Disney’s Removed Steam Games Are The Biggest Letdown?
Of the 14 games removed, some of the standouts are the original titles like Afterlife and Armed and Dangerous. The former was a 1996 Lucasfilm title where players were in charge of both Heaven and Hell, serving as a unique take on Sim City full of humorous disasters and interesting concepts. The latter isn't just what Bucky shouts when using his ultimate in Marvel Rivals; Armed and Dangerous was a game that was also handled by Lucasfilm (as well as Planet Moon Studios), and was a comedic third-person shooter released in 2003 that parodied both fantasy and sci-fi. In the comments of the above Reddit post from Dry-Albatross-4121, many seemed particularly bummed that this game was removed, as they had no idea that it was even on Steam and wish they could experience its unique weaponry and characters again. While Afterlife has certainly shown its age, fans of city builders should still be able to play it if they so wish, and Armed and Dangerous holding up fairly well for a game that's over 20 years old makes its removal even more tragic.
Commenters are also urging players to purchase and download other standout Disney games, such as Split/Second, before they get removed from Steam as well.
Of the licensed games, many seem fond of Hercules and are sad to see it essentially become abandonware, locked behind piracy and old PS1 consoles. Whereas the SEGA Genesis version of Aladdin is infamous for being frustratingly hard, Hercules is known for being one of the better Disney tie-in games ever released. The game shined because of its visuals, music, and voice acting, all of which matched the quality of the movie. It successfully merged 16-bit and 32-bit games with its side-scrolling action, with collectibles also giving them a reason to explore the levels thoroughly. Sadly, this classic Disney game just became a lot less accessible.
As always, it’s worth noting that players who already own these delisted Steam games can still access them, with only those hoping to purchase them after their removal being impacted. Still, for anyone who didn’t already own these Disney games, it’s a huge disappointment to see them taken off Steam without any warning to purchase them before they’re gone.
