Disney Afternoon Collection suddenly coming to the Switch and Switch 2 almost 10 years after its PS4, Xbox One, and PC release felt a little weird! I mean, it’s packed with NES games. Now it is here with two additions. The SNES games Bonkers and Goof Troop bring the total number of titles up to eight and add some next-gen adventures to the compilation. While the best entries were already part of the group, the two latest additions still have their moments.
Bonkers
Let’s start with Bonkers! It’s based on the show of the same name about a bobcat cop that couldn’t make it as an actor. In the show, he’d work alongside Detective Piquel to solve crimes related to Disney properties. Now, I remember actually seeing the show and… it wasn’t great? (Turns out it only ran for two seasons!) Likewise, the game is somewhat mediocre. You follow Bonkers as he chases a thief who stole items tied to some famous Disney movies.
You need to run through stages, using things like bombs to fight foes or eat donuts (cause he’s a cop) to heal. There’s a boss after each stage, which consists of baddies like a ghost possessing items like a vacuum cleaner or Wooly and Bully on the set of a movie dropping bombs and trash from the rafters until you can eliminate the lights they’re standing on and defeat them.
It’s okay, once you get the hang of Bonkers’ dash. It’s definitely one of the easier titles in the collection, once you do get accustomed to it, with the boss fights in particular being really simple and relatively quick.
Goof Troop
Of the two new additions, Goof Troop is unquestionably the better of the two. It’s still incredibly easy, but it’s novel in that it isn’t a typical platformer like the other games in Disney Afternoon Collection. It follows Goofy and his son Max as they explore different areas to save Pete and his son PJ from pirates when the two pairs went on vacation together. Apparently, Pete looks exactly like Keelhaul Pete, the missing pirate captain swallowed by the whale. Both the Goof Troop cartoon and A Goofy Movie film are honestly pretty great, so right at the start we get strong source material.
Goof Troop takes a little inspiration from the original The Legend of Zelda, in terms of its perspective and use of puzzles, tools like grappling hooks, and bombs to attack enemies. You need to work your way around an island and visit different locations there, dealing with pirates along the way. What makes it especially unusual is that it really benefits from being played cooperatively with another person. I found it was a little bit cumbersome at some parts, since it’d be quicker to solve some later area puzzles or situations after the haunted mansion with someone else’s assistance, but it’s generally a pretty easy game with familiar characters that feels like a change of pace from what else the Switch and Switch 2 releases of Disney Afternoon Collection offer.
Disney Afternoon Collection is available for the Switch and Switch and include the newly added games Bonkers and Goof Troop. The collection is also on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.