Hardly
the best or even one of the better Capcom
games for the Nintendo, Adventures in the
Magic Kingdom holds a special place in
my gaming heart for a couple of reasons.
The
first is because of the stellar soundtrack.
Composed by Yoko Shimomura, who went on to
orchestrate the scores to Super Mario RPG
and Kingdom Hearts, this game has some
of the catchiest, most memorable music on
the NES. Especially the Autopia level, with
its upbeat and fun-on-the-run vibrancy. But,
really, every track of music captures a distinctive
mood that perfectly matches the scene, whether
it's an adventurous beat encouraging the exploration
of a pirate-infested burning city in the Caribbean
or a haunting, repeated refrain echoing within
a lonely, dilapidated mansion. If you stop
playing for a moment and truly give the music
a listen, you'll come to appreciate the diversity
of the game's soundtrack.
The
second, and most nostalgically important,
reason why this game means so much to me is
because I played it nonstop as a kid during
my many visits to relatives. You see, these
family members didn't have a wide selection
of games to choose from—only Tetris,
Dr. Mario, Wheel of Fortune,
and this. So instead of making small talk
with stinky perfumed old ladies on plastic-wrapped
couches, I usually stuck my head in front
of the tube and played this game to death.
This was before I had ever gone to any of
the Disney theme parks, so it was also kind
of my way of coping with friends shoving in
my face how great Walt Disney World was.
It
was only when I was older that I was given
the opportunity to visit Orlando and Disney,
and I've been back several times since to
make up for all of the lost time. But you
might be asking, once you go and see everything,
why ever go back? Well, the parks—I can't
explain it—there is a certain "charm"
to the place, from the rides to the restaurants.
I don't know what it is, but it makes you
a kid all over again and you fall in love
with the place every time. You can be any
age and enjoy a day at the Magic Kingdom—even
on your NES!
When
recently I had the chance to buy a prototype
of this game, I jumped at the chance. I had
always wondered if there were extra levels never
used in the game. Just by strolling around the
world map, you will notice a number of unused
attractions blended into the scenery. One of
these attractions is at the very top of the
map—"it's a small world". It's
not hard to imagine a level based on the colorful
ride. If Capcom can make a level after Space
Mountain, a ride in the dark with little-to-no
visual flair, surely "it's a small world"
was possible. During the trivia game, one of
the characters even refers to "it's a small
world" by name and presupposes that you
know where it's located. (For that matter, Tom
Sawyer Island is also mentioned by a character
during the trivia. Another possibly missing
level?)
You
will also see that around Space Mountain another
unused ride called Astro-Jets, which I guess
would have been too similar in space theme to
Space Mountain.
The
last unused ride on the map was always a mystery
to me as a kid. Using Anaheim's Disneyland
layout as a guide, the placement of the brown-and-yellow
building to the right of Pirates of Caribbean
could mean that it's likely one of two attractions:
either Swiss Family Treehouse or The Enchanted
Tiki Room, both of which are located directly
to the right of Pirates, with The Tiki Room
placed a little further away.
So,
last night, I was still going through the
prototype with a fine tooth comb, and came
across some wackiness.
If
you ever played the game before and just pressed
start without entering your name, the game will
refer to you as "Bamboo.7".
This
is on all versions of the game. I always wondered
about this. Like I said, I was going through
all of the text in the game, looking for differences
in the prototype, when this popped up:
BAMBOO
TENTIWOKURAU WO YOROSIKU SATURDAY S MORNING
IS MORNING SALAD
What
the? Morning salad? Bamboo croutons? This
bit of text is in both the prototype and released
versions.
ABOUT
INSTEAD I MEAN EARNED WELL GOOD JOB FOR A
SQUIRT I HAVE A FOR YA BUT YA MIGHT AS WELL
TAKE DIS INSTEAD MAYBE IT LL HELP YA GROW
YO HO HO WELL DONE DESERVE MATEY BUT ALL I
HAVE IS I HOPE IT GOOD
Now
this is just great. If you know anything about
the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, you'll
know how most of the ride centers around drunken
pirates doing and saying crazy things. If
you read between the lines here, it sounds
like "help ya grow" is like a rough
and tough way of saying to take a swig of
rum or something (kind of like the idiom "it'll
put hair on your chest"). Am I stretching?
Maybe. But what else could that mean? You've
shrunk? It doesn't make sense. None of this
text is seen anywhere in the game.
And
just to round things out, here's a music track
that was never used in the game:
Let's
break down the known differences.
Adventures
in the XXX Kingdom: Garbled Title Screen
For
some reason in the prototype version, the top
portion of the castle graphic and the title's
text are covered in x's. Do I sense some anti-Disney
sentiment here?
The
Eisner-Would-Have-Had-Multiple-Heart-Attacks
Version: Missing Main Street, USA Store
Graphics
Disney
wouldn't be Disney without shops at every corner
peddling everything from character autograph
books to smoky turkey legs. Not so much in the
prototype, as the graphics on top of Main Street's
roofs have not yet been implemented.
Lazy-Eyed
Mickey: Modified Cutscene Graphics
Mickey
appears to be distracted in the prototype version
as his eyes stare away from you during cutscenes.
Or maybe Mickey Mouse has lazy eye?
Planet
A From Outer Space: Letterless Stars
On
Space Mountain, the letter of the current
star you are on is mysteriously blacked out
on the upper control panel in the proto. This
"blacked out" spot is actually a
transparency,
so the scrolling background comes through.
As
a side note: I always found it odd how Capcom
named the planets after letters. Now that
I think of it, they probably didn't have the
space for much else. (And, yes, there is probably
a pun to be found in that last sentence.)
Mickey
Mouse's Missing Meteorite Missiles: Altered
Graphics
Also
on Space Mountain, when you go to press A to
blast a meteor, the released version's missiles
are replaced with dreaded x's, similar to the
ones we saw earlier on the title screen, except
now in white. I suppose those graphic tiles
were still under development.
Mr.
Toad's Wild Toll Bridge: Different
Bridge Graphic
Autopia's
drawbridge is changed (or warped?) from the
released version. It looks ricketier this
way.
Count
Your Blessings: Missing Station Numbers
The
goal of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is to
ride to one of stations at the end of the level,
all of which are marked by numbers. In the prototype,
these station numbers are missing and they're
replaced by green x's.
Starry
Seal-Wrap: Not-Yet-Changed Star Icon
In
the released version, you might notice that
the stars littered on the tracks of Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad have different graphics than
the ones you find in other levels. That's because
those found on Big Thunder are worth 5 star
points each instead of the normal 1. These special
stars are distinguished from normal stars with
a white square outline drawn around the icon.
The prototype does not have this 5-star icon
made yet, so it shows the graphic for a 1 star
instead.
Big
Thunder Drunken Train Derailment: Glitch
and Secret Unused Track
Now
this is a fun one. In the prototype, there
is a way to derail the train on Big Thunder
Mountain Railroad so that you go straight
down the course, unharmed, and right past
the goal at the end. Eventually the terrain
turns into scrolling zeroes that race along
with the traveling train for a good 10-15
seconds. There is an end to this madness:
the scenery comes back, as does a new hidden
track, then ends just as quickly because it
dead ends. Still, wow, what a ride while it
lasted. Ma, no more moonshine for this cowboy.
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