The Lion King V: Timon & Pumbaa is a game released on the Famicom by Dragon Co. as a sequel to their first ever release, The Lion King III: Timon & Pumbaa.
Changes and Gameplay[]
Simba's gameplay in the first level.
The game itself is very similar to its older counterpart in terms of gameplay. Before starting the game, the player has to choose one of three playable characters: Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa. Simba is generally balanced, he attacks with his claws and can swim in water indefinitely (although the underwater sections are only found in two levels and are not required to complete). Timon can kick and throw apples, but his attacks are not effective on bosses. Timon jumps the highest, but cannot stay under water for long (there is a special oxygen scale for this). Pumbaa is heavy to control, can't dive into the water and can't hold on the cliffs, but has the fastest speed which can be used to ram enemies.
The goal of each level is to find the boss and beat them to proceed to the next level. Such items as stars (extra points) and hearts (extra hit points) can be met on the way, as well as a lot of enemies like frogs, birds, etc. No more than nine lives are allowed to be held by the player; if a life is lost, the entire level has to be restarted from the beginning. If all lives are lost, the game is over and you have to start over, due to the lack of continues, although you can earn extra lives every 100,000 points.
Overall, the only real changes in the game come from its vastly improved graphics, music with the different sound engine and the fact it has new levels.
Infamy and Reception[]
Edited screenshot depicting all three game overs.
Within the bootleg gaming community, this game is infamous for its unsettling game over screens, which depict Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa committing suicide.
Simba hangs himself, Timon buries himself alive, and Pumbaa willfully leaps into a boiling pot.
The game is generally considered to be as bad as the original due to, despite the cosmetic changes, the gameplay still being plagued by poor controls and physics.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to Cah4e3, this game was developed without TomSoft, aka Tommy Xie's involvement.
- There are 2 rare hacks of this game: Lion King 6[1] and Lion King 7[2]. They have changed the order of levels and the number on the title screen. Lion King 6 was dumped by Cah4e3, and Lion King 7 is currently undumped and can only be found on the "K6022" cartridge.
- There are several hacks of this game that divide Simba, Timon and Pumbaa into separate games, which are most likely level hacks. These hacks use the Lion King V engine, but the music and sounds are taken from the previous Lion King III game. The infamous game over screens remain unchanged. These hacks were included in Plug & Play systems and developed by Nice Code Software, which was founded in Xi'an by an artist from Dragon.
- The game became well-known after YouTuber JonTron mentioned it in his Disney Bootlegs video.
References[]
| List of games by Dragon Co. |
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