Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast is a surprisingly obscure Disney game for the NES, released exclusively in Europe in 1994. Developed by Probe Software and published by Hudson Soft, it is based on Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast and puts the player in control of the Beast rather than Belle. The planned North American NES release was cancelled, making the European version one of the more unusual late-era NES releases.

The story follows the basic idea of the movie. The Beast must break the curse placed upon him and his castle by earning Belle's love before it is too late. Rather than simply retelling the film through cutscenes, the game turns the story into a side-scrolling platform adventure. You guide the Beast through the castle and surrounding areas while dealing with enemies, traps, and difficult jumps.

The Beast fights primarily with his fists and can also climb walls, giving the platforming a slightly different feel from many other Disney games on the NES. Various power-ups can be collected along the way, including hearts that provide extra lives and a magnifying glass that gives you a preview of part of the upcoming level. Pits and enemies make careful movement important, particularly during the more demanding sections.

The game has a distinctly European late-NES feel. Its graphics are fairly simple, but the castle setting, fantasy atmosphere, and Beast character give it an identity of its own. The soundtrack was created by Jeroen Tel and Nick Stroud, with music connected to Alan Menken's original Beauty and the Beast compositions.

For collectors and fans of unusual Disney releases, Beauty and the Beast is especially interesting because it is easy to overlook. It arrived near the end of the NES era, received little exposure outside Europe, and remains a curious example of a major Disney license making its way onto Nintendo's aging 8-bit hardware.