Pinocchio: the video game

Having discovered an emulator for my smartphone, I've taken to downloading a bunch of classic Disney computer games.  I decided to give the Sega Genesis game based on Pinocchio a go, and I'm glad I did because it's rather a fun - if not particularly challenging - adventure.

The game follows through the story of the film with each level being based on a segment of the film.  With Pinocchio being a very disjointed film - really just a series of different stories with Pinocchio at the centre - this structure transfers well to a computer game of this type.

Pinocchio walks to school dodging Honest John and Gideon; he performs in Stromboli's puppet show, copying the dance moves of the other marionettes; floats of balloons across Pleasure Island before travelling a precarious wooden rollercoaster; plunges to the bottom of the sea before being swallowed by Monstro and having to navigate rickety wooden scaffolding; before ending up in a raft race with Monstro dodging jagged rock formations.

Every level has Pinocchio dodging various hazards except one brief level which has the player suddenly become Jiminy Cricket fending off the attacks of various insects whilst jumping around a street lamp.

It's a fun game and I rather enjoyed playing it.  None of the levels are too difficult but they do take a few attempts to get the timing correct and there is definitely a need to memorise the order various hazards come up in levels such as the rollercoaster and final raft race.  I'll admit to using a walkthrough online to working out a couple of tricky sections, but overall I found this a satisfying game.

Pinocchio transfers well into the computer game format and the graphics are pleasingly colourful and quirky.  The characters all look identical to their film counterparts and I rather liked the use of the Blue Fairy to magic Pinocchio back to life whenever the player loses.

Find an emulator and give this one a go.

Below is a video containing the music from this game.