Pap the Disney Gamer's Highlight: Cinderella's Midnight Dash

Sometimes, adaptations of various Disney franchises take liberties in their execution, much like Disney take liberties in their own films. On some occasions, this works for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes it is so silly you can't help but enjoy it. Today's game takes a very famous scene from an animated classic and creates a game that can be silly, but still fun to play: Cinderella's Midnight Dash.

An online 3D flash game created to promote last year's Cinderella's release on Blu-ray, Midnight Dash has Cinderella escaping the 12 tolls of midnight, where the spell will end, and she shall be back to her rags. This scene is one of my favorites from the film. While in other adaptations of the Cinderella story the escape is very quiet and happens very quickly, Disney's take on the story creates a tense moment where everyone's lives are affected by the midnight curse. Cinderella has to return home before the spell is over, the Grand Duke must stop Cinderella from escaping, and Prince Charming has lost his mysterious girl. The usage of music and imagery is also fantastic, creating a scene that makes an already fantastic film even better.

So it comes as no surprise that they have created a 3D flash game based on this scene. However, the liberties they have taken in order to create a playable version of this scene make it both fun and really funny in an unintentional way. As Cinderella, players must guide her as she makes her way back to the pumpkin coach. Using the various keys on the keyboard, players can make Cinderella move left and right, jump over obstacles and skip on various stones. As I played this, I couldn't help but think, 'Wow, Cinderella really had a long way to go before she reached the coach!' The idea of Cinderella jumping around while wearing a heavy dress is also a funny one.

Players can also summon the Fairy Godmother. When doing so, Cinderella can fly, helping her reach her destination faster. They can also find some of Cinderella's mice friends are scattered throughout the track. This will create a bigger score at the end of the run. And... that's it! Flash games like this one are often created to be featured on a promotional website. They are not complicated, and feature a very simplistic aesthetic presentation. Yet in some cases, they can be very engaging and fun time wasters outside their promotional stance.

Midnight Dash is one of the many Flash games that uses 3D graphics to depict the overall gameplay. Cinderella's 3D model, in particular, looks really nice. When you use the Fairy Godmother power up, you can see Cinderella's bare feet as she flies across the track. A nice detail indicating that she has left her shoe behind (though why she left behind her two shoes is beyond me).

The game is free to play, and may require additional Flash plug-ins and updates in order to run it. You can do so at this link:

http://opaygames.com/es/games/2426_cinderella-midnight-dash/play/