CD-ROM -- ''Gamebreak! The Lion King II: Simba's Pride''

"GameBreak! The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" Disney Interactive (800) 900-9234 http://disney.go.com/DisneyInteractive Windows 95, Windows 98 $29.99

Unquestionably, the Disney view of the circle of life includes birth, death and sequels. The animated movie "The Lion King" spawned not only a Broadway show but three pieces of software and, ultimately, a second direct-to-video feature, "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride."

Not surprisingly, this second film resulted in three new CD-ROMs. We decided to test one of them, Disney's "GameBreak! The Lion King II: Simba's Pride."

Players participate as either Kiara or Kovu, the cub descendants of, respectively, Simba and Zira, one of Scar's followers. The games are aimed at ages 5 and older and designed for up to two players who can choose from three skill levels: kitten, cub or lion. Each of its four contests has 50 levels of play. Cub Chase is probably the simplest - and least engaging. Players need to cover all the dirt paths in a maze while evading baby sitters Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu. The real challenge is avoiding being re-penned by your sitters.

The music and graphics will keep you playing Conga Longa, in which you attempt to form an increasingly longer conga line of dancing animals while avoiding obstacles. Extra points are awarded each time you add a level's bonus animal or succeed in getting two or more of the same animal in a row. It's one of those games that's harder than it looks.

In Swampberry Sling, you aim berry projectiles at crocodiles and targets to score points, but to win you'll also need to "take down" less aggressive animals, such as birds. Avoid hitting your baby sitters or you'll lose points.

The most difficult and cleverly designed activity is Paddle Bash, in which you need to hit tiles and wooden planks so that Timon or Pumbaa can reach a grub snack in the middle of a bridge.

Although the levels might seem to give you a lot of bang for your buck, we found the play to be too repetitious in each game's 50 tiers to make you want to proceed all the way to the very last one.