Or do the blue and red bugs fail to increase your roar and life-meters? I only played the game briefly, but the upgrade-bugs in the first level didn't have any effect after I took them. I recall reading that in improperly cracked versions frequently found on abandonware sites, this was a common issue, but since this is the official thing, it's not supposed to happen, right?

Then again, since the password check at the start can be bypassed without filling in a code, maybe this "improperly cracked version" was the one that was used here?

It's almost certainly a cracked version, best thing you can do is let GOG know about the issue and the possible cause.

WTF? I don't mind the game being cracked, but if it's poorly done they have an obligation to fix it before charging money for it!

Exactly, which is why it's important to let them know.

Just spent some time playing The Lion King tonight, and picked up two red bugs while playing. Yes they do increase health, I noticed later on it actually took quite a few hits until I lost a Simba.

After playing I tried something on the first level, I let Simba get hit by a lizard, and it took four hits before losing a life. I collected the red bug, and it took six hits by the same enemy before dying. I'm playing the GOG version too. Though the bar itself did not get bigger, but I noticed it took more hits before the bar depleted.

As for the blue ones, I did find one, but didn't get a chance to try out a roar after collecting one.