Disney's Aladdin

"The best licensed game ever."

Aladdin was released for the Sega Genesis in late 1993. Aladdin is a 2D side-scrolling game based on the legendary Disney movie of the same name that was developed by Virgin Interactive and published by Sega. The movie was made famous for it’s characters, and the game was made famous for its breathtaking graphics, that still look amazing today. Now then, without further ado, let’s get to the review.

Gameplay, as I mentioned before, takes place in an amazingly detailed 2D side-scrolling world. The diverse levels range from markets to dungeons, and all of them are filled with subtle details that suck you into the game. The market area, for example, has merchants in it, and the dungeon has skeletons. These little touches add quite a bit to the feel of the game. There are many enemies in the game, and they can be taken down with one of two weapons. You can use a sword or apples to thwart your foes. The sword is the more powerful of the two, but it has a limited range of attack, while the apples have less power, but they have a huge range of attack, be careful though, your apple supply is limited, so use your apples wisely. This adds an element of stategy to the game. You have to decide whether or not to use the more powerful weapon, and risk injury, or use a lesser weapon and not risk injury. The game really doesn’t have all that many bosses, which is a bit odd for this type of game, but it fits the movie better. There is only one antagonist in the movie, Jafar, and he’s the only boss in the game. This is one of the few games that can pull off only having one boss; and it does it flawlessly.

Speaking of flawless, now it’s time to get to the control. The game controls like a dream. The controller will seem like an extension of your hand when you play this game because of the game’s spot-on control. There is nary a moment of hesitation between your button press, and the on-screen action. This means you’ll be able to jump when you want, and not when the game says it’s OK to jump, this means you can attack an enemy at your will, and not be at the will of the game.

The graphics in Aladdin are absolutely breathtaking. The characters look nearly identical to those in the movie, replete with all of the little touches that add to the character. Aladdin has patches on his pants, just like he did in the movie, to signify his poor status in the world, and it adds an extra element to the character. The levels, as I mentioned earlier, are chock-full of details that a lot to the game. Even the enemies are full of details, and humor. If you hit a huge guard with an apple, his pants will fall down, revealing white boxers with red hearts on them, this is one of the funniest things in the game, and it adds a certain charm to the game. The character animation used in the game has achieved legendary status, as it should, because each and every frame of animation in the game was done by the Disney animators that worked on the movie. The animation is some of the most fluid I have ever had the privalage of seeing, and it is truly astounding. There are some really subtle animations that most won’t even notice, one of them is the animation of an apple being cut in half. Here’s the deal, if you throw an apple, and an enemy blocks it with their sword, the apple will be cut in half. This is just one example of the thorough animation in the game. There are tons of little animations that you probably won’t notice unless you pause the game, such as the animation of an apple being thrown. If you pause the game as you start to throw an apple, you will see three of the frames of the apple being thrown, this translates three frames of animation each frame for an apple being thrown, most games, even today, just have one frame of animation for each frame, but not this game. The look of the final product is amazing, you must see the game in motion to truly appreciate the splendor that is the animation in the game.

The music used in the game is lifted right out of the movie, sans lyrics. All of the music has a crisp and upbeat sound to it, just like it does in the movie, and it fits the game’s theme perfectly. The quality of the music leaves a little bit to be desired, the lyrics added a lot to the songs in the movie, but the lack of lyrics doesn’t hurt the game all that much, the music itselt is what counts and it still adds a lot to the look and feel of the game.

Aladdin isn’t the hardest game ever, in fact, it’s one of the easiest. This flaw is easy to overlook given the targeted age group of the game, this would also explain the game’s lack of bosses. Most kids don’t want to deal with a boss at every level, or brain-teasing puzzles.

Despite the lack of challenge, Aladdin is one of the most replay-laden games out there. Once you beat it, you will come crawling back to the game just to look at it one more time. You will come back to notice some of the more subtle animations in the game. I’ve only sratched the surface of the animation, there are thousands of subtle animations in the game, but I’ve got to leave you, the player, with something to find. You’ll have a great time looking for the more subtle animations, I guarantee it.

All in all, Aladdin is one of the finest platformers ever. It packs in pick-up-and-play gameplay with one of the smoothest gameplay engines out there. It also packs in some of the most detailed graphics ever. The music captures the spirit of the game, and really adds a layer of depth to the game.

Aladdin performs like a dream on the Nomad. The graphics are still breathtaking, and the more sublte animations are easier to spot on the Nomad. The blurring of the sreen is barely noticable during gameplay and is only distracting during the credits, the text in the menus and on the cinematic cutscenes can be read easily. The music is still amazing, and the game still controls like a dream. If you own a Nomad, this is one of the finest purchases you can make for it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/01, Updated 07/24/01