Disney's Aladdin

"One of the better games based on a movie."

Aladdin has got to be one of the best side scrolling games available on Sega Genesis. Disney released the hit movie in 1993, which captivated the hearts and minds of many young children. Roughly around the same time, I received a Sega Genesis, and this was one of the first games I asked for. To tell you the truth, I knew squat about videogames. Most of the games I owned were either in correspondence to movies or famous cartoon characters. Now that I’ve grown up though, I’ve noticed that these “movie games” as I like to call them, are pretty awful compared to games that aren’t based on movies. A lot of them have little or no relevance to the plot of the movie, and have sub-par graphics, but Aladdin was different. It broke out of the stereotype that games based on movies are awful. This game not only stuck to the actual movie plot (or at least pretty well), but it held up extremely well as a game too. That’s a feat that has been seldom surpassed in the last few years.

The story for the game is pretty close to the Movie. The only difference between the two is that Jasmin is never really incorporated into the story, and neither is Jafar until much later in the game. Most of the game takes place between the dungeon and getting out of the cave of wonders. In fact, nearly half of the ten levels take place in there. All in all, they did stay pretty true to the story, but just to be nitpicky, they did falter along the line in a few places. Anyway, lets move on…

The gameplay in Aladdin has to be one of the strongest elements of the game. It’s not that it’s innovative or anything, but it’s just very fun and it’s painfully obvious that a lot of attention to detail was spent on this game. As like many games in the 8 and 16 bit era, this is a side scrolling adventure. So in a sense, it is just a prettier rehash of every game that came out for the 10 years before it, but another sense it’s completely new. One thing you will notice upon firing up this game is that there is no time. I found that to be a really nice feature. You have all the time in the world to just soak up your surroundings, and just get a nice feel for the level. Another thing I like is the choice of weapons. You can either use swords for close range, or apples for throwing at an enemy. Of course, Virgin Interactive being the masters they were with this game programmed all sorts of funny little things for the enemy to do. For example, on the second level, there are an abundance of little fat guards. If you sneak up on these guys (don’t be seen), you can catch a glimpse of them stuffing their faces with what looks to be like cake or Oreos. And what’s more is that you can throw an apple at the guy and his pants will fall down, revealing polka-dot boxer shorts and quite a surprised look on his face. The exquisite attention to detail shows that Virgin Interactive didn’t just rush this game to get a nice fat cash cow on the video gaming market, but they put time, and more importantly love into their game.

The levels are quite easy, even for a casual gamer like myself. The first level is practically a cinch to beat and the second isn’t much harder. The difficulty level between that and the third level though is a bit higher though, and it is also the first level in the game to feature a boss. The setup is much like Donkey Kong, except much, much easier. By level four, you have practically learned all you need to know in the way of techniques, so it is just a matter of timing in the levels. It may lead to a bit of repetition, but it certainly doesn’t take away from the fun factor of this game.

The graphics have to be where this game shines the most. I cannot believe how detailed they were. I mean sure, we’re talking about the 16bit era and there were a lot of beautiful games, but this one just had the Disney magic in it. All the levels are vibrant and literally bursting with colors, without any of them looking out of place at all. Take the Cave of Wonders for example. They use dark colors to show the dark caverns inside the dune, and once in a while, colorful stalactites will show up and you’ll just say “Wow”. I own quite a few platform games for Genesis and I can safely say this one has the best use of color and the most realism.

People in this game look absolutely brilliant as well! Aladdin himself is detailed very well and all his motions look lifelike. The way he walks, the way he jumps, just generally the way he moves is very fluent, which is quite different from the usual choppy animations of the time. Enemy guards also move quite fluently. As you near them, they will adopt their attack stance and maybe even take a few swings at you, but you really only have to worry about these guys for half of the game, the rest of the time you’re dodging booby traps left and right.

Of course, it looks great, it handles great, but how does it sound? Absolutely brilliant! They actually used the licensed music in the game, and the best part is that it sounds totally true to its counterpart. Granted, system specs couldn’t compete with actual music, but this game comes pretty damn close. Some of the best MIDI songs in the game are “A whole new world” and “Prince Ali” which easily rival the actual songs in terms of melody. Sound effects in Aladdin are also quite pleasant to hear. There are your typical grunts ands moans, but you’ll also hear guards saying “C’mon!” to try and lure you towards them. Other things one might hear in this game are the interesting noises things make when you interact with them. For example, when a vase is dropped on poor Aladdin’s head, you will hear quite a lifelike shatter from the vase. I was very pleased with what Virgin Interactive did with the music and sound effects in this game. They took a stellar game, and added warm music to give it some extra magic.

Aladdin by all means is a very easy game. Even when I was younger, I could make it to the last level without too much difficulty. The learning curve is quite gradual in terms of mastering technique, but once you get to the latter levels, the difficulty rises dramatically. Not just because the levels get more complex, but they demand faster decisions from you, and under pressure, you might not make wise choices.

This game is also one of the strongest contenders in the replay category. It’s just the sheer enjoyment of the whole experience that pulls people back in time and time again. Hell, I’ve owned this game for maybe 10 years, and it’s still as fresh as the day I bought it. Not only is it fun to play, but the levels just look so amazing that often times I find myself coming back to play it just to get a good look at the levels.

All in all, Aladdin is a wonderful game. Although it is not exactly the best game for Sega Genesis, it is one of the more solid and long-lasting titles in the Genesis lineup. It’s also one of the best movie-license games of… well, all time. The Lion King was a spectacular game, but this one just has an extra touch that makes it just that much more attractive to a classic gamer. If you are in the market to purchase this game, I highly suggest you do so, regardless of price. This is a great game that should be essential to your Genesis collection.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/02, Updated 04/06/03