Disney's Aladdin

"Good game... for 30 minutes"

OK, listen up. Don't believe anybody who tells you this is a great game. It's certainly a good game; it's got polish. It's got nice cartoony graphics that recall the movie, and solid gameplay. But does it deserve a place in your collection? No, no, no. Here's why:

Graphics: 9

The graphics are great. Aladdin's motions are very fluid and well-animated. The way that the background moves behind you in the lava scene (classic) is pretty cool. Nobody's complaining. There are intercut scenes that borrow plot from the movie to explain why you're going to the next level, but these are somewhat shoddy. They're not really animated, they're mostly still-frame.

Music/Sound: 4

Let's face it, the music is pretty cheesy and not noteworthy. It's not going to stay in your head all day but it's not going to make you mute the television either. I give it a 4 because it's worse than average. The sound effects are corny and don't lead you to take the game very seriously. The music during the introduction is really nice pseudo-Arab stuff, but the music during the actual gameplay is much inferior.

Gameplay: 8

Aladdin is very responsive to the touch, but he does not have a great variety of moves. You can throw apples at enemies to stun them, but I never found it necessary. You can grab ledges, which is good.

Difficulty: 2

This game is SO easy. This may be where the ''target audience'' comes into play. Disney/Capcom probably didn't want to scare off the younger gamers, so the result is disappointingly short and easy, a real confidence-booster. There are only about 8 levels, all of which are a cinch. Even the last boss of the game, Jafar in snake form, only took me two lives to defeat.

Replay: 0

I suppose one could go back through every level trying to collect every red gem, but who cares? Only a fanatic would do that, and I can't understand anybody being fanatical about this game.

Bottom line:

Aladdin is good while it lasts but thoroughly disappointing once it's over. I remember I rented this game when I was a kid and liked it, so I picked it up on eBay for $6. Unfortunately I can't say it was worth that much. Although it's a good platformer, there's not much depth and it's overall unmemorable. Skip this game and go for one of the Donkey Kong Country games on SNES. Or Super Mario All-stars, for that matter. They're some of the best platformers ever made.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/16/03, Updated 02/16/03