Disney's Aladdin

Overview

There were three different video game versions of Disney's Aladdin, two released within weeks of one another. One was developed and published by Virgin Interactive and the other by Capcom. It is the Capcom version that made an appearance on the SNES - and much later the Game Boy Advance - while the Virgin Interactive game was released initially for the Sega Genesis and later ported to the NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and DOS and Amiga home computers. It is also of note that alongside the official NES game, there were two unofficial ports of the same game and another illegitimate one of Capcom's version.

In both games, the player must guide Aladdin through several locations seen in the 1992 movie of the same name. In the Virgin Interactive game, Aladdin has a sword which he can use to attack enemies, however in the Capcom version the only weapons are apples scattered around the levels which are used temporarily stun guards, who can only be killed if Aladdin jumps on their head.

The third game was made by Sega for the Game Gear and Master System. It follows the plot of the movie more closely than the other two games, and instead of being a straightforward platformer, it plays more like Prince of Persia; most levels have Aladdin solving minor puzzles to progress, rather than defeating enemies and navigating platforms (However, other levels do take place in a running perspective, requiring traditional platformer skills).

Story

The plot in both titles is taken directly from the film so it may not be new to many players. The story is based on an Arab folktale by the same name from One Thousand and One Nights (Though many aspects have been changed by Disney). Players control a street urchin by the name of Aladdin who meets a young princess named Jasmine. The Grand Vizier Jafar wants Jasmine for his bride and needs Aladdin to get the magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders for him. Things don't work out the way they were supposed to and Aladdin gets stuck with the lamp, as well as three wishes. Then, more things go wrong and eventually a battle between Jafar and Aladdin occurs. Aladdin comes out victorious, frees the genie, and gets engaged to the princess.

Critical Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Genesis version of the game scores of 9,8,9 and 8 out of ten. Ed Semrad wrote, "What happened to the Genesis!?! Suddenly, all of the latest titles are some of the best ever seen! This cart has got to be seen to be believed! The animation is absolutely flawless, making it look just like the animated movie -- literally! The slapstick humor of the movie is also retained...".

Danyon Carpenter wrote, "...Aladdin takes many ideas from side-scrollers and turns it into a slapstick game everyone can enjoy. The sound effects are right on the money and the animation has yet to be rivaled. No other game comes close when comparing animation...".