Retro Review 2: Aladdin

Sorry for the tongue-in-cheek header there, but I felt like boasting that since Aladdin for the SEGA Genesis is a brutal game rife with "It's hard, therefore it's also good." gameplay tropes of ye olde video games. But that's okay, because it's not just a phrase, Aladdin actually IS a really enjoyable game from start to finish...and...it's a lot shorter than I remembered, too.

Taking a more classic video game approach to the Genesis library, Aladdin is primarily a platformer with some combat abilities mixed into it. A is to throw apples (which are plentiful in numbers to collect) as a projectile weapon, B is to slash your sword for close encounter melee combat, and C is to jump. You collect apples for ammunition, and gems to spend in either the end level bonus stage slot machine OR buy extra lives/continues. Like any good Genesis games with control schemes like this, you can change your control scheme in the title menu as well.

You go from the beginning to the end re-experiencing the story of Aladdin as told by the fantastic film by Disney...with some liberties taken with the progression (as did Toy Story for the Genesis in my last review). The difference being that you actually 'defeat' Jafar in the final encounter rather than reverse psychology him into his own demise into a lamp. Matter of fact, you defeat him when he's a giant cobra but...I'm getting ahead of myself here.

This is a hard game.

If you have Aladdin stand idle so it appears he's wearing that
Mickey Mouse hat, an extra life appears. GRAB IT cuz you will
need it!

At first the game doesn't throw too much at you but from the second level onward players will have their skills tested all the way to the end boss which requires pixel perfect precision and a LOT OF PATIENCE to defeat. Thankfully the control of Aladdin is very smooth and you never feel like you're out of control of a situation: if you die or get hit you feel as if 'Okay, that was ME screwing up'. Having said that there is probably going to be a lot of moments where you forget that and just end up cursing at the TV anyways...and that's ok.

The music and wave of lava that closes in
on you from the left is enough to make anyone panic.

One moment that was climactic in the movie lives on in infamy as a stepping point for casual gamers and hardcore players alike: the escape of the underground cave when Abu touches the forbidden treasure. THANKFULLY the game has a bit of a handicap but at a price. If players cannot escape the carpet ride out by the 3rd life lost, they automatically proceed in the game anyways. That being said, if you are able to deal with the section (which also tricks the player not once, but up to three times where one must be in order to avoid losing a life) and pass it you gain bragging rights.


For all the expert gameplay skills that's needed to get through this tough but enjoyable romp on the Genesis too, players are blessed with some nice 16 bit renditions of music from the movie. More than once I found myself humming or outright singing the lyrics to the tunes because the pitch and pace of the songs were near (if not already) perfect to their original versions in the movie. Given that the Genesis is known for not exactly having the best hardware to produce music compared to the SNES at the same time, it's good to know the sound holds up.

There's a lot of weird ways of going about though in this game. From the escape of the cave and onward, there is a lot of vertical-focused designs on the levels after you meet Genie. Be it dealing with the courtyard of the palace or going inside to fight Jafar a lot of the designs revolve around that in the later half.

...and for all the comments I made on how hard this game is, the bosses are almost NOTHING in terms of difficulty except the last boss of the whole game. The first boss you can beat merely by mashing the B button and cornering him to the right of the screen, Iago merely requires players to jump lightning strikes and throw apples at him, and the boss in the cave doesn't even attack you at all if you manage to strike it AS it appears since its movements are telegraphed.

Weirdly enough, the 16 bit version of "Prince Ali" is the first level's song, while the song when Aladdin is being chased (you know, the actual first song of the movie when he appears) is the tune for the second level. It's a huge and immediately noticeable oddity.

But being that as it is, Aladdin is fun and VERY challenging for those that welcome it. If you have enough patience and skill I feel it is easier and more capable to progress and thus beat this game than you would figure but you WILL have to work for it. If you find an Abu logo you can collect it for a chance to obtain gems or lives so make sure you try to search everywhere and extend your chances of going through the whole journey and rescue Princess Jasmine. I can easily recommend everyone this game, whether it's to rise to the challenge of it all or merely pass the time.