Disney came out with a movie called Aladdin in 1992. An up and coming company known as Virgin created a game based on the movie for the Mega Drive/Genesis, as it was later recreated for a number of platforms including DOS PC. There are several other versions of the game made for other platforms, which will not be discussed in this review. The game came out in 1993 with cartoony looking 16 bit graphics. The game captured the theme of the movie very well, though the stories were not nearly similar. And some would say the game story was written by someone under the influence.
[b]Characters[/b]
You play as the main character, Aladdin. He is represented as a poor teenage boy who steals to stay alive, a youthful bum living in an Arabian kingdom. Those who know the Disney story of Aladdin will be surprised, since the story behind the game is quite different. Jasmine is another character, which is tied into the game in an ambiguous way. She makes appearances in a few cut scenes and nothing more. The jolly Sultan is said to have left on something resembling a vacation, or possibly a military leave.
One of his close advisers, Jafar, has decided to take the opportunity and make the kingdom his own. Jafar is served by talking parrot named Jago, who makes several appearances in cut scenes as well as an in game enemy. Several minor characters from the Disney movie also make an appearance within the game, mostly within game play. There are also some random boss-like enemies, who add this little spice to the game and make it more playable.
[b]Game story[/b]
Like mentioned before, Jafar is devoted on taking over the kingdom, while the Sultan is away. He plans to retrieve a magical lamp from the cave of wonders by using Aladdin's help. He makes up an elaborate scheme to trick Aladdin into working for him. Believing promises of great wealth, Aladdin falls for it. Later with no explanation, Aladdin realizes that he has been fooled, and must take down Jaffar, a formidable foe.
The entire story within the game is well summarized by the titles of the 11 levels: Agrabah Market, The Desert, Agrabah Rooftops, Sultan's Dungeon, Cave of Wonders, The Escape, Rug Ride, Inside the Lamp, Sultan's Palace, Jafar's Quarters, Jafar's Palace. It seems as if a page of the story was missing. The page that went between Inside the Lamp and Sultan's Palace, the production crew should really been more careful with such important papers
[b]Gameplay[/b]
Aladdin is a complex side scroll game. The arrow keys, Ctrl, Alt and Space are your only controls. You can run either direction, jump, strike with your sword, and throw apples. The apples barely qualify as a ranged weapon, though they are very handy in some situations, but you are limited to 99, a hefty load if you think about it. There are also jewels you can collect, and spend on lives, and second chances, a strange feature of the game.
You can duck which limits your movements, but has several benefits in attack and defence. Elements within the environment extend the possibilities, or example rope allows you to climb. Springy steel rods sticking out from the walls, but you jumped to certain places that would not be reachable by other means. Camels spit projectiles travel straight, when you jump onto their backs. You can hang on clothes lines and fall onto sharp spikes. Deflecting throwing daggers back into their sources is a very fun way to dispose of them.
Magical flying ropes are placed strategically in the Agrabah Rooftops level, dangling from thin air jumping onto one of these will take you on a ride to a place nearby, that would not be accessible over wise.
The graphics are very child friendly, enemies magically "proof" out of existence after a few strikes. Whenever Aladdin is struck, he makes a strange motion, as if suffering a heart attack. When health, represented by smoke coming out of a little lamp at the top left of the screen, runs out, Aladdin simply teleports to his fantasy world where a monkey, a genie and a magic carpet catch him as he passes out. The genie never really makes an appearance within the game, though one of the levels takes place inside his lamp. This may be a metaphor for inhaling the hallucinogenic fumes coming out of lamp.
Again is not all that difficult, though a few levels, especially the final, can be quite challenging and even frustrating at times. Enemies such as soldiers and guards don't make up much of a challenge, but falling stones, spikes, lava, and some random splashing napalm, mixed with some intelligent level design make the game worth playing.
[b]Good versus bad[/b]
The repetitive action of slashing random guards with your sword gets very dull, but fortunately the levels rarely put you in the same situation twice. A couple of the levels are just too long to be fully enjoyed, and the strange story, surely does not add anything positive to this game. On the other hand, the inability to tell what's about to happen next makes every level, a new and pleasant surprise. If you're looking for a good action side-scroller, without any guns and some serious thought put into the levels, this is the right game.
Unfortunately, the replay value is fairly low, and the first time going to the game is definitely the most fun. As mentioned previously many times no attention should be paid to the story, especially if you're a fan of Disney's movie, Aladdin. I personally find this game to be a classic and though it's not a must play it's definitely a should play.
Written by:
~btfx
