Welcome to Game are Evil Retro Reviews. Our retro reviews are a little different. We’re going to be reviewing retro games as though they were just released yesterday. After all, a true classic should be timeless. Let’s see how yesterday’s classics stack up amongst today’s favorites.
Aladdin is easily one of the definitive animated films of the 90s, so it only makes sense that it should receive some of the best licensed game treatment possible. Today we’re going to focus on the Super Nintendo version of Aladdin. Actually, “version” is probably the wrong word since Aladdin for the Super NES and Aladdin for the Sega Genesis are actually two completely separate games, thanks to Capcom receiving the exclusive rights to Disney games on Nintendo platforms and Virgin Interactive getting the Genesis rights. Capcom is known for producing incredibly high quality Disney branded platformers going back to DuckTails and Tail Spin for the NES, so Aladdin is already in good company.
While the Sega version focuses on combat swordplay, the Capcom version of Aladdin goes for a straightforward platforming experience. Rather than swiping at palace guards with a scimitar, you jump on their heads or throw apples to stun them. The in-air physics are a little loose, but generally Capcom has produced a solid, if by-the-books movie platformer. Any developer of licensed software titles knows that making a good game out of a popular brand often means twisting established canon to suit the medium. Capcom successfully bends and twists the story of Aladdin to make for more interesting game scenarios rather than just a straight re-enactment of the movie with a d-pad and four face buttons.
Game: Aladdin
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Licensed Platformer
Price: Varies
Verdict: The fun is still there, but the flavor is missing.
Pros: Tight visual design, smooth gameplay, captures the feel of the movie
Cons: Controls are a little loose, incredibly short, second half isn’t as good as the first
Acquired via Used Game Store
You’ll travel the streets of Agrabah, explore the Cave of Wonders, outrun a lava wave on the Magic Carpet, and fight Jafar as a giant snake in the palace throne room, but you’ll also have to survive the added comical perils that lurk inside Genie’s lamp (easily the most memorable stage), and rescue Abu from an ancient pyramid after he falls off Carpet following the Cave of Wonders escape. Capcom manages to work these new scenarios into the game without them feeling forced, and it’s a good thing they did because even with the added content, Aladdin isn’t exactly the longest game ever (six worlds with a couple of stages apiece).
Capcom games are generally known for their high difficulty, but Aladdin can be incredibly unforgiving even with Capcom’s standards. Cleverly hidden throughout each standard platforming stage is a cloth-like power-up that can be used as a handheld parachute. This lets Aladdin glide across large chasms and gives you more leeway in timing your jumps. However, there is only one of these incredibly useful parachutes per stage. If you die, you lose the parachute and are stuck trying to cover the rest of the terrain on your own. This makes progression MUCH harder than it should be. Level design is pretty straightforward and typical for a licensed platformer, so there aren’t a lot of cheap jumps, but Aladdin’s controls are just a tad stiff in the air. You’ve got to do a lot of thinking before you leap, but you often aren’t given a lot of time to plan. Aladdin’s little recoil when he gets hit by an enemy can cause a ton of unintended cliff dives (think Castlevania).
The hardest part of the game is easily the magic carpet sequence where Aladdin has shoot through the Cave of Wonders and outrun the crashing waves of lava. As each lava wave pushes you further and further to the right of the screen, the game speeds up leaving you no time to maneuver through the narrow rock passage. Memorization is the only way through, and you’ll die dozens of times trying to get the pattern down. Once you get past that, everything else is much more accessible, yet not as memorable. The final boss battle is epic, but none of the scenes leading up to it are half as exciting as the Cave of Wonders or Genie’s Lamp. The ancient pyramid doesn’t even have a boss battle.
Visually, Capcom captured the glowing orange and yellow tones of the movie perfectly. The Genesis version may have actual digitized Disney animation, but it blows all the video RAM and leaves little for background detail. Capcom’s sprites are smaller and less dynamic, but they use the SNES’s strengths to recreate the colorful palette of the movie. Agrabah exudes a warm red glow or a cool blue shimmer depending on the time of day and location of the stage. This helps the game keep that mystical and modernist yet medieval feel of the movie alive. The level of visual detail and variety from stage to stage in the Cave of Wonders is particularly inspiring. The final boss battle with Snake Jafar is incredibly lively with the floor of the stage in constant motion since you’re jumping around on the body of a snake surrounded by flames. The sound score is equally impressive. Capcom doesn’t use a lot of songs directly from the movie outside of a couple of somewhat weak 16-bit renditions of Friend Like Me (inside Genie’s lamp) and A Whole New World (the second magic carpet bonus stage). Capcom instead pulls off an original score that is incredibly similar to the Alan Menken original, whist being more suited to the bouncy ADD nature of a 2D platformer.
Aladdin for the SNES is a good game. It isn’t that long, and the most challenging parts probably are for the wrong reasons, but it all works out to be a worthwhile experience in the end. It wasn’t worth $69.95 new, but if you can find it for cheap now, by all means pick up a copy.
GrE Grade: B-
Popularity: unranked [?]
