Welcome dudes and dudettes to another edition of 16-Bit Beach, where the best video games retire in glory. Or do they? If you’ve followed any of my video game articles, it’s fair to say I may have a mild obsession with Disney and Capcom games. I’ve talked about so many in the past year, but there are still so many quality titles to talk about. Take for example this week’s review, one of my all time favorite Disney films, and one of the last major games from the Disney/Capcom dynasty. Does this game deliver a magic carpet ride of quality, or is it not the diamond in the rough we were expecting? Let’s find out with the SNES version of Disney’s Aladdin.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1993
PUBLISHER: Capcom
GENRE: Action Platformer
I’ll repost what I said in my review of the Genesis verison.
Aladdin is the 31st animated feature film by Walt Disney Pictures, and was released in theatres November 25th, 1992. Following the success of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin proved to be another major hit for the company. Thanks not just to its solid story, but the strength of the biggest celeb in the movie, Robin Williams, who provides the voice of the big, blue, and energetic Genie.
It’s personally my favorite Disney animated movie, not just of the 90′s, but of all time. Sure, it may not have held up in all areas as others have, but for me, it hit at the right time, and the eight year old me that saw it for the first time loved every minute of it. It has a great love story, solid action, and some great humour. Even if by now the references from the time can feel slightly grating now. It’s still an entertaining watch.
And of course, there would be video games based on the license. While Sega would go with Virgin Interactive for their port, Capcom’s exclusive license with Disney to produce games for Nintendo was still going down. Capcom had been releasing major hits for the SNES at the time including the super popular Street Fighter II, and this was still heavy in the golden age of the company, you know, before Capcom was releasing literally the same game each year (*coughMVCcough*).
Their port of Aladdin was released in 1993, and was well recieved by fans as a solid platformer. However, the Genesis port had earned far bigger acclaim from fans for its animation and gameplay, even earning game of the year by EGM in 1993. So, was the SNES port merely an inferior game? Let’s find out further.
STORY:
Set in the Arabian land of Agrabah, a young man named Aladdin is just a poor street rat, who wishes he could be more than he is, as well as be worthy enough to win the heart of Princess Jasmine. When he’s tricked by Jafar, the evil vizier to the sultan to collect a magical lamp inside the ominous cave of wonders, Aladdin ends up with the lamp, and the wise-cracking, impression making, wish granting genie. With wishes in tow, can he earn the heart of the princess, as well as deal with the evil Jafar?
GAMEPLAY
Dinsey’s Aladdin is a one player action platformer. You control Aladdin as you go from level to level as you do many of the major plot points of the story.You control Aladdin with the D-Pad, can jump with the A button, and throw apples with the B button., as well as float with R. We’ll get to how you float shortly.
The game is broken into multiple levels, each for the most part having something to do with the movie. You start on the streets of Agrabah, where you’ll deal with palace guards, and eventually the sword slashing merchant. Then enter the cave of wonders to find the lamp. You’ll then have to escape the fiery cave. Followed by a trip inside the lamp. A detour into a temple level, a carpet ride with Jasmine, and finally the battle with Jafar. So for the most part, the game follows the story quite well, save for some mild detours.
Aladdin doesn’t carry a sword in this game unlike the Genesis version. Instead, he uses his acrobatics to survive. Aladdin can jump on enemies to take them out. He also uses his apples to stun and defeat enemies. Apples are abundant through levels, and you can pick up plenty throughout each level. There is also a scrap of cloth that Aladdin can find. Once collected, Aladdin can use it to float to harder to reach areas by holding in R during a jump.
There are several other items to find throughout the stages. The main items include apples to give you extra ammo, bread and chicken that refill your health, and gems. Collecting 100 gems will add an extra heart to your meter (you start with three). There are two types of gems. Green gems are more common to find, while the red gems are rarer, and in harder to find spots. Collecting at least 70 red gems will earn you the game’s special ending.
Another item you’ll find is a golden scarab. By collecting this, you can go to a bonus level at the end of the stage. The Genie will spin a wheel, and you select when it stops. Whatever Genie’s finger touches when the wheel stops spinning is the item you earn. You can earn a 1-up, a 2-up, continues (by getting a star), or extra hearts/3-up if you get the Genie face.
Each level is broken into at least 2 to 4 different levels, and for the most part, it’s basic platforming, mixed with some Prince of Persia style acrobatics. climbing ledges, swinging on platforms, the basics you’d expect from a game with one of the more athletic and versatile of Disney protagonists. The only levels that break from that are the two carpet stages. One is a level where you have to escape the cave of wonders as the lava fills. The other stage is more of a bonus level where you and Jasmine recreate the Whole New World carpet ride level, as you collect gems and listen to that oh so memorable tune.
The game starts you with three lives and a couple continues. Every level has a password at the end, but there are no saves. There are a couple of bosses, but not as many as you’d hope for a game based on Aladdin. The difficulty is minor, mainly the only real battle you may have is if you’re trying to collect all the red gems, or at least enough required for the special ending. There are no major control issues, or any super hit detection problems.
GRAPHICS
As you’d expect from Capcom in this era, the game has solid graphics. Very colorful, and gives off a great Disney-esque feel. Not as quality as the Genesis graphics, but that’s what happens when you don’t have official Disney animators working on your game. The game also uses plenty of cutscenes from the movie, and all are very well detailed, something that the Genesis port sorely lacked. Not to mention the ending of this game is far more satisfying than the very underwhelming ending of the Genesis port. A definite A plus for a quality looking game.
MUSIC
While the SNES port doesn’t use as many songs from the movie unlike the Genesis version, the songs within are still excellent quality, once again as expected by Capcom. The game has a quality soundtrack, and has tons of solid tracks to it. Best songs are the versions of “Friend Like Me” and “Whole New World”. While I prefer the Sega soundtrack, this is still very good, and some solid SNES music.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Disney’s Aladdin is a quality platformer on the SNES. While not as great as the Genesis version, it’s still a very good game for the console, especially at a time when the Capcom/Disney train was winding down. It sticks strongly to the film, has replayablilty, and looks and sounds extremely well. If you’re looking for a decent licensed title for the SNES, look no further. This is a definite must have for the console, it’s a wish come true for any Aladdin fan.
RATING: Thumbs Up