Aladdin
Eternal Cuddly Game #6
Type of game
A small programme that started from the bottom to sell lots of VHS copies of the feature film, and ended up in the top 10 best Mega Drive games.
Release date on our machines
October 1993, the romance between my fav console and me was in full swing.
Developer
Virgin Games, Inc. was also on a roll at that time. Developer, publisher, distributor, bam! Bam!
Publisher
SEGA Enterprises Ltd. We know them well by now, still believing they could win the console wars, blah blah blah. Let's move on.
Having really enjoyed the film at the cinema, and knowing Disney's propensity for sending its characters to be reincarnated in video games, I knew that Aladdin would be released on Mega Drive cartridge sooner or later. No, I didn't know anything about it, but I hoped so. At the end of 1993, my wish finally came true. Elena Vestibule and I, my big sister and, well, just me, barely had to pester our parents to get the holy grail of the moment. I remember a brief struggle that was easily won, with the cartridge most likely wrapped up under the Christmas tree in 1993. Maybe it was because the Disney licence gave them confidence. Maybe it was because it promised them extra hours of peace and quiet. In any case, with this game in our hands, they had peace and quiet for quite a while! A little too much, perhaps, because I also remember my stepfather starting to play Mega Drive again for the occasion. Great... so happy... How to spoil the wonderful hype generated by a video game that we've been eagerly awaiting?
Unlimited use subject to conditions
A stepdad who controls the remote instead of you, that's what. Hey, can't you go back to recording adult films on our cartoon VHS tapes instead? Well, no, definitely not, how awful! It was just a way of asking him to leave us alone. And, um, that's the main memory I have of him from that time, sorry.
The best of both
Here's another platformer to add to our game library! Perhaps, but a very good platformer in the golden age of 16-bit consoles is not to be refused. And an Aladdin game on Mega Drive, in the midst of the war against the Super NES, is welcomed with open arms! This title immediately struck me with its beautiful graphics and ultra-detailed animations. I think only Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure made a bigger impression on me later on our beloved console. Honestly! You can recognise every facial feature of our favourite bread thief! The scenery is impressive, it's almost like being in the cartoon, with a few extra things to do and a good chunk left out, especially everything related to Jasmine. Yes, okay, at the time we didn't care about their silly romance! We wanted to fight! Well, maybe not everyone, but all the kids I knew who had consoles thought that way.
Critics of this game had to rack their brains to find something wrong with it. The most common complaint was: ‘Yeah, but Aladdin, where did he get that big scimitar?’ They were referring to a sword or sabre, of course. We all learned the word scimitar in Diablo three years later. Okay, in the film, he never wields a weapon, or at least not for more than three seconds. Those Nintendo-loving kids were just really annoyed at having to bounce off shop awnings instead of cutting guards in half in their version of the game. In reality, the Super NES version offers gameplay that fits the film's universe much better. But we were eight years old, and we would learn the word ‘consistency’ even later than the word ‘scimitar’. Let's just say that wouldn't happen until we read the scripts for Half-Life or Starcraft, not before.
In addition, if you want to mix things up a bit, you can also throw apples. Personally, I didn't really feel like mixing things up, and I only used apples to strip certain enemies down to their heart-patterned underpants. How hilarious was that! Underpants! You never get tired of underpants in video games. Between that and Ghouls'n Ghosts, it's belly aches for eternity, with underpants. Spoiler alert: the final boss, Jafar the giant cobra, who is supposed to be super tough, is actually easily defeated by throwing apples at him from a corner of his own palace he can't reach. Well, we also play as Abu the monkey in the bonus levels. And guess what he's holding in his hands? A scimitar! Well, a sword, or a sabre. He steals shiny things. Just like in the film this time. You stupid macaque! It's all your fault!
The level design didn't seem incredibly crazy to me. Which probably means it's top notch. The lack of childish discernment, all that... When I watch playthrough videos today, it's obvious that the level design received as much love as the graphics! More details on the subject? No. Just that if you land on a platform, well, you land on it. There's no invisible offset of a few pixels that could make you fall when you've LANDED ON IT, OK? And then there's the flying carpet stage, which leaves you breathless and cracks your teeth from clenching your jaw so hard. In the end, completing it isn't a miraculous feat, but just making us believe it is is already pretty good. The fact that we face a boss every other stage doesn't spoil our enjoyment at all. The difficulty is just right, annoying us a little, but without frustrating us.
I think that for the first time in my life, my cousin Walter was feeling a certain jealousy towards me. But at ten years old, he would never have admitted that a Mega Drive game was better than a Super NES game. He had plenty of options for mocking SEGA, between Super Ghouls'n Ghosts, Populous and Jurassic Park, but with Aladdin, I got my little personal victory! Without saying it too loudly, of course.
Aladdin alternates between light and dark phases, depending on the locations visited (not to mention the complete weirdness in the genie's lamp, which is even crazier than in the film). So you find yourself wearing the typical silly smile of a satisfied gamer, only to find yourself frowning and grimacing a minute later, and then back to looking dumb again the next moment. At least there are funny details sprinkled throughout, even in the most complicated moments. In fact, I'd love to know what problem the developers had with animals. Try jumping on a camel or a flamingo to hear the noise they make. You have to experience it to believe it. Well, after all, I've never tried it in real life, so maybe they really do produce the phlegmy groans of a smoker in palliative care, or maybe they love to imitate Johnny Hallyday sneezing.
Big hole in the carpet
One detail has always bothered me, though: the video game leaves out huge chunks of the cartoon, basically everything to do with Jasmine. Did I mention that already? Yes, it needs to be emphasised, obviously. It's a shame for all the little girls who identified with her, and it's a shame for me too, as I fell in love with her when I first saw the movie. Actually, no, it never really bothered me before. I just find it strange today. Three quarters of the game takes place in less than the first half of the film. And when Aladdin escapes from the secret cave, bam! He goes straight to the palace to fight Jafar. No red-faced evil genie, nothing about the legendary scene where Aladdin arrives in Agrabah with his army of fake extras, or the romantic song on the carpet... I guess the flirting scenes wouldn't have made for great action levels, but what about the others?
With a little effort, though, they could have found a way to make it interesting. Someone actually decided to remove everything related to Jasmine! Why? Because she doesn't fight like Blaze from Streets of Rage? Because she's just a prop in the feature film? Yeah, right... It's still a stupid idea to remove her and focus only on what matters to little boys from the 90s! Fighting with scimitars, that's what! The atmosphere remains very faithful to the original work, but with so many holes in the story, it perhaps lacked that little bit of magic that some video games have. And here's Walter Valise again, waving his Super NES cartridge around to mock me. Yes, your game is cool too, okay!
Very Fleshy Melon
Whatever you may think of Tommy Tallarico, his inflated ego and boundless megalomania, he did a great job on this soundtrack. He makes wonderful use of the sometimes limited sound capabilities of the Mega Drive. The tracks from the film are instantly recognisable, and the original compositions could easily have been part of it too, as they have the same vibe. In fact, I never noticed that there were songs exclusive to the game until a few years ago, when I started creating my nostalgic playlist on the subject. It makes you want to grab your rucksack and set off to explore the desert and visit distant palaces! Still, we'll avoid playing Aladdin music during a trip to Egypt while winking at the locals, even if it comes from a video game. The music from the second level could cheer anyone up. And that includes the most angry people in the aftermath of their political idol's conviction. Come on, guys, relax and listen to this. But stay away from Tommy Tallarico if you don't want to end up in jail for attempted assault with a sword.
404 Nostalgia not found
I loved this game, I finished it several times, and I turned over every little rock sprite. I even knew the secret at the beginning of the desert level, when Aladdin plays his standby animation and sticks his head right under Mickey's ears drying on a clothesline. And bam! An extra life appears on the screen. Who else knows this secret? At the time, I don't know. Today, lots of people have picked it up in various corners of the internet. However, in the longplay I watched on YouTube, the guy completely misses it! But what I remember most about this game is that famous day, probably in the spring of 1994, when I had a tennis match planned. So, unfortunately, I couldn't invite Randall Geyser or Lionel Mortadelle over to my house. That said, I still had enough time to play a game of Aladdin. At the time, I was still stuck on the flying carpet level, being chased by the huge wave of lava. But this time, I managed to get past it. Overwhelmed with joy, I stamped my feet in frustration when my mother reminded me that I was going to be late. I had to turn off the console, my momentum to discover the rest of the adventure broken. I crushed my opponent in tennis to calm myself down. 6-2, 6-1, I think, eager to try again at the ultimate challenge of escaping through the cave of wonders. Yeah, right! Yeah, yeah, yeah. So? Did anyone believe that? Because I just made it all up! Hahahaha, isn't that hilarious? No, it's just sad, really. I never won a match 6-2 6-1, I was too bad. Anyway, all this to say that I can't pinpoint any specific memories about this title. It has enormous sentimental value, and it still gives me little nostalgic shivers when I think about it, but I can't associate it with any particular period of my childhood. The good mood of a sunny summer's day? That slot is already taken by Quackshot or Sonic 2. A frenzied gaming session with my sister Elena? Already experienced better with Altered Beast, Robocop or... Sonic 2 again. A semi-secret evening session, because we were geeking out instead of sleeping? Sonic 1 and Toejam & Earl. Yeah, yeah! That special atmosphere at the end of primary school? Nah, even Sonic Spinball and Secret of Mana, which I barely touched, bring it back to me more strongly. I can't explain why, but Aladdin failed to transform my memories into little gems forever embedded in the part of my brain stuck in the last century.
He would have deserved his little memorial capsule a thousand times over, poor guy. I don't think the game itself is to blame for any of this. ‘It's not you, it's me,’ I could have said to him, like when the person you love dumps you and breaks your heart. Has anyone ever said that to me, by the way? No, I've been told, ‘It's you, and definitely not me.’ Oh dear, another topic to discuss during my therapy sessions supervised by Tommy Tallarico. Still, it remains a bit incomprehensible. And it didn't just happen with this one, either! How can I solve this mystery of works deprived of their best childhood memories? By delving even deeper into introspection, of course! If I dodge the present even more, I'll be able to solve one or two cases. The things we have to invent to justify living in the past...
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