Disney's Aladdin

For the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear game, see Disney's Aladdin (8-bit). For the 2020 aftermarket re-release, see Disney's Aladdin (iam8bit).

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Disney's Aladdin
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega, Ballistic (US re-release)
Developer: Virgin Games USA, Disney Software, Sega of America
Supporting companies: Sega Girls Task Force (consulting)
Distributor: Majesco Sales (US re-release), Ecofilmes (PT), Hent Gruppen (SE rental), Tec Toy (BR), Samsung (KR)
Licensor: The Walt Disney Company
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: English 日本語
Release Date RRP Code JP 1993-11-12 ¥7,8007,800 G-4111 US 1993-11 $59.9959.99 1058 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 199x SUBsub EU 1993-11-11 1058 DE 1993-11-11 DM 120120 1058 FR 199x PT 199x MDJ1058 UK 1993-10-22 £44.9944.99 1058 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x $129.95129.95 FALA00SMC AU (Platinum) 1993 FALA00SMC BR 199x 046170 KR 199x GM 93049JG AS 199x 1058-11
Non-Sega versions Amiga (AGA) Game Boy Game Boy Color IBM PC Nintendo Entertainment System Super Game Boy
ESRA

Disney's Aladdin, more commonly known as Aladdin (アラジン), is a platform game developed by Virgin Interactive and released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1993. It is based on the 1992 Disney movie of the same name. It is one of the best-selling Mega Drive games with four million copies sold.

The game is different from other games based on the film, including Disney's Aladdin for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear, developed by Sims. Another version was developed by Capcom for the Super NES (and later Game Boy Advance), as they held the rights to develop Disney-licensed games for the Super NES.

Story

The game follows the story of the film, which is an adaptation of the story of Aladdin from Arabian Nights. Street urchin Aladdin survives by stealing food from the marketplace in the city of Agrabah. Princess Jasmine, upset at the prospect of an arranged marriage, escapes the palace and meets Aladdin when he saves her from an angry merchant. Meanwhile, Jafar, the Royal Vizier, seeks a magical lamp hidden in the Cave of Wonders. After consulting the Sands of Time, he learns that only Aladdin can enter the cave and retrieve the lamp. Jafar plots to manipulate Aladdin into obtaining the lamp for him.

Gameplay

The Peddler

The game is a side-scrolling platformer in which the player controls Aladdin in stages that follow the plot of the Disney film. The goal of each stage varies: some stages involve collecting pieces of the Golden Scarab, some only require reaching the end, and some have a boss fight. Aladdin moves with and , can duck with , and can jump with . He can attack enemies by slashing them at short range using a scimitar with or by pelting them with apples at long range with . Apples are a finite resource but can be collected in abundant amounts throughout the game. Aladdin can grab onto ropes, clotheslines, and poles with . He can climb up ropes with and descend them with . He can use his scimitar and throw apples while ducking, jumping, or on ropes. Aladdin slashes four times around himself by pressing +.

Aside from apples, Aladdin can collect gems, which are traded with the Peddler in some stages for extra lives and "wishes" (continues) by standing in front of the desired item and pressing . Aladdin can also find Abu and Genie Tokens, which allow him to play a bonus game after the current stage ends.

Aladdin's health is indicated by a trail of smoke emanating from the Genie's lamp on the top-left corner of the screen. The trail shortens whenever Aladdin is harmed by an enemy or a stage hazard. Health can be restored by collecting blue Genie Hearts scattered throughout the stages. If Aladdin runs out of health, the player loses a life. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but it can be continued if the player has continues remaining. The game has three difficulty levels (Practice, Normal, and Difficult), which affect the amount of lives and apples Aladdin is equipped with at the start of the game.

Items

Items can be collected by touching them with Aladdin or hitting them with his scimitar.

	Apple
	Thrown by Aladdin as a ranged attack. Apples are limited and can be collected throughout the stages, up to a maximum of 99.
	Apple Slice
	Collect four slices to add up to one apple. These are found in the Rug Ride stage.
	Gem
	Exchanged for extra lives or "wishes" (continues) with the Peddler, who appears in some of the stages.
	Genie Heart
	Replenishes some of Aladdin's health.
	Black Lamp
	Destroys all nearby enemies.
	Blue Vase
	Checkpoint where Aladdin is revived after losing a life.
	Aladdin
	Awards the player with an extra life.
	Abu Token
	Collect to play the Abu bonus stage after the current stage is completed.
	Genie Token
	Collect for a spin in the Genie bonus stage after the current stage is completed.
	Scarab Pieces
	Aladdin finds one piece of the Scarab in the Desert and obtains the second piece from the thief Gazeem in Agrabah. The Scarab is used to enter the Cave of Wonders.
	Flute
	Collecting a flute causes a magical rope to appear in the Agrabah Rooftops stage.

Stages

	Agrabah Market
	"Street rat" Aladdin makes his way through the streets of Agrabah as the royal vizier Jafar (with his parrot Iago) plots to steal a magical lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin runs into Princess Jasmine, disguised as a commoner, and develops a bond with her. The music for this stage is "Prince Ali."
	The Desert
	Jafar approaches Aladdin disguised as an elderly beggar and convinces him to find a half of the Golden Scarab in the desert, promising him untold riches from the Cave of Wonders. The Scarab is a magical artifact that, when its two pieces are combined, opens the way to the Cave of Wonders. The Scarab piece flies away the first two times that Aladdin touches it, but the stage ends when Aladdin finds it a third time.
	Agrabah Rooftops
	Aladdin searches the streets and rooftops of Agrabah for Gazeem the Thief, who holds the second piece of the golden Scarab. After defeating him, Aladdin fights Razoul, the Captain of the Guards. Aladdin must find floating flutes to cause magic ropes to appear from the pots of the snake charmers. He can hang from these ropes as they carry him into the air. The music for this stage is "One Jump Ahead."
	Sultan's Dungeon
	After collecting both pieces of the Scarab, Aladdin is ambushed by palace guards and thrown into the dungeon, over the protests of Princess Jasmine. The music for this stage is "Arabian Nights."
	Cave of Wonders
	Aladdin escapes from the dungeon and meets with the beggar again. Jafar, as the beggar, uses the Scarab to gain entrance to the Cave of Wonders and sends Aladdin into the cave to retrieve the lamp, where he is warned not to touch anything but the lamp. Destroying the monkey statues holding gems causes platforms to appear or opens new pathways. After fighting the four-armed Shiva Monkey, a magic carpet appears and takes Aladdin to the final ascent to the lamp.
	The Escape
	Aladdin's pet monkey Abu touches the forbidden treasure, causing the cave to collapse around them. They must now escape the cave before they are buried alive in it.
	Rug Ride
	Aladdin rides the magic carpet out of the cave as a wave of hot lava chases them. Genie hands point out the safe path to avoid boulders.
	Inside the Lamp
	Aladdin and Abu are trapped inside the cave before they can escape, when they are sucked into the surreal world of the genie's lamp. The music for this stage is "Friend Like Me."
	Sultan's Palace
	The genie helps Aladdin escape from the Cave of Wonders, and they race to the Sultan's Palace. Aladdin must rescue Abu by hitting the bottom of his cage. Aladdin fights Iago, Jafar's parrot and henchman, who is running a storm machine that summons ghosts.
	Jafar's Palace
	Jafar seizes the lamp while Aladdin is distracted by Iago and uses it to take over the palace and become a powerful sorcerer. Aladdin must defeat him and banish him.

Bonus stages

Bonus stages are played after the current stage is completed if the player has collected the appropriate tokens.

	Genie
	The Genie bonus stage is played by collecting Genie icons in the stage. It is similar to a slot machine and cycles through items. The player can stop it by pressing , , or . If it lands on an item, the player receives it: five apples, a gem, an extra life. If it lands on Jafar, the player loses all remaining spins. Each Genie icon collected gives the player one turn.
	Abu
	Three of the stages (both of the Agrabah stages and the Cave of Wonders) contain an Abu token, which allows the player to play the Abu bonus stage. The player controls Aladdin's pet monkey Abu, who controls similarly to Aladdin: and move, swings his scimitar, and jumps. Abu swings his scimitar in a circle that attacks all around him. Abu can collect apples, gems, and extra lives. Pots or rocks fall and other obstacles and enemies try to harm Abu. If Abu is hit, the bonus stage ends.

History

A Virgin Games USA developer overviews some of the game's character animation cycles.

Development

Main article: Disney's Aladdin/Development.

The development of Disney's Aladdin was a monumental undertaking for both Disney Software and Virgin Games USA. Incorporating hand-drawn Digicel artwork, and working closely with the original film's animators, the successful reception of the game's late 1993 release set a new bar for licensed blockbuster video game tie-ins, and would solidify Aladdin's place as one of the Mega Drive's best-selling and most well-remembered titles.

Legacy

Disney's Aladdin for the Mega Drive is considered to be a milestone for video game graphics, utilising technology known as "Digicel" to bring hand-drawn Disney-style animations to a video game environment. As each frame was drawn individually by professional Disney animators, Aladdin looked significantly better than most other platformers on the market, with visuals comparable to the graphical style as seen in the film.

With the exception of unreleased games such as DynoBlaze, no other Mega Drive games utilised the "Digicel" technology, however Aladdin did inspire many similar methods, such as those applied in Shiny Entertainment's Earthworm Jim (comprised of many former Aladdin developers). Other games published by Virgin such as Cool Spot and Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators share Aladdin's focus on animation, whereas many games such as Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure are considered to be inspired by Aladdin's efforts.

The success of Disney's Aladdin gave Virgin Games the opportunity to work with other Disney licenses such as The Jungle Book, The Lion King and Pinocchio. It was also bundled with Mega Drive II systems in Europe.

A Sega Mega-CD version was planned for release, though full production was unlikely to occur until after sales numbers for the Mega Drive version "became apparent". The CD version was scrapped in favour of concentrating on The Jungle Book.

In 2019, Aladdin was re-released as part of Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch alongside several versions of The Lion King. The compilation includes the original Mega Drive version, along with the June 27th prototype build (named the "Demo Version"), the Japanese version, and a "Final Cut" version which is a modified version of the Mega Drive game with many bug fixes, camera adjustments and other tweaks to improve gameplay, with the goal of representing "potential changes that the development team may have implemented had they had more time". The Game Boy version is also included in monochrome and "colour" (simulating the game as if it were inserted into a Game Boy Color).

Versions

Aside from text translations, the game is identical in all regions from a content's point of view. The PAL version, like most other Virgin Games USA releases, was optimized in terms of music speed but not gameplay speed. Forcing the game into 60 Hz mode makes the music play too fast.

The game was ported to the Amiga, Game Boy, IBM PC, NES, and Game Boy Color.

Production credits

Virgin Games Credits

• Programming & Project Management: David Perry
• Animation Engine by: David Perry
• Development Tools by: Andy Astor Services, Rob Northern Computing, Cross Products Ltd., Todd Robertson, Echidna
• Animation Directed by: Mike Dietz
• Assistant Animators: Shawn Mclean, Clarke Sorenson, Roger Hardy, Edward Schofield, Jeff Etter, Allyn Welty, Tom Tanaka
• Background Art by: Christian Laursen, Nick Bruty, Steve Crow
• Presentation Art by: Edward Schofield, Lin Shen
• Sound, Music & FX: Tommy Tallarico, Don Griffin
• Digital Sampling: Steve Henifin
• Director of Design: David Bishop
• Levels Design by: Bill Anderson, Tom Tanaka, Seth Mendelsohn
• Consulting Animation Producer: Andy Luckey
• Image Processing: Metrolight Studios
• V.P. of Production: Dr. Stephen H. Clarke-Willson
• Produced by: Robb Alvey
• Executive Producer: Neil Young
• Production Coordinator: Christina Camerota
• Original Design by: David Bishop, Seth Mendelsohn, Mike Dietz, Mark Yamada, David Perry
• Assistant Producers: Mike Glosecki, Ken Love, Craig Warmsley
• Marketing & P.R.: Debbie Brajevich, Robin Kausch
• Focus Testing: Debbie Brajevich
• QA Manager: Adam Ryan
• Lead Analyst: Jared Brinkley
• Product Analysts: Chris McFarland, Scott Manning, Paul Schoener, Mitch Feldman, David Fries, Lyndon Dole and Virgil the Cat

Disney Software Credits:

• Produced by: Patrick Gilmore
• Technical Director: Ron Fortier
• Licensing Brand Management: Cathy Fortier, Sue Fuller
• Public Relations Management: Kirk Green
• CES Event Management: Tom Bisignano, Spence Bovee, Helen Fillman, Andrew Henry, Will Kassoy, R.K. Little, Chase Senge
• Quality Assurance Leader: John Santos
• Product Analysts: Stewart Irel, Roger Kung, Chris McNulty, Amy Steiner, Joe Santos
• Storyboards: John Fiorito
• Production Support: Fred Weimer

Disney Feature Animation Credits:

• Directed by: Barry Cook
• Produced by: Paul Curasi
• Secretary to the Producer: Annette Laguer
• Artistic Coordinator: Ruben Procopio
• Production Specialist: Chuck Williams
• Animators: Tom Bancroft, Travis Blaise, Phil Boyd, Tony Cipriano, Rob Corley, Tim Hodge, Jim Jackson, Alex Kupershmidt, Anthony Michaels, Barry Temple
• Clean-Up Coordinator: Jeanie Lynd Sorenson
• Clean-Up Artists: Paulo Alvarado, Brian Beauchamp, Rachel Bibb, Eliott Bour, Sam Ewing, Tracy Lee, Kellie Lewis, Tamara Lusher, Mario Menjivar, Monica Murdock, Keith Newton, Sherrie Sinclair, Bryan Sommer
• Head of Effects: Jeff Dutton
• Effects Artists: Mike Duhatschek, Jason Francoeur, Troy Gustafson, John Hailey, Joe Pepe, Paitoon Ratan, Tony West
• Color Models: Irma Cartaya
• Animation/Final Check: Pam Darley

Sega of America Credits:

• Product Management: Pamela Kelly
• Produced by: Pamela Kelly, Kent Russell
• Public Relations: Ellen Beth Van Buskirk
• Q.A. Manager: Jason Kuo
• Q.A. Lieutenant: Julio Martinez
• Product Analysts: Tony Lynch, Dermot Lyons, Siegie Stangenberg, Andrew Podesta, Glen Cureton, Vince Nason, Heather Meigs, Janine Cook, Blair Bullock, David Forster, Bill Person, Rey Alferez, Kirk Rogers, Vy Nong, Maria Tuzzo, Atom Ellis, Richard Gangwish, Pete McNab, Eric Rawlins, Ivan Foong, Michael Baldwin, Todd Morgan, Greg Becksted, Conan Tigard, Joe Cain, Simon Lu, Joe Ganis, Jennifer Brozek, Erik Wahlberg

• Special Thanks to: Peter Adee, Martin Alper, Richard Branson, Ron Clements, Robert Devereux, Shannyn Gardner, Justin Heber, Tom Kalinske, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bob Lambert, Bob Levin, Alan Menken, Steve McBeth, John Musker, Amy Pell, Marc Teren, Shinobu Toyoda

Disney Characters, Artwork & Music © 1993, The Walt Disney Company

© 1993 Sega Disney's Aladdin

Source:

In-game credits

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• Final Cut Programming & Design: Rich Whitehouse

Source:

In-game credits (Final Cut)

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Virgin Games Credits

• Sound, Music & FX: Alan Menken
• Vice President of Development: Stephen Clarke-Willson
• Coordinators: Robin Kausch

Sega of America Credits

• QA Manager: Steve Patterson
• QA Lieutenant: Jason Kuo
• QD Lead: Julio Martinez
• Legal: Sonya Sigler
• Manual: Carol Ann Hanshaw
• Screen Shots: Clint Dyer
• Special Thanks: Joe Miller

Source:

US manual

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• Cover artist: Greg Wray

Source:

Uncredited

Magazine articles

Main article: Disney's Aladdin/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Disney's Aladdin/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Game Players (US) 95 Game Players (US) 95 High Score (JP) 100 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) 91 97

	96
Based on 5 reviews

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 80 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 59 Æskan (IS) 87 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 92 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 80 Consoles + (FR) 95 Cool Gamer (RU) 90 Computer & Video Games (UK) 80 Edge (UK) 80 Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 92 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 85 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 100 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2 (RU) 80 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 88 Game Power (IT) PAL 95 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 93 Gamers (DE) 87 GamesMaster (UK) PAL 95 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 92 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 90 Hyper (AU) 94 Joker (SI) 89 Joypad (FR) PAL 98 MAN!AC (DE) 79 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 80 Mega (UK) PAL 94 Mega Action (UK) PAL 95 Megablast (DE) PAL 88 Mega Force (FR) 97 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 88 MegaTech (UK) PAL 90 Megazin (SI) 93 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 82 Megazone (AU) PAL 95 Player One (FR) 97 Power Up! (UK) 90 Power Play (DE) 88 Power Unlimited (NL) 98 Score (CZ) 75 Secret Service (PL) 85 Sega Magazin (DE) 92 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 33 Sega Power (UK) PAL 91 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 94 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 90 Sega Force Mega (UK) PAL 94 Sega Force (SE) 84 Świat Gier Komputerowych (PL) 87 Sega Mega Drive Review (RU) 82 The Official Sonic the Hedgehog Yearbook (1994) (UK) PAL 88 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 82 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 90 Supergame (BR) 88 Sonic Videogame & Fumetti (IT) 94 Todo Sega (ES) PAL 95 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 88 VideoGames Shopper (UK) PAL 82 Video Games (DE) PAL 94 VideoGames (US) 100

	88
Based on 59 reviews

Disney's Aladdin

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, US (alt)
Cover
Cart Manual Manual Back

Mega Drive, US (Not For Resale Cart)
Cart

Mega Drive, US (cardboard) (Majesco Sales)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU (Made in Japan)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU (Assembled in UK)
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, FR
Manual

Mega Drive, FR (Blister pack)
Cover

Mega Drive, PT
Cover
Cart Manual EU Manual

Mega Drive, PT (ALT)
Cover

Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; orange)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU (Sega Platinum Collection)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, Asia PAL
Cover
Manual

Mega Drive, Asia NTSC
Cover
Manual

Technical information

Main article: Disney's Aladdin/Technical information.

External links

• Behind the Design: Disney's Aladdin article by Ken Horowitz at Sega-16
• Digging for treasure in Aladdin's source code article by Rich Whitehouse at the Video Game History Foundation