Ali Baba and 40 Thieves

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Ali Baba and 40 Thieves
System(s): Pac-Man Hardware, MSX, Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1984 HBS-G009C KR 1989

Ali Baba and 40 Thieves, known in Japan as Ali Baba to 40-ri no Touzoku (アリババと40人の盗賊) is an arcade game released by Sega in 1982. It runs on Pac-Man hardware, and little is currently known about its origin.

The game is somewhat similar to Pac-Man in that you control a yellow character (Ali Baba) who travels around a maze. Enemies (thieves) spawn from the top of the playfield attempt to take the bags of money from the bottom of the screen to their hideout. It's your job to reclaim any stolen goods and defeat the 40 thieves. Three of the thieves (blue, green and white) can be crushed by Ali Baba simply by colliding into them. The red "captain thief" will always pursue Ali Baba and cannot be stopped.

Occasionally a number of "?" tiles will appear in the centre of the stage, changing the style of gameplay. Sometimes the top section of the screen will open up, allowing Ali Baba to reclaim some of the items stored in the thief's hideout, while others will make Ali Baba (or the red thief) double in size, making them more of a threat.

The game was ported to the MSX in 1984 and the Russian Vector-06C home computer in 1987. Hi-Com produced an unlicensed port of the MSX version on the Sega Master System in 1989 in Korea.

Magazine articles

Main article: Ali Baba and 40 Thieves/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Master System version

Master System, KR

MSX version

MSX, JP
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