Aladdin (Sega Genesis)
In 1993 Sega made an incredible deal that wound up creating a very unique game for it's time; not to mention, a very well reviewed and high selling title. Now, at the time, I didn't know any of the interesting development facts, I just saw a ton of advertising that looked fantastic. And since I had a Sega and not a Super Nintendo at the time, this was the one I bought.
In the schoolyard, there had always been arguments about which version was best in a case where the same title was released on multiple platforms. But in this case, it was hard for any Nintendo fan not to admit defeat. Because more or less, it wasn't a matter of this particular game being built for one piece of hardware and then sloppily ported to another, or a simultaneous release that preformed better due to the opponent's hardware. In this case, both Sega and Capcom (who produced and published the SNES version) had obtained the rights from Disney to create a game based on the Aladdin property, but Sega struck a deal that included direct ties with Disney's own animation department.
Aladdin really was something else. They managed to create a full 16-bit chiptune soundtrack based directly off of the original movie score. (Which Capcom couldn't not get rights to do.) Something that seriously helped sell the game as a movie tie-in. The artwork was fantastic, all the characters spot-on pixel-art recreations of the ones from the film and the backgrounds and layouts just perfectly done. And of course, the piece-de-resistance in this particular game is the traditionally created cell animations. All the animation was absolutely fantastic. Exactly what you would have expected from Disney animation staff. On top of it all, animation was overlooked by some huge name at Virgin Interactive. Names you'd recognize from games like Cool Spot and Earthworm Jim; Animation Producer Andy Luckey, Technical Director Paul Schmiedeke and Animation Director Mike Dietz. Not to mention, overall game design by Dave Perry. This really was a dream team of game creators and it's success was certainly not due to luck of any kind.
Visuals aside, this game was fantastic. It was fluid, featured tight, solid controls and translated a lot of key elements from the movie. Platforming elements incorporated some lighthearted humor as you bounce off the backs of camels, slice the belts off of chubby guards (causing their pants to drop) and get camels to spit at your enemies. It was just the right amount difficult as far as I was concerned. Even though, truth be told I don't think I remember finishing this game. It did get pretty tough near the end, especially the infamous carpet ride level out of the lava-filled cavern.
Aladdin really was this incredible tie-in game. So few game companies at the time managed such a smart blend between the original creators and a high end dev team. In the end the game became one of those extra memorable 16 bit titles that was full of incredible art that did a fantastic job of representing the original material. Plus, it had a whole lotta Genie.
In 1993 Sega made an incredible deal that wound up creating a very unique game for it's time; not to mention, a very well reviewed and high selling title. Now, at the time, I didn't know any of the interesting development facts, I just saw a ton of advertising that looked fantastic. And since I had a Sega and not a Super Nintendo at the time, this was the one I bought.In the schoolyard, there had always been arguments about which version was best in a case where the same title was released on multiple platforms. But in this case, it was hard for any Nintendo fan not to admit defeat. Because more or less, it wasn't a matter of this particular game being built for one piece of hardware and then sloppily ported to another, or a simultaneous release that preformed better due to the opponent's hardware. In this case, both Sega and Capcom (who produced and published the SNES version) had obtained the rights from Disney to create a game based on the Aladdin property, but Sega struck a deal that included direct ties with Disney's own animation department.
Aladdin really was something else. They managed to create a full 16-bit chiptune soundtrack based directly off of the original movie score. (Which Capcom couldn't not get rights to do.) Something that seriously helped sell the game as a movie tie-in. The artwork was fantastic, all the characters spot-on pixel-art recreations of the ones from the film and the backgrounds and layouts just perfectly done. And of course, the piece-de-resistance in this particular game is the traditionally created cell animations. All the animation was absolutely fantastic. Exactly what you would have expected from Disney animation staff. On top of it all, animation was overlooked by some huge name at Virgin Interactive. Names you'd recognize from games like Cool Spot and Earthworm Jim; Animation Producer Andy Luckey, Technical Director Paul Schmiedeke and Animation Director Mike Dietz. Not to mention, overall game design by Dave Perry. This really was a dream team of game creators and it's success was certainly not due to luck of any kind.
Visuals aside, this game was fantastic. It was fluid, featured tight, solid controls and translated a lot of key elements from the movie. Platforming elements incorporated some lighthearted humor as you bounce off the backs of camels, slice the belts off of chubby guards (causing their pants to drop) and get camels to spit at your enemies. It was just the right amount difficult as far as I was concerned. Even though, truth be told I don't think I remember finishing this game. It did get pretty tough near the end, especially the infamous carpet ride level out of the lava-filled cavern.
Aladdin really was this incredible tie-in game. So few game companies at the time managed such a smart blend between the original creators and a high end dev team. In the end the game became one of those extra memorable 16 bit titles that was full of incredible art that did a fantastic job of representing the original material. Plus, it had a whole lotta Genie.
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