Aladdin (Virgin Games)

A Platform Game based on Disney's Aladdin, released by Virgin Games (later known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment) in 1993.

This Aladdin game, in which Aladdin wields a scimitar, was released for the Sega Genesis, PC, Amiga, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Capcom created a different Aladdin platformer for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, while Sega released a still different Aladdin game for its 8-bit systems. While its Super Nintendo counterpart was no slouch either, the Virgin Games title boasted fluid animation straight from Disney's own animators, a soundtrack by Tommy Tallarico, and was put together by the same team, helmed by designer David Perry, that would eventually form Shiny Interactive and create titles such as Earthworm Jim.

Overall, it was a smash hit--the Genesis version in particular sold 4 million copies total, making it the third best selling Genesis game behind Sonic the Hedgehog (20 million) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (6 million). To put this in perspective, the fourth best selling Genesis game, NBA Jam, only sold a little under 2 million units.


 * Bottomless Pit: Present starting from "Inside the Lamp."
 * Console Cameo: Sega Genesis systems are visible in the background within Genie's lamp.
 * Edible Ammunition: Apples. These are actually required to beat the Final Boss, as well as the first boss.
 * Game Over Man: Jafar. "Give up, street rat!"
 * Goofy Print Underwear: On normal and hard, hitting the stout guards with your sword, or throwing an apple on any difficulty, will make them drop their trousers before a second hit finishes them off.
 * Indy Escape: The cave escape level has boulders rolling down tunnels trying to One-Hit Kill Aladdin.
 * Kaizo Trap: Aladdin can get hit by the last boulder in Cave Escape after landing on the magic carpet which flies you away to the next level.
 * Mercy Mode: In the Sega Genesis version, the Rug Ride level will be skipped if you fail it too many times.
 * Offscreen Start Bonus: In the desert and prison levels.
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder: Abu in his Brutal Bonus Levels.
 * Pinball Zone: "Inside the Lamp"
 * Scaled Up: The second form of Jafar... this is to be expected given his movie manifestation.
 * Spikes of Doom: One of the nastier traps you can run into. They'll repeatedly damage you while you remain in the spike pit.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Aladdin will die instantly upon ending up in water. As water is generally at the bottom of levels, this effectively doubles as another kind of Bottomless Pit.
 * Sword Fight: If Aladdin and a sword armed guard attack at the same time, their blades will clash. This will continue until something breaks the pattern, as Aladdin and the guard tend to attack at the same rate if the player just mashes B.
 * Trampoline Tummy: Aladdin can bounce on camels' humps in early levels, which also causes them to spit, which can also damage enemies. Abu can also be seen doing backflips on a knocked out fat guard's belly, each bounce accompanied by a honking horn.
 * The Twelve Principles of Animation: Due to the games hand-drawn sprites being drawn by actual Disney animators, they naturally use these principles, resulting in silky smooth spritework.
 * "Wake-Up Call" Boss: The boss at the end of "Agrabah Rooftops" can be this for players who blew all their apples on the guards and face having to go all the way to the bottom of the arena to collect apples, dodging barrels all the way up and down, to do some measly damage to the boss.
 * A Winner Is You: If you fail a bonus level, you'll get a "Nice Try" message. If you win, you ALSO get that message! Perhaps the developers didn't actually think anyone would clear them.