Lately it’s all been about getting reacquainted with my older collections on previous consoles. After firstly getting a taste for Capcom’s excellent attempt at a Mickey adventure on the SNES, I decided to dust off my old Mega Drive and try another Disney based game, this time Aladdin. With Mickey surprising me in actually being a really enjoyable game my hopes were certainly high for this especially since I do remember having fun with this title all those years back. But is my memory a little hazy or is it really that good?

There is little showing off the story in the game other than the odd snippets of text explaining where Aladdin’s off to next. It is also nice to have some screens to accompany them adding a little more life to the story feeling much like a comic. It’s good to have the option to skip these scenes too if you just want to get down to the gameplay. It loosely follows the plot of the movie and chances are you’ve seen it so story is probably the last thing on your mind.

Playing as Aladdin you venture across the streets of Agrabah, the Cave of Wonders , the palace itself and more. You’ll find him in his famous rags and equipped with a small sword to keep enemies at bay but more often than not it’s your platforming skills that are looked to. You can move left and right, jump and make stabs and jabs with the press of a single button. Things are simple. There aren’t any combos to master or anything like that but the sword simply acts as a means of taking on the odd guard or bat littered throughout the games stages. It breaks up the game nicely into two sections. You have the tougher platforming elements and then at points you’ll need to see off two or three guards with well timed slashes and evasion. As you progress the hazards become more plentiful and the enemies more harshly placed so as to give you a tougher time. This is where apples can become extremely handy offering a long range attack that can stun and sometimes kill enemies you don’t wish to tackle up-close. Searching for the ammunition can prove vital especially when fighting some of the later levels so choosing when to use and when to save them is tough. This is certainly one of the harder games on the Mega Drive and is certainly appreciated in a time where things are slightly easier (Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess etc...)

The game is a simple series of levels one after another that take our lead hero from location to location. Like the movie things start off in the streets of Agrabah before taking you through the desert right up to the final battle with Jafar. No maps. Each stage involves a series of obstacles that can see you making your way to the right or over to the left or also navigating upward in some of the more demanding environments. While Aladdin’s manoeuvres are handled easily they often look very acrobatic with flips being able to be performed off poles and stalactites hung from. This is one of those title’s that appear easy to begin with but ramps up in difficulty the further you progress.

Bonus levels and rewards are given for finding hidden Abu and Genie tokens in the game. These are often great fun with the Genie bonus round allowing you to stop a constantly changing menu to gain lives, gems and more. Grab an Abu token and you can then play as him avoiding hazards and grabbing gems. They’re great fun and add incentive to search hard for them.

If there’s one thing I wish there were more of, it’s the bosses. In the entire game you’ll only really see yourself fighting two or three real bosses and these simply require you to repeatedly stab or throw apples at them. Jafar is the real highlight and is definitely one of the toughest battles I’ve come across in recent memory, it’s just a shame there aren’t more like it in the game. The adventure itself is around ten levels long so while it may not be the longest game, you’ll definitely find yourself coming back attempting to get that little bit further due to the game’s unforgiving difficulty.

The music in this game is awesome. Even though there is the power limitation in the console itself, the tunes are all taken from the movie and sound really good. I have constantly found myself singing along to the background music. Visually the game is also great with it retaining its cartoon-like look of the movie very well. Aladdin and his enemies animate very well and the environments themselves are not only scenes you’d find straight from the movie, but also look the part too as far as Mega Drive games go. Overall this is an excellent accompaniment to the movie itself and if you’re a fan of that you’ll likely adore the look and feel of this.

I’m such a fan of the movie. I’d even go as far as to say it’s one of my favourite Disney movies ever made. So it’s such a joy to play a game based on it that is so alarmingly addictive, full of character and also tough as nails too. Like the movie it is totally charming and has you smiling from start to finish.