Disney's Aladdin

From Sega Retro

For the 1994 Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear game by Sims and Nexa, see Disney's Aladdin (8-bit).

n/a

Aladdin Title.png

Disney's Aladdin
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥7,8007,800 G-4111
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$59.9959.99[3] 1058
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		1058
Sega Mega Drive
AU 		FALA00SMC
Sega Mega Drive
AU
(Platinum) 		FMYS00SMC
Sega Mega Drive
BR 		046170
Sega Mega Drive
AS 		1058-11

Disney's Aladdin, more commonly known as Aladdin (アラジン) is a platform game developed by Virgin Interactive. It is based on Disney's movie of the same name and was released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1993, before being Amiga, Game Boy, IBM PC and NES. A Game Boy Color version also followed later.

Several different Aladdin games exist. An entirely different game was developed by Sims for the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear was released around the same period, and another version developed by Capcom was created for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (and later Game Boy Advance). Capcom's version exists as at the time, they held the rights to develop Disney-themed games for Nintendo consoles (or more accurately, the SNES).

Gameplay

Most stages are played through as Aladdin, who must get through the stage while accomplishing a task given at the beginning of each level (such as finding Scarab pieces). A throws apples (which can be used to hurt enemies and which there is a limited supply of but can be collected throughout the level), B swings your sword, and C jumps. Before the start of the game, there is a screen showing what each in-game item is used for.

If the Abu icon is collected in the level, after completing it a bonus stage will be rewarded where Abu must collect all the falling apples without getting hurt by falling pots too many times to win. If a Genie icon is collected another bonus stage will be rewarded, which is a slot machine-esque game where the player can either get bonus items or lose all remaining spins by stopping on Jafar.

Stages

Aladdin MD AgrabahMarket.png Agrabah Market
Aladdin MD Desert.png The Desert
Aladdin MD AgrabahRooftops.png Agrabah Rooftops
Aladdin MD SultansDungeon.png Sultan's Dungeon
Aladdin MD CaveofWonders.png Cave of Wonders
Aladdin MD Escape.png The Escape
Aladdin MD RugRide.png Rug Ride
Aladdin MD InsidetheLamp.png Inside the Lamp
Aladdin MD SultansPalace.png Sultan's Palace
Aladdin MD JafarsPalace.png Jafar's Palace

Cheats

Cheat Menu

On the options screen press ACACACACBBBB.

Skip Level

When paused, press ABBAABBA.

History

Development

Wanting to make a more meaningful contribution to the video game market (as opposed to just licensing out properties, such was the case with Aladdin on the SNES by Capcom), Disney Software were approached by Virgin Games with work-in-progress technology known as "Digicel" - a means of converting frame-by-frame animation cells (used in producing animated films) to a format more suited to video game consoles at the time[4]. As Digicel theoretically allowed Disney to bring its trademark standards of animation to a new market, the company signed up to working in conjunction with Virgin Games on a new product - the Mega Drive version of Aladdin.

Work began in in January 1993, with ten of Disney's Florida-based animators producing animations, which were then shipped to Virgin Games' production facility in Irvine, California and digitised for use in-game[5]. Roughly thirty people were involved between the two sites in total[5], including the film's directors[6]. The teams gave themselves a deadline of October 1993, considered roughly three quarters of the normal time allotted to game development in this era[5].

Disney worked exclusively on character animations, with backgrounds being provided by artists at Virgin Games (after being approved)[5]. Despite being in production at the same time, no animations are shared between the game and movie, mostly due to the requirement for video game animations to loop[5].

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 shortly after the cartridge version, but was scrapped early on in favour of concentrating on The Jungle Book.

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 releases, was optimized in terms of music speed but not gameplay speed. Forcing the game into 60Hz mode makes the music play too fast.

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. Steven 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 Schoner, Mitch Feldman, David Fries, Lyndon Dole and Virgil the Cat
  • 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: Steward 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, Same Ewing, Tracy Lee, Kellioe Lewins, 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
  • Product Management: Pamela Kelly
  • Produced By: Pamela Kelly, Kent Russell
  • Public Relations: Eleen Beth Van Buskirk
  • Q.A. Manager: Jason Kuo
  • Q.A. Lieutenant: Julio Martinez
  • Product Analysts: Tony Lynch, Dermot Lyons, Siegie Stangenberg, Andrew Podesta, Geln 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 Deverux, 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 (C)1993 Sega Disney's Aladdin

Source:
In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Disney's Aladdin/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

  • UK TV advert

  • 1993 10 - Aladdin.jpg

    ES print advert 1

  • 1993 11 - Aladdin.jpg

    ES print advert 1 (Variation)

  • EstosSiQueSonReyes ES PrintAd 1993-12.jpg

    ES print advert 2

  • 1994 05 - Software Mega Drive.jpg

    ES print advert 3

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #15: "October/November 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #145: "December 1993" (1993-11-15)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Consoles + (FR) #25: "Novembre 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Sega Magazin (DE) #2: "November/Dezember 1993" (1993-11-03)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
95 №24, p12-15
80 №145, p59[10]
80 №2, p92/93[11]
85
85 1999, p132
88 №257
95
93 №52, p46/47[3]
95 №11, p64/65
100
98 №24, pSupplement
79 №1
91 №16
94 №14, p34/35
95 №6, p50/51
97
88
90 №23, p40-44
82 №14, p66-68[12]
97 №36, p48-51[13]
88 12/93, p129/130
98
91 №48, p42-45
94 №25, p42-44
90 №13, p78-80
94 №6, p52-54[14]
84
90 №10, p10
97
Sega Mega Drive
 91
Based on
29 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[15]
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
59
[16]
Æskan (IS)
87
[17]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
92
[18]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
80
[19]
Consoles + (FR)
95
[20]
Cool Gamer (RU)
90
[21]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
80
[10]
Edge (UK)
80
[11]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
92
[22]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
85
[23]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
100
[24]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2 (RU)
80
[25]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
88
[26]
Game Power (IT) PAL
95
[27]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
93
[3]
Gamers (DE)
87
[28]
GamesMaster (UK) PAL
95
[29]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
90
[30]
Hyper (AU)
94
[31]
Joker (SI)
89
[32]
Joypad (FR) PAL
98
[33]
MAN!AC (DE)
79
[34]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
80
[35]
Mega (UK) PAL
94
[36]
Mega Action (UK) PAL
95
[37]
Megablast (DE) PAL
88
[38]
Mega Force (FR)
97
[39]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
88
[40]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
90
[41]
Megazin (SI)
93
[42]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL
82
[12]
Megazone (AU) PAL
95
[43]
Player One (FR)
97
[44]
Power Up! (UK)
90
[45]
Power Play (DE)
88
[46]
Power Unlimited (NL)
98
[47]
Score (CZ)
75
[48]
Secret Service (PL)
85
[49]
Sega Magazin (DE)
92
[50]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
33
[51]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
91
[52]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
94
[53]
Sega Zone (UK) PAL
90
[54]
Sega Force Mega (UK) PAL
94
[55]
Sega Force (SE)
84
[56]
Świat Gier Komputerowych (PL)
87
[57]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
82
[58]
The Official Sonic the Hedgehog Yearbook (1994) (UK) PAL
88
[59]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
82
[60]
Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL
90
[61]
Supergame (BR)
88
[62]
Sonic Videogame & Fumetti (IT)
94
[63]
Todo Sega (ES) PAL
95
[64]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
88
[65]
VideoGames Shopper (UK) PAL
82
[66]
Video Games (DE) PAL
94
[67]
VideoGames (US)
100
[68]
Sega Mega Drive
 88
Based on
58 reviews

Disney's Aladdin

Mega Drive, US
Aladdin MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Aladdin MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Aladdin MD US manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US (cardboard)
Aladdin MD US Box Back Cardboard.jpgNospine.pngAladdin MD US Box Front Cardboard.jpg
Cover
Aladdin MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
Aladdin MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Aladdin MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU (Alt)
Aladdin MD EU Box Alt.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, JP
Aladdin MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
DisneysAladdin MD JP CartTop.jpg
Aladdin MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, AU
Aladdin MD AU Box.jpg
Cover
Aladdin-MD-AU-cart-top.jpg
Aladdin-MD-AU-cart-back.jpgAladdin-MD-AU-cart.jpg
Cart
Aladdin GEN AU Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, AU (Sega Platinum Collection)
Aladdin MD AU Box Platinum.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, BR
Aladdin MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
Aladdin MD BR Cart Top.jpg
Aladdin MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart
Aladdin md br manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, KR

Mega Drive, Asia PAL
Aladdin MD AS Box.jpg
Cover
Aladdin MD AS Manual English.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, Asia NTSC
Aladdin MD AS NTSC Box.jpg
Cover
Aladdin MD AS Manual English.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, FR

Disney's Aladdin MD FR Manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 ed427ea9
MD5 a6fc42bd5d19e36e5d8a2d8c4f4e9d23
SHA-1 d21c085b8429edc2c5092cd74ef3c36d01bf987f
2MB 1993-08 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 d1845e8f
MD5 9fbca26577b356e31c93ec55422697aa
SHA-1 42debba01ba3555f61d1e9b445542a05d01451dd
2MB 1993-08 Cartridge (EU)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 fb5aacf0
MD5 d20edfb6060bd750de56f2887356f59b
SHA-1 43753dafd0b816c39aca87fc0788e598fb4bb4f3
2MB 1993-08 Cartridge (JP)
Sega Mega Drive
 ?
CRC32 8c60ef73
MD5 77cab03485ccda68999822813a3beafd
SHA-1 1f8d4f888b761a878dcc5ffe2dc7c6fef46db1ca
2MB 1993-08 Page

References

  1. ↑ File:Mega UK 16.pdf, page 18
  2. ↑ File:MAN!AC DE 1993-11.pdf, page 45
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 File:GamePro US 052.pdf, page 50 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 052.pdf_p50" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ File:VG&CE US 54.pdf, page 78
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 File:VG&CE US 54.pdf, page 80
  6. ↑ File:VG&CE US 54.pdf, page 79
  7. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 6 No. 12 December 1993" (US; 1993-1x-xx), page 72
  8. ↑ Sega Visions, "December/January 1993/1994" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 126
  9. ↑ Sega Magazin, "Juni 1994" (DE; 1994-05-11), page 92
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 File:CVG UK 145.pdf, page 59 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 145.pdf_p59" defined multiple times with different content
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 File:Edge UK 002.pdf, page 92 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Edge UK 002.pdf_p92" defined multiple times with different content
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 File:MeanMachinesSega14UK.pdf, page 66 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega14UK.pdf_p66" defined multiple times with different content
  13. ↑ File:PlayerOne FR 036.pdf, page 48
  14. ↑ File:SegaForceMega UK 06.pdf, page 52
  15. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 15
  16. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 60
  17. ↑ Æskan, "" (IS; 1994-02-01), page 1
  18. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Januar 1994" (DE; 1993-12-06), page 98
  19. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "December 1993" (JP; 1993-11-08), page 24
  20. ↑ Consoles +, "Octobre 1993" (FR; 1993-xx-xx), page 12
  21. ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 10
  22. ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "November 1993" (US; 1993-10-21), page 90
  23. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 44
  24. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 287
  25. ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 2, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 8
  26. ↑ Famitsu, "1993-11-12,19" (JP; 1993-10-29), page 1
  27. ↑ Game Power, "Novembre 1993" (IT; 1993-1x-xx), page 59
  28. ↑ Gamers, "Dezember/Januar 1994" (DE; 1993-11-19), page 28
  29. ↑ GamesMaster, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-21), page 64
  30. ↑ Hippon Super, "December 1993" (JP; 1993-11-02), page 43
  31. ↑ Hyper, "December 1993" (AU; 1993-xx-xx), page 38
  32. ↑ Joker, "Marec 1994" (SI; 1994-xx-xx), page 18
  33. ↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1993 (Le Film, Le Jeu supplement)" (FR; 1993-xx-xx), page 4
  34. ↑ MAN!AC, "11/93" (DE; 1993-xx-xx), page 44
  35. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "February 1994" (JP; 1994-01-08), page 67
  36. ↑ Mega, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-21), page 34
  37. ↑ Mega Action, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-07), page 50
  38. ↑ Megablast, "1/94" (DE; 1993-12-29), page 28
  39. ↑ Mega Force, "Octobre 1993" (FR; 1993-10-08), page 92
  40. ↑ Mega Fun, "11/93" (DE; 1993-10-20), page 66
  41. ↑ MegaTech, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-20), page 40
  42. ↑ Megazin, "Letnik 2, Številka 5, Januar 1994" (SI; 1994-xx-xx), page 36
  43. ↑ Megazone, "December 1993" (AU; 1993-12-01), page 34
  44. ↑ Player One, "Novembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 42
  45. ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, October 23, 1993" (UK; 1993-10-23), page 1
  46. ↑ Power Play, "12/93" (DE; 1993-11-12), page 128
  47. ↑ Power Unlimited, "Nummer 5, December 1993" (NL; 1993-12-01), page 40
  48. ↑ Score, "Únor 1994" (CZ; 1994-02-01), page 43
  49. ↑ Secret Service, "Grudzień 1996" (PL; 1996-12-01), page 62
  50. ↑ Sega Magazin, "November/Dezember 1993" (DE; 1993-11-03), page 14
  51. ↑ Sega Magazine, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-15), page 97
  52. ↑ Sega Power, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-07), page 42
  53. ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-14), page 42
  54. ↑ Sega Zone, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-28), page 78
  55. ↑ Sega Force Mega, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-16), page 30
  56. ↑ Sega Force, "2/94" (SE; 1994-02-23), page 6
  57. ↑ Świat Gier Komputerowych, "1/1995" (PL; 1995-xx-xx), page 1
  58. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 11
  59. ↑ The Official Sonic the Hedgehog Yearbook (1994), "" (UK; 1994-xx-xx), page 33
  60. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  61. ↑ Sonic the Comic, "October 2nd 1993" (UK; 1993-10-02), page 10
  62. ↑ Supergame, "Novembro 1993" (BR; 1993-11-xx), page 20
  63. ↑ Sonic Videogame & Fumetti, "Dicembre 1993" (IT; 1993-11-xx), page 16
  64. ↑ Todo Sega, "Octubre 1993" (ES; 1993-xx-xx), page 36
  65. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 9
  66. ↑ VideoGames Shopper, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 25
  67. ↑ Video Games, "11/93" (DE; 1993-10-27), page 120
  68. ↑ VideoGames, "November 1993" (US; 1993-1x-xx), page 69
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