Once again, the random number generator decided that I needed to play a licensed game. This time, it gave me Aladdin for the Sega Genesis, made by Virgin Interactive and not to be mistaken for Aladdin for the SNES by Capcom. If you grew up in the nineties, you’ve probably heard people claim that this was the superior Aladdin game because it’s the one where Aladdin holds a sword. Is that enough a reason for this to be a great Genesis game?

Right away, the game shows that it at least understands the source material. The Genie does goofy stuff during the initial startup, like shooting a starting pistol only accidently hit Iago the parrot who’s flying by. Then the title screen very much matches the aesthetic of the movie and plays a 16-bit version of the song “A Whole New World”. This is immediately, obviously, Aladdin.

But then I have to ask, at what point in Aladdin did the title character run around with a sword hacking apart royal guards? Like I said, there were playground arguments about how this sword made this the better Aladdin game, but it kind of just rubs me the wrong way. How can something that’s so clearly Aladdin also feel like something else entirely?

But okay, if we ignore the whole “Aladdin doesn’t murder all the guards with a sword in the movie” thing, is the game itself any good? Sure. It’s honestly pretty basic. You move from the left side of the screen and try to get to the right side. Along the way, you’re met with various enemies, which you can either hack apart with your sword or throw apples at, which you have a limited supply of. There are some things to help mix things up, like ropes to climb across or springs that make you jump higher, but it’s all pretty normal platformer stuff.

I only played through the first two levels, but I thought it was pretty interesting that the second level tries to create a new objective. In this level, you’re tasked with finding the first half of a magic scarab that’s needed to open the Cave of Wonders. Unfortunately, this new objective doesn’t actually change a whole lot. You have to grab the scarab at three different spots, because it flies away when you try to grab it. But at the end of the day, you’re still going from the left side of the screen to the right, it’s still basically the same thing.

I do want to be clear though, what I played of the game was fun. It looks great, very similar to the movie it’s based on. It controls just fine and the act of jumping from one platform to another is just a fun video game thing to do. But it’s just not anything particularly special. I’d still recommend checking it out, especially if you are a fan of the movie, but it’s also the kind of game that would be perfectly ok to skip.