Adaptation Antics

the adaptations of Aladdin on other systems

snes

The SNES Aladdin has little in common with the Mega Drive game, apart from the licence, Capcom’s offering provides challenging platforming that’s often compelling but rarely innovative.

AMIGA

The Amiga Aladdin looks, plays and sounds like the Mega Drive original, except that its levels aren’t fullscreen, its one-button joystick controls are awkward and its sound effects interrupt the tunes.

PC

Technically more faithful to the Mega Drive original than the Amiga conversion, Aladdin on the PC supports two-button joysticks and avoids the multiload and tune-interruption of its Commodore counterpart.

Master system

Codeveloped by Sega, the Master System Aladdin looks great but lacks diversity. Unlike the Mega Drive original, Sega’s 8-bit version is a simplistic platformer, although it’s remarkably faithful to the film.

game gear

Identical to the Master System version, but with zoomed-in graphics for the smaller screen of the handheld, the Game Gear Aladdin’s levels and cutscenes recreate every key event in the movie.

nes

An ambitious but flawed attempt at emulating the Mega Drive original, NMS Software’s Aladdin suffers from slow animation, flat backgrounds, stripped-back levels and a reduced colour palette.