Aladdin

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The Sega Genesis was the very first video game console I had ever owned in my life. It, and all the other games I've played, had a very special place in my heart. When I was a little girl, I would play every game that was given to me, whether it was from my dad's work buddy or we found some at video game stores back in those days when the Sega Genesis was like today's Playstation 3. I still have that Sega Genesis for some weird reason, probably for nostalgia purposes or waiting for it become an antique and sell it.  Either way, it's still in my house, even though that only I know what weird things had happened to it. Especially Aladdin.

Aladdin for the Sega Genesis was the first game I tried (and it was the first one obtained). I loved the movie, and I was excited to play a video game version of it. I played constantly, trying to beat every level, including Jafar. Neither my sister and I could beat Jafar. Soon, my excitement for the Genesis waned as soon as my sister got a Nintendo Gamecube for her 11th birthday.

I had the Genesis stored away for a while for quite some time, and when spring cleaning rolled around, I had managed to find it tucked away in a storage box, neatly wrapped in an ULTA bag so mold and mildew wouldn't get to it. Along with the system were the controllers. In another bag were all of the other games. I got a feeling of nostalgia just looking at the simplicity of it. I took it out and saved it for another time to plug it in and play. My sister wanted to sell it on eBay, but I told her I'd play it still and when I moved away from the house, I kept it for myself.

After the cleaning season died down a little, I finally got some down time. I bought myself an emulator (my apartment didn't have a TV). Besides Aladdin, we had other games like Barbie, Tazmanian Devil, and The Lion King. But, first on my agenda was Aladdin. So, I inserted the cartridge snugly into the slot, and waited for it to start up.

I always chuckled when Genie was dressed as a referee by the SEGA logo and accidentally shoots down Iago. I don't know why I found that amusing, but it was mostly because Iago was one of my least favorite movie characters (even though he was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried).

Anyway, Aladdin's gameplay mostly consisted of Aladdin going through platform-like levels, his sword and apples his only weapons, and the ability to jump and climb ropes and ladders. There were very few bosses, and it got repetitive after a while. There were also bonus levels and you had to pick up Genie or Abu to play them. Back then, this was super fun for me and I never got bored.

When the title screen popped up playing a 16-bit version of "A Whole New World," I felt like I was back in my childhood days, first playing the game. I also loved 16-bit music as well. I happily selected, "PRESS START," and off I went.

After the cutscene, I started going through the Streets of Agrabah level. In this first level, you had to go through the streets, avoiding beds of burning coal and guards wanting to kill you (because Aladdin is a street urchin), plus avoiding falling pots from random "throwers" above you. Everything ran nice and fine, until I got to the end of the level. Instead of the "Level Complete" screen with Aladdin and Abu running across victoriously, everything just froze, occasionally glitching every two seconds, distorting the screen a little. I furrowed my brow a little, took out the cartridge, and blew on it. I was highly disappointed that I was going to have to go through the entire level again, but the game kept on going, brushing off the glitch, and showing the "Level Complete" screen.  I wiped my forehead, and proceeded onward.

I picked up a Genie bonus along the way, so I was taken to the Genie's Bonus Level screen. The Genie bonus level played as a roulette, with Genie's head taking up the majority of the screen, and random icons like lives or rubies appeared at random and you had to time your button pressing to get a good prize, or if you pressed on Jafar, he'll laugh and the bonus round will end. I was hoping to press the button at the right time to get another life or more rubies, but I got the Jafar icon instead. His laugh was abruptly louder than usual, which made me jump. I don't remember having the volume up that high. Oh well.

I had also happened to pick up an Abu bonus, so I went to the Abu Bonus Level. I wasn't always skilled enough to see the end of the Abu bonus level, so I prepared myself. I was waiting for some pots to fall down after the game tells you, "Watch out Abu!" because they started falling right after the phrase scrolled off the screen. In the Abu bonus levels, you played as Abu, avoiding the falling pots, or other obstacles. Sometimes, enemies like guards popped up as a distraction.  I thought I waited about a good thirty seconds, because nothing fell down at all. After about an entire minute, a random pot fell down, landing right next to Abu. It didn't disappear as soon as it hit the ground. It just stayed like that, not even fading away. I swung my sword at it to see if it would "die," but it wasn't phased. Then, Abu did backflips and the game registered it as me completing the level. Maybe the game was aging? It was a little strange and I was suspecting that something else was wrong other than age.

The two halves of the scarab bug that comes together to make the whole that sometimes appears between scenes/bonus levels usually made a little buzzing noise, but it was higher and more ear-piercing than usual. I had to make sure that my ears still worked because the noise was so loud.  The music that played during the second cutscene where Aladdin meets the old man didn't play at all. I had thought my speakers blew from the scarab bug noise and I was hoping that wasn't the case. All of the text also became numbers, all together from 1-10. As soon as the title screen for "The Desert" level popped up, I was very weirded out by the result.

Instead of the "Ne Naw Tune" playing before every level, the music that was supposed to play during the previous cutscene, "Drama" played here. I was tempted to take out the cartridge and blow on it again, but instead, I waited for the screen to disappear. After waiting for a while, I got impatient and pressed a button. An abrupt static sound shot through the speakers right after I pressed the B button. That noise left me a little unnerved. Now I had no idea what to expect.