2. Aladdin (Genesis/Mega Drive)
Disney's feature length Aladdin movie came out in 1992 and inspired one of the best games of the Genesis generation. If you've been paying attention so far, you'll have guessed that while the game was released on both systems, the Genesis and SNES versions are nothing alike. The Super Nintendo development was handled by Capcom, while the other was a Virgin Interactive production. At the time Capcom still held the license to work on Disney games for Nintendo, but Disney were at a point where they preferred to work with Virgin. The result of this preference was that Nintendo owners ended up with a decent but very "by the numbers" platform adaptation of the game. On the flipside, SEGA fans were treated to a much better game. The Team at Virgin Interactive did a great job with the graphics on their version of the game. Like "Mickey Mania" a lot of work was put into the sprites and level design to make it look as close to the original Disney movie as possible. All of the characters movement were animated fluidly in cel shaded style, creating some of the best visuals seen on the console. Even the famous soundtrack was faithfully recreated. The game looked and moved like a genuine cartoon, and the gameplay was just as good. For the most part Aladdin was a traditional side scrolling platformer, but its smooth gameplay and interesting level design made it stand out among the rest. The controls were effective, making the jumping and climbing fun to carry out. Added to that, Aladdin came equipped with a number of ways to attack his enemies. While the swordplay was not as good as it could have been, it was better than nothing as the SNES version didn't have one to speak of. Strangely, the weapon of choice in the game were apples, which Aladdin used as a ranged weapon to take on enemies. These proved limited however, so careful management of the inventory was needed to save you from close range encounters. Aladdin definitely wasn't an easy game, but it was by no means overwhelmingly difficult. There are segments that are harder than others, such as escaping from prison, but they aren't so difficult that the game became frustrating. Even a fast paced magic carpet flying level later in the game proved more fun than it was tough. As if my glowing review wasn't enough to win you over, Aladdin won "Best Genesis Game of the Year" in 1993 in Electronic Gaming Monthly. It's one of those games that could probably even be re-released as a direct port without changing much. However with a few tweaks here and there, Aladdin is no doubt a game that could entertain a whole new audience if re released in the modern era.