Retro Review: Aladdin on the Sega Genesis

Aladdin for the Sega Genesis was one of the best, and most frustrating, licensed games to come out for the Sega Genesis. The game incorporated scenes and elements from the movie along with a great soundtrack to create a memorable experience. The game, however, suffers from some gameplay issues that hold it back from being a great game.
First off the story is the plot of the movie plus some extra content to make it exciting. The locales will range from the desert, to the genie’s lamp, to the dungeon, and more. The graphics are great for the Genesis and the character models are all spot on. The music is a great 16 bit rendition of the music from the movies with some new tracks added in to avoid redundancy.
The gameplay is simple, the A button throws apples that you can collect throughout the course of the game, the B button swings your sword, and the C button jumps. The jump button was a little tough to get to work but I think that was probably due to the age of the controller and all the use. There is a lot of platforming as you would expect and there is a variety as you climb ropes, hang on to clothes lines, and jump onto platforms.
There are some weird things in the game like the women throwing pots at you in the first level, you only see their arms and Aladdin chops the arms with his sword. They disappear into a puff of smoke but still. Also I never understood why there were guards trying to kill you inside the dungeon, for that matter why are there skeletons with bombs on their heads? Why are there ghosts in the cave of wonders? Why do the snakes in the desert have little red hats on? Well, whatever, the game is a little weird but then again it’s a game based on a children’s animated movie.
The biggest issue that annoys me about this game is the difficulty spike, the game become unbearable while you are trying to escape the cave both on foot and on the magic carpet. I’ve never been able to pass those levels and though I have seen the later levels thanks to a cheat code, it is still annoying that I have never been able to beat the game.
Overall the game is a fun title that offers good gameplay, solid graphics, and a lot of variety. The game suffers from some flaws but at least it is a good adaptation of the Aladdin movie.
Pros
-Good Graphics and Sound
-Good Gameplay Variety
Cons
-Ridiculous Difficulty Spike
7/10

Review: Halo: Reach

In 2001, Bungie released Halo: Combat Evolved on the brand new Xbox console and it quickly became one of the most popular video games and the new gold standard in first person shooters. The campaign was a fun, fresh, and original experience and the multiplayer was the perfected version of the social gaming experience. Bungie followed with Halo 2 on the Xbox, and Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST on the Xbox 360. Now Bungie has released its final Halo game, Halo: Reach, and it is everything Halo fans could have hoped for.

The game takes directly before the events of the first game making this, chronologically, the earliest Halo game. You play as a replacement member to Noble Team, an elite group of Spartan soldiers, on the human planet Reach. You are simply known as Noble 6. Covenant forces are invading and you and your team are tasked with stopping the invasion and protecting Reach.

The game is the standard Halo faire, with the exception of Halo Wars, with the first person combat system and many of the same weapons. The assault rifle is slightly remodeled but is basically the same. The battle rifle has been replaced with a single shot weapon, the DMR, with a 15 round clip. Other new heavy weapons have been introduced but the pistols, both covenant and UNSC, have remained the same. The new variety of weapons rounds out the game and makes it possible to attack the enemy in a large variety of ways. Whether you prefer the run and gun method or attacking from a distance there are plenty of weapons to suit your tastes.

The gameplay varies drastically over the course of the game and this is one of the best features of the game, it keeps the game fresh and you never get tired of playing it because the action gets mixed up frequently. There are ground fights, fights in tanks, warthogs, space vehicles, and a lot more. Many of the vehicles are only in the game slightly, the Scorpion tank only making a brief cameo, but for the sake of the gameplay it works well.

The graphics are fantastic and some of the best visuals that we have seen from the Halo franchise. The gameplay is pretty smooth, there was only a loading slow up once or twice in game, not a framerate issue but a pause as the game loaded as I was turning a corner or something like that.

But where this game really hits the mark is actually on an emotional level. Though anyone who knows Halo will know how this game ends, the end is still an emotional ordeal. Familiar faces return and it really makes you feel nostalgia for the past 9 years of gaming that the Halo franchise has given us. Bungie does a great job of making you connect with the characters and it actually affects you when someone sacrifices themselves to protect you or your squad. The only problem is that there isn’t a whole lot of time to develop the characters because it is only one game, it took us 3 games to truly understand the Master Chief and Cortana so it would be impossible to develop these characters like that but for the time available Bungie did a good job.

It is sad to think that Bungie will no longer be providing us with these fantastic games but at least their last chapter in the series tied everything together and gave the franchise the right send off. The Halo franchise will move on with Microsoft’s game studios at the helm but it won’t be the same.

Pros

-Fantastic Gameplay

-Great Story and Characters

-Great Visuals

Cons

-Minor Difficulty Spikes

-This is Bungie’s Last Halo Game

10/10