Aladdin on the Genesis / Mega Drive is one of the most beloved platformers of the '90s.
Coded by Dave Perry's team at Virgin (Perry would later establish Shiny and create Earthworm Jim with some of the same people), this 2D platformer is an adaption of Disney's popular animated movie and compares very favourably to Capcom's take on the concept, produced for the SNES around the same time.
Now, the game has been translated into Arabic by fans, which means it's finally playable in a language that Aladdin himself might understand. Translators MansourSorosoro, R-K and EternalDreamAR have produced a patch which not only translates the text, but also features Arabic variants of various logos and brand names.
"This game holds personal significance," says EternalDreamAR. "It was one of the first I played after Super Mario Bros. and left a lasting impression. Many also have fond memories of Disney’s Arabic-dubbed films, despite some differences in cultural representation. While Aladdin doesn’t require language proficiency to play, we believed it deserved a proper Arabic localization."
The patch actually dates from in 2021 but has recently been added to ROMhacking.net.
EternalDreamAR adds:
This project primarily aimed to tackle technical challenges. We designed a readable Arabic font, though compromises were necessary—such as forgoing inner shadows and using the Japanese version, which limited some Genie animations in the into. We ensured high-quality Arabic text rendering despite the Mega Drive's limitations.
R-K translated as many in-game UI elements as possible, overcoming compression hurdles and even implementing effects like golden highlights and neon glows—rare for the Mega Drive, which typically struggles with detailed visuals.
We also integrated Arabic designs based on official materials, including the classic Arabic Sega logo from 1989 and Aladdin logos from official posters and VHS covers. Some assets required recoloring due to hardware restrictions. While we considered using Arabic dub scripts, Aladdin on the Mega Drive deviated significantly from the film, making direct adaptation impractical. Instead, we selectively incorporated recognizable phrases while maintaining formal Arabic consistency.