I want to do a little experiment. Hopefully it will be insightful for myself, as well as others.

For those of you who don't know, there was an Aladdin game on both the Snes, and the Genisis. These games were created by different developers, and aside from the subject matter they are quite different in nearly every regard. Which of these two games is better is something that's been talked about before, however there are a few factors that I feel make the discussions somewhat interesting (or baffling, depending on which game you like).

I've gotten into heated debates about the games before, but I want to do something in a more controlled environment. Make sure you don't read anybody else's posts, because I want people to go into this blind, and without bias.

The Test

Okay, here's what I want you to do.

To start with, give yourself some background. Are you an artist? A programmer? Do you have any experience in game design? Do you just play games? Etc. Basically just something to give some context. The opinion of a player will be just as revealing as the opinion of a dev, in this test.

Next, if you've played the games as a kid then describe your experience. How old were you? What about each game did you like or dislike, and which would you say is the better game? Even if your memory is fuzzy, it's still worth mentioning.

Now, the important part. For those of you who have the time, and want to settle the score once and for all; Play each game, and examine every aspect of it that you can. The controls, the moves, the level design, the art, the music, anything you can think of. If you'd like, you can focus on a particular aspect if you think it's the most important, or you can just cover everything that stands out. Try to discern what's objectively wrong with the games, and what may be subjective on your part. To put it simply, analyze them.

Then, make your case. You can clarify how long you played the games, and if you think that makes a difference.

After you've come to your conclusions, you can go a step further. Read the analysis of some of the other members, and describe what surprised you about your own conclusions, or theirs. Are there any factors that you think effected their opinions, without them knowing about it? (don't have to name names if you want.)

That's about it. Hopefully some of you have the time to give it a shot. I think you'll be surprised at how the average person feels about these games, and you may be surprised to see the differences between what you though as a kid, and what you think now. Or, maybe you won't be surprised at all.

I never played the games even though they were released when I was a kid, but I did remember borrowing somebody's Gamepro magazine in elementary school,. and there was an article with the subject being a comparison of the two. I think the conclusion was that the SNES version had superior gameplay or something. But this is from super fuzzy memory, so I might be remembering wrongly.

I played the snes version in my mid teens. I don't remember the game other than I think there was some level where there was a wave of lava chasing me or something. I believe I rented it once for a weekend (I don't think it was my first choice), finished it, and never had reason to play it again. I don't recall having an opinion one way or the other about the game. Never had occasion to play the sega version.

Given that it's a game based on a Disney movie, I'd be surprised that there's much debate about it at all especially with so much time having passed since its release. Now, if you were to have asked for opinions on the differences between snes and sega's respective versions of Shadowrun, I wouldn't be surprised to hear there's heated debates as at least it's a franchise with a strong following.