Welcome to the 32 Dangerous Cheat Codes, a brand new series that will run daily between November 24 and December 25. Join us as we discuss the hazardous ramifications of some of your favorite cheat codes.
Today I'm recounting what happened to me when I attempted to cheat in Disney's Aladdin. It's a tragic tale that should scare you off of using codes in public places. Find out what happened to me when you discover the newest episode of the 32 Dangerous Cheat Codes.
I've had a lot of fun over the past few weeks talking about the fictional dangers that could come from using cheat codes. From using Scrooge McDuck to talk about inflation concerns to watching this man on fire make a point about NBA Jam, this has been a series that has allowed me to go completely over the top. But today we're going to bring things back to reality and talk about something that happened to me when I cheated in Disney's Aladdin on the Sega Genesis.
Our story takes place back in January of 1994, and I was attending the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Although it has lost a lot of its importance in recent years, CES was a huge deal twenty years ago, with all eyes locked on the hottest announcements. But even with the big reveals and fanfare, my favorite thing about old conventions is that magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, Die Hard Game Fan and GamePro would give out free issues to anybody passing by. As somebody who has always had an interest in games journalism, I would always fill my bags with every magazine I could find and study them back in the hotel rooms.
This is the issue I remember picking up on the first day of the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show. I know this because I have two copies, because I'm sometimes greedy when it comes to free magazines. I remember the editorial about game censorship, the strong reviews for Castlevania: Bloodlines, the news of the Sega CDX and rumors of a 64-bit Super Mario. But of all the things I can still remember seeing as I flipped through the pages; it was the level skip code for Disney's Aladdin that stuck out.
For one thing, the code was insanely easy to remember. It's nothing more than A, B, B, A, A, B, B and A, or ABBA ABBA. But more importantly, I had remembered seeing Disney's Aladdin on display over at the Sega booth, so this was my opportunity to get some use out of this issue of EGM. I figured that I could buzz through to the end by using the code, giving me a better understanding of why the critics were raving about this Genesis classic.
On the next day, I decided to get up bright and early and plant my flag at the Aladdin kiosk. With a certain Dancing Queen on my mind, I punched in the simple code and found myself transported to the next stage. And then the next. And the next. It worked like magic, and for a few seconds I forgot that I was standing in the middle of the Consumer Electronics Show playing a Genesis game. I snapped out of it the moment the guy behind me called me names for cheating. "Why don't you play the game for real, loser?" the guy mocked. I was crushed.
Of course, I eventually bought Disney's Aladdin and went through the whole thing without cheating. It's a great game that everybody should play. But even though two decades have passed and I wasn't doing anything wrong, I still remember that guy scolding me for cheating at Aladdin. This is one of those rare times when a cheat code has had a real world impact on my life. Also, for the record, that guy was a dick.
