The backgrounds are absolutely beautiful. Mickey animates with a level of grace rarely seen up to that point. First and foremost the animation is incredible. Short of the Neo Geo Castle of Illusion was probably one of the most visually spectacular titles on the market. Fun while it lasts but it will definitely leave you wanting more. The lack of any challenge also means everyone will blow through the game’s five levels in about an hour. But I imagine this was primarily aimed at the younger set. There is a nice little spike towards the end that should have been sprinkled throughout the game. The easy difficulty makes it very accessible but the game could still have used some teeth. The enemies are simply not threatening in the slightest and the bosses have incredibly simple patterns to exploit. I probably died once during the entire game and that was against the final boss. The one major flaw with the game is that it is too short and easy. The library is filled with the most diversity as its many sub levels use the book theme to send you to different locations such as a land made of cake and even swimming in a tea cup! Mizrabel’s castle is probably the only area you are more than likely to die as it spikes in difficulty. The Storm serves as a nice middle ground as it is clear things are beginning to ramp up. Here you are accosted by toy soldiers and creepy clowns among some of the best platforming challenges in the game. The Enchanted Forest is the perfect introductory level with its simple mushroom enemies and bats and is followed by Toyland. The many rooms in Mizrabel’s castle whisk you away to a number of exotic locations. The only other items available increase your life bar, points, or grant extra lives. Depending on the level you collect apples/ marbles for ranged attacks but these aren’t in great supply and are weak. The butt bounce also serves as a spring to jump higher when hitting enemies. Mickey is armed with the platforming staple butt bounce as his main form of attack. Although it is short you will enjoy every single moment and for its low price I would still highly recommend it. It also helped that it’s a great game too. Castle of Illusion was one of many second generation titles that really showed off the power of 16-bit technology. Meanwhile the NES was hitting its absolute stride with classic after classic. There were plenty of solid titles in its early years but very few that you would categorize as truly great. It’s a platformer what more do you want?Ĭastle of Illusion’s release was an important milestone for the Genesis. As Mickey you are on a quest so save Minnie from the witch Mizrabel by finding seven magical gems scattered throughout her castle. It could easily be mistaken for a game based on an official Disney movie because of its creative environments. This is a truly great game and was a sign of things to come.Ĭastle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse was released worldwide in 1990. Their many Disney games were simply phenomenal with Castle of Illusion setting a high bar they would continue to exceed. Sega I feel deserves a lot of the same respect. At a time where LJN and Ocean basically treated any license they bought like garbage Capcom showed that if you treated it with respect those titles could stand shoulder to shoulder with the best on the market. A unique type of object is the treasure chest - by jumping on top of one or throwing it, Mickey gets access to its contents, which might include extra lives, a health power-up or coins to collect for points.Capcom usually gets the majority of the praise when the discussing Disney licensed titles. In some levels, he also has to collect keys to open doors. By placing objects in the right spot and jumping off of them, he can get to areas that are otherwise out of reach. Mickey's ability to pick up things and carry them around also leads to some sort of puzzle-oriented gameplay. An alternative way is to pick up objects lying around (like rocks in the forest or blue balls in the toy level) and throwing them at the enemies. The enemies can be defeated by jumping on top of them. Crossing six levels (including a magical forest, a toy land and a candy world), he must collect the gems of the rainbow in order to confront and defeat the witch.Įach level features unique obstacles, enemies and a final boss. To save his girlfriend Minnie from the wicked witch Mizrabel, Mickey must venture into the Castle of Illusion. The story and main theme remain the same, but the game has its own unique levels and slightly different gameplay mechanics. Sega's 8-bit systems received their own version of the Genesis' Disney platformer.
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