Hallmark genre fundamentals – running, jumping, swimming and throwing projectiles – are accounted for, but they never interact with each other, the levels, or enemies in any novel, imaginative ways. However, while Castle of Illusion ‘s presentation is aces, the gameplay is disappointingly mundane. The sixth world and beyond were the most enjoyable parts to play because the ante was upped, demanding more of your platforming prowess. This isn’t the apex of his work, but it nonetheless is a nice score, with his whimsical style accentuating the game’s tone. Moreover, composer Grant Kirkhope of Banjo-Kazooie fame put the score together. There’s a solid variety of biomes – the first stages exist in a forest interpolated by castle ruins, but you’ll also visit giant libraries, candy lands, dungeons and more in your quest – and the environments’ aesthetics do predictably influence the stage hazards, such as how moving books function as unreliable platforms in the library or how haunted suits of armor attempt to strike Mickey in the dungeon. Importantly, the foregrounds aren’t too busy and are generally disgustable from the backgrounds. While the backdrops aren’t enormously intricate (likely as a consequence of being a smaller-scale downloadable title), the environments are nevertheless detailed. Graphically, the team graciously reimagined the sprites of the Genesis game. Richard McGonagle voices the narrator, the dialects for Mickey and Minnie are respectively provided by Bret Iwan and Russi Taylor, and Nika Futterman stepped in to portray Mizrabel. (Image: Disney/SEGA)Ĭastle of Illusion ’s events are affixed with commentary the narrator and Mickey both chime in during the stages and cinematics to react to the on-screen happenings, benefiting the cartoon-esque presentation. You may be rewarded for doing so with an extra life or a collectible. That was seven years ago. God almighty.As per a genre standard, you can bounce off enemies to reach greater heights. It's nice to see that every so often there's a licensed game that gets it right. Surprisingly enough a remake of Castle of Illusion was released in 2013, and even more surprisingly it was excellent level design had more in common with the Master System game than the staid, familiar Mega Drive effort. It certainly represents the apex of Disney's fruitful relationship with Sega, though that was never the same after Aladdin. Some of that's going to be nostalgia, yes, but I also sincerely believe it to be one of the best-designed games of the 8-bit era - certainly superior to the Mega Drive version, which registers to me as a dumbed-down (but still fun) take on the Master System game. And yet, despite the intensity of my familarity with Castle of Illusion, I never tire of it. It's trivial to me now, more or less, though I still take hits from the final boss due to pure laziness. I've played it at least twice a year since I got it, on the original hardware as often as possible. I know this silly little game so well that I can clock it near-effortlessly, though that one bastard of a treasure chest right at the end of the clock tower often eludes me. To call it memorable is a disservice to memories. Every stage offers a different hook - the underground ventures of the forest, the multiple routes of the toy box, the auto-scrolling nightmare of the chocolate factory, the fully-playable piano of the library, the rotating screws and mechanisms of the clock tower and the darkness-plunging basements of the wicked witch's castle. Sorry, losers! This ain't a hula hoop! No, Castle of Illusion was and is a tricky beast, laced with clever stage design and sparing in its gimmickry. Far beyond the pitiful abilities of my 1950s parents. The ultimate transgression.īut, thankfully, there was always Normal mode. Not only had my parents been playing my game without permission, they had finished it. I came home from school one day a couple of weeks later only to find my parents sitting and watching the ending sequence of Practice mode, having completed the game in my absence. The stages in Practice mode are about three screens long. The game opens onto a choice between Practice and Normal modes, and I picked Practice, because I was five years old. I played Alex Kidd in Miracle World first, but this was given to me that same Christmas, in its case. This is the first boxed game I ever owned. No, this is more than just some specifications. See more of my work at Ĭastle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse for the Master System is not a game I can judge with any sort of objectivity, but I'm not sure why you'd want that, anyway.
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