Mickey pursues the witch to her castle, where he must brave multiple stages of danger to collect the magic gems he needs to create a rainbow bridge to Minnie’s tower prison. It shares the tale of an evil witch named Mizrabel, who kidnaps (mousenaps?) Minnie Mouse out of jealousy of her beauty and popularity. A Classic Game Takes FormĬastle of Illusion arrived early into the Genesis’ lifespan, when Sega was still trying to carve out an identity for the fledgling machine. Today’s powerful home machines make this an easy feat, but at the turn of the ‘90s, when the Genesis was still in its infancy and most consoles paled in horsepower to arcade boards and home computers, it was a much harder vision to realize. That devotion is the key element and the secret to its enduring favor among Sega fans. What makes Castle of Illusion so memorable is how faithfully it recreated the personality of its source material. There’s a certain element to Disney productions that makes them timeless, even when technology has advanced and consumer tastes have shifted. The first game in the beloved Illusion series, Castle of Illusion, is widely hailed as a Genesis classic, and fans still regard its unique blend of Disney charm, simple gameplay, and beautiful presentation as one of the prime examples of platforming excellence of the era.Īs polished as the fluid and tight gameplay, excellent visuals, and enjoyable music of Castle of Illusion were, its charm extends beyond that. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Quackshot Starring Donald Duck, were the high point of pre- Sonic 16-bit platforming, and they were followed up by the co-op dazzler World of Illusion. Long before furry mascots flooded Sega’s 16-bit console, there was a mouse and a duck, and they starred in two of the most wonderful platformer’s in the system’s library. This is a great game.For many gamers who grew up with the Genesis, some of their fondest memories with the console came from the series of early Disney games published by Sega. If you and your kids are fans of Mickey Mouse, then this is a must play.įrankly, the only reason I can see why you WOULDN’T need to play it is if you have some weird moral issue with Disney. This might be frustrating to children who aren’t very good with patterns yet, but this is a great way to practice. Each time you manage to jump on a bosses head the pattern changes slightly. The boss fights at the end of each level are built around pattern recognition. For example, in one level you will be traveling along in a level that is not unlike any Mario or Mega Man game that you have seen, until the game shifts perspectives to 3D and gives Mickey more freedom to move. The game does, however, regularly shift perspectives in the middle of levels which can be very difficult for even the most experienced players. So children will have no problem figuring out how to move around. Kids may enjoy themselves while they play, but this is definitely a challenging game. If they can watch that, then they should have no trouble playing this game. Some of the masters of illusion are a little intense, but this is as tame as your average Mickey Mouse cartoon. Everything felt new and interesting throughout.Ĭastle of Illusion is completely safe for kids. The game is a bit on the short side, but I never felt like I was being rushed to the end, or held back by repetitive levels. It felt like I was playing inside a living storybook. The game is fully voice acted, and the narrator is amazing. You control Mickey as he tries to rescue her. She kidnaps Minnie and brings her to the titular Castle of Illusion. Mickey and Minnie go for a picnic only to be waylaid by the evil witch Mizrabel. I caught myself smiling more than once even while I was struggling with some of the more challenging parts of the game. The developers managed to capture the essence of the original (that was published on the Sega Genesis) and breathed new life into it through updated visuals and modern level design.Ĭastle of Illusion’s greatest strength comes from pure whimsy. Reviewed on PS3, also available on Xbox 360 (check other availability) and Windowsĭisney’s Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse is a stunning recreation of an amazing game.
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