I wanted my next game to be something less intense than Last Resort, but perhaps I overcorrected…
Castle of Illusion is an early Sega Genesis game designed to give the console a little more brand power. Sega really wanted to put the Genesis on the map compared to its predecessor’s lack of success, and it was becoming clear that mascot-based platformers were the next big thing in gaming. Unfortunately, Sega had nothing close to the star power Nintendo offered with Mario, Zelda and the like. So they went for the pop culture jugular and licensed major hitters such as Michael Jackson, various sports stars, and in this case, Mickey Mouse. Sega needed a game that could practically market itself and appeal to a younger audience. In this way Castle of Illusion did everything it needed to do, and then some!
Minnie has been kidnapped by the witch Mizrabel (an analog of the evil queen from Snow White) and Mickey must explore the Castle of Illusion in search of the seven rainbow gems to reach the top turret to rescue his love. There are five stages made up of several sections each, and cutscenes show each stage as an illusion behind magical doors. This allows the castle to house whimsical areas such as temple caves, toy rooms, and candy lands. More generic forests and clock towers round out the scenes.
At this game’s release, the Sega Genesis’ main competitors were the aging but venerable NES and the promising but unproven TurboGrafx-16. This was a pre-Sonic world, and this was meant to be *the* game to show side-by-side to show the Genesis’ strength. And despite being an early effort, Mickey controls more fluid than any of his competitors and is animated beautifully. Sega interestingly chose to use Mickey’s older, pre-Fantasia design with larger eyes and bouncier limbs. This was a Mickey that was cartoonier than his ubiquitous, more corporate look. And I gotta be honest, lots of the joy in this game comes from seeing just how cute and cuddly Mickey looks in it as he walks, swings, and hops. This is a version of him I wish we saw more of!
As a game geared toward the younger set, Castle of Illusion is far from a challenging game. There’s a graceful difficulty curve across the game’s levels, but the difficulty never goes above a medium. Mickey has an easygoing pace to him with a jump that is equally tight and floaty. Along with his jump, Mickey can collect throwable items for combat. But because of the game’s unassuming nature, it’s easy to get sloppy with your gameplay. Without respect, the castle will chew you up with silly mistakes. But meet the game where it is, perhaps memorize some boss patterns, and you’ll clear the game easily within its two-continue limit. And it's such a pleasant play that you'll want to return to it, with a satisfying hard mode to welcome you.
The first three stages reward a rainbow gem, so when you reach the castle’s second floor, you expect four more stages to go. And yet there are only two, as the green and indigo gem are randomly rewarded to you a third of the way into each of the last stages. Especially with stage four being an odd mashup of level themes, it comes off as a development deadline that came too tight. Castle of Illusion is a breezy playthrough with almost no overlap of stage themes. It’s nice there is so much variety to explore, but there’s a fine line between having no fat to cut and feeling rushed.
A first-party Sega effort, in many ways Castle of Illusion seems an impossible project. Disney fully licensed its flagship character to a foreign company with the full trust it would hold up to their impeccable standards. Even doubly illusory is the game’s re-release on the Genesis Mini. How on earth did Sega manage to secure this game in the lineup (and its sequel!), especially with the iron fist that is the modern Disney company?! Collaboration games like these are destined to remain in licensing purgatory, but Castle of Illusion has been allowed to enchant a new wave of gamers young and old. Perhaps Disney relaxed their terms as even they know Sega hit a real home run with this game.
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