It used to bother me that Mickey didn't look exactly how he did in the cartoons. Weird thing to care about. While it's super short, this game is one of the most creative and memorable of the early 90s and it aged like fine wine.
Fun
It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a great example of a well done platformer that nails the controls, visuals and sound all in one nice package.
Incredibly easy, but pretty superlative platformer with some quality sound and visuals. Simple and child-friendly, no real challenge but a well-made and jaunty Disney romp. Quite short with a couple of secret spots, but not much else.
I love this game, it looks so nice.
Os jogos do Mickey são sempre lindo e este jogo é rico em detalhes. Certeza que era exigência da Disney: o jogo ser lindo.
É bom, mas falta alguma coisa pra deixar ele mais memorável, ainda prefiro o primeiro Magical Quest.
Colorful platformer, if a bit slow on the movement speed, and a low continue count.
Um ótimo jogo, não faz nada de mega inovador mas os gráficos são BÉLISSIMOS e é muito fácil se pegar assobiando as musicas depois
le gana a kh3 tho
how the fuck ur gonna steal the "Beauty" of a RAT
This game is gorgeous even decades later. It does a great job of recreating the look of old Disney cartoons, and because of that it feels like more than your standard half-assed cash grab that many licensed games end up being.
Platforming is pretty fun, there's a creative variety of level themes and ideas that keep things interesting. Music is decent but not amazing.
This a bit too simple for me to consider a great game, but I'd still recommend it.
Platforming is pretty fun, there's a creative variety of level themes and ideas that keep things interesting. Music is decent but not amazing.
This a bit too simple for me to consider a great game, but I'd still recommend it.
Classic platformer, showing off what the Genesis did so well. I wish these would make a comeback (although Illusion Island was a fun recent successor)
This isn't a game that's well regarded because it stars Mickey, it just happens to be pretty much as good as platformers got in 1990 and also starting Mickey mouse
A very short but also very enjoyable platformer. All the sprite work is well done and the each level has a distinct setting. The game-play is well done typical platforming but sometimes hit detection can be a bit off. Enemies are however a bit repetitive up until the last level. My only gripe is that I wish the game would have been longer. There's no reason not to try this game, unless you think you're too old for Mickey Mouse.
After playing through Epic Mickey Power of Illusion on 3DS, I was curious to see what inspired it. I remember going onto the family computer when I was a kid and playing a rom of this on some retro gaming website, so the first level is ingrained into my head.
Castle of Illusion is a simple little Mickey platformer but unfortunately nothing for me to write home about. I think it's just okay by Genesis platformer standards, and full of color and life in each level. Gameplay overall is pretty slow, but it's a consistent slowness that makes it easier to plan jumps and such.
I beat this entire game in roughly 2 hours, and I found it to be pretty unforgiving at points. No shame, I abused the CRAP out of the Save States on this one. Can't imagine what it would be like if I had to start over
Not really in a rush to see what World of Illusion is about yet but I think it's great to have some Mickey Mouse games with some level of quality.
Castle of Illusion is a simple little Mickey platformer but unfortunately nothing for me to write home about. I think it's just okay by Genesis platformer standards, and full of color and life in each level. Gameplay overall is pretty slow, but it's a consistent slowness that makes it easier to plan jumps and such.
I beat this entire game in roughly 2 hours, and I found it to be pretty unforgiving at points. No shame, I abused the CRAP out of the Save States on this one. Can't imagine what it would be like if I had to start over
Not really in a rush to see what World of Illusion is about yet but I think it's great to have some Mickey Mouse games with some level of quality.
Esse é um jogo ok, não é lá grande coisas mas a arte é muito bonita, a trilha sonora do jogo não é muito o forte dele, me pergunto porque ele foi tão querido ao ponto de receber um remake, jogarei ele mais pra frente, mas é um bom jogo.
https://youtu.be/OC2YEWU7wPw
https://youtu.be/OC2YEWU7wPw
This is a classic platformer that I had always wanted to play, but never had the chance until I got the Genesis Mini. I knew it had great animation and fun controls, and it did. While not long, every level has quite a few secrets to discover and unique gameplay and obstacles to tackle; it's fairly bursting with great ideas all the way through. The game feels joyful to play from the start, and keeps that all the way through.
It's an interesting snapshot of the lifespan of the Genesis. This seems like one of the earliest titles to really start to show the promise of the system, in a way a prelude of the incredible action games that came in the next few years. As is, Castle of Illusion is a solid hop and bop platformer with beautiful animation and music, coming right before the true greats hit the system.
Played on Genesis Mini.
It's an interesting snapshot of the lifespan of the Genesis. This seems like one of the earliest titles to really start to show the promise of the system, in a way a prelude of the incredible action games that came in the next few years. As is, Castle of Illusion is a solid hop and bop platformer with beautiful animation and music, coming right before the true greats hit the system.
Played on Genesis Mini.
Esperava mais pra um jogo considerado um "clássico". É bacana, mas a jogabilidade é muito basica e as duas ultimas fases parecem meio rushadas, fazem parecer que o jogo é incompleto, mas visualmente é bonitinho.
Cleared on April 26th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 6/160)
Review updated on May 14th, 2024.
Thinking back to my review of Castle of Illusion, I thought to myself that maybe it was too harsh because I played on the wrong difficulty. I accused it of being unfair, but when somebody said it was "easy". I thought it was strange to say, but then I remembered I played on Hard difficulty because when I accidentally set the game on practice, I thought you had to play Hard mode to get the full game experience, but now that I've gone back to play the game on Normal, I can say that the majority of the game's problems do not apply.
On Hard difficulty, the enemy placement was atrocious. I still remember that one bat that spawned right out of nowhere at the end of the Storm, all of those bats that kept gimping me on the flood, and just so many bats that it feels cluttered and undodgeable. To my surprise, that didn't even apply on Normal mode. There are still some level design nuisances like the falling block trap in The Castle that requires trial and error to know how to avoid because there is no indicator which one will fall and which one doesn't, but I think having three starting HP and not as many enemies to worry about throughout the levels do help give you more breathing room to figure that out. The bosses also go down much faster and by fast, I mean the tree boss took around 3 hits to beat, but on Hard mode? It reportedly takes 10 hits. Its attack pattern is also even faster.
I'm still indifferent to the slow movement speed, but it doesn't bother me as much as it used to, and after having played that god awful Fantasia game, I've come to better terms with how the jumping mechanic works.
Visually, I still love the well varied environments with an enchanted forest, a toyland, storming lands, candy land, library, and the castle itself. I still don't like the saccharine sprite for Mickey himself.
When I was replaying the game, I was expecting maybe a 2.5 stars at best, but this game managed to be an actually good game, and I can now see why people think positively of it. It still doesn't hold a candle to the remake, but I wouldn't going mind another round.
Moral of the story: Hard Mode sucks.
Review updated on May 14th, 2024.
Thinking back to my review of Castle of Illusion, I thought to myself that maybe it was too harsh because I played on the wrong difficulty. I accused it of being unfair, but when somebody said it was "easy". I thought it was strange to say, but then I remembered I played on Hard difficulty because when I accidentally set the game on practice, I thought you had to play Hard mode to get the full game experience, but now that I've gone back to play the game on Normal, I can say that the majority of the game's problems do not apply.
On Hard difficulty, the enemy placement was atrocious. I still remember that one bat that spawned right out of nowhere at the end of the Storm, all of those bats that kept gimping me on the flood, and just so many bats that it feels cluttered and undodgeable. To my surprise, that didn't even apply on Normal mode. There are still some level design nuisances like the falling block trap in The Castle that requires trial and error to know how to avoid because there is no indicator which one will fall and which one doesn't, but I think having three starting HP and not as many enemies to worry about throughout the levels do help give you more breathing room to figure that out. The bosses also go down much faster and by fast, I mean the tree boss took around 3 hits to beat, but on Hard mode? It reportedly takes 10 hits. Its attack pattern is also even faster.
I'm still indifferent to the slow movement speed, but it doesn't bother me as much as it used to, and after having played that god awful Fantasia game, I've come to better terms with how the jumping mechanic works.
Visually, I still love the well varied environments with an enchanted forest, a toyland, storming lands, candy land, library, and the castle itself. I still don't like the saccharine sprite for Mickey himself.
When I was replaying the game, I was expecting maybe a 2.5 stars at best, but this game managed to be an actually good game, and I can now see why people think positively of it. It still doesn't hold a candle to the remake, but I wouldn't going mind another round.
Moral of the story: Hard Mode sucks.
The best game on the master system
A very short, sweet game. Perfect example of the classic Disney games of yesteryear. Wonder if the remake is as good as this one...
bem legal zerei ele faz uns anos
Um jogo nostálgico, referência de qualidade.
A fun and colorful, if simplistic, entry in the pre-Sonic era of the Sega Genesis.
B
PB: 25:08
B
PB: 25:08
(This is the 26th game in my challenge to go through many known games in chronological order starting in 1990. The spreadsheet is in my bio.)
Quick word on the challenge I'm doing. This will be needless for those of you who are looking for a review of the game, but it's still something I'd like to mention quickly for those following along (those +-0 of you).
The Sega Genesis obviously launched in Aug 1989 in NA already, so it's not like Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse is the first 16 bit game to come out since I started this, nor is it even the first Sega Genesis game I've played. So far I've played Batman and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker for the system.
But we're now in November 1990, and this game actually released on the same date as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which would be November 21st, 1990. That console, as is well-known, is the best-selling 16-bit home console, so that's why we're starting to really get into 16-bit territory here, and I am incredibly excited to try out a bunch of classics for the first time from an era many still call the best for console games - if not games in general.
Is this game, developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, the highlight of the era already? Some say it's right up there with Super Mario World as one of the best platformers of this time (SMW also released on November 21, 1990) but to spoiler my conclusion a little bit, I don't really think it's close. This game is fun but has plenty of flaws, so let's get into it.
____________
STORYTELLING
The story is explained at the beginning and in the manual. Minnie is kidnapped by the evil witch Mizrabel (great name btw), because she is jealous of Minnie's beauty. So Mickie makes his way to the Castle of Illusion to save Minnie. An old man there tells him that he needs seven gems of the rainbow to rescue her. Why? Who knows.
There will be an epilogue as well but no other form of storytelling in between from what I can tell, so nothing worth talking about here.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is very simple and basic. You move from side to side in this 2D platformer and can either jump on enemies or shoot projectiles (often fruit) at them. If you jump on them, it catapults you up and enables you to reach otherwise unreachable platforms. That's definitely the most unique part about this game's gameplay.
Levels are heavy on platforming and the likelihood that you will fall to your death increases with each level you pass. One cave level where the next platform was so easily miss able if you jump a milli-second too early was especially frustrating.
The game starts you off with three health, 3 lives per continue and 2 continues. Your i-frames after taking a hit only last a second or so, so it's very easy to die within seconds. Since hit frames are sometimes too big, enemies sometimes just pop out of the ground with almost no forewarning and a jump on the enemy's head doesn't get recognized properly (you get damage for missing it), you often lose health unfairly. This is precisely where any comparison to a game like Super Mario World is just not reasonable. I'm playing Super Mario World as we speak and the difference in quality is so high that it actually surprised me quite a lot to see people actually comparing the two.
I've also encountered a bug where I somehow jumped over a tree during a boss fight and couldn't go back to the other direction, meaning that I was stuck.
Gems are acquired by beating bosses after the end of each level, which aren't too difficult, but I failed the second one twice because my jumps on his head just didn't register for some reason. I decided to abandon the game some time after the third boss because while I was doing platforming on tiny tiny platforms, I realized the game didn't immediately register that you let go of the forward button, which made me slip off the platform and fall to my demise.
Apart from these issues it's not a very difficult game, but there is also nothing really exciting about it. There is plenty of stuff you can argue for here apart from its gameplay, and I'll likely agree with you, but I must say that this was not that fun to play.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. Sound design was mostly pretty good and I liked how a lot of actions actually got a sound to accompany them, like even jumping or throwing stuff, which doesn't happen in a lot of platformers I've played recently. The music was fine overall but I can't say I liked it that much. My favorite track definitely was the one used for the boss fights but the soundtrack just didn't get me into a playful/whimsical kinda mood like I would have expected.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
Lots and lots of colorful, bright worlds are present in this game, with plenty of variety between them. To mention something a little more lowkey, I liked how the clouds outside kept moving even if you were standing still and how much detail was put into the horizon, even if it's not something a player will really focus on a lot.
But simply graphically, this is definitely one of the best one's you will find from this entire year.
ATMOSPHERE
I didn't always feel like the music used for a particular level necessarily fit the mood, but overall the colorful levels and their overall designs managed to do a solid enough job of putting me in the mood of playing a Mickey Mouse platform adventure. If someone is reading this: Sometimes I feel silly seriously critiquing a game like this, at the end of the day it's a game for children that isn't meant to be taken apart this way. Right? I don't know, I'm definitely going to be glad when a lot more mature games start coming up on the playlist.
CONTENT
There is some fine content here for platformer enthusiasts. This game should take about 3 hours for your average gamer and lead you through a variety of different worlds. But the game overall has pretty basic gameplay and plenty of frustration to come with it, even if there certainly is much worse out there in that regard.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
Mostly the levels are designed pretty much as you would expect. The difficulty is definitely lower than for many comparable platformers. Most of the time you just go into a specific direction and are offered with very little choice in how to deal with the dangers. Move, kill or avoid, beware of gravity, find the exit at the end of the screen.
Some levels also include underwater sections, and these just frankly sucked. A piranha would usually wait for you in there and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to move past it without taking damage.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
The worlds are definitely lookers here, and there even is one part where you have to trigger a button to flip the level over. Your character can then still walk upside down, while all others fall down. Nothing major but a nice changeup. Other than that, this is a pretty basic licensed platformer, though it does look pretty good graphically for its time.
REPLAYABILITY
Apart from trying to beat your high score, there also are some secrets to discover, which might warrant a second playthrough for you.
PLAYABILITY
The game works well at pretty much all times, but I did encounter one bug and I disliked how letting go of the forward button would only register like a second later.
OVERALL
The game looks great for a 1990 game, and certainly it was a big deal when it released. You'll be hard-pressed to find a review below 9/10 back in the day. But in today's day and age, we have a game that simply shows its flaws and can't wow in the same way with its strengths. And turns out, its flaws, at least to me, are worse than in many other games I've played from this year recently. And if we just compare to Super Mario World, we can also see that a big difference in quality exists on pretty much every level. Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse is fine and should probably be played if you're looking to go through gaming history like I am, even if in a much more condensed way. Why? Because the ratings tell me you shouldn't look into my thoughts too deeply. But at the same time, I've played too many comparable games to really feel bad about standing where I do on this game.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
- J. M. for VGCE, Issue 24 (Jan 91): "Castle of Illusion is, quite plainly, one of the most fabulous run-and-jump games ever created."
- Sushi-X, Issue 17 (Dec 90): "Music... a 10+!"
Quick word on the challenge I'm doing. This will be needless for those of you who are looking for a review of the game, but it's still something I'd like to mention quickly for those following along (those +-0 of you).
The Sega Genesis obviously launched in Aug 1989 in NA already, so it's not like Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse is the first 16 bit game to come out since I started this, nor is it even the first Sega Genesis game I've played. So far I've played Batman and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker for the system.
But we're now in November 1990, and this game actually released on the same date as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which would be November 21st, 1990. That console, as is well-known, is the best-selling 16-bit home console, so that's why we're starting to really get into 16-bit territory here, and I am incredibly excited to try out a bunch of classics for the first time from an era many still call the best for console games - if not games in general.
Is this game, developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, the highlight of the era already? Some say it's right up there with Super Mario World as one of the best platformers of this time (SMW also released on November 21, 1990) but to spoiler my conclusion a little bit, I don't really think it's close. This game is fun but has plenty of flaws, so let's get into it.
____________
STORYTELLING
The story is explained at the beginning and in the manual. Minnie is kidnapped by the evil witch Mizrabel (great name btw), because she is jealous of Minnie's beauty. So Mickie makes his way to the Castle of Illusion to save Minnie. An old man there tells him that he needs seven gems of the rainbow to rescue her. Why? Who knows.
There will be an epilogue as well but no other form of storytelling in between from what I can tell, so nothing worth talking about here.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is very simple and basic. You move from side to side in this 2D platformer and can either jump on enemies or shoot projectiles (often fruit) at them. If you jump on them, it catapults you up and enables you to reach otherwise unreachable platforms. That's definitely the most unique part about this game's gameplay.
Levels are heavy on platforming and the likelihood that you will fall to your death increases with each level you pass. One cave level where the next platform was so easily miss able if you jump a milli-second too early was especially frustrating.
The game starts you off with three health, 3 lives per continue and 2 continues. Your i-frames after taking a hit only last a second or so, so it's very easy to die within seconds. Since hit frames are sometimes too big, enemies sometimes just pop out of the ground with almost no forewarning and a jump on the enemy's head doesn't get recognized properly (you get damage for missing it), you often lose health unfairly. This is precisely where any comparison to a game like Super Mario World is just not reasonable. I'm playing Super Mario World as we speak and the difference in quality is so high that it actually surprised me quite a lot to see people actually comparing the two.
I've also encountered a bug where I somehow jumped over a tree during a boss fight and couldn't go back to the other direction, meaning that I was stuck.
Gems are acquired by beating bosses after the end of each level, which aren't too difficult, but I failed the second one twice because my jumps on his head just didn't register for some reason. I decided to abandon the game some time after the third boss because while I was doing platforming on tiny tiny platforms, I realized the game didn't immediately register that you let go of the forward button, which made me slip off the platform and fall to my demise.
Apart from these issues it's not a very difficult game, but there is also nothing really exciting about it. There is plenty of stuff you can argue for here apart from its gameplay, and I'll likely agree with you, but I must say that this was not that fun to play.
MUSIC/SOUND/VOICE
No voice acting. Sound design was mostly pretty good and I liked how a lot of actions actually got a sound to accompany them, like even jumping or throwing stuff, which doesn't happen in a lot of platformers I've played recently. The music was fine overall but I can't say I liked it that much. My favorite track definitely was the one used for the boss fights but the soundtrack just didn't get me into a playful/whimsical kinda mood like I would have expected.
GRAPHICS/ART DESIGN
Lots and lots of colorful, bright worlds are present in this game, with plenty of variety between them. To mention something a little more lowkey, I liked how the clouds outside kept moving even if you were standing still and how much detail was put into the horizon, even if it's not something a player will really focus on a lot.
But simply graphically, this is definitely one of the best one's you will find from this entire year.
ATMOSPHERE
I didn't always feel like the music used for a particular level necessarily fit the mood, but overall the colorful levels and their overall designs managed to do a solid enough job of putting me in the mood of playing a Mickey Mouse platform adventure. If someone is reading this: Sometimes I feel silly seriously critiquing a game like this, at the end of the day it's a game for children that isn't meant to be taken apart this way. Right? I don't know, I'm definitely going to be glad when a lot more mature games start coming up on the playlist.
CONTENT
There is some fine content here for platformer enthusiasts. This game should take about 3 hours for your average gamer and lead you through a variety of different worlds. But the game overall has pretty basic gameplay and plenty of frustration to come with it, even if there certainly is much worse out there in that regard.
LEVEL/MISSION DESIGN
Mostly the levels are designed pretty much as you would expect. The difficulty is definitely lower than for many comparable platformers. Most of the time you just go into a specific direction and are offered with very little choice in how to deal with the dangers. Move, kill or avoid, beware of gravity, find the exit at the end of the screen.
Some levels also include underwater sections, and these just frankly sucked. A piranha would usually wait for you in there and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to move past it without taking damage.
CONCEPT/INNOVATION
The worlds are definitely lookers here, and there even is one part where you have to trigger a button to flip the level over. Your character can then still walk upside down, while all others fall down. Nothing major but a nice changeup. Other than that, this is a pretty basic licensed platformer, though it does look pretty good graphically for its time.
REPLAYABILITY
Apart from trying to beat your high score, there also are some secrets to discover, which might warrant a second playthrough for you.
PLAYABILITY
The game works well at pretty much all times, but I did encounter one bug and I disliked how letting go of the forward button would only register like a second later.
OVERALL
The game looks great for a 1990 game, and certainly it was a big deal when it released. You'll be hard-pressed to find a review below 9/10 back in the day. But in today's day and age, we have a game that simply shows its flaws and can't wow in the same way with its strengths. And turns out, its flaws, at least to me, are worse than in many other games I've played from this year recently. And if we just compare to Super Mario World, we can also see that a big difference in quality exists on pretty much every level. Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse is fine and should probably be played if you're looking to go through gaming history like I am, even if in a much more condensed way. Why? Because the ratings tell me you shouldn't look into my thoughts too deeply. But at the same time, I've played too many comparable games to really feel bad about standing where I do on this game.
WHAT THEY SAID AT THE TIME
- J. M. for VGCE, Issue 24 (Jan 91): "Castle of Illusion is, quite plainly, one of the most fabulous run-and-jump games ever created."
- Sushi-X, Issue 17 (Dec 90): "Music... a 10+!"
A servicable, but limited port in scale,
A decent platformer with a good variety of stages, culminating in around 30 to 40 minutes of content. It's worth taking a look at once if you're bored, although it doesn't do anything special or groundbreaking. What it does do though, is done well enough.
Castle of Illusion (1990): No esperaba mucho pero me ha sorprendido para bien. A paso lento y con lo más simple consigue mantener un ritmo envidiable, variado y divertido. Además, consigue equilibrar la dificultad y es factible pasárselo en una o dos runs. Muy disfrutable (7,10)
THAT IS ME!!!