Os jogos do Mickey são sempre lindo e este jogo é rico em detalhes. Certeza que era exigência da Disney: o jogo ser lindo.
I have a childhood memory of it, even though I wasn't born around the time of release... the game is really cute and fun, despite being quite slow.
Excellent little platformer. Ir doesn't do anything super revolutionary but I find the game to be very well polished and quite charming. The themes are pretty creative (especially for the time) with a candy level, a toy level and a library level. It seems Mickey is supposed to be tiny in this game as everything towers around him. The controls are super tight and precise. Mickey is a bit slow, but with the game level design I got used to it really fast. He can do a little butt bounce when hitting the jump button after jumping, and this is what a lot of the game is designed around. You can also throw various items you pick up as projectiles. There's really not much to fault here. Really solid game.
It's both similar and different to the Genesis version. Both follow the same plot and overall theming of the levels, but the mechanics, controls, bosses and level designs greatly differ. I would say that the music and sound design in the Master System version was a bit hit or miss. Makes sense since the Genesis one just has better sound and ost. The slippery controls were just as irksome as the slow and floaty controls of the Genesis if not more so at times, so sadly no improvement there. Having to use objects to throw around to use as a weapon, platform or for a puzzle was more fun than simply platforming like in the genesis. The bosses also feel well done but their ai were all over the place, so the Genesis bosses were a bit more balanced but less unique. The level designs were unique and great between each version but if I had to choose I very slightly preferred the levels in the Master System one. The Genesis levels feel more vibrant and pretty with many details and great design, but the Master System ones felt more explorative and expanded upon. Finally, the final boss was a bit different on both but I also liked the Master System's variant instead.
Sorry for the constant comparing, but I had just played this after beating the Genesis one so I couldn't help myself. Overall, both are amazing versions of the games, each with their small issues, but I feel like the Master System version slightly takes the cake on the one I liked the most.
Sorry for the constant comparing, but I had just played this after beating the Genesis one so I couldn't help myself. Overall, both are amazing versions of the games, each with their small issues, but I feel like the Master System version slightly takes the cake on the one I liked the most.
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)
An absolutely fantastic platformer, very different from the Megadrive version, but equally good and fun to play.
Revi recentemente o vídeo do Sr. Sr. Wilson sobre o Castle e World of Illusion e fiquei mo afim de jogar. Peguei o Castle de maneira bem descompromissada e acabei zerando rapidinho.
Confesso que esse aqui não achei tão divertido, gostei do visual (tem fases muito bonitas) e as músicas são bacaninhas apesar de esquecíveis.
O que me irritou foram as fases, tinha algumas legais aqui e ali mas metade era ou chatona de se navegar, ou um amontoado de level design merda (a fase do castelo tmncccccc)
Enfim, espero que World of Illusion seja melhor (e também o remake do Castle, que não vou poder jogar agora porque não roda no meu pc infelizmente)
Confesso que esse aqui não achei tão divertido, gostei do visual (tem fases muito bonitas) e as músicas são bacaninhas apesar de esquecíveis.
O que me irritou foram as fases, tinha algumas legais aqui e ali mas metade era ou chatona de se navegar, ou um amontoado de level design merda (a fase do castelo tmncccccc)
Enfim, espero que World of Illusion seja melhor (e também o remake do Castle, que não vou poder jogar agora porque não roda no meu pc infelizmente)
A flagship title of the Genesis' early years, and understandably so. Looks much better and plays much smoother than many of the console's games at the time, and notably marks a step towards appealing to children with easier but still engaging games, which was surprisingly uncommon at the time. I would probably compare it closest to McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, which I promise you is a much better game than it sounds like it would be. Would recommend both for quicker, more casual playthroughs.
I really like this game. It's a decent alternative to Sonic 1 and everything, and even a decent Mickey Mouse/Disney game. Not a bad one, imo.
A game lodged into my childhood memories is a decent platformer where you can play as Mickey Mouse. There's a lot of creativity in each level; dodging spiders in a massive spider-web, going upside down in the toy world, going into a giant jar of milk and jumping through a massive land of milk and cake, that sort of thing. It really shows the potential of a 16-bit Disney game. Each stage's gimmick seems to be contained to its own level, which is a little disappointing. It's also pretty short (RIP to anyone thinking "Rainbow Gems" means 7 levels), though with only two continues, I can't say this game is a breeze to just play through. I couldn't beat it as a kid, that's for sure.
eu acho esse jogo muito foda, mesmo conseguindo ver diversos erros como a gameplay sendo meio travada e o level design esquisito, Castle of Illusion é bonito e divertido!
sério, eu joguei esse jogo por meados de 2007 e esse jogo era bonito até pra mim que tinha 5 aninhos na época (lembrando que em 2007 nós já tinhamos Halo 3, Uncharted e Resident Evil 4).
acho que vale a pena ser revisitado, mesmo com seu level design confuso e controles esquisitos, afinal, a atmosfera (trilha sonora em conjunto com a arte) são bem mágicas e nostálgicas!
sério, eu joguei esse jogo por meados de 2007 e esse jogo era bonito até pra mim que tinha 5 aninhos na época (lembrando que em 2007 nós já tinhamos Halo 3, Uncharted e Resident Evil 4).
acho que vale a pena ser revisitado, mesmo com seu level design confuso e controles esquisitos, afinal, a atmosfera (trilha sonora em conjunto com a arte) são bem mágicas e nostálgicas!
Man, March 2020 sucked. I had been working overnight for years before my job unceremoniously rolled back operating hours, forcing me to move back to days and lose a 20% pay differential. I couldn't just leave and find a new job either, as the COVID-19 pandemic was already impacting the job market - hell, by this point it was a nightmare just finding non-perishable food items. I was tired, hungry, stressed, and broke.
But working days meant I could do something I hadn't done since I was a child: play video games while the sun comes up. This was something I used to do while waiting for infomercials to transition into the morning cartoon blocks as a kid, and it had long since represented a weird sort of ideal where the only thing I had to worry about was whether I'd turn the TV on and see a PSA about spousal abuse before I could get my Genesis started. Being able to do this again was therapeutic, it gave me something small to look forward to each morning when I otherwise wanted to shut down.
Castle of Illusion was the first game I played on this new schedule, and I think it was the absolute best place to start. It's incredibly simplistic as far as mascot platformers go, owed to the fact that it was designed for an audience whose skills were still soft, but that also makes it the perfect game wake up to when you're 32 and running on 3 hours of sleep. As far as early Sega Genesis games go, it also feels remarkably good to play. Other games like Altered Beast or Revenge of Shinobi had a certain off feeling in the way they controlled, but Castle of Illusion feels excellent. Mickey's weight feels natural, bouncing on enemies is satisfying, and levels are well designed and fun to explore. It also looks pretty damn good for that era, too. At the time, the level of detail and animation quality was a point of pride both for Disney and Sega, and it was used to market the Genesis heavily, especially towards a younger demo. Of course, Genesis games would look far better in the years following its release, but for the time that this came out, it was one of the better looking games on the system.
As far as the Illusion series goes, I've already professed my preference (and love) for World of Illusion, but Castle is still a very solid game that I think holds up better than many of the other early releases on the Genesis. There's a remake of this as well, and while I don't like it as much, it's also pretty good and well worth playing if you enjoy the original. That said, I wonder whether this game is engaging enough to entertain most people nowadays, and I think a lot of my appreciation for it is both due to playing it as a kid and having it become imprinted as a sort of "comfort game" as an adult, especially given the context I played it in.
But working days meant I could do something I hadn't done since I was a child: play video games while the sun comes up. This was something I used to do while waiting for infomercials to transition into the morning cartoon blocks as a kid, and it had long since represented a weird sort of ideal where the only thing I had to worry about was whether I'd turn the TV on and see a PSA about spousal abuse before I could get my Genesis started. Being able to do this again was therapeutic, it gave me something small to look forward to each morning when I otherwise wanted to shut down.
Castle of Illusion was the first game I played on this new schedule, and I think it was the absolute best place to start. It's incredibly simplistic as far as mascot platformers go, owed to the fact that it was designed for an audience whose skills were still soft, but that also makes it the perfect game wake up to when you're 32 and running on 3 hours of sleep. As far as early Sega Genesis games go, it also feels remarkably good to play. Other games like Altered Beast or Revenge of Shinobi had a certain off feeling in the way they controlled, but Castle of Illusion feels excellent. Mickey's weight feels natural, bouncing on enemies is satisfying, and levels are well designed and fun to explore. It also looks pretty damn good for that era, too. At the time, the level of detail and animation quality was a point of pride both for Disney and Sega, and it was used to market the Genesis heavily, especially towards a younger demo. Of course, Genesis games would look far better in the years following its release, but for the time that this came out, it was one of the better looking games on the system.
As far as the Illusion series goes, I've already professed my preference (and love) for World of Illusion, but Castle is still a very solid game that I think holds up better than many of the other early releases on the Genesis. There's a remake of this as well, and while I don't like it as much, it's also pretty good and well worth playing if you enjoy the original. That said, I wonder whether this game is engaging enough to entertain most people nowadays, and I think a lot of my appreciation for it is both due to playing it as a kid and having it become imprinted as a sort of "comfort game" as an adult, especially given the context I played it in.
Not a mickey fan but wanted to play for a long time as it's a highly regarded early Genesis game. As a platformer it's good if a tad bit bland, not too difficult certainly for 90s standards. You get good graphics, lovely music; Mickey and the bosses look great. It's also got that chill vibe which makes for a good change compared to the usual fast-paced action games I've played this year.
One of the comfiest games ever. Seeing my five year old cousin get so hyped when she beat the first boss without help for the first time proves this.
Cleared on April 26th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 6/160)
You could already tell from my ranking that I did not enjoy this game, but to give this game credit, it does have a visual appeal being a dark and twisted castle that leads to different colorful worlds with an enchanted forest, a toyland, storming lands, candy land, library, and the castle itself. It's well varied in its environment that gives you the sense that this is a kid's game.
For a kid's game, however, oh my god this game is hard! Maybe it's my fault for playing the hardest difficulty for some reason, so I won't criticize the game too harshly for this reason, but I feel if even if I set it on Normal, there are still other annoyances that I need to deal with.
My biggest gripe with the game is that just feels slow in its movement. This feels odd to me because I did play the 2013 remake years ago, and I didn't remember it feeling so tedious. I did play it a day later to find that the game had slightly improved movement speed. You also don't need to remember to press the A button again to damage foes while in the air and the jumping actually felt like it propelled you forward, something I did not get from this game.
Some of the game's obstacles were also a bit much. Some of the enemy placement was god awful, and I still haven't forgotten about that one bat in The Storm that spawned out of nowhere to hit you, or that undodgeable bat wave with the other option that I have to be killed with the flood, or bats that were so cluttered that it took actual trial and error... did I mention I absolutely hate the bats? What about that one 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?
I wasn't really expecting much, but I still felt kinda let down. The remake just blows it out of the water even if it ends up being significantly easier.
You could already tell from my ranking that I did not enjoy this game, but to give this game credit, it does have a visual appeal being a dark and twisted castle that leads to different colorful worlds with an enchanted forest, a toyland, storming lands, candy land, library, and the castle itself. It's well varied in its environment that gives you the sense that this is a kid's game.
For a kid's game, however, oh my god this game is hard! Maybe it's my fault for playing the hardest difficulty for some reason, so I won't criticize the game too harshly for this reason, but I feel if even if I set it on Normal, there are still other annoyances that I need to deal with.
My biggest gripe with the game is that just feels slow in its movement. This feels odd to me because I did play the 2013 remake years ago, and I didn't remember it feeling so tedious. I did play it a day later to find that the game had slightly improved movement speed. You also don't need to remember to press the A button again to damage foes while in the air and the jumping actually felt like it propelled you forward, something I did not get from this game.
Some of the game's obstacles were also a bit much. Some of the enemy placement was god awful, and I still haven't forgotten about that one bat in The Storm that spawned out of nowhere to hit you, or that undodgeable bat wave with the other option that I have to be killed with the flood, or bats that were so cluttered that it took actual trial and error... did I mention I absolutely hate the bats? What about that one 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?
I wasn't really expecting much, but I still felt kinda let down. The remake just blows it out of the water even if it ends up being significantly easier.
Um ótimo jogo, não faz nada de mega inovador mas os gráficos são BÉLISSIMOS e é muito fácil se pegar assobiando as musicas depois
The sound when you get hurt is still echoing through out my skull
Never played this game growing up. Always see either held to high regards, especially since it's one of the earliest Genesis games. And man it certainly delivered. The level design, environments, music and graphics all blend together so well in true Disney gaming fashion. Disney platformers almost never disappoint and I understand the hype of this game now. The control of Mickey is where my issue lies. He's just a tad too slow and the floaty jumps really took some getting used to. Made some of the platforming a bit of a pain but the game was still really endearing and fun. It's both challenging and forgiving so it's a nice balance. Really loved this game. Gonna try the Master System version now and see if that will be just as good or better. Highly recommend
It is a bit of a bummer that the Master System and Mega Drive games are both grouped within the same page as they are very different games, but thankfully both are incredibly good, so we will make do.
cmon mickey I know you can walk faster than that
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.
Gráficamente una delicia. Muy colorido y sobre todo mucha variedad de ambientación entre niveles. Variedad tambien en el recorrido que hay que hacer para superar los niveles, desde el tipico scroll lateral de A a B, pasando por escalar un nivel verticalmente para coger una llave y luego bajar a toda pastilla hasta la puerta de salida. Laberintos acuaticos, niveles bastante verticales, etc.
2 maneras de acabar con los enemigos, con proyectiles que vas recogiendo o saltándoles encima. Esta última manera es bastante satisfactoria, ya que si mantienes el botón de salto sales despedido muy arriba y se usa para el plataformeo.
Buenos jefes finales después de cada nivel.
Algún pico de dificultad, pero nada muy loco.
Como curiosidad, la bruja mala que secuestra a Minnie es de aspecto igual a la de Blancanieves (en sus dos formas)
2 maneras de acabar con los enemigos, con proyectiles que vas recogiendo o saltándoles encima. Esta última manera es bastante satisfactoria, ya que si mantienes el botón de salto sales despedido muy arriba y se usa para el plataformeo.
Buenos jefes finales después de cada nivel.
Algún pico de dificultad, pero nada muy loco.
Como curiosidad, la bruja mala que secuestra a Minnie es de aspecto igual a la de Blancanieves (en sus dos formas)
This game is short and simple but it still is as fun as ever. The charm is here and the music is nice and early sega at its best. This is a game you can pick up anytime and enjoy yourself.
Have too much sweet memories with this game playing when I was a kid. Just the sounds and the music is unforgettable. Unfortunately this game was too hard to beat for me when I was young.
(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+!"
(yo - can we get a separate entry for the MS/GG versions??? Different game lmao)
Does a Sonic 1 MS and redesigns the game entirely while preserving the fundamentals. The big tradeoff is that the MD version's Wonderland vibe has been heavily subdued, but in exchange the speed is much peppier and has more overtly-designed levels. Gameplay has lots of Capcom-esque beats that challenge timing, puzzle-solving, moving objects around to act as platforms or environmental triggers - hell, one of the bosses is just Yellow Devil ! :O
I think both the Genesis and Master System games are a good case study for the difference between passive/organic design and systems-driven design. Someday, I'd love to write a studied essay about the differences between them, and their role across different generations and sub-cultures of gaming
Does a Sonic 1 MS and redesigns the game entirely while preserving the fundamentals. The big tradeoff is that the MD version's Wonderland vibe has been heavily subdued, but in exchange the speed is much peppier and has more overtly-designed levels. Gameplay has lots of Capcom-esque beats that challenge timing, puzzle-solving, moving objects around to act as platforms or environmental triggers - hell, one of the bosses is just Yellow Devil ! :O
I think both the Genesis and Master System games are a good case study for the difference between passive/organic design and systems-driven design. Someday, I'd love to write a studied essay about the differences between them, and their role across different generations and sub-cultures of gaming
how the fuck ur gonna steal the "Beauty" of a RAT
Nunca critiquei '-'
It's wild how much the Kingdom Hearts franchise thinks we really want them to go extra into the Disney universe when all I, speaking for myself, really want is to see Mickey defeat the Snow White witch by bouncing his ass on her head