Stunned to find that this is significantly inferior to CASTLE OF ILLUSION in every way that matters. The one thing it has going for it is much more detailed and colorful art, but unlike the earlier game, most of the assets here appear to be scanned paintings, which I always think look worse than pixel-drawn stuff, so for me that's a wash at best. Other than that, the sound, level design, and basic platforming/action are all kind of atrocious! Even if it's overrated, CASTLE was at least passable; this is flat-out bad. Surprising.

Lindo de morrer e gostoso de jogar. Ele só é tão... curto. Não me entenda mal, não acho que jogos têm alguma obrigação de serem longos e acho a tendência atual de qualquer ser open world só para dizer que tem trocentas horas de duração um tédio. Mas seja por causa do desafio mínimo, seja porque joguei solo, ou seja por sei lá que motivo, não me senti satisfeito zerando esse game. Pelo o que li o modo coop é significativamente mais divertido, então talvez rejogue de novo com alguém, mas por hora meu sentimento é só de insatisfação.

(played with MagneticBurn)

This seems like a pretty barren experience carried by visuals on single player, probably weaker than Castle of Illusion in this form, but if you grab a friend it becomes a very fun, very silly romp. It's also insanely easy and has infinite continues, so neither of you have to worry too much about messing up. Definitely strikes me as one of the best games of the time to bring a friend over for.

Only real complaint is pretty minor, it's this music in stage 5. It's super annoying.

NOSSA QUE JOGO BOM PELO AMOR DE DEEEEEEEUS
Fui abrir ele pra dar uma testada depois de terminar o Castle of Illusion e simplesmente não consegui sair do jogo.

Além de ser muito divertido, esse jogo esbanja criatividade e carisma. As fases são maravilhosas e muito diversificadas, faz realmente parecer que estamos numa aventura mágica.

As músicas parecem coisa de desenho animado e combinam perfeitamente com as fases, algumas ficaram bem grudadas na minha cabeça. Zerei apenas a campanha do Mickey, mas com certeza vou voltar mais tarde para jogar a do Donald, e se conseguir alguém pra jogar comigo também termino a multiplayer.

Num geral, Sr. Sr. Wilson estava certo de novo, que jogo FODA.

Extremely short and just a massive flex of animation and graphical power for the genesis. Its a great example how a game can look great but still just be okay at best. The game was very short and very easy. I will probably replay this game with my daughter in a few years as I could see her having a blast and this game is marketed as a two player experience.

There really isn't much else to say, it's fine. It's short. I wouldn't say it bored me as much as it just kind of passed the time. I never felt like I was having an absolute blast with it. If you have a child who absolutely adores Disney this will be a great game to play with them. If you are looking for a great Disney platformer, I would skip this and play Aladdin or Tarzan instead.

I don't think I've ever regretted replaying a game more in my life. See, as a kid, I thought this game was a fun co-op adventure where you're going through all these trippy worlds and wow what a cool game. Going back to it as an adult with a friend of mine in co-op, I had completely blanked on the existence of friendly fire in this game. Not only does it have friendly fire, the friendly fire freezes the other player for close to 5 seconds. It happened twice before we both went "no. no way." Sometimes you beat games as a kid cuz it's all you've got so you might as well.

Quite possibly my favorite Disney game from the 16-bit era. Everything from the feel of the game to its presentation and sound design just hits right for me, but I also have a lot of nostalgia for this one and it's no doubt clouding my judgment. It's one of those games that's simply impossible to separate from specific moments in time. I remember playing this game on the morning of the 1993 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, shutting it off after the spider boss to watch the Sonic float careen off course and pop. These moments are intrinsically linked, I cannot think about one without recalling the other.

I also have really good memories of playing this with my dad when he came to visit. My father never took much interest in my hobbies, so connecting over games is something he was really only willing to do when I was very little. Although I did put him up to playing Sonic Shuffle with me years later, but that was an act of calculated malice.

Point is, I like World of Illusion a whole lot for very sappy sentimental reasons, but I think it's just a solid game too.

Gameplay feels more polished than Castle of Illusion, appropriately so for a sequel releasing two years after its predicessor. Levels are more intricately designed and there's more unique stage gimmicks to keep you invested, and while most games by 1992 were more expressive than Castle of Illusion, World does an excellent job at capturing that "Disney charm." The whole magician motif in particular is just great, and I really love the way Mickey and Donald transform enemies into things like doves and cards using their magic capes.

However, the most interesting thing about World of Illusion is how it's structured. The game is five levels long, with each level having three sets of sub-stages. Playing as Mickey will take you through one unique route, and playing as Donald will take you through another. Doing a co-op run will then take you through a third. I'd compare the level of replayability here to Sonic & Knuckles in how the character's inherent differences significantly change progression. Co-op is perhaps the most ideal way to play, though, and it's pretty clear even in single player that the game is really designed with two players in mind.

World of Illusion is one of my favorite games on the Genesis, and one of my favorite games from my childhood bar none. I totally recognize that this is a case of nostalgia overpowering critical thought, but even when I try my hardest to look past all my fond memories of this game, I still see it as being a solid Disney platformer that's well worth your time, especially if you can find someone to play it with.

A solid platformer with beloved characters and solid level design.

I played this entirely on the Steam Deck using EmuDeck. It was really smooth the entire time. The game is also rather short (only about 1.5 hours), but can be replayed to get more achievements with retro achievements if you use those.

This is a really simple platformer at it's core, but each level feels unique with varied enemy types. The bosses didn't feel overly difficult, and only takes a couple tries to learn their mechanics. They all felt different enough to not get stale. I am not always the biggest fan of platformers, but this one was pretty fun and kept me engaged.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in this World of Illusions.

Cleared on July 18th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 32/160)

If you've been keeping tabs on my SEGA Genesis Challenge series, you likely know that I did not enjoy Castle of Illusion for the Genesis. It had some really obnoxious enemy placements, the obstacles and level design can feel really cheap, and the movement did not feel great.
This part of the review is now outdated due to having played Normal mode, refer to the updated Castle of Illusion review for more info.

I also really do not like how saccharine Mickey looked in that game. So when looking at World of Illusion, it already corrected that one issue, making Mickey actually look quite good in that game, but now he has a new companion, Donald Duck who also looks great in 16 bit form.

And it does manage to maintain the environments and the colors of its predecessor which really add to the vibrant magic aesthetic the game was going with as Mickey and Donald were trying to prepare for a magic act before getting whisked into a world of illusions created by a mysterious dark magician that dares them to challenge him to find their way out.

The 2D platformer gameplay is rather different in how you approach the enemies. Instead of being able to jump on them which you cannot do at all, you hit them with a magic cape which is odd. but it functions and fits with the magician theme these two have. The difficulty is manageable although the water level was obnoxious with how it handles its traps not to mention the tedious bubble sequence. The general movement speed remains the same as it did in Castle of Illusion, but the game improves it by letting you press the run button. While it unfortunately doesn't give you extra monument in your jump, I'd say it's still a step up, so that says something. Also, you can play as Mickey or Donald in this game, but they are merely cosmetic and have no gameplay differences, so it's a matter of who you like the most. I picked Donald.
Update: I was tipped off there was a difference in the routes you take although I have yet to verify that for myself. I will update when I replay the game.

The one thing that I felt World of Illusions was a let down compared to Castle of Illusions is the soundtrack which while not bad, isn't that memorable either. It's still leagues better than Fantasia, though, lol. The final boss theme is pretty good; too bad you either die to him too fast or you defeat him too fast to fully appreciate it.

It's a decent game. I wouldn't say it's remarkable; I was debating if this should be a 3 stars or a 2.5, but looking over the list of 5/10s that I have, I realized that I would rather play this game than any of them, so that's not bad.