La historia vuelve a ser bastante simple, pero en esta ocasión también incluye al pato Donald y podremos jugar con el también. Incluso tiene modo para 2 jugadores en cooperativo.
Como en esta ocasión Mickey y Donald son magos, aparte del típico salto y la acción de correr, también podremos derrotar enemigos usando nuestra capa mágica, que los convierte en adorables florecitas o animalitos. El aparatado técnico he de decir que es un salto notable respecto a lo visto en los juegos de la la Sega Master System (MS), los fondos y los sprites tienen mucho detalle. De hecho, en los primeros niveles me ha parecido que incluso tiene demasiado detalle para ser un juego de Mickey. Las animaciones por otra parte están bien escogidas, pero no tienen muchos fotogramas, por lo que los movimientos se hacen menos fluidos que en Land of Illusion por ejemplo.
Por lo demás el diseño de niveles es bastante bueno y está pensado para ofrecernos con una nueva mecánica llamativa en cada nivel. Por ejemplo, la burbuja de Mickey en el nivel del agua, las setas trampolín en el bosque, o la fase de avanzado automático de el nivel de la cocina.
El apartado sonoro por su parte es bueno de principio a fin, con melodías largas y entretenidas.
World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck es un juego entretenido que probablemente te de un par de sorpresas y para el cual mi única queja es que no consigue un nivel de fluidez tan alto como los juegos posteriores en la MS, pero es perfectamente jugable.

While Castle of Illusion felt like a platforming homage to 60/70s era Disney of Sleeping Beauty/Snow White, World of Illusion feels like more of a homage to the 80s/90s era of renaissance Disney, with the exception of one level that is a homage to Alice in Wonderland.

The animations here are really impressive for a Sega Genesis game as they feel like they were ripped right out of a Mickey mouse saturday morning cartoon. While the backgrounds are pretty, they don't feel as detailed or as impressive with the painting-like backgrounds of Castle of Illusion.

Presenting itself as a sequel, the gameplay is not quite exactly the same or an evolution of what was provided in Castle of Illusion. Ditching the Ducktales-like bounce on enemies heads gameplay, this goes for a more Castlevania esque type of platformer. You no longer have a way of killing enemies by jumping or bouncing on their heads, you now have a castlevania whip-like magical cape. To most this isn't probably an upgrade or downgrade as it can be just as fun, but taking away the ability to kill enemies by jumping on their heads to just instead hit them with an attack button is not as fun of a replacement. The only improvement which I really did enjoy was the addition of a run button as I didn't like how slow Mickey moved in Castle of Illusion, so there is a definite improvement.

Castle of Illusion provided a decent challenge. While not as hard as most classic games, you will definitely die and find yourself getting a game over. World of Illusion is not only shorter, but much easier. I don't think I got a game over once. I literally breezed through this on a lunch break. Unfortunately this doesn't leave a lasting impression like Castle of Illusion did, but it's still a good well made game nonetheless.

This one's a bit more my speed than Castle of Illusion. Though I'll admit, this game's lack of a central hub area like how last game had Mizrabel's Castle gives the game less of a cohesive through-line. Like yeah, Mizrabel's Castle barely mattered, but it was at least something to tether the adventure together. This time around, since I didn't have an instruction manual or anything, I found myself playing levels until I hit a boss I recognized in Pete, then credits rolled. Very abrupt.

(Actually, reviewing this game, I completely forgot that one of the bosses was Mad Madam Mim! I'd have thought that at least would've stuck with me.)

But the moment to moment stuff is more engaging. Adding Donald as a playable option of course nets the game easy points in my book. But I particularly respect that the game has different routes for a Mickey playthrough vs a Donald playthrough, then an entirely different set of levels for a co-op playthrough. I only played as Donald myself, so I fully acknowledge that I haven't gotten the full experience. Still, that's honestly quite cool that the game has that much going on under the hood.

I also respect the general magic motif here. It doesn't fully have me - the spells seem like context-sensitive functions, and while that's cool for a kid, it's just a device here to progress levels rather than a big mechanics change. But I do like the theming. As with the last game, there's a lot of creativity at display with the different level themes. That one underwater level, where our hero is surrounded by a bubble and gets an updated set of sprites, is a neat touch.

I think I look at World of Illusion along the same lines as the original Castle of Illusion: decent game, good entry-level title, not a lot of complexity for an adult but a decent enough time for a kid. Maybe co-op's solid, too. Since I like World of Illusion a bit more, it is a bit of a bummer that it never got a remake in the same vein as Castle of Illusion. But not anything that occupies a lot of my mental energy either way.

The presentation is clearly the selling point of this game. There are a lot of different stages with various backgrounds, different enemies, and everything is amazingly animated for a 16-bit console. The soundtrack is a never-ending fanfare that can tire some ears, but I found it good.

However, the level design suffers a bit. There are some stages that are mazes (one of the worst things when it comes to platformers), but at least they can lead to some optional stages. Sadly, some of these optional stages are only exclusive to a two-player run or a specific character. This can be seen as compensation for the short duration. You can beat this game in less than 1 hour, especially since there's no limit to continues.

In the end, it is a fun game, but I can only think of how amazing it would have been if it were reimagined in the same vein as the Castle of Illusion (2013).

If you're playing solo, it's good as Mickey and fantastic as Donald. Each has their own route with a bunch of tweaks and areas the other can't get to.

Now if you play this co-op? Legit might be one of the best 2 player games on the console. Working together and trying not to fall through pits and coordinate mechanics is so damn fun.

Also this game is a visual/audio treat, huge recommend.

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.