Is Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse still good?
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse is a platformer released for the Sega Genesis
and Mega Drive during the holiday season in 1990.
This was somewhat of a landmark title for Sega, and marked a deviation from the arcade
ports and licensed sports games the system was most known for during its pre-Sonic years.
The game also proved popular enough to spawn a remake for most modern platforms in 2013.
Needless to say, Castle of Illusion leaves behind quite the legacy.
Of course, this makes it no surprise the game was a critical hit upon release.
Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the game a 9 out of 10 stating, “This game is spectacular
in terms of its graphics, animation and execution.
There are so many frames to Mickey's movements that it actually looks like a cartoon!
The visual appeal of the game is high, with great use of color.
A little on the easy side, but incredible nonetheless.”
GamePro gave the game an 8 out of 10 noting, “It doesn't matter if you're young or old;
if you know Mickey Mouse, you'll find this cart's a treat for all ages.”
Finally, Computer and Video Games Magazine scored the game a 9.6 out of 10 proclaiming,
“Mickey Mouse ranks as one of the most stunning carts available with truly cartoon-quality
sprites and backgrounds!
This Mega Drive cartridge combines the playability of Super Mario with all the cartoon charm
of Disney's favourite rodent superstar - buy this - it'll blow you your mind out of this
world!”
So, is Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse still this good?
Let's dive in.
Castle of Illusion opens with some cutscenes showing Mickey and Minnie Mouse dancing around
in some meadows, when the evil witch Mizrabel snatches Minnie and zooms off.
Mickey takes off after them but is stopped when he reaches The Castle of Illusion.
An old man then informs him he must collect the 7 Gems of the Rainbow to defeat Mizrabel
and rescue Minnie.
And that’s the story.
After venturing inside the castle, Mickey sees each door leads to a new world and the
adventure begins.
At its core, Castle of Illusion is a fairly standard platformer.
Each of the game's five sequential levels is divided into multiple parts, and ends with
a boss fight which rewards a Gem of the Rainbow.
Standard stuff.
The controls are also fairly standard.
Mickey can move left and right, in addition to jumping, and can throw objects at enemies.
About the only non-standard action is how you jump on enemies.
You have to either press down, or press the jump button a second time, so Mickey lands
on an enemy with his hinder rather than his feet.
Better still, if you hold the jump button, Mickey will bounce off the enemy like a spring,
which can be useful for reaching higher platforms or grabbing items.
Items include projectiles like apples, which you can carry up to 30, stars which refill
a unit of health, and diamonds, which offers points.
Early on you'll also discover one of my favorite design elements found within Castle of Illusion:
the level variety found within each world.
While Level 1 starts in the woods, the second part of the level takes place amongst the
leaves with a spider web backdrop.
It's a stark change, and the gameplay even shifts, focusing on tight jumps and moving
platforms.
Needless to say, with the simple gameplay mechanics and varied design, Castle of Illusion
leaves a nice first impression.
But onto that boss fight.
Here the battle is against the face of a tree.
The patterns are very simple, just jump over the rolling log and then avoid the falling
acorns.
Finally, use the jump attack, or the projectile attack, to defeat the face.
While I wouldn't call this deep or even all that challenging, I do appreciate the flexibility
in using either attack.
And of course, clearing the boss will award the player one of the rainbow gems, and Mickey
can move onto the next door.
As you can see, the next world is completely different than the first.
Gone are the forest and magic mushrooms and in is Toyland complete with nutcrackers and
airplanes.
The level structure has also changed, forcing the player to move vertically rather than
horizontally to make progress.
There are also a few items requiring the jumping boost you get for holding the jump button
while landing on enemies, further enforcing the concept without making the player suffer
through a tutorial.
The final area includes one of my favorite platforming gimmicks... reversed gravity.
To be fair there is a cool line scrolling effect simulating scaling which looks great.
Enemies will also be killed when the screen switches, so you can use this gimmick to your
advantage, so I guess it isn't too bad.
In any case, the world ends with another boss fight.
Like the first one, the patterns are simple, and all you need to do is duck under his punch,
dodge his jumps, and of course lands hits on his head.
Easy stuff.
With the second gem collected Mickey arrives in the Dark Storm.
Here, the player will find themselves having to jump down pits to find the hidden path
to the exit.
Jump down the wrong pit and you'll be transferred to a different location to try again.
Memorize the correct path, and the level is over rather quickly.
Next Castle of Illusion introduces some water hazards.
First are waterfalls, where you need to avoid the rushing water while navigating small platforms.
In the second part, the water is flooding the ground, and the player must find a safe
place to camp out and wait for the flood to pass... while avoiding bats.
Other than the water hazards, The Storm doesn't really add anything new to the formula, but
rather expands on previously introduced concepts like tight platforming and enemy avoidance.
This holds true for the boss as well.
This plays similar to the jack-in-the-box boss from level 2 where the player needs to
avoid a jumping, punching enemy, and then get in a hit.
If you time it right you can actually hit the boss while he is landing which can be
incredibly helpful, though tricky.
In any case, after taking down the army, Mickey collects yet another gem needed to take on
Mizrabel.
The fourth world returns us indoors.
Here, Castle of Illusion really utilizes the fact Mickey is a Mouse, with Mickey being
a miniscule size compared to the world around him.
Not to say this didn’t exist in other levels, but it feels more prominent here and reminds
me a bit of Chip-n-Dale Rescue Rangers for the NES.
The set pieces are used to good effect as well.
Mickey can run behind jars, swing off light switches, and fall into tea-cups which reveal
bonus areas.
Mickey will also have to jump into milk jugs which transport him into a candy filled land.
It's absolutely bonkers and if I'm honest, makes the forested areas look awfully pedestrian
by comparison.
The structure of Castle of Illusion is also changed up a bit.
With just two worlds remaining, and 4 gems to collect, a gem is now offered at about
the halfway point of the level, in addition to being rewarded after defeating a boss.
Speaking of boss, Mickey must battle a giant serpent while being limited to three platforms.
Again I enjoy the difficulty progression as Castle of Illusion wears on.
Initially there are plenty of safe areas on the screen, but now, bottomless pits.
I'm still not sure I would call this hard, but some reasoning skills along with basic
platforming proficiency will be required to take down this beast.
Level 5 is the Castle and contains some of the toughest platforming found in the game,
and is definitely a proper final level.
The first section is a maze of sorts, with multiple paths to explore but a few dead ends.
New obstacles are introduced as well, like the knights in the background which will swing
at Mickey, some blocks which will fall from the sky, and collapsible platformers.
The second section is a swimming test, which is easy.
The final section is a journey up the clock tower, featuring gears which either collapse
under Mickey’s weight, or spin, ruining his momentum.
Add in some rotating platforms and Castle of Illusion offers quite the platforming obstacle
course.
Unfortunately, it is somewhat ruined by bats.
They are relentless here, and will fly back and forth at just the right moment to mess
up the mouse.
To be fair, it seems the developers knew this, as there are healthy amounts of life power-ups
scattered through the level.
After clearing the gears, Mickey arrives at the boss of level 5.
This is probably the strongest boss found in the entire game.
It requires you be able to identify a pattern to the boss’s movement, which is the only
time Mickey can land a strike, and also requires the player have a mastery of Mickey’s jumping
momentum, so you can land a hit on the boss’s head without taking damage.
It’s tough at first, but once you get the rhythm down, defeating him is a rewarding
experience.
Upon defeat, Mickey obtains the 7th gem and we move onto the final boss.
Mizrabel is an admirable foe with a shield of ghosts preventing Mickey from landing hits.
After a few moments she will release the ghosts, and is thus vulnerable for a few moments.
Lastly, she’ll warp across the screen into one of four different locations, and the process
starts all over.
Eventually I found it best to just avoid her altogether at three of her locations, and
just focus on getting in hit when she is at the bottom of the screen.
If you position Mickey on the very edge of the upper platforms, it’s easy to dodge
her attacks, giving a risk-free path to doing damage.
It’s not the most glamorous way to take her down, but as there is no time limit, I
found it to be the least frustrating way to beat the game.
Eventually, Mickey will then utilize the Rainbow Gems to finally dispatch Mizrabel, rescue
Minnie, and the two are whisked away so they can resume their endless dance in the Meadows.
Then of course, the credits roll.
Moving on to the technical aspects of Castle of Illusion, I have to say I really dig the
graphics.
For a pre-Sonic release, these are fantastic.
The use of color is usually awesome, the line scrolling effects in Toyland are convincing,
and I like how there is plenty of palette swapping giving the illusion of lighting,
a bulb turning off, or a change in the weather.
It all helps the game feel just a touch more alive.
That isn't to say things are perfect.
A few areas looks extremely basic and don't seem like a step above 8-bit hardware, and
the scrolling while swinging is exceptionally choppy.
Still, the good outweighs the bad and I dig the parallax scrolling, detailed sprites,
and large enemies.
On top of this, Mickey looks excellent.
From the walking and jumping, to the little idle dance, the animations are fluid and detailed,
with the face, arms, legs, and tail all moving in a natural way.
While it might not be on par with some of the Disney Animation Studio stuff drawn later
on for Aladdin and The Lion King, the animations still compare favorably to the 16-bit era
as a whole.
And then there is the soundtrack.
I've waxed poetic about the variety found in both the graphics as well as the level
design, and the music is no exception.
From the opening credits, to the opening level, and then every change thereafter, Castle of
Illusion delivers some exceptional chip-tunes.
From somber and determined, to whimsical, a marching band, tap-dancing, and the hectic
beats during the boss battles, the compositions here are awesome and most are sure to get
stuck in your head for days.
Even better, the synthesized instruments all sound terrific.
Drums sounds are deep, wind instruments sound airy, percussions are crisp, and when mixed
altogether, it creates a very rich soundscape worthy of the Disney license.
So, with all of that out of the way, we arrive back to the question asked at the beginning
of the video.
Is Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse still good?
For me, there are two key elements needed to make platformers good.
The jumping mechanics need to be sound, and the levels need to be worth platforming through.
First, the controls in Castle of Illusion are great.
Mickey moves somewhat slowly and his jump is extremely floaty.
Thankfully, the midair control is excellent, allowing Mickey to make the mid-air adjustments
necessary for landing an attack, as well as giving him plenty of flexibility to maneuverer
after performing an attack to stick the landing.
The level design also works well within Mickey's skill set.
Jumps never require pixel perfect precision allowing the game to flow well as the adventure
unfolds.
However, I do feel there are a few things holding Castle of Illusion back from the best
titles in the genre.
As noted, Mickey isn't the fastest creature ever, but the same can't be said for the enemies.
The clowns for example, start launching an attack the moment they enter the screen.
While attempting to dodge their attack, they are racing towards you on their unicycles.
If you do manage to take them out, their unicycle keeps going.
Mickey just doesn't move fast enough to deal with three fast attacks, and moments like
these end up feeling a little sloppy.
Same goes for the bats.
Once you enter the screen, these guys race towards you.
If you spot them quickly enough, or have already memorized their locations, you can jump or
duck out of the way, or ideally land a hit.
Other times you're left taking a hit trying to launch a projectile or jumping away, as
they are much faster than our hero.
Finally, on a few occasions you need to jump to avoid a death-pit.
But, there is no warning when these moments happen, and you have to have the hazard locations
previously memorized to be successful.
These sudden changes in pace and flow are jarring and don't fit in with what the game
usually presents.
And of course Sega didn't think to include unlimited continues or a password save system,
meaning unavoidable deaths result in a game over screen, unfairly punishing the player
for something out of their control.
Granted Castle of Illusion is a short game, clocking in at around 45 minutes, but I do
feel design elements like this can make the game somewhat unfriendly to first time players.
There is also the occasional bad gimmick, like the gelatin obstacle in in Toyland which
will kill you if you sink too far into it, and jumping out of it is awkward and imprecise.
Lastly, the camera is just bizarre, putting Mickey towards the side of the screen he is
facing, giving the player less visibility to react to incoming enemies and hazards.
I find it very odd the programmers would bother putting the effort into a flexible camera,
and then get it backwards.
However, while Castle of Illusion is far from perfect, the quirks and foibles rarely, if
ever, prevent the game from being enjoyable.
For a majority of the adventure, the platforming and enemy behavior perfectly match the capabilities
of Mickey Mouse, creating an extremely fun adventure with obstacles that are rewarding
to overcome.
The difficulty and challenge rarely come from cheap design or control limitations.
I also love all of the little details, like how the lights turn off when you are swinging
from the light switches, while the appropriate clicking sound plays.
Many levels begins with Mickey in the air, and the final level has Mickey falling over
a candle with the appropriate chime, letting the player know these are collectibles, and
not part of the background.
You just don't see stuff like this in lesser games.
While Castle of Illusion is an extremely linear game, there is some exploring to be had, with
a few hidden paths leading to goodies.
Some of these require the bounce attack, meaning you need to take care to stick your landing.
Toyland even contains a fair share of extra health hiding in breakable blocks, a necessity
when you have to face those clowns later on.
Perhaps my favorite touch occurs between levels during the point tally.
I naturally tend to rapidly press the start button hoping to make these sections go faster,
even though it usually doesn’t.
If you do that in Castle of Illusion, you’ll hear a chime.
And that chime signifies an extra life, a cool little bonus for those OCD gamers.
The graphical polish can be exceptional at times as well, like the milk jug actually
containing an animated drip, and the Castle dungeon getting darker as Mickey moves downward.
Although something is off with the parallax scrolling in the candy areas.
But most importantly, I really dig the overall progression.
Castle of Illusion starts off easy, with simple mushroom enemies and straightforward platforming,
and then slowly ramps up the difficulty and complexity, with trickier enemies and tougher
platforming, all while adding new gameplay elements to keep the player engaged.
So yeah, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse is still a good game.
While it's showing its age for sure with some questionable gimmicks, occasionally uninspired
graphics, and easy bosses, the adventure still holds up as a whole.
When the game shines, it shines really bright with some truly bold visuals and excellent
animations still pleasing to this day.
The soundtrack is also worth a listen, sounding distinctly Genesis, without any Genesis twang.
The controls are responsive and precise, but also different enough with their floaty nature
to feel unique.
Most impressive the challenge comes from thoughtful obstacles and tough patterns, rather than
poor design choices.
Therefore, in my opinion, Castle of Illusion is still a wonderful game and an easy one
to recommend.