Castle of Illusion is a Disney Video game remake of the Sega Genesis game of the same name. Now I will start off by saying that I have no recollection of playing the original game because the Sega Genesis was way past my time. I will be looking at this game as its own thing and judging it based on what I experienced in this remake to see if it is at all worth playing. With that said, is this a rare diamond in the rough? or is there a reason why this game gets passed on by the typical gamer?
Mickey and Minnie Mouse are out and about skipping through the forest when suddenly an evil witch named Mizrabel steals Minnie away from Mickey so she can take away Minnie’s beauty to make herself beautiful again instead of ugly. Mickey must now travel through the castle of illusion into many different and creative worlds to collect all the rainbow gems so he can untie them to form a bridge to the place where Minnie is being held hostage by Mizrabel.
The Story is not the most crucial part of the entire game, but it is nevertheless charming and magical as it feels like something only Disney and Sega can come up with. I will say that the story does steal a little bit from Banjo Kazooie, but the game still manages to play itself out like its own thing and there are still so many tonal differences to make the story still as fun as it can be.
The gameplay is very simple even if it may not be some of the most complex and unique gameplay to ever be made in a video game. All you basically do in the game is jump climb and stomp on enemies. It brings itself back to the glory days of video gaming when the controls were simple to understand. With the simple controls though comes the well-executed platforming that provides a decent challenge in order to progress through levels and collect rare objects in the game. The game plays itself like a 2D sidescroller with the fact that it is made in 3D and yet still harkens back supposedly to the original game’s roots The controlling is decent though it could also be smoothed out a bit, overall it’s fun to move around and play as mickey mouse himself.
Automatically, you will be able to tell how magical and well put together the visuals are in this game. Granted, they are not the most groundbreaking visuals you will ever see, but the game nevertheless throws you into many colorful and imaginative worlds that look like they are straight out of a Disney cartoon. Each level has a distinct color palette and the places you visit bring a sense of magic and wonder. Throughout your journey, you’ll be traveling through large toy structures, whimsical forests, and a huge library with gigantic books. You cant tell the people behind this game really wanted to transport the viewer into a fun and exciting place that you could only dream about and it's great to know that they have succeeded very well.
I might be interested at some point to look at the original Sega Genesis game sometime down the road but until then, this was an infectiously fun and magical experience that is worth playing for younger gamers and seasonal players looking to go back to the basics of gaming. If you are a fan of anything Disney then this is worth playing on either your PS3 or Xbox 360. It’s sure to get you feelings of warmth and comfort while also delivering a decent enough challenge with many interesting things in store.
(Final Grade: B)