Outside the brilliant Toy Town stage that
indulged in some gravity-flipping trickery, we had
a huge soft spot for the forest level which used
leaves as moving platforms. The background of
dewy webs against a verdant canopy of trees
is a classic Disney touch.
CLASSIC LEVEL
Mickey reuniting with Minnie has a touch of the
old-fashioned about it, but it’s certainly more
movingly rendered than any time Mario saves
Peach, as the pair warmly embrace one another
while standing on a rainbow bridge. Aww.
CLASSIC MOMENT
01 In Toy Town, killer jack-in-the-boxes and murderous
toy soldiers reign supreme.
02 It’s like Indiana Jones, if Indiana’s mortal enemies
were butterflies and mushrooms.
03 Nope, this isn’t a printing error; in Toy Town,
switches would turn the level literally on its head.C
apcom’s DuckTales aside,
Disney hadn’t been
particularly well served by
video games until Sega got
its hands on the studio’s biggest icon
and created a vintage platformer. In
truth, there was nothing particularly
clever about its controls – Mickey
could bounce on enemies or throw
objects at them to defeat them – nor
its narrative setup (rescue Minnie from
the malevolent Mizrabel). Instead, all
the invention was reserved for its level
design, with plenty of exploration and
a little dash of puzzle-solving to keep
things interesting.
But ultimately, Castle of Illusion’s
biggest asset was its graphics,
which captured the look and feel
of classic characters, creatures
and environments. There was an
unmistakeable dose of Disney magic
found in everything from the lushly
detailed scenery to Mickey’s excellent
animation. It wasn’t a particularly
large game, but it felt generous, and
its Practice Mode proved the perfect
introduction to platformers for young
kids, with a selection of three curtailed
stages to play through and no boss
fights. Further fine platformers
followed in its wake, from Quackshot to
follow-up World of Illusion, but this was
the game that raised the bar.