Stage one’s giant killer tree is back, but this time he’s taken on the persona of a crochety old wooden man determined to crush Mickey under his rolling bough. The bosses have also been given a lick of modern paint. Even Mickey’s arrival at the title castle – little more than a brief cut-scene in the original – is now a playable mini-level of its own, showing the player how bouncing on enemies can make Mickey reach higher platforms. There’s a short yet welcome puzzle section, where pressure pads have to be jumped on to unlock the door to the next area. Another brief 3D section sees Mickey running along a path of playing cards, which appear and disappear beneath his feet in a bewildering pattern. It’s an incidental moment in the original game, given an additional dramatic flourish here. And yet, to its credit, Sega Australia hasn’t been tempted to settle for simple nostalgia, and the game’s full of shifts in perspective and surprising mini-games.Ī jaunt through the forest is interrupted by a Raiders Of The Lost Ark-like rolling apple, with the viewpoint changing so that Mickey’s running out of the screen and directly towards us. The reworked, polygonal environments bring a pleasing sense of the familiar to the first stage’s haunted woods or the second’s demented toyland, while Grant Kirkhope’s newly-arranged music is an enriched, cheerful delight. Controlling Mickey’s fast and slightly floaty jumps with the 360’s controller might take a bit of getting used to – and it has to be said that landing on narrow ledges seems a lot more hit-and-miss than it did in the 1990s – but once you’ve tuned into the game’s particular brand of physics, it all becomes second nature. There are jewels and other trinkets to collect – and you’ll need the jewels to unlock the doors to later levels – and there are fruits to collect and fling at enemies. Otherwise, this is jolly, bouncy Castle Of Illusion as we already know it. It’s by no means a game-breaking omission, though, and will probably make the game easier to get into for children who’ve only just encountered it. Instead, Sega Australia has opted for the less fiddly single-jump approach, where simply landing on an enemy’s head will both kill them and send Mickey bouncing higher into the air.įor newcomers, this alteration will mean precious little, but for those whose hours of playing Castle Of Illusion are still etched into their distant memories, it’s a little jarring at first – even after a several minutes, I still felt myself tapping jump twice out of habit. In terms of controls, there’s an early and notable change: Mickey’s bounce, once activated by pressing jump and then jump again to bring him down backside first onto an enemy, is no more. Mickey’s movements are fluid and full of character – a reminder of how remarkably cartoonlike the animation in the 1990 game once looked. Right from its opening moments, this new Castle Of Illusion ushers in a sense of confidence and urgency. Once again, Minnie’s been kidnapped by the evil witch Mizrabel, and Mickey goes off in search of a series of gems that will lead him to her hiding place. Under the guidance of the original game’s director, Emiko Yamamoto, Castle Of Illusion 2013 revives the original’s side-scrolling gameplay, while adding generous new touches of its own. Some critics described Castle Of Illusion as a Mario clone, but for many young players, it was much more than that its catchy music, gentle pace and cheerful atmosphere were perfectly of a piece with Mickey Mouse’s character, and while its jumping and collecting were obviously inspired by Nintendo’s outing, Castle Of Illusion’s bouncing and projectile-throwing mechanics were welcome individual touches. Originally released back in 1990, Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse was an early flash of brilliance for Sega’s 16-bit console, providing a colourful, entertaining and often beautifully-designed platformer – beguiling players the world over before a certain blue hedgehog moved in and hogged all the attention one year later. Fortunately, Sega Australia’s remake of the Mega Drive-era platformer feels about as far from cynical name-trading as you could hope for – and rather than warming over a 20-year-old game and serving it back up with smoother graphics, it expands the original Castle Of Illusion‘s gameplay in a way that feels fresh and unexpected.
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