Castle of Illusion: First Impressions

[C=Style]

I've only got just past the 'magic carpet' section , so I'm only just scartching the surface.

Hmmm, magic carpet section you say? Are you sure you are playing the right game as I seem to only remember that bit in World of illusion, the sequel with Donald Duck.

[paranoid marvin]

I've only got just past the 'magic carpet' section , so I'm only just scartching the surface.

Hmmm, magic carpet section you say? Are you sure you are playing the right game as I seem to only remember that bit in World of illusion, the sequel with Donald Duck.

Oops! got a bit confused there!

I had a go of the sequel to see if it had ironed out any of the problems in the first one (it did)

[MediaCult]

Just finished this. Even though there were a small amount of tough situations, and the last level was a pain in the ass, it was fairly easy. I did it at 3rd attempt, though I did save twice along the game.

It's just an average platformer IMO, nothing special, but enjoyable with nice music and cartoony feel to it. It's weird that Mickey is placed so far into the screen when you walk around, but I soon realized that most monsters aren't fast or evil enough to surprise you with something deadly. The controls were allright, and I actually enjoyed the jump method which had it's advantages when trying to find secret areas or just power-ups in tough places.

[NonShinyGoose]

I had this, but on the Master System. Easily one of the best platformers for the system that didn't star a speeding hedgehog. The way that you could choose the order you tackled levels was a neat idea - the best level was the candy world, where Mickey could go swimming in a giant cup of tea, before confronting the boss who happened to be a giant chocolate bar!

[Cymon]

Registered because of this thread.

This was the first game that I felt more inclined to watch than to play. The subtleties of the animation really brought life to the action on the screen. The effect of the animation was so that you almost didn't mind the Inherent unfairness to the game. For instance, the oft discussed apple on the first level was impossible to dodge if you didn't know it was coming, so the first time you played the game it got you. However, after Mickey is flattened to a paper and slowly drifts to the ground you're almost grateful you didn't dodge it because you would have missed that.

Unfortunately the visual presentation seems to run out of tricks pretty quickly and the game begins to grind. Animation seems to have been favored over control so things like timing jumps have to be relearned for this game. As a youth when I first played this game that was a deal breaker. My buddy (who's game it was) and I just died too many times to enjoy the game any more so we quit. I've since returned to it hoping that the game held an ace up it's sleeve, some other impressive achievement later in the game that would make the grind worth it. With my much more experience hands (and save states) I found worked my way past the grind. Progressing steadily through the levels I kept looking for something, anything, that would make the game new again. I was looking right up through the ending credits.

So my initial impression was confirmed. It gives up everything it has in the first few levels and you're left with nothing but grind until the end. I imagine the game sold itself well in the stores, but didn't offer you anything when you got home. (Too. Many. Jokes.) Fortunately it was not my game but my best friend's at the time. Had it been mine I might have felt ripped off. Either that or I would have wasted far too much time to beat it out of spite and became embittered video games and marketing in general 9 years earlier.

[SuperKonker]

Only being 17 this was one of my first gaming experiences. This game has dramatically stood the test of time in my opinion. Most of my other Megadrive games, I'd go back to it everynow and again, but this was the first game I urged myself to complete. The graphics are very cute and colorful and it was very creative for a 16-Bit Console game. Also, 1st Post (for me.)

[shiftytigger]

One of the main games to 'show off' the megadrive with - great music , wonderful graphics that still look great today- a marvel of a platform game that is a joy to play , even if it is too easy.

[look at it sideways]

I wanted a Mega Drive so badly for Xmas, and I excitedly scrawled my letter to Santa with lots of encouragement from my folks. However, they got a bit mixed up and come Christmas day I opened a big parcel to discover...a Master System. I was a little disappointed, but set it up anyway and played Castle of Illusion, to try and make the best of what I thought was a bad situation. But it turned out I was exceptionally lucky - from the moment I loaded it up I was hooked. It was punishingly hard - perhaps unfairly so - but I didn't care. I kept dying on the darn toy level, yet I kept coming back - 'I'll get past that level THIS time...' - I rarely did, but when it happened I would die swiftly after, with the adrenaline rush from doing so making my nerves skyrocket. As far as I'm concerned, Castle of Illusion is one of the best 8 bit platformers ever, and is by far the best game on the Master System for me.