Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse Review

Epic Mickey 2 was the last game I played that “starred” Mickey Mouse and that game was horrible. There’s nothing wrong with Mickey Mouse himself, it was just the game’s controls and overall gameplay that made it a horrible experience.

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse is now out and is a remake from the classic Sega Genesis that came out way back in 1990. While there have been several remakes being made over the years, this game feels a lot different because more effort was made to make this stand out on its own. Does it succeed?

Find out as we take a look at the HOTs and NOTs of Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.

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A Proper Remake
Recent remakes of popular video games aren’t what I would call a proper “remake”. Most of them are just “HD” upgrades o the original visuals. Everything from the gameplay, music and even the cutscenes has all remained the same. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, although it’s not really giving us a new experience either.

Castle of Illusion on the other hand, is a totally new experience that is somewhat unrecognizable from the original Genesis classic. Whereas the original had 2D graphics, simple cutscenes and music, the remake throws that all away to give you a more modern experience. The graphics have been upgraded to full 3D, the music has been totally remade and the cartoon cutscenes give the game a more cinematic feel. Not to mention Mickey Mouse has his iconic voice in the remake too.

Many Gameplay Upgrades
Castle of Illusion translates very well to a 3D environment, although most of the gameplay is played via a 2.5D perspective. One of the improvements that I liked the most from the remake is the overall physics in terms of Mickey Mouse’s jumping ability. I played a bit of the original game and somehow kept getting hit by the enemies even though I was (supposedly) jumping on top of them. I didn’t have that problem while playing the remake as I was able to jump on top of enemies quite easily.

Other elements that make the remake stand apart from the original are some redesigned levels to make the gameplay feel more dramatic. The Indiana Jones-like segment where Mickey is being chased by a huge apple at the end of the first level has been overhauled. Instead of making Mickey run and jump from left to right, this section is now in 3D where he has to run towards the screen while at the same time trying to dodge any obstacles in his way. There is several other level design changes that make this game feel like a more unique experience even if you’ve already played the original.