Didn't think I'd put a pic of such a different game in the review of a Disney-based platform game! |
Or, if you prefer brevity, you can just call it Castle of Illusion.
I would say a toy box world makes sense for a platforming character who's a mouse, except Mickey is usually too big for this to make any sense... |
And thus, much like DuckTales Remastered, an
appreciated, beloved and cherished retro title had to get its 3D remake for the
new era. Bonus points for Castle of Illusion HD coming out less than a month
after DuckTales Remastered, on September 2013. Removed on September 1st,
2016, from the Steam Store, Castle of Illusion has returned on March 30th,
2017, now costing 16.99$, so my introduction about games no longer being in the
store is kinda pointless. Oh well, it happens! It just means that I have an
even better reason to review it! Follow me in this adventure, as we follow
Mickey in the eponymous Castle, and meet all the dangers within!
What starts this adventure? The implication that the
main Disney cast (the fan-favorites of the Mickey and Donald sub-series,
including Scrooge who probably got his ticket for free, the cheapskate) is
watching the events unravel like they’re a stage play or a movie. Well, I hope
they’ve got a good stunt actor for Mickey, because he’s gonna get hurt a lot!
Also, a Disney play/film and no songs? 1/10, not musical enough.
Fr some reason, my digital copy of the game was in French and I was unable to change it. Oh well. |
The switch between 2D and 3D is noticeable but smooth. |
Mickey enters the castle, and I can definitely see a
bit of a Super Mario 64 inspiration there. Mickey must collect a number of diamonds
(there are 800 scattered around all the levels in the game) to unlock the later
worlds. Each world has three levels (and thankfully doesn’t take place in a
painting), and ends with a battle against one of Mizrabel’s Prime
Ministers of Misery. Each of them has one of the seven Rainbow Jewels needed to build the bridge towards Mizrabel’s
quarters.
"Welp! Even if I collected two jewels, guess I won't get to see the bridge half-finished. Gotta have them all!" |
On a side-note, I should mention that the music of the
Remastered edition was composed by Grant Kirkland, the legendary composer of
the no less legendary Banjo-Kazooie, also the composer of Yooka-Laylee. Oh hey,
I never expected this review to be so relevant!
This game alternates between 2D and 3D sections,
making it effectively a 2.5D platform game. In the first level, we have a
sequence where Mickey is being chased by a giant apple in a 3D sequence, with
the camera in front of Mickey, revealing the obstacles as he reaches them. I
could have sworn I’ve seen something like that somewhere else…
Yup, I could have sworn there are weird similarities between the top image and the bottom one which is from a game I promised I never saw before. And if you don't believe me, I say boo. |
…I just can’t quite put my finger on it… And those
Rainbow Jewels, of which there are seven, and who are all of different colors…
It’s all so… strangely familiar… These gems that look like emeralds remind me
of something, but it’s like chaos in my mind right now…
Maybe he was shrunk? Or everything around him is bigger than normal? Or is it a mix of the two? |
World 4 is a giant library with a second world made of
sweets inside it. While there are seven Emeralds to collect, there aren’t seven
worlds; instead, there are five worlds, and two emeralds are found within
levels. As an example, a shadow Mickey steals an emerald in this world, and
Mickey chases him down across the candy world filled with jelly and the rare
strawberry Oreos, and then through the bookshelves where most of the books aim
to send you off into the great big endless pits. Thankfully, this ends with
Shadow Mickey being taken out, so Mickey recovers the green emerald. Also, the
boss in this one is a giant red licorice dragon. Weird, but surprisingly tough
since the entire battle is spent jumping from a strawberry Oreo to another. I
would rather prefer the Sugar Rush world. It may be led by a jerk racer, but at
least it doesn’t have licorice dragons!
Wait, why am I saying emerald? It’s Rainbow Jewels.
Jewels, Nicolas!
We're gonna ring his bells alright! |
A rainbow bridge? What kind of Care Bear Bullcrap is that? |
This green glow is the most evil thing about this Evil Qu- Er, I mean, nasty sorceress! |
At least this one doesn't look like the kind who would steal the youth of others to become young and pretty. Urgh, I despise vanity as a motive for evil characters. |
With this, the castle crumbles, and Mizrabel, who has had a change of heart, hands brooms to the couple so that they can escape with her. And so they fly away as the Castle of Illusion disintegrates, and Mizrabel is allowed to turn over a new leaf as a good person. Well, that came out of nowhere. Mickey hugs Minnie, mission accomplished, the end. We roll back to the theater room where the audience stays still, but we hear applause. Roll credits, the game’s finished!
And so Mickey and Minnie taught love to an evil character, turning that character good. That's the biggest goddamn cliché in the book. |
As you can see, Mickey's mirror self wears an explorer's costume. |
-Gather all 800 diamonds;
-5 Peppers, one per world;
-5 Playing Cards, also one per world.
Those don’t actually do much, aside from unlocking
alternate costumes for Mickey. Beating the game gives him a knight attire, the
playing cards dress him up as a stage magician (What? Not his wizard costume
from Fantasia?), and the peppers unlock an explorer garb.
That’s all for this game, really. I’d say it’s about
as good as DuckTales Remastered, although the two are different on many points.
Both are adaptations of 2D side-scrolling retro platform games, yet while
DuckTales stays true to its 2D roots, Castle of Illusion innovates by adding a
lot of 3D sections. Both games improve on the plot of the game they’re
remasters of, adding voice tracks and cutscenes, and generally expanding on the
plot. I’ve heard that the final boss in the original version was also a mouse
person, despite still being a witch. They changed her to be a nod to the
villain of Snow White, which is clever – although the reference is so clear,
you have to wonder if they really needed to try and disguise it. Maybe because
they knew it wouldn’t fit with their ending where Mizrabel turns nice…
I do have over 320 diamonds! Why can't I enter that level? This is horseapples! Why do I NEED the diamond from the previous level? |
Comparing the old game to the HD 3D remaster, I can
see how they tried to replicate the levels and bosses accurately, while still
giving more depth to each of them. Another thing I notice is how every boss has
an updated design and a few more tactics and attacks. The bosses of the original generally had one attack pattern and that was it. The diamonds add a very
nice dimension to the whole game, at least in the added challenge of gathering
them all – since their purpose in unlocking doors is pretty much pointless.
I would also say that the game is more difficult than
you’d expect it to be, but thankfully the game’s system isn’t too punishing.
Falling in an endless pit only makes you lose one hit point, and there are many
respawn points. If you lose all of your lives, you only have to start the whole
level over, which isn’t as punitive as some other games where you’d lose all
progress. On this, I felt the game was fair. Not the hardest platformer I’ve
played (come back in two weeks for that one!), but not an easy one either.
I’m not sure I’d buy this game at its current price
tag of 16.99$ – many, many more Steam games are less expensive and yet hold
more content – but I do suggest you buy this game if you someday find it on
sale. It’s a fun little Disney title that will keep you busy.
Still one more review to go for Steam, then another
special review, a Top 12, and this cycle will be complete!
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