A playthrough of Sega's 1991 license-based platformer for the Sega Master System, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.
It came out in the US a couple of months after the release of the 16-bit game of the same name ( • Castle of Illusion Sta... ), and it ended up being one of the final Master System games to be developed in-house by Sega. It was also later ported to the Game Gear.
Instead of hacking the Genesis game down to run on the older hardware - a practice the company was very fond of, especially as the Game Gear started to take off - Sega opted create a completely new adventure for their 8-bit home console, and their investment really paid off. Though tiny, the system's North American library played host to some phenomenal games, and Castle of Illusion is on par with the best of them.
The 8 and 16-bit games share storylines and level themes. Like in the Genesis game, Mickey has to tromp though a forest, a toy box, a candy land, a place made out of school supllies, and a castle to find the gems and defeat Mizarebel in order to save Minnie. He can also kill enemies by bootie bouncing off of their heads.
Beyond that, the two games are very different. In the way the Genesis game could roughly be compared to a Mario game, the Master System version feels a lot like Capcom's DuckTales on the NES ( • DuckTales (NES) Playth... ).
The stage layouts all feature multiple routes with lots of secrets strewn throughout, and the butt bounce feels a lot like Scrooge's pogo jump, especially in how you have to bounce off of treasure chests to reach out of the way places. You can also pick items up to throw at enemies or to place as steps to get to high platforms (like in Rescue Rangers on NES, • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue R... ).
The controls are great, and the game puts up a surprisingly stiff challenge that feels fair most of the time. The levels are well designed and are a real joy to explore, and the graphics are top-notch 8-bit goodness that nails the classic Disney tone with style to spare.
Castle of Illusion wins the 8-bit Mickey console crown, no contest. If you love platformers or Capcom's Disney games, you really can't go wrong here.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!