Castle of Illusion

Ah, Castle of Illusion, one of my favorite games. Crisp Graphics, great music, excellent gameplay, what isn't it good in? Considered by experts one of the greatest platformers of it's time, Castle of Illusion will keep you coming back for more.

The Plot: Mickey and Minnie are living happily in the town Vera, until the evil witch Mizrabel(Heh, nice pun) swoops out of the sky and captures Minnie! Mickey chases Mizrabel until he gets to the edge of a cliff where he then sees, the Castle of Illusion.......











(Note! The start screen picture where Mickey is looking at the Castle of Illusion on the cliff and the beginning plot pics are from the Game Gear Version. The Genesis version of the start screen and story are the bottom pictures)

The game starts with an options screen (The Game Gear version doesn't have this screen).

There are two difficulties, Practice, and Normal. Practice consists of the first 3 levels, and you don't have to fight Mizrabel, while in the normal difficulty, there are around 6 levels, sub-levels inside the normal levels, and you have to fight Mizrabel. Now that you know all of that, let's begin!

You start with Mickey walking up to an old man outside of the castle, who tells you some information(See picture to see what he says).





You then enter the castle. You start by going into the first door, which is the first level, the forest.




Level 1: The Forest- The forest is an easy level, with joyous music, vines to swing on, and easy enemies.

There are 4 sub levels in the forest. The first one is going through the forest and getting to the exit at the end. The enemies here are red mushrooms, miniature trees with faces, and flowers that spit seeds at you.




The second sub-level is the forest again, only you have to swing across vines to get across pits until you get to a downslope hill. When you start going down the hill, an apple starts rolling down the hill after you and you have to outrun it(Think Indiana Jones) to the exit. The enemies here are red mushrooms, miniature trees with faces, and butterflies.



The Second one is a bunch of spider webs and leaves, with Spiders as enemies.


The Third level is the forest at night, with dead trees and ghosts that act as platforms. The enemies here are blue mushrooms






The boss is a rolling log with a face, that rolls into a tree which makes acorns fall down on you. You have to dodge the acorns and jump on the log when he is not rolling.



We've completed the first level! And have gotten the first Gem, the Red Gem.
When you complete a level, you see this screen. It adds up your points and tells you which level you completed.


Level Two is Toy Land. It's made up of blocks and the enemies are toys.
Level two is made up of 4 sub-levels.


The first sub level is toy land, and you have to go up staircases made of blocks to get the key to the exit at the top. When you get the key at the top, all the staircases become slopes, and you slide down to the exit at the bottom of the level where you started. The Enemies here are Jack-in the boxes, Wind-up toy soldiers, and toy airplanes



The second sub level is basically a walk through toy land, with Gelatin Traps. The enemies here are Jack-in the box, wind up toy soldiers, toy airplanes, and clowns on trycicles.





The third and final sub level is a flat out walk through toyland with a twist. The who level is basically flat, except there are these items you collect that flip the screeen upside-down, making it more of a challenge. The enemies here are Jack-in the box, wind up toy soldiers, toy airplanes, and clowns on tricicles, same as last level.




The boss of Toyland is a clown with spring feet, spring boxing gloves for hands, and a present box for a torso. He's pretty hard, and you need to jump on him 5 times. You can only jump on his head when his head is spinning around.




Yay! We beat the second level, Toy Land! And we add the orange gem to our collection.


Level 3-Sunset Bridges(I nicknamed it that, because it doesn't actually have a name) is my favorite level in Castle of Illusion. The background, the music, the aura, it's just a really awesome level.


Sunset Bridges consists of 3 sub-levels

The first Sub level in Level 3 consists of a Walk through Sunset Bridges. There are crumbling bridges, gysters, underground lakes, and underground caves. The enemies here are Purple mushrooms, Fishes with skeletal torsos and Bats.








The Second sub-level is an aztec ruin, probably deeper within the mountains at Sunset caves. There are waterfalls, geysers that can crush you, and very small platforms. The enemies here are Bats, and the undead fish.





The Third and final sub-level, is that your in the caves still, but there is rushing water rising and receeding. You have to get to the exit without getting pushed back by the water. If you do get hit by the water, you get pushed back.



The boss is a gremlin like creature that hops around and uses a double-team attack to try and hurt you when he is on the ground and not hopping. He is very challenging. You also get closed in by a pillar here. Make the gremlin destroy the pillar, and you win!




We have gotten the yellow crystal! Now, if you are in practice mode, this is where the game ends, and you get this screen. And then the witch just flies away. If you are in Normal mode, you go up to the second level of the castle.

(Game Gear Version)



Now I don't want to spoil any more of the levels, or the normal mode ending because I want you to get some fun out of it at least! Now go try it!