As this is an early game, a score system is present and awards skilled play with a higher payout and extra lives. While not quite as replayable as Sonic the Hedgehog, there are a few incentives for going through the game a second or even third time for those inclined. They’re even easier if you stockpile projectiles, although I opted not to spam them in my second playthrough as to get a higher score. They all have the standard dodge-and-attack patterns that were standard issue for platforming bosses at the time, and outside of the penultimate and final boss, they offer almost no challenge. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the boss battles. Fortunately, the level designers appeared to understand this as I can’t recall any point in my two playthroughs in which these quirks caused undue frustration. His jump height is also surprisingly high for a rodent. However, Mickey does feel a tad slippery and is not able to stop on a dime in the same way Mario can. The controls are solid for the most part- it’s both easy and satisfying to bounce off of enemies in succession and to reach higher areas. In addition to stomping, Mickey can also pick up projectiles unique to each world (such as apples or marbles) to toss at enemies as well as bosses.
One thing worth noting is that the jump button has to be held in order for Mickey to stomp on an enemy a-la Mario, which threw me off at first going in blind. The gameplay is a traditional side-scrolling affair, seeing the player make his/her way from left to right while collecting goodies and stomping on enemies. There are many catchy, memorable tracks that help capture the essence of Disney alongside the visuals. Is Castle of Illusion as strong a title as the popular opinion suggests, or does it suffer from Altered Beast syndrome? We’re about to find out. It may come as a bit of a shock, but I’ve never actually played this one in any form until last year, ridding me of the nostalgia goggles I could have had in reviewing it today. Many fans of the console and retro-gaming in general sing nothing but praise for this early title, noting its importance in helping flesh out the Genesis library before the blue blur arrived. Castle of Illusion was the result of a licensing deal with Disney, allowing Sega to have the world’s most famous mouse on the Genesis in an adventure that wouldn’t be found anywhere else. However, Sega knew that they needed some titles that were exclusive to their new home console to truly stand out against their biggest competitor, Nintendor. The pre-Sonic days of the Sega Genesis offered up a barrage of arcade ports that looked far more striking than anything the competition could pull off on 8-bit hardware.
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