Disney Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse

while i never played the original, this game is a very fun well made platformer. the controls feel a bit off at first, you'll get used to it. the graphics are beautiful, and you travel through different areas to get seven different gems. the voices are good, as well as the boss fights.

Let me start off this review by admitting that I didn't buy this game on purpose I actually downloaded this game accidentaly, even though I thought I cancelled out of the purchase (I pressed the B button, which usually means cancel), and it started downloading. It's a story for another time. I tried to contact Microsoft and explain to them, and ask for a refund, but my efforts fell victim to futility. After I stopped moping, I decided to try the game out after having read the reviews, with an idea of what I was in for. Overall, the game has its ups and downs. I've never played the 1990 original so I can't really compare, however. I've only played the game for a few hours, and made it up to the fifth stage (the castle stage), but I think I have enough to write a review. Reading through some reviews first I was expecting the game to be too easy to be satisfying, but it has its challenging moments. Some parts, however, felt cheap. For instance, the second boss in the game, the Jack-in-the-Box, took about ten tries before I cleared it, because I had a fair bit of trouble figuring out how to avoid his punching glove attack I had to go to the edge of the venue and jump, but with very precise timing. But overall, most of the difficulties I encountered were taken care of not before long, and the game is a bit on the easy side a difficulty selection might have been nice. The jumping controls felt a bit tight compared to other platformers, which didn't cause too much trouble but was still a bit frustrating when it came to the platforming sections. There are collectable items you can aim to get throughout the levels, some of which unlock new costumes, and apparently after clearing a level you unlock the time attack for that level, so there is a bit of replay value, but once you've beaten the game there's not much to go back to. In the end, I'm not too upset about losing $15 to this game, it could've been worse, but I still feel a little bit upset. Oh well, it's Microsoft's fault I clearly said 'no' to buying the game, and yet it made the download. Check out the demo first.

The game was good, but not great. It was incredibly short and way too easy. I'm talking Journey's length. When the challenge started to ramp up a bit it was already the last level. I commend Sega for their efforts because it's true to the original and I think they really put effort into this. The music is awesome, the graphics are nice, and it's definitely charming and delightful, I just wouldn't recommend it for $15 considering the lack of challenge and having finished it in less than two hours.

Its insultingly stupid, even the children its meant to entertain would be insulted by it. The levels are far too short with absolutely no challenge throughout. The narrator makes me feel like I'm being read a bedtime story or playing King's Quest at the age of 30. Mickey's animation is ugly, his design poor, and their is no variation to the control scheme. Its essentially Klonoa, without the charm or quality and fantastic level design. Tomba is still more enjoyable than this game and that came out long before this (and long after the original Castle of Illusion). The original is better, even the sega master system version is better and in terms of actual fun? No this remake is not fun, its by the numbers, its generic and its sad to see that this is the way new players get to see what was once a fun series of games.

Are you guys all part of the development team for this game? How you could have actually played this game and given these positive reviews I don't know. Even with my having loved the original game and really wanting to like this game, I could not. There was more to dislike but the biggest problem with this game by far is the one thing that had to be right for the game not to be ruined and kind of pointless. What do you do in this game more than anything else from the beginning of the game to the end? Jumping. The controls are awful and the jumping is the worst! This is unforgivable. Both the accuracy and the timing of the jumping are off. Another problem is the voice over. When you are listening to the voice over you will think you are playing a game for preschoolers. Mickey should throw apples? Really? It's like playing a "Doom" remake and they add a voice over that says you should fire your gun and open doors. If only the narrator had some advice on how to improve the controls. With this much wrong with the game there's not much point in critiquing anything else. Do yourself a favor and play the demo before buying.