Castle of Illusion :
Starring Mickey Mouse
Eternal Cuddly Game #4
Type of Game
An interactive cartoon, more epic than Fantasia, more interdimensional than Dr. Strange, and, well... let's just say even more magical than a David Copperfield show.
Release date on our machines
March 1991, in a world where Sonic wasn't born yet.
Developer
SEGA Enterprises Ltd., in a world where the Team Sonic didn't have any street cred yet.
Publisher
SEGA Enterprises Ltd., a good start in the world of Disney, guys.
Castle of Illusion: available on the Mega Drive Mini! You should have bought it in 2019, folks. A remake in 2013? What? No, that doesn't exist.
Well, I admit I can't remember whether I received this game as a birthday present or as a result of my mum's altruistic impulse during a trip to the supermarket. March 1991, it definitely feels like something I would have been given for my sixth birthday, and it was much better than the green dungarees I got the year before. In any case, I remember loving it from the very first seconds. However, I always found Mickey's character a bit annoying. In books like Mickey Parade or Super Picsou Géant, even in cartoons, or in real life at Disneyland Paris, it was the same result: I found him an obnoxious character. But he was one of my favourite video game heroes. In this game and... its 8-bit version, and that's it. No need to put up with him in a thousand different adventures, if the games in question have been waterboarding you three times a day since 1991 with a torrent of nostalgia, right? Well, today I have to admit that I appreciate him a little more, that annoying Mickey, regardless of the medium. But in small doses, mind you.
Mickey Mouse, Hero Made of Mousse
Minnie Mouse, a lady in her role
When I wanted to have lots of funny nightmares, I played Ghouls'N Ghosts. If I wanted to spend a day with a silly grin on my face, I turned to Castle of Illusion. Or Sonic, or the cartoon Renart Chenapan (that's not what it's called, but everyone knows what I mean), or my Dino Riders, or the Asterix comics. Okay, so maybe having a silly grin plastered on my face was just part of who I was, but let's pretend that wasn't the case for the sake of this article. And I found the Mickey game a little less difficult than the Arthur one, so I was able to finish it several times without having to pull out the emulator twenty years later. The simple and effective platformer mechanics are there, albeit a little classic even for the early nineties. Here again, the goal is to rescue a kidnapped woman, a mouse, admittedly, but one wearing a skirt and heels, so... Did anyone take offence to the trope of the damsel in distress at the time? I don't think so; it was just part of everyday life, like Michel Drucker or baked french fries.
Anyway, I was six years old, so what was I supposed to do? Leave me alone. Well, apart from complaining, I can talk a little about the gameplay: Mickey jumping on his enemies, Mickey throwing apples or plastic balls at them, OK! It's pretty similar to Mario, although killing monsters with your butt is ten times more fun! Pfahah! And at least the balls fly straight without bouncing around like the flower's fireballs. But instead of breaking bricks and sliding down pipes, you swing on vines, race down slopes at full speed, and even walk upside down on the ceiling sometimes! Oh yes, angry at having to save his girlfriend, Mickey destroys everything in sight. Just like Mario. Poor bats, butterflies, animated armours and remote-controlled planes, they hadn't done anything to anyone. Okay, I'll make a small exception for the clowns on their unicycles, I approve of their extermination. They terrified me. Not to mention their even more awful boss on springs.
A well-explained mess
As in many titles of this genre, the levels are not connected to each other. At least here, this is explained by the fact that you are wandering around a magical castle, where each door leads to a whole new world. You pass through settings with strong, elaborate themes, from the forest to the library, via the toy land and ancient ruins. In the golden age of platform games, Castle of Illusion stands out with its magnificent art direction, often drawing inspiration from Fantasia. Damn, I can't help writing bland, obvious clichés sometimes. What's more, I don't even know if the graphic designers thought about Fantasia for a second. I suppose that's where it comes from, which would make sense to me; I think it's classy and well-intentioned, so let's leave it at that. Each stage radiates magic, filling us with wonder and fear in its own way. Sometimes even within seconds of each other.
The tunnel level, which you have to cross while a torrent of sewage tries to drown you, horrified me as much as it fascinated me. You can tell that this game isn't just a promotional tool for a movie that's coming out in the cinema at the same time. Because Fantasia was already fifty years old, right? It's pretty much the same as Quackshot with Indiana Jones. And even as part of an advertising campaign, Disney knew how to treat us. The adaptations of Aladdin and The Lion King are every bit as good as any other platformer. Anyway, I just wanted to say that after completing this game twenty times, I always came back to it to soak up its spellbinding atmosphere.
Disney's Qualität
So, the gameplay isn't revolutionary, but extremely effective. The level design is pretty well balanced, and the atmosphere is impeccable. Where does the soundtrack fit into all this? If you asked me, I'd say, ‘WELL, IT'S STILL WAY ABOVE THE REST, DUDE!’ I don't know why I'm shouting, but it feels good. I may have idealised everything I saw and heard as a kid – when it came to video games, that is – but this is an objective, unbiased assessment. Right? We owe this top-notch soundtrack to Tokuhiko Uwabo, who was already well established at SEGA at the time (Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Phantasy Star, Revenge of Shinobi in partnership with Yuzo Koshiro), as well as Shigenori Kamiya. They also worked together on several Disney titles, such as Quackshot and Castle Illusion for the Master System. The result is magnificent compositions, masterfully juggling cheerful melodies to accompany the forest, epic arrangements that enhance the storm, and gloomy instrumentals in the final rooms of the castle. Each stage and musical creation fit together perfectly, as if Disney had imposed a style requirement: ‘Hey guys, in your video games there. Do the same thing you do with the songs in our films, OK? We want good sound.’ It's okay, the musicians at SEGA kept their promises. At least, I think so. In any case, among these colourful tracks, there is one that still surpasses all the others. A piece that always gives me chills when I listen to it today, and that still plays in my head when I try to look tough, when I walk alone at night. Not to attack people, mind you. The one from the flooded tunnel, exactly! And the ruins too, it's the same one.
Sun, Cereals and sneakers
I can vividly recall being with my sister Elena Vestibule in our bedroom during the day. Or rather, our playroom, as our younger sister Rebecca had not yet been born, and our parents had not yet designated the largest room exclusively for her, leaving the smaller one for the other two children, which made sense. The weather is pleasant (quite the opposite of Ghouls'N Ghosts, where I find myself alone at night). We waddle to the music of the first level in the forest, before freaking out like crazy when we come face to face with that damn clown. My mum walks past the TV and sees that we're having fun. She must think that video games will never ask us to do anything more traumatic than turning mushrooms into sparkling dust with our bottoms. Well, Mickey's bottoms, anyway. From then on, she will never really watch what's on the Mega Drive again. Luckily, otherwise she would have confiscated it straight away!
I may have romanticised a few passages, combined bits of memories, overshadowed others, but it must have happened more or less like that at some point. In any case, Castle of Illusion will forever be linked to the sunny days of the early nineties. Watching Widget or Ulysse 31 on TV while devouring a bowl of Chocos mixed with Miel Pops (I swear, mixing two different cereals is totally awesome), having fun in the big park below my house showing off my brand new Reebok Pumps to everyone (I ruined them in less than a week), playing with my first GI Joes or Monsters in my Pocket... Just for embedding these memories in my brain for all eternity, I can thank Castle of Illusion about fifteen times a day.
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