Maybe it wasn't a surprise to everyone, but it was a real surprise to me that not only did i not think it was dumb, it is to this day one of my favorite Genesis titles.

Keeping in mind that I was a teenager, you can probably understand why it is that I wouldn't exactly be keen on playing what appeared to be a game for little kids. I got this game as a gift because it was imagined by my parents that my younger siblings would enjoy it as well. I begrudgingly decided to play it expecting to find it stupid.

I was incredibly surprised as this game has a little something for everyone and it is in my mind, one of the best 2-D platformers ever made.

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Mickey has only two methods of attack: Jump up in the air and smack enemies with his butt or throw apples at things. You very rarely have access to apples so mostly it is the butt-attack. It essentially has the same mechanics as every other game of it's type so how did this one end up not being just a carbon copy game that was boring?

I don't know the answer to that exactly but it was just extremely well-done. The bosses, although very child-friendly, were engaging and difficult enough to keep adults and teenagers entertained.

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One aspect of this game that was very welcome to households with young children was an "easy mode" that could be activated where the levels were much shorter, had no bosses and was extremely....well...easy. While just about every game has a difficulty selection mode these days, this was pretty unusual in the 80's / 90's

there weren't really "trailers" back then, so this is the best i could do

Castle of Illusion received almost perfect scores during its time and most reviewers complemented the music, great graphics (considering the machine and time period), as well as perfect controls. There have been several remakes of this game and they are all quite good as well. I can highly recommend that you play this game or the remakes because unlike many of the games made for the Genesis, this game is still a lot of fun today.

9 / 10