Mickey Mouse — Castle of Illusion

Although many reviewers will disagree when I say Castle of Illusion 2013 is much better than the classic Mega Drive / Genesis version, one has to look at the target audience. Disney makes games for kids! They just happen to be enjoyable by adults as well.

Castle of Illusion 2013 never tries to be faithful to the original. It is a reimagining of the old title. It will transform an interesting encounter that took only a few seconds in the Mega Drive version and extend it to a little story of its own.

If you play this imagining yourself as a 12-year-old, which hopefully is not too hard, this game is perfect. Moving around feels easy and precise because there is no movement momentum. The visual presentation is outright incredible. Bosses look like big bad enemies.

Jack-in-the-Box

Let's talk about the craziest clown in toyland to prove my point. Jack-in-the-Box was originally harder for kids because his punching move was really quick which would make you (maybe unfairly) lose until you could understand it. All he did was jumping and punching.

In the new version, he presents himself in a modestly scary way. Despite having new attacks, it is generally easy to fight against him, but it's much more fun doing so. That's because the boss fight and the toyland world conclusion really feel like the final act of that illusion world.

Recommended for Disney adventurers

If you want a challenging game, you should skip Castle of Illusion 2013 altogether. However, if you enjoy playing games for the amazing worlds that only exist within them or if you are a guardian of young gamers you need to educate, this is a must-have.

Old gamers beware: the Mega Drive / Genesis version is not included in any way. Yeah, it was a little disappointing to me too. I had to download a ROM and emulate it to take screenshots for comparison.

Get it on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/227600/Castle_of_Illusion/