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Castle of Illusion HD starring Mickey Mouse |OT| Once upon a mouse

Lijik

Member
Its not like Power of Illusion was particularly good to start with but i found it on sale over the weekend and picked it up, and man CoI HD shits all over it from a great height.

The last round got me like 3 times before I finally won. I preferred this final boss to DuckTales' but they were both fun.

I got it on my second try, but yeah that last attack is a real doozy
 

Bladenic

Member
Yes i'ts hard, and it's strange because the rest of the game is too easy.
I didn't like some songs (like stage 3) =(

Yeah the final boss is the only one that I found challenging. Every other boss was easy. The boss of world 5 was way easier in the HD remake compared to the original IMO.
 

honorless

We don't have "get out of jail free" cards, but if we did, she'd have one.
Does anyone know what is happening to this team after Sega Australia closes down? I've played through the game twice this weekend and I need more.
Up to three of them went to Witch Beam, developers of Assault Android Cactus.

Getting the original developers back together again seems unfeasible, but I do hope this game sells well enough for Sega to try other Disney game reimaginings. It can't be impossible to assemble a group of similar mind and caliber within such a large company...right? :(
 

Tizoc

Member
Up to three of them went to Witch Beam, developers of Assault Android Cactus.

Getting the original developers back together again seems unfeasible, but I do hope this game sells well enough for Sega to try other Disney game reimaginings. It can't be impossible to assemble a group of similar mind and caliber within such a large company...right? :(

I personally wonder if it's possible for companies like SEGA, Konami and Capcom to outsource remakes or 'small' projects like this to Indies.
...because I really want that World of Illusion remake if not port on my PS3...
 

Exile20

Member
I finished the game over the weekend. Took maybe 2 hrs and it was fun. Nothing outstanding. The bosses were easy except for the last boss, that final attack pattern, yikes.

The graphics were nice but lost a lot of the charm. I do like the stages, they were nicely laid out to me. Everytime I think I am going to get lost, I find my way out.

I am playing Duck tales now. :)
 

Catalix

And on the sixth day the LORD David Bowie created man and woman in His image. And he saw that it was good. On the seventh day the LORD created videogames so that He might take the bloody day off for once.
Its not like Power of Illusion was particularly good to start with but i found it on sale over the weekend and picked it up, and man CoI HD shits all over it from a great height.
The only good thing I have to say about Power of Illusion when compared to this COI remake, is that I prefer POI's remix of the classic COI Boss Theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqH0Hh_biJg
 

Jucksalbe

Banned
Finished the game today. I'm glad we also got the original with preorders, so I could better compare the two games.
I really like what they did with the remake. It looks great, it plays like the original, and what they changed works well.

I don't get the complaints about the difficulty (in reviews) either. Some stages are a bit harder than the original, I'd say, but you aren't as limited in your lives, so overall the game's a good bit easier.

Now, do you get anything special for collecting all the gems? Not sure if I want to invest the time to search for every last of them.
 
Just played the first level and WOW!!!
This game is GORGEOUS!!!! I can't believe how beautiful it all looks.
Also the platforming seems very tight. Loved the part with the leaves.
 

Dantis

Member
Just on the Castle world now. Loving it so far. Unbelievably charming.

Honestly, I think the original game is vastly superior and far more charming in pretty much all aspects. Also could have done without the voice acting.

Having only just played both versions, I think it's safe to say that this is the nostalgia talking.
 
Just on the Castle world now. Loving it so far. Unbelievably charming.



Having only just played both versions, I think it's safe to say that this is the nostalgia talking.

Nah not really, you have to look at it within the context of the system's capabilities. I just think it pays better more homage to the source material and the older Mickey cartoons and you can tell a ton of effort went into little touches everywhere to do that. Also the control and hit detection seem better in the original game.
 

Ultimadrago

Member
I beat this last night. I had a good little time overall, like the original. The re-imaginings were pulled off well, if not, safely. I liked the idea of the final boss
rhyming while attacking Mickey even if some of the lines were extra corny
. Costumes as a reward for checking thoroughly were also a nice addition.
 

The Hermit

Member
bit late to the short but sweet party. On the final stage now, I can't play this game with the new soundtrack when I can choose the vastly superior original one.

I am loving it so much and just found out the team is already dead...

Which is particularly terrible since I was getting my hopes up seeing Donald´s pepper scattered around the game and reminding me of Quackshot.

:(
 

Haunted

Member
I mean, the comparisons to the Ducktales remake are unavoidable, with two fan favourites platformers getting the modernisation treatment in a relatively short timespan - but after playing and liking Ducktales, I didn't expect Castle of Illusion to stomp it like this. While Ducktales is at best, a faithful update with some nice sprites, Sega really went above and beyond making this one feel special.

Challenging platforming, good level design, great art and charming animations with a cute little hub to tie it all together. This game, although small in scope, really feels like a Sega platformer from the best days of the company.

The remake is beautiful and thoughtfully reimagined. A lot of cool little surprises if you're a fan of the original. If old school platformers are your thing, I think it's totally worth the full price of admission.
Absolutely.


edit: the Klonoa mentions are also spot on. There's a good mix of 2.5D and limited 3D movement with the classic feel of a 2D platformer.
 

ThreeSixty

December 16, 2009. 4:00 AM. THE LIGHT FIELD is the force. The mind. That guides. Controls.
Just finished this. Wonderful, wonderful game. Enchanting and stunning visuals. Pixel perfect platforming. The poster that noted that the game feels like a platformer from Sega's glory days is spot on. That is precisely what the game felt like. As a long-term and die-hard Sega fan that got into games with the Sega Master System and Genesis (had the original Castle of Illusion specifically on the Master System) this game felt like a childhood restoring nostalgic love letter specifically designed to please me. The game was that good.

If there's one criticism I will level at the game it's that there simply isn't enough of it. Seven worlds at first seemed quite generous. I remember the narrator telling me that two gems were left and I was pleased there were still two worlds to go but then you find out the second to last world is compressed into one with two gems collected in a single world. I don't know. I just wanted more content here. I know this is supposed to be a small-scale digital-focused remake but I seriously wanted to play hours and hours of this.

I completed the game in just over two hours and while that's cool in a way (given that every Sega Genesis platformer in existence amounted to about that length) I was a little disappointed when the experience was over. Did anyone have trouble with the final boss? I breezed through every boss that preceded the final one but am still yet to finish the last boss. I suppose my old-school retro gaming skills aren't as sharp as they used to be. Sega are crazy to shut down Sega Studios Australia after this. Sometimes I don't know what that company is thinking.

They didn't even bother to wait to evaluate the commercial performance of the game and then base the decision on that. It was just boom the game's finished and now you're gone. Even so I hope Sega have more games like this planned for the future. I'd love something like a Streets of Rage remake with the same production values to be released.

One more thing. Can anyone recommend any other good platformers (also available on PC) that are like this? Like many of the posters here I finished the game still wanting another fix.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
The dev shutting down has everything go do with publishers divesting from Australia and nothing to do with this game.

Which, incidentally is excellent. Klonoa and Rayman 1 come to mind as good comparisons.

The narration is warm and friendly!
 

Crub

Member
Anyone else having problem with the PC version being blurry?

The blur affects the overlay as well, but is strangely not present in screenshots, nor when I play the game windowed. This makes me believe the issue is somehow monitor-related.
 

Catalix

And on the sixth day the LORD David Bowie created man and woman in His image. And he saw that it was good. On the seventh day the LORD created videogames so that He might take the bloody day off for once.
Wish this got more love. I think it's a lock for my GOTY list.

Platformers kicked all kinds of ass this year.
 
What the? I just started this and the first damn level in the woods platforming is owning me. I keep falling off those leaves and the damn save checkpoint is at the very damn beginning of the level. I never got to play the original on genesis as I was a snes guy, but damn this is hard as fuck.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I got this from GMG a few days ago and I'm off work today. Did it get an official patch or should I apply the unofficial patch before I try playing?
 

didamangi

Member
I got this from GMG a few days ago and I'm off work today. Did it get an official patch or should I apply the unofficial patch before I try playing?

No need for the fan patch anymore, the game is patched and now runs at 60fps, they also fixed the 1080p fullscreen bug as well.
 

Downhome

Member
How in the world did this game get by me? I'm only just now finding out about it after seeing that it will be on sale for $3.75 soon. Good lord. Consider that bought ASAP.
 

ymmv

Banned
I bought the PS3 version an hour ago and I'm amazed this game (almost) completely passed me by. I knew there was a Ducktales remake, but I didn't know this game existed. And it's absolutely beautiful, so full of charm. It looks like an animated cartoon.

When it hits $3.75 on Amazon, I'm going to double dip for the Steam version.
 

Downhome

Member
I started playing Castle of Illusion last night. Call this hyperbole, whatever, I don't care but it is a late addition to my personal "favorite games of the year" list. Yeah, the controls are iffy at times and the framerate isn't perfect but by God is it not one of the most charming and smile inducing games I've ever played. It's under $4 on PSN so give it a shot. I played it for at least a couple hours last night and had a ball, and my wife enjoyed watching it as well.
 
I just finished the game and it was awesome! Had it on the backlog for a few months...really fun game. Sucks that the team got axed :(

Why can't Disney help them out :(
 

Alo81

Low Poly Gynecologist
I just started playing this, and noticed it was patched to support unlocked framerate! This is great news!

If anyone else plans to play, I recommend turning off "post process" because all it seems to provide is a poor implemntation of SSAO with a huge performance hit.
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I just started playing this, and noticed it was patched to support unlocked framerate! This is great news!
Doesn't for me. Its "120hz" is still locked at a strobetastic 60fps. It does at least play in a window now without blacking out, so I can get 60fps gameplay without strobing, but it aint dat sexy smooth 120.
 
Apologies for the bump, but I really wanted to comment on the game rather than make a new thread.

Anyways, I just finished playing through this with my 5 year old niece who was on the edge of her seat the entire time. Cheering me on as I raced to save Minnie Mouse from the scary old witch!

With every jump, dive, close 1 star encounter she'd ooo, and cheer me on, it really lit my heart. With every new Rainbow gem, the smile on her face grew. She kept running to the spot where the bridge would be after each new Gem we achieved. I had never played the old Sega Genesis version, and I wonder why as I loved Quackshot on the same console.

The game was a nice surprise, and it allowed me to rekindle some old Disney Magic my adorable niece and I'm glad for having played it. I just hope they do make remasters for Quackshot and the old Capcom stuff like Rescue Rangers and Darkwing Duck!
 

maxcriden

Member
My wife and I just played this yesterday, having never played the original as kids or as ostensible adults. Very charming game, and rare for us that we were able to beat it over a couple or few play sessions over the course of a single day. We'll definitely plan to go back and get the missing statue pieces, cards and chili peppers. It controlled very smoothly, the difficulty curve was on point, and the 3D platforming, though a bit trickier (esp. with the d-pad, understandably) than the 2D platforming, still made for a fun diversion. The core 2D platforming was very well done and the game just oozed Disney magic all around.

On an entirely different note, what PSN game should I check out next if this is is the sort of game I like and I tend to gravitate toward platformers?
 

Tizoc

Member
My wife and I just played this yesterday, having never played the original as kids or as ostensible adults. Very charming game, and rare for us that we were able to beat it over a couple or few play sessions over the course of a single day. We'll definitely plan to go back and get the missing statue pieces, cards and chili peppers. It controlled very smoothly, the difficulty curve was on point, and the 3D platforming, though a bit trickier (esp. with the d-pad, understandably) than the 2D platforming, still made for a fun diversion. The core 2D platforming was very well done and the game just oozed Disney magic all around.

On an entirely different note, what PSN game should I check out next if this is is the sort of game I like and I tend to gravitate toward platformers?

The Original Genesis ver. of the game was made available on PSN fi you want to see what it played like in that ver.

If you want more platformers in its style def. check out DuckTales Remastered.
 

maxcriden

Member
The Original Genesis ver. of the game was made available on PSN fi you want to see what it played like in that ver.

If you want more platformers in its style def. check out DuckTales Remastered.

Any other old-school Gen and the like recommendations? Got DuckTales Remastered on Wii U but couldn't get into it (yet), but haven't played it much. Thanks!
 

Tizoc

Member
Any other old-school Gen and the like recommendations? Got DuckTales Remastered on Wii U but couldn't get into it (yet), but haven't played it much. Thanks!

Hmmm I'd have to check my PS3 collection, but off the top of my head
Sonic 1 and 2 are available on US PSN
If you don't mind PSX Classics the JP PSOne Megaman 2-4 games on US PSN as well, you don't need to know much Japanese to play them outside of menu navigation, but that's circumvented by using a GameFAQs guide.
There's also Megaman X4 and X5, Megaman 8 should be out within 24 hours on US PSN too.

Oh there's also Bomberman 94 which is a PC Engine/TG16 game and is a good port. Has a single player mode and some really cute animations.
 
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