Released in 1992 for the Master System and Game Gear, Land of Illusion is an 8-bit exclusive sequel to Castle of Illusion which debuted on the Megadrive in 1990 and was ported to Sega's 8-bit systems a year later. Rather than being demastered from a 16-bit game, this title was made from scratch for the Master System and it is all the better for it.
Mickey Mouse, perhaps the most iconic of all cartoon characters, has appeared in many videogames since debuting in his own Game and Watch back in 1981, with last year's Switch-exclusive, Illusion Island, being the latest iteration of Disney's flagship character.
There are over sixty games starring Mickey on many different consoles and in my opinion, this 8-bit rendition ranks up there with the best of them.
The introduction to the game shows our hero sitting in his armchair, reading a book of fairy tales before dozing off. When he wakes up, he finds that he is no longer in his home, but in a strange and gloomy village.
Mickey comes across a villager who bears a very strong resemblance to Daisy Duck, she explains to him that an evil Phantom has stolen the magic crystal that protected the village. The good magic that filled the valley with happiness is now gone, replaced by gloom.
The Phantom has taken the magic crystal to his Castle in the clouds and Mickey vows to travel there to defeat him. Daisy tells him to seek out a Princess in the mountains to the North who can show him the way.
The game begins with a colourful map screen showing the various Lands of Illusion where Mickey's adventures will take place. The path is still linear at this point, to progress, the Forest Stage must be tackled first.
The gloomy Forest floor is infested with snakes and spiders will drop down from their webs in the trees to attack you. The graphics here are bright and colourful, Mickey himself is beautifully animated and feels nice and responsive to control.
If you have played Castle of Illusion then you will know what to expect here, the fundamentals are the same. Mickey can jump then use his butt to destroy enemies, this can also be used as a kind of double jump by bouncing up off the enemies to reach higher areas. This skill will be needed to find secrets and progress in the later stages.
The action button is used to pick up and throw various items like rocks, springs, keys and treasure chests. These chests contain helpful items such as slices of cake, which replenish your health or mouse ears that award you an extra life.
This opening level is fairly easy and gently introduces the player to the core mechanics of the game. After making his way through the Forest, Mickey must now traverse vertically to the top of a huge tree which has a massive snake spiralling around it.
The snakes gaping mouth blocks the way at the top of the tree, feeding it an apple is all it takes to close its mouth and allow you to pass to the end of the level.
Next up is the Lake Stage, then the Blacksmith's Castle where the first proper boss battle occurs, all fairly breezy stuff. Now though, the game throws in some light Metroidvania elements when you have to return to the Lake Stage where the water level has now risen, allowing access to a secret exit leading to the Castle Ruins Stage.
The higher water level in the Lake Stage also allows Mickey to find a Power Star. This adds another hit point to the life meter, which will come in handy as the difficulty starts to ramp up. There are fourteen of these hidden throughout the game, the first three take your power up to the maximum five stars and each additional star awards an extra life.
Finding all fourteen Power Stars is quite a challenge, you have to backtrack several times to replay levels after gaining an additional ability later in the game. These extra skills add a lot of variety to the gameplay and are used to great effect as the game progresses.
The first new ability comes when Mickey finds a magic potion in the Castle Ruins Stage, this allows Mickey to shrink by holding down and pressing the action button. Repeating this action returns him back to his original size and it is now possible to enter the previously inaccessible Tiny Cavern Stage.
As the game progresses Mickey will also find a rope that lets him scale vertical walls, magic beans that will grow a beanstalk and special shoes that allow him to walk on clouds. These skills will become increasingly necessary in the later stages of the game and essential if you want to collect all the Power Stars, some of which are very well hidden.
The mix of platforming, puzzles, secret hunting and upgradable abilities on offer here is very compelling and fairly revolutionary for the time. This was released several years before Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night appeared, the games that named and defined the genre.
Of course, there are not Hollow Knight levels of depth on offer here but a lot of the Metroidvania elements are present that would be expanded upon in future classics, right up until the modern day.
I had a blast playing through this and when I found out at the credits that there were fourteen Power Stars to discover, I immediately started another playthrough to find all the ones that I had missed on my initial run (I only found six).
Overall, this is a strong title, one of the best platformers of the 8-bit era. The mechanics are strong and varied, the graphics and soundtrack are excellent for the system and the gameplay still holds up today.
Verdict: Top-Tier Platformer
Comments