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World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck (Genesis)

World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck review

Game: World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck
Platform: Genesis
Genre: Action (Platformer)
Developer: SEGA
AKA: I Love Mickey & Donald Fushigi na Magic Box (JP)

Reader review by goldenvortex

July 05, 2004

This game unlocks loads of great memories of me and my best mate sitting for hours on end playing World of Illusion on the Sega Mega Drive. I was only a kid when I first played it and was instantly hooked for hours on end with the games quirky platform fun and also the ability to play my favourite Disney characters, Mickey, who had previously starred in another Mega Drive favourite of mine Castle of Illusion and for the first time ever, the raging fury of Donald Duck. The plot of this platformer sees our two heroes learning to become magicians and in a practice performance just before the big show they are sucked into a mysterious world ruled by the evil sorcerer Pete. You can figure out the rest for yourself.

Either alone or with a friend this game offers a rich platforming experience that varies slightly on the character you choose and also has some changes if you decide to play co-operatively. Whatever your choice though, you’ll be treated to colourful and extremely fun adventure. Both characters play identically to each other, holding the A button while walking will allow you to run, the B button will whip out a magic curtain, that will kill any creatures that attack you and of course the traditional C button for the jump. There is one important feature that Mickey can do and Donald cannot, which is crawling through tight spaces. Donald’s fat behind will prevent him from getting through areas therefore he’ll have to take an alternate route around.

You’ll proceed through various environments with the duo, ranging from lush yet dangerous woods, filled with ant soldiers, with cheesy grins who charge at you in groups of four and up. After this you will trek through Rocky Mountains, walk in the heavens and plunge to the depths of the ocean. Alternatively, playing Donald will take you to a tropical island and inside of a book while Mickey will walk through Atlantis, which Donald cannot venture alone. Also on two players you can reach other areas and old Donald, with a hand from Mickey can fit through those cracks with a “gentle” pull, catapulting him across the screen, and probably into something unpleasant.

The game offers a rich gallery of enemies ranging from a bunch of armoured angry ants, hairy spiders and eagles which will be new to first time players but if you’re a Disney fan you may notice a few familiar faces, such as the cards for Alice in Wonderland, along with the Mad Hatter and the witch from “The Sword in the Stone” and the evil overlord, played by Pete, the general Mickey Mouse antagonist. However the majority of the enemies are original ideas tied in with Disney inspiration, all of the style and charm seen in many a Disney movie is replicated here. A few notable ones would be the starfish in the underwater levels that jumps up in the air, with a really stupid grin and plummets down to land flat on his face, which looks so damn funny. While not as charismatic as the starfish the other enemies either are past creations by Disney or they are new characters inspired by the Walt Disney co.

Graphically everything is as smooth as baby’s butt, Mickey and Donald have quite a lot of animation between the two of them. Donald quivers with fear when he crouches; Mickey has a great expression of panic when he runs. When an enemy hits them the animation is brilliant, especially when Donald gets hit all of his feathers ruffle up. Although the animation is slightly downgraded when it comes to enemies and bosses they still look great. The giant spiders as he dances, with a comic grin slapped on his face while you watch him unable to get a hit in. That annoying caterpillar, which chain-smokes from “Alice in Wonderland” looks around in the foreground of level one looks magical as well.

The music seems to follow a peaceful theme and apart from a few exceptions. Quite a lot of the tunes are pretty damn good and some of them are the types of tunes that will stay in your head for a while. The peaceful forest tune helps create a relaxing atmosphere, as does the tune for the sky levels. The hillbilly banjo music in one of Donald’s levels has to the best however and tends to deviate from the norm with some fast and furious, not to mention toe tapping tunes that sounds brilliant. The boss tune is also something has a good beat and is easily the most memorable tune in the entire game and once you’ve had a proper play you won’t forget. The sound effects are also pretty good and both Donald and Mickey have a selection of voice samples that sound authentic, especially when they are attacked or if they perform an ounce of magic,
Saying “Alakazam” in reasonably clear voices, for a Mega Drive it’s not bad at all.

So, with a quirky two-player mode along with two similar yet differential one-player modes this game has quite a bit to offer. Although it seems to focus on younger audiences even older gamers can find fun in this if they sit down and play it. It is also rich with challenge and with these qualities plus smooth and pretty graphics, nice music and impressive sound effects it is possibly one of the best Disney games on the Mega Drive and defiantly one of the best two player platformers on the console. It should be in any collectors cupboard, Disney fan or not because it is a great joy to play.

Rating: 8/10

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