

Mizrabel, incidentally, bears a strong resemblance to the wicked queen Maleficent from Snow White. Said girl is predictably his perennial gal pal Minnie, who’s been kidnapped by the witch Mizrabel, who aims to use magic to siphon off Minnie’s youth. All that top talent shows in the final product, which excels as both an early 16-bit technical showcase and a thoroughly satisfying hop-and-bop platformer for all ages.Īs per usual for the period, Mickey’s goal in Castle of Illusion to rescue a girl. Sega understandably took the reins themselves, assuming both development and publishing duties on Castle of Illusion. Every big name was precious at this juncture, and they don’t get much bigger than the happy-go-lucky mouse who owns the world.

On top of that, their eventual breakout star, Sonic the Hedgehog, wouldn’t be introduced until the following year. This was a huge deal for Sega, as the Genesis’ predecessor, the Master System, had long struggled in vain to attract such choice licenses.

I covered cartoon cats a few weeks back, so why not move on to mice? 1990’s Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse for the Genesis marked Disney’s debut on Sega hardware in the wake of back-to-back Nintendo Entertainment System hits DuckTales and Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers.
