So we arrive at the Palace Ruins Stage. Right away we see the degree to which the palace has deteriorated: Its surfaces are fractured, many of its pillars have collapsed, and weeds have begun to strangle its remaining structures. I love all of these visual touches and the scene they collaborate to form; here, on just the first screen, they're able to provide us a strong sense of the palace's complexion and general atmosphere. This is another area in which the game performs brilliantly.
First we have to travel over a spike pit by way of a series of destroyed pillars, some of which have toppled over; they now lean diagonally, forming sloped surfaces. We have to platform across them while watching out for the swooping bats that suddenly spawn from the screen's top. On the safe ground found just beyond, we encounter an apparently sentient block that continuously bounces its way back and forth; we can subdue it with a ground-pound and thereafter use it as the platform necessary to reach the treasure chest that rests on the ledge above. Then we have to climb up to the palace's second level via a ladder and do so while evading the poisonous bubbles that are being regularly emitted by the stone demon heads that are embedded in the wall on the right (these heads kinda resemble Bowser's. I wonder if that's intentional--if it's some kind of homage).
This second level is populated with bouncing boulders that gravitate towards us. When we bounce on them, they quickly heat up and explode and in doing so throw damaging debris in either direction. Though, the first one we encounter explodes on its own and in the process teaches us something: The damaging debris can clear away destructible blocks. That's how we're able to move past the second level's opening portion. When moments later we find ourselves in a situation where the path ahead is blocked off by a stack of destructible blocks, we have to remember what we just learned and use a bouncing boulder to our advantage. So we lure one over to the wall and bounce on it; when it explodes, its thrown remnants clear away the obstruction. (Before then we can otherwise bounce off of one and gain the height needed to access a high-up platform and subsequently climb up to an enclosed space wherein there lies some treasure.)
In the next segment, we have to carry a honey pot up through a vertical passage while avoiding boulder debris and the poisonous spew of stone demon heads. In at least one instance, since we can't climb while carrying objects, we have to throw the pot up through a jump-through platform above. We must must retain possession of the block because we need it; without it, we can't gain enough height to pass through the final jump-through platform, which is otherwise too high up. Once we're up there, we head right, through the final hall; swooping bats and floor-mounted stone heads attempt to stop us. The door at the end takes us to the next section.
Here's where things start getting really tricky: In the area's first segment, we have to continue dropping down and snaking around the sinuous interior of a long vertical corridor. The catch is that we have to do this while outpacing spike chains that extend out from their starting positions and snake their way about in pursuit of us. The action occurs really quickly, so we don't have much time to observe our surroundings and identify the spike-chains' spawning points. So basically we're facing a series of Mega Man-like blind drops with many more in the way of jarring screen transitions. Oh, and we also have to stop to clear away obstructions as proceed.
Since the sequence is so long and we're never given indication as to what's coming, we'll likely have to engage in a whole lot of trial and error; we'll have to dump multiple lives--maybe continue two or three times--as we engage in the process of memorizing spawning points and spike-chain patterns.
Upon completing this sequence, we discover a checkpoint whose presence tells us that we're nearing the stage's end. To reach that destination--the corridor's bottom--we have to zigzag our way around some passages while being chased by a rolling boulder, and, of course, we have to do this while finding time to clear away blocky obstructions. When we arrive at the bottom, the boulder reveals itself to be sentient and reveals itself to be a smiley-faced boss. Then it begins its attack.
The boulder employs a never-changing pattern: It revs itself up; throws itself into the air, across the room; and upon landing charges toward and crashes into the opposite wall. The earth-shaking impact of this event causes one of those sentient blocks to fall from the ceiling. To damage the boulder, we have to subdue the sentient block and then throw it at our target, though we can only hit the boulder when it's at rest and smiling. It's a limited window, though, thankfully, the boulder will respect our time and forgo using the air attack if we're currently holding a block; he'll simply charge across the screen and then pause for a moment. We have to hit it four times to destroy it.
Upon exploding, the boulder leaves behind a length of rope. A subsequent prompt tells us that this rope gives us the ability to climb any wall simply by running towards it (or "pushing up against it," which is what we actually have to do). Now that we possess such an ability, we can head back to the Castle Ruins Stage and procure that previously inaccessible power star, which will add a fifth and final unit to our health meter (assuming we've picked up the previously mentioned power stars).
More importantly, we now have the means for scaling the Craggy Cliff Stage, which is located east of the Toy Workshop Stage.
The Craggy Cliff Stage presents another visually interesting setting--at least when we're talking about its exterior portions. Its background is formed from two distinctly rendered layers: the craggy mountain formations that comprise the cliff's surrounding shoulders, and an open sky whose clouds scroll across the screen. What's cool is that the sky is multi-layered: We can see at least three cloud masses scrolling across the screen, each at a different speed. There's also another nice touch: The sky above the clouds displays a brighter shade of blue, as it does in real life. That's such a thoughtful detail; these cats at Sega must have been feeling really inspired.
The stage, itself, is rather short, though it does feature some very creative sequences. In the opening section, we have to climb the cliff's steep crags and do so while trying not to collide with circling vultures and boulders that roll back and forth along the surfaces of the crags' recesses. We can nullify's the latter's threat by picking up blocks off the ground and creating even deeper recesses for the boulders to fall into. Yet another nice touch: We can see the rope hanging from Mickey's back as he climbs! I appreciate that they made the effort to include that in the animation. Little touches like that go such a long way.
When we make it to the top of this section, we walk through an entryway and move into the cliff's interior. The cave section within recycles the raising-and-lowering-surfaces gimmick that we remember seeing in the Tiny Cave Stage, though this version of it adds a twist: This time, the screen goes completely dark whenever an embedded light-providing lantern isn't onscreen. So there will be times when we won't be able to advance comfortably unless we map the level design to memory prior to the point when the lights go out. Otherwise, the challenge is the same: We must snake down and around a series of narrow caves while doing our best not to get pushed up into spikes or crushed. And, again, it helps to be in tiny form while traversing across this type of terrain. An exit path on the cave's far-right side takes us back outside.
In this, the second and final cliff section, we have to climb up more steep crags while again trying not to collide with vultures and boulders. Though, in this instance, the challenge is slight different: Here the vultures circle around the crags' faces and in effect encircle us as we climb. Successful progression now requires calculated movement and our having a solid grasp of how the climbing mechanic works; we have to know (a) where to stop and when to stop, (b) how the climbing animation's acceleration works, (c) how to time our movements.
When we reach the top, the Magic Key comes into view. Though, it's located on the other side of the screen--on an opposing cliff that juts out from a higher point. To get it, we have to bounce off of the vulture that's circling in between the cliffs and do so with the correct timing, lest we'll miss the vulture or the cliff and fall down to the level below. The exit door appears on the right side of the screen--on the lower cliff--so we're able to reach it with our normal jump.
Once we're beyond the mountains, we move north and enter the Desert Stage. We're not surprised to find that the desert's visual presentation has features commonly associated with this type of setting: sandy surfaces and a background populated by coconut-bearing palm trees. Though, unique to the scene are mountaintops that are drawn in a minimalist style that works to convey a sense of distance--to do what the world map can't and show us how large this world actually scales; these barely decipherable mountaintops tell us that the mountains we previously scaled are now miles away. It's a small detail, yeah, but it amounts to some pretty meaningful world-building.
Our accompaniment, of course, is an Egyptian-sounding tune and one of the ominous variety. It foretells of unforgiving trials.
As we head right, we alternate between flat and sloped surfaces and all the while deal with swooping vultures, which will continue to stalk us if we don't dispatch them, and half-immersed rattlesnakes that disguise themselves as little sand creatures and patrol the surface's flat portions. Soon we come across a pyramid, at which point we have a choice: We can explore around here or continue heading right. The correct choice (which won't be confirmed as such until we run through this stage a second time and get the full picture) is to explore around here. Mainly, we want to search about the pyramid exterior's separate levels, some of which are at certain points obstructed by loose bricks, and find a way inside; while searching, we have to fight off small cactus creatures that rush toward us when we move to within proximity of them. We end up spiraling around to the exterior's lower-right portion, where we find a small block whose removal reveals a tiny opening; we can enter into it after shrinking down.
We find ourselves in the pyramid's entry shaft, where we're introduced to a new mechanic: block-shifting. If we grab onto the nearby arrow switch, we can raise it, doing which changes the positioning of two different-colored block types (orange and green). When one set juts out, the other retracts, becoming embedded. We have to tactically manipulate the switch in order to forge the desired arrangement. (Note that we can undo the change by depressing the switch via any kind of contact.) Specifically we want to retract the green bricks, since they block the door on the left, and use the lower-placed orange bricks as the bridge necessary to travel over the spike pit and reach the door.
The door takes us to the inner shaft, to a fast-scrolling section wherein the spiked wall on the left begins to chase us. With much urgency, we must hurry rightward and reach the shaft's end before the wall crushes us. While we rush forward, we must climb steep surfaces and clear away rocky obstructions; also, we must evade vertically-moving spike creatures (which kinda resemble Thwimps) of varying speeds. At certain points, we have to manipulate arrow switches to either remove obstructions or conversely create helpful platforms--the type that entrap enemies and allow for us to safely travel over spike pits. If we can't get to a switch in time, we can otherwise damage-boost across such pits, but we'll pay a big price for doing so. In stages like this one, where we have to endure multiple precision-based challenges, we have to conserve as much health as possible.
Up next is a challenge room wherein we have to loop down to the bottom level and then grab the key that we can use to open a barrier on the left. While moving along the top level, we have to (a) manipulate arrow switches to change block arrangements, (b) jump onto and off rotating platforms that spin clockwise and counterclockwise, respectively, and do so at different speeds, and (c) travel over a long spike pit using a directional platform that moves in whichever direction you're facing; as we ride the platform, we have to evade the fireballs that are being spewed by the downward-facing stone demon heads. Thereafter, we drop down to the bottom level, where we have to shrink down and move through a tiny passage while again evading downward-facing demon-head fire; then we have to climb over some walls while avoiding the trio of horizontally-moving spike creatures that dart back and forth directly above them. At some point, we take a moment to admire all of the interesting Egyptian symbols that appear in the background; they add some nice flavor the environment.
Just beyond is the key, which we procure after engaging in some more climbing and switch-pulling. We then open the barrier and enter into the door, which takes us to the boss' chamber.
This stage's boss is a giant egg. After it emerges from the sand, it begins to roll forward and pursue us. We learn that we can't hurt it with ground-pounds and struggle to find an alternate means of damaging it. Eventually, though, we discover the answer: We have manipulate the egg's movement and coax it into crashing into a wall--an action that indeed causes it to suffer damage. After we do this three times, the egg's top portion breaks off, revealing its occupant: a snake whose head now protrudes from the opening. We can ground-pound the snake when it's in this state--when its head is poking it. After a few moments, it'll retract into the egg and restart the cycle. Ground-pounding it twice when its head is poking out will cause the egg to hatch completely. Then we enter a third cycle wherein the now-unbound snake burrows into the sand and reemerges as a large sand creature--a one-eyed mound that waves back and forth along the surface. To inflict damage, we have to remove the snake's cover by bouncing on the sandy mound and then ground-pound the snake once it's been rendered visible. We have to do this three times to win the battle.
The defeated snake decides to help us. Before leaving, it burrows into the ground and reemerges with a special item: the Cloud Walking Shoes, which, naturally, allow us to walk on clouds. We'll put these to use later. If we would have completed this stage by continuing to move right at the aforementioned juncture, we would have cleared the stage via the normal exit and thus missed out on getting the shoes. If we get procure them during the initial attempt, we save ourselves the trouble of having to come back here at a later time.
To the east of here is the Sand Castle Stage, but we can't yet do anything there. So instead we head north, to the upper map!
So we climb our way up the sky and specifically to the Good Princess' Castle Stage, which rests atop a mountain. Upon entering the castle, an unseen entity (the princess, probably) informs us via a prompt that all kinds of enemies will be trying to stop us. "Please, by all means be careful," she says in closing.
Well, there goes my plan to run in screaming and then flail about like an idiot for several hours. Thanks a lot, princess.
Visually speaking, this castle shares a lot of features with the previous Castle Ruins Stage, though it does exhibit some unique aesthetic touches. The floors here display a checkered motif--a pattern that closely matches the one that textures certain surfaces in Super Mario Bros. 3--and its strings of arched windows give view to the pretty pink- and purple-hued clouds that surround and provide support for the castle. It's all very attractive.
When we look directly above the starting point, we see the exit door, though it's completely blocked off. Our goal here is to loop up and around the castle and find our way to that door. In the first segment, we alternate between shrinking down to move through tiny passages and traveling over long spike pits by bouncing off of specially placed springs, flying pumpkins, and the ghosts that patrol these pits. At the room's end are two doors: an upper one and a lower one. Both lead to the same place, so this is simply a matter of choosing between two brands of poison.
The lower door takes us to a section wherein we have deal with sine-waving ghosts (yet another Medusa Head-like enemy) and stone-demon-head fire. In the end portion, we have to boost off of a ghost to clear high wall.
The top door takes us to a section wherein we have to platform over acid pits by jumping onto rotating platforms, which, again, spin either clockwise and counterclockwise, with paired platforms usually spinning in opposite directions and doing so at different speeds. At certain points, you'll also have to bounce off of some pumpkins. This top path is clearly the more difficult of the two, but it's the superior option because it houses a useful item: a power star. If you're still short of five health units, it'll provide you a highly desirable health upgrade, and in either case it'll fully replenish your health meter.
In the next section, you have to boost off of one of the flying pumpkins in order to reach a high-up ladder in the screen's top-left portion and thereafter traverse through a vertical corridor. We do this by using Mickey blocks as the platforms necessary to jump up to and through the normally-out-of-reach jump-through platforms seen above; in each case, we have to build multi-block columns while evading the spike creatures that fly back and forth across each level and potentially between the walls and our block constructions. This challenge demands a lot of timely jumping and crouching. This is a recycled challenge, yes, though this time there's a twist: You have to find a way to transport one of the lower-placed blocks to the top level, because, you'll discover, there aren't enough blocks up there; you're going to need an extra one. It's a nice little puzzle.
In the following segment, you have to climb up the corridor's walls and alternate between them while avoiding pumpkins and spike creatures. When we reach the room's top, we find a door.
In the first segment of this final section, we have to carefully maneuver our way through a passage wherein strings of spike creatures rise and lower in unison. While moving beneath them, we have to find the open spaces, settle into them, and wait. Since the hit-detection is less than favorable, we have to be accurate about how we do this; it helps to be tiny here. Along the way, we'll also have to work our way around larger spike creatures, which function similarly to their smaller siblings, and low-lying rotating platforms that can crush us instantly. At one point, we have to necessarily shrink in size so that we can enter a tiny passage and subsequently run across a series of pillar tops, between which undulate more spike creatures; if we screw up in any way--if we collide with a spike creature of stop running too early--we'll fall into a gap from which we can't escape; it'll be certain death. Here, in this lengthy segment, you have to be patient and calculated; you can't afford to recklessly charge ahead.
When we reach the end of the passage, we fall into a gap that leads down to that door we saw back at the stage's starting point. Entering the door ends the stage. We're then treated to a cut-scene wherein we're greeted by the princess (Minnie Mouse). She gives us some magic beans and tells us that we should plant them beneath the phantom's cloud castle; if we do this, a beanstalk will sprout and extend up into the clouds, carrying us with it. The clouds have moved out into the sea, she says, so we have to plant them on an island so that the beanstalk will grow in the right place. She then tells us where we can find the Cloud Walking Shoes (in case we missed them). They're in the pyramid, of course. We may not see the entrance at first, she says, but we'll locate it if we try really hard to do so. "If you succeed, I promise to award you with a kiss," she states in parting.
So we return to the lower map and head east, toward the docks. Though, we can't get to them without first passing through the Sand Castle Stage. Upon entering it, we find ourselves in, well, a giant sand castle! Its musical theme--the first new one we've heard in a while--is cheerful and spirited--a stark contrast to the tone conveyed by the music we heard in the last few stages, all of which have recycled that same dark, unnerving tune. It tells us that there's hope--that victory is now within our grasp. It encourages us to determinedly forge our way toward the goal!
In the first section's opening portion, we have to traverse across a large pool of quicksand; this process entails working around a stalking crab, which we're only able to temporarily immobilize with our ground-pound attack, and purposely letting ourselves sink into the sand when we need to pass beneath a low-hanging, spike-lined ceiling. We escape by jumping up to a block formed from sand; naturally it starts to disintegrate that moment we land on it, so we have to quickly spring off to it--jump over to the right, where we must now travel over hills of shifting sand.
Before we do that, though, we can check out the branching path to the left, accessing which requires jumping up to and off of another disintegrating block; there we'll find more shifting-sand hills, climbing over which will net us some treasure--a large coin. In both this bonus area and the path to the right, we have to deal with stalking crabs and also the newly introduced hermit crabs, which continuously drop in from above. Then we have to descend down to a lower level by sinking into a funnel-shaped pool of quicksand; after we drop through its opening, we head left and negotiate our way over and across more pools of quicksand and shifting-sand hills while dealing with the associated threats. At the end, we find a door.
Next up is a large water section. Here we have to swim up and around a series of flooded passages, through which we can proceed only after performing some necessary tasks. Mainly, we have to continuously remove colored-block barriers by correctly manipulating arrow switches. All the while, we have to avoid making contact with killer fish and spike-lined surfaces; also, we have to continue to locate and pop into surface pockets and refill our air meter. There's some strict timing involved, and in most cases we're barely going to make it to the next surface pocket. In the final passage, the water rises and lowers; we have to proceed through it while dealing with the changing conditions and therein carefully time our movements so that we don't make contact with the fish or the spike-lined surfaces.
In the following segment, we come across a large pool of water, and we're given two options: The quicker option, wherein we travel over the water via the platforms placed above it--and therein complete a series of long, difficult jumps--or the slower option, wherein we swim through the water and evade its enemy inhabitants. It's worth taking the latter option because the pool contains some treasure, though doing so also comes with some risk. Because, you see, there's a complication: The pool is filled with electric jellyfish that respond to an encroaching Mickey by electrifying the entire pool of water. If you want to remain safe, you'll have to preemptively eliminate them--hit them with blocks; otherwise, they'll continuously damage you.
Up ahead, we find a water spout upon which we can stand; though, it's no help to us because it's placed too far away from the high wall on the right--a wall that we're unable to climb because its surface is arched. The solution, we discover, is to pick up the nearby honeypot and place it atop the spout, doing which weighs it down and causes enough pressure to make water spout from an adjacent fissure on the right--one closer to the wall. We can use this one to access the higher level. There we find a checkpoint and a final door.
When we exit the door, we drop down into a pool. This is the chamber of the game's most obnoxious boss. It's a giant crab that causes all kinds of problems for us. The goal here is to hit the crab three times with a provided honeypot, though this proves to be immensely difficult. That's because we can only hit it when it's standing still and we have a clear path to it, which is almost never. The crab's is a fairly simple pattern: It skitters across the floor for a few seconds, in any which direction, and then pauses to rapidly rotate its claws and stir up a whirlpool that moves back and forth and swallows us up and temporarily removes our ability to control Mickey; after doing this, it takes a few steps in either direction and remains still for about two seconds.
Really, though, there's nothing "simple" about this fight. One problem is that the whirlpool takes up a whole lot of space and therein consistently denies us access to the honey pot; and since it takes time and effort to avoid whirlpools (we have to swim to the surface and jump over them), it's usually too late to do anything by the time we get to the pot--the crab has probably already restarted the cycle. I mean, two seconds is a ridiculously small window. Also, it happens way too often that the crab chooses to stop moving while standing right in front of the pot, making it impossible for us to pick it up. And because we're likely to be frustrated as we struggle to find a precious opening, we may forget about out meter and just suddenly die. This is not to mention that the timer is still counting down.
All of the patience and calculation in the world won't help you here. It's simply a matter of luck--of randomly stumbling into a scenario wherein you find yourself in possession of the pot while the idle crab just happens to be positioned right next to you. In attempting to beat this thing, we may very dump all of our lives and use multiple continues. This is the most aggravating, time-consuming part of the game; it's no fun at all. The designers obviously knew this, which is why they devised it to where the crab can only withstand three hits (thank goodness). This whole fight is just terrible.
Anyway: By defeating the crab, we release its prisoner--the king (Donald Duck). He explains that this fortress was turned into a sand castle after it fell under the influence of bad magic. Thus it went from guarding the harbor to gatekeeping it. He thanks us for rescuing him and then rewards us by providing us a ship from his harbor. He says that it'll help us reach the island.
Using the boat, we sail over to the Island Stage. We enter it holding the magic bean in our hands. At first glance, it appears that there's nothing here. All we find are three empty screens. If we continue heading right, we simply exit the stage. "Weird," we think.
Right about then, we remember what the princess told us: We have to plant the bean in a specific space. Well, there was one place of interest here: a small depression into which we dropped while running about. We decide to throw the bean into it (don't worry about throwing it in the wrong place; it'll reappear in your hands if you exit and then reenter the stage). As soon as we do this, we're taken back to the overworld map, where we watch a scene in which the beanstalk sprouts and extends up toward the right side of the upper map. When the action convenes, we find that the Island Stage has changed: The giant beanstalk now stands before us. It invites us to climb it. We start doing so after being encouraged by the stage's jolly-sounding musical theme.
We ascend the beanstalk via its giant leaves and spiraling scapes, which act as ladders. As we climb, we'll have to deal with crows, leaf-patrolling snakes, scape-clinging spiders, and whirlwinds. At certain points, we can branch off to the sides and over to the adjacent clouds, a couple of which hold treasure. The Island Stage is mostly about simple platforming, though there are instances in which you have to do something extra, like bouncing off a spider to reach a high-up platform or riding a whirlwind over to the other side of the screen so that you can grab onto an otherwise-inaccessible scape.
Upon reaching the top, we see the Magic Key sitting on a leaf. When we pick it up, a door appears on the cloud over to the right. After exiting the stage, we find ourselves standing on the far-east portion of the upper map--at the doorstep of the game's final stage.
So here we are in the Phantom Castle Stage, our final destination. The stage's musical theme confirms as much, its pounding beats and urgent tone working to convey an air of culmination.
The stage's structure and mode of progression, at least early on, very much remind us of Bowser's castle in Super Mario World. That is, it's designed to where we can choose our path through the castle. That's what we come to discover in the opening hall, where we find three doors. Each takes us to a distinctly designed pathway; each presents a unique challenge and a particular level of difficulty. Before we make our choice, though, we'll have to fend off a few low-level guardians--some minor resistance in the form of an undulating skull and a spider that rappels down on a web thread.
Door 1 takes us to the toughest pathway. It's a scrolling section wherein a crushing wall begins to chase us. We've faced a similar threat in the past, yeah, though this time there's a clever twist: We have to use the wall as our means of transportation! Specifically, we have to cling to it and ride it across a room whose surfaces are lined with spikes and whose open spaces are filled with hazards. Along the way, we have to climb up and down to work around and squeeze between obstructing structures, static spike creatures, and two types of flying skull heads (those that move back and forth and those that undulate). At certain points, we have to release our grip--drop down so that we can run ahead and clear away some blocky obstructions.
Behind door 2 is the easiest pathway. Here, in this scrolling section, we have to ride a long moving platform over a room-wide lava pool. While in transit, we'll have to skillfully jump over or crouch under incoming obstructions and otherwise evade undulating skull heads, stone heads' downward fire, and rebounding lava balls. The room's final challenge demands that we break off from the platform when suddenly it travels beneath a solid structure and rejoin it after rushing ahead and clearing away a column of destructible blocks.
The pathway beyond door 3 presents a moderate challenge. In this section, we have to travel over a room-wide lava pit by riding on a pair of blocks that travel along crisscrossing tracks. While in transit, we have to continuously switch between the two, making tricky, sometimes-dangerous jumps in the process; we have to do this to avoid being pushed into spikes or dipped into lava. At certain points, we have to work around and evade hovering fire creatures. It's beneficial to take this particular path because at its end is a power star, which will prove useful.
All three paths converge at the same place. We arrive at a section whose challenge is based around a unique mechanic. At first, though, the action seems standard: We head right and engage in some basic platforming--doing stuff like adeptly running beneath crushing iron balls; traveling across a lava pool via floating, fireball-spewing stone heads; and dealing with troublesome spiders and flame creatures. Our main goal is to reach the room's right side and open a locked barrier using the key that appears near the section's starting point. Beyond it is a door that leads to a one-screen room wherein we find a checkpoint and an arrow switch. To reach either, we have to shrink down and pass beneath an obstruction, through a tiny opening, while avoiding three from a trio of spike creatures that circumnavigate the room in a counterclockwise direction. We don't find out what the switch does until we reenter the preceding room and head left.
While we're traveling left, we notice that something has changed: The lava pool has now become water! We swim to its ... bottom surface (apparently the water is floating) and drop down into a parallel pathway. Inspecting it, we discover that it's an upside-down version of the above pathway! Everything here functions in reverse, including all enemies and obstacles. Though, our biggest problem is that we can't progress to the right, past a locked barrier, because there are no keys down here. The only thing we can do is head left, over to a door that leads back to the upper room's starting point. After looping around a couple of times, confused, we finally start putting our observational skills to use and come to realize what we're supposed to do: We have to take the key from the upper level down to the lower level and reuse it there! Also, we have to be sure to identify and manipulate a ceiling-mounted arrow switch so that we can change the colored-block arrangement to one that benefits us--to one that provides us the platform necessary to access the upside-down door on the lower level's far-right side. At the same time, it embeds the blocks that were restricting the movement of the crushing iron balls, for which we have to look out.
When we exit the door, we drop into a long pathway that contains a few spiky obstructions but is otherwise empty, it seems. If we head right, we find absolutely nothing, which makes us think that all of this space was pointlessly added. That turns out to be far from the case. When we head back left and attempt to enter the only accessible door, we come to discover why the room was designed this way; we learn that it's all part of another one of the game's fun, interesting mechanics: As we approach the door in question, it suddenly springs to life and starts jumping toward us, the now-expression-bearing portal angrily pouncing about without pause; when we subdue it with a ground-pound, it loses its magical imbuement and becomes a normal door, passing through which takes us to an adjoining room--to a background layer. Upon entering it, we find that it's similarly structured, though we can't get to the arrow switch on its far-right side because an obstructive pillar blocks off our access.
That's when we realize that have to utilize the sentient door in a specific way: We have to lure it over to the front plane's far-right side and subdue it there. Then we can pass through it and arrive in the rear plane's far-right side and raise that switch. From here, we can head left (strangely, we're allowed to pass through the pillar while moving in this direction), over to rear plane's far-left side, where there are two doors. The one on the ceiling takes us back to the front plane, which is not where we want to be; rather, we want to take the lower door--the escape point.
When we enter the next section, we fall onto a conveyor that dumps is into another one of those floating pools of water. We have to swim to its bottom, a process that entails snaking around jutting platforms while evading spiky obstructions both stationary and mobile. If possible, we want to swim beneath the last platform in line, just above the water's lower surface, and drop down on the room's right side, onto a high-up platform upon which rests a coin-containing chest. And finally we want to drop down to the room's bottom portion, where lies a checkpoint and the door that will take us to the final boss' chamber. Inside we'll challenge the Phantom!
The wolf-like Phantom's is a multi-phase battle. In the first phase, he teleports about the room and stops to release three large fireballs in a wide-ranging spread-shot. At first, this attack seems impossible to avoid, though eventually we discover that the space directly in front of the Phantom functions as a safe spot. To damage the phantom, we have to bounce on his head moments after he reappears, before he has the chance to cast the fireball spell. He responds by twisting himself into a tornado and thereafter whipping his way back and forth across the room; he can cease this attack at any time, stopping at any location. Striking him twice ends this phase.
Upon suffering that second hit, the Phantom again twists himself into a tornado but this time rebounds his way up to the ceiling, where he remains for the entirety of the next phase. Now upside-down, the teleporting Phantom switches things up; he starts casting a quake spell that causes blocks to fall from the ceiling. We have to pick up the one block that doesn't vanish and subsequently jump into the air and throw it into his head. In response, he'll execute the tornado attack, though only for the purpose of relocating (he can't hurt us with this attack when he's doing it on the ceiling).
After taking two blocks to the face, he transforms himself into an energy ball and begins bouncing along the ground, his movement forcing us into evasion mode wherein we have to reactively jump or crouch. Eventually he stops bouncing and retakes wizard form, at which point he casts a spell that causes two lightning bolts to strike down on either side of his frame. As it was in the first phase, we have to inflict damage by bouncing on his head before he's able to cast the spell. Three such hits will finish him off. After the final blow is delivered, he'll explode into oblivion. Seconds later, the Magic Crystal will materialize mid-screen and then drop to the ground. Picking it up hammers home the victory and ends the game.
Immediately we cut to the ending scene. We watch on as the princess gives Mickey that kiss she promised him a while back. As she delivers it, a little heart floats up into the air, its presence confirming the sincerity of the act. Then the credits begin to roll. Once the last name has scrolled off, we're brought to a tabulation screen that lists our totals: the number of power stars we collected (with a bonus awarded if we obtained all 14 of them), our "Tries" bonus (10,000 points for each remaining life), our final score, and the high score. In the post-credits scene, Mickey awakes in his chair with a lipstick mark pressed into his right cheek, leaving us with the Philip K. Dick-type question of "Was it real or all a dream?!"
Even I'm not boring enough to entertain that question, so I'll just let it hang out there. All I care about is the game's content, the majority of which is quite excellent.
A "The End" screen closes things out.
Enduring Thoughts
And that absolute mountain of text represents what I've long been meaning to say about Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, one of the best Disney games I've ever played, 8-bit or otherwise. Certainly it earns high marks in all of the traditionally observed categories: It looks and sounds great, it features terrific level design, it controls really well, and it offers a well-schemed progressive difficulty. But to judge Land of Illusion in those terms, alone, would be to overlook its most impressive quality: Its creative, innovative spirit! I tell you: This game is packed with clever ideas. Each of its stages introduces a novel mechanic or something that puts an interesting twist on an established mechanic. The result is a game that's as fun to observe and experiment with as it is to play.
All I can is that Land of Illusion is definitely worth your time. It represents 8-bit gaming at its finest. It tells you a story about a game that felt inspired to push its hardware to the max at a time when the industry and its consumers were moving on from games in this format, Land of Illusion's a defiant act that saw it jump in front of the departing crowd, strike a Superman pose, and say, "Not so fast! We ain't done here yet!" It speaks of a game that was so very eager to carry on the spirit of the 8-bit era. And that's what it did. That's what it still does. It carries that flag proudly.
It's a shame, really, that Sega and Aspect's products are never mentioned when people talk about their favorite 8-bit Disney games. It's painful to know that these terrific games are out there just begging to be played, but they can't find an audience because most gaming enthusiasts aren't aware that they exist. More people should know about them. More people should know about how much fun they are. They absolutely deserve such recognition. They deserve to stand alongside the NES Disney games. Hopefully they'll appear on digital services or in a future compilation--in a Disney Afternoon Collection Volume 2. Then everyone will get to see what I'm talking about.
Moreover, they'll get to play Land of Illusion. They'll come to know that it's wonderfully creative, imagination-stirring, and a whole lot of fun.
Those, they'll see, are the qualities that make Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse what it is: the quintessential 8-bit game.
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