Buy Disney Illusion Island

When I was growing up, Disney's Castle of Illusion was one of my favorite platformers. A weird fantasy take on the illustrious Mickey Mouse, it saw him platforming through crazy landscapes. It was popular enough that it got a full 3D remake, so it's one of those niche titles that stands out. Disney Illusion Island aims to capture the same sort of feel but with the modern mouse and pals and more of a Metroidvania feel. It doesn't eclipse Castle of Illusion, but it's still a darn fine game.

In the game, Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy all receive invites to a picnic on a mysterious island. Each assumes the other sent the invites until they get there and discover that they were sent by a mysterious tribe of little creatures, led by the anxious Toku. Their powerful tomes have been stolen, and without them, their society is doomed. Having heard stories of the amazing Mickey and his friends, they lured them there so they can get help. Naturally, most of the crew agrees to help, even if Donald needs to be bribed with the promise of treasure.

Illusion Island is a Metroidvania through and through. Your cast of characters ventures through the titular island searching for the lost tomes. As you can imagine, nothing is straightforward. You might have what seems like a simple path, but you must collect keys, find a new power-up, and other such delays that give you a reason to poke around the environment. By the standards of the genre, it's relatively linear. You're always given a goal to head toward, and it takes a while before you can backtrack for things that you missed. In fact, a good chunk of the game will eventually lead you back to earlier areas, but there were times that I needed to head back on my own to find missed items.

Each of the four characters plays identically. What sets them apart is fewer different powers and more different animations, many of which are callbacks to previous Disney stories. Goofy lopes along, while Donald always seems to charge forward, and Mickey and Minnie feel more traditional. Just pick your favorite, and you're free to adventure as whoever you like.

The "same powers, different animations" mechanic applies to the various power-ups too. In good Metroidvania fashion, you'll get new power-ups as you progress: double-jumps, wall jumps, ground pounds, the ability to go through secret doors, and more. The game tailors each power-up to the character, even if they function similarly. Let's take the double-jump, for example. Mickey gets a short-ranged jetpack, whereas Donald rides a dangerous explosive rocket. Some of these are even fun references, such as Donald's wall jump ability relying on a Quackshot-style plunger.

Probably the most distinctive thing about Illusion Island compared to most Metroid-style games is that there isn't really any combat. Instead, the game is focused almost exclusively on platforming challenges. There are enemies, but they are obstacles to be avoided rather than something to smash. The game has occasional boss battles, but they're framed more like platforming challenges than anything else. It's an interesting dynamic for a Metroidvania-style game, and I think it works really well for the genre. By focusing almost exclusively on movement and exploration powers, it opens up more room for the game to focus on a specific skill set.

The bulk of the exploration in the game is for collectibles, of which the game has a ton. There are glowing orbs that eventually unlock gallery options, there's memorabilia that includes lore and references to previous Disney stories, and more. Most of these are for flavor, but you can eventually unlock additional health for your characters, which adds some extra room for platforming. Most of the collectibles are hidden via simple but fun platforming challenges, so even the act of getting them is a fun little romp.

Illusion Island is designed for co-op up to four players, but that seems to exist so children can play with parents. It's a very friendly game with a relatively low difficulty and a lot of different assist options, so players of all stripes can enjoy themselves. If you want a challenge, you can play a mode that lowers your health to one heart and makes everything much harder, but it isn't ever going to be a super-punishing game. It's very much designed to be a beginner's Metroidvania, so it's a good way to introduce younger gamers to the genre.

It's just fun. It's a well-designed game with a lot of simple but enjoyable platforming challenges and just enough bite to prevent it from getting boring. Every time I got a new power-up, I enjoyed the ways it was integrated into exploration, and the game is pretty good about constantly throwing new gimmicks and challenges at you to keep your attention. It isn't the most ambitious game in the world, but that's not a significant flaw. It wants to give you a charming little adventure, and it succeeds.

The visual style is excellent. Using the "old-modern" style for recent Mickey Mouse cartoons, it portrays a simple and cartoonish world that is fun to look at. Each of the main characters is well animated, and each new move adds some visual flair to set them apart. The environments are lush and colorful, but I wish they had more variety. The voice acting, which is mostly used for the animated cut scenes, is quite good, as you'd imagine. It's a cute little game. Perhaps the one area I found a bit weak was the music, which is mostly solid but doesn't hit the highs of Castle of Illusion.

Disney Illusion Island is a fun, all-ages romp through a Disneyfied fantasy world. It doesn't do anything outside of what is expected, but what it does, it does well. The platforming is easy to pick up and fun to master, and there's a sense of progression and advancement to the game that helps keep it feeling like a true Metroidvania. It's a cute, charming and enjoyable adventure, and sometimes, that is all a game needs to be. Now if only it would just stop bullying poor Donald Duck so much ....

Score: 8.0/10