Disney Illusion Island (NS) - Review
by Evan Norris , posted on 27 July 2023 / 3,505 Views
The word "illusion", in the context of Disney and Mickey Mouse, carries a lot of weight in video game circles. The 1990 platformer Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse remains a fan favorite 33 years later, and often finds its way onto lists of top Sega Genesis games. Its co-op follow-up, World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, while not as spectacular, retains a loyal following. By embracing the word "illusion" and focusing on 2D platforming, Disney Games' newest title Disney Illusion Island leans into this legacy. But is it worthy of the name?
The story in Disney Illusion Island, like all grand adventures, starts with a picnic. Summoned to the mysterious land of Monoth with expectations of a snack-filled island getaway, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy — the core four of Disney characters — are soon wrapped up in a quest to retrieve three magical Tomes, stolen by shadowy figures. Vowing to become champions of justice, Mickey and team set off on a heroic quest across the island's three expansive biomes to return the Tomes to their rightful place. Of course, since this is an Illusion game, not everything is what it seems.
Although Disney Illusion Island stars four of the most iconic, enduring animated characters of all time, and enjoys access to the full weight of 95 years of Disney animation, its story is only okay. Everything unfolds in a safe, predictable way, despite some late twists and turns. Perhaps most disappointing is Monoth itself, in large part because it should have been a home run. Divided into three unusual biomes, the island of Monoth is, at least on paper, a super weird and creative place. Heck, the western biome, Pavonia, is sheltered entirely by a gigantic bird called The Highness. Yet you can never truly appreciate this or other uncommon elements in the game, since so many rooms and corridors feature the same layouts and generic assets, regardless of biome. The sole exception is The Sky Below, the underwater stretch in the eastern biome, Astrono. Yet even this just feels like an endless succession of underwater chambers — not a slow descent into the murky, inky abyss. Overall, there's a frustrating lack of atmosphere in Disney Illusion Island. Everything seems superficial, like the fake storefronts you'd find at Walt Disney World.
What the game lacks in ambiance, it makes up for in animation. The four heroes are brought to life on screen flawlessly, with unique and detailed running, jumping, and idle animations. What's more, all characters enjoy specific versions of every special move, resulting in some brilliant visuals. For example, Donald smashes downward through barriers atop an anvil, while Goofy uses a donut (all his moves are food themed, because of course they are). Meanwhile, Minnie uses an ice axe to double jump, where Mickey deploys an oversized pencil. I found myself constantly rotating through all the characters in my single-player campaign just to see what each one looked like as they traversed Monoth. Fans of these Disney icons and of hand-drawn animation in general will find a lot to enjoy here.
Fans of 2D platforming will also find a lot to like. Developer Dlala Studios really nailed the basics, delivering tight and responsive controls; rhythmic, acrobatic movement; and interesting platforming conceits and hazards. It feels great to bounce, swing, and swim through Monoth, alone or with friends. There's a lovely fluidity to the locomotion in the game.
While the moment-to-moment gameplay in Disney Illusion Island is solid, thanks to precise controls and graceful platforming, the campaign that envelops that gameplay is decidedly less successful. Indeed, for much of the game's running time it feels very much like a chore. This is caused by a few things, including excessive backtracking and time-wasting tasks. At many junctures in Monoth, the path forward is blocked by a door. In order to proceed, you'll need to explore the area for three hidden keys. Dlala leans on this mechanism a lot in the opening hours of the game, and it gets tedious fast. Also tedious is the list of arbitrary missions that NPCs hand out, several of which require you to march backward to another biome to flip a switch or unclog a drain and then return to the NPC to get on with the story. The game ends up feeling longer than it actually is, due to all the monotonous busy work.
Luckily, things get better at about the six-hour mark. It's around this time that the game finally unlocks fast travel, allowing the heroic foursome to warp to any save spot in Monoth in mere seconds. Previously, players had to either travel everywhere on foot or rely on a handful of teleportation devices, which only communicated between two spots each. Fast travel greatly improves upon the game's pacing and allows for a fun bout of collectible clean-up, the best part of a Metroidvania — yes, Disney Illusion Island is a Metroidvania, which is somewhat surprising considering the pre-launch footage.
Speaking of collectibles, they're a big part of the experience. Hidden throughout Monoth are scores of tokens and treasures, which grant rewards and activate achievements. The most common items are "glimts", blue icons that unlock extra hearts and concept art. Less common are memorabilia bundles, which include items from Disney adventures gone by, as far back as Steamboat Willie and as recent as The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse. There are also dozens of Hidden Mickey images to be found and photographed, and 91 "tokuns", which are cards with information about the denizens and critters of Monoth. If you discover every glimt in the game, you'll unlock a new permadeath mode called "Iron Mouse", a very pleasant surprise. And if you find each and every collectible, you'll be treated to an extra-special ending.
Going for 100% is definitely worth it, considering the rewards. It will also provide a touch more value to the proceedings. Playing through the campaign with some ancillary content should take you about seven hours, but a complete run-through will bring you closer to nine. After that you can experiment with the challenging Iron Mouse Mode or simply run it back with one, two, or three friends in tow.
On the topic of friends, Disney Illusion Island supports simultaneous local co-op for up to four players. This functionality is incorporated smoothly into the campaign, with plenty of wide shots to keep the action centered. There are also a handful of co-op exclusive maneuvers. One of the niftiest multiplayer elements Dlala added is a handicap tuner in the character select screen, which allows each player to adjust their number of hearts. So, instead of forcing easy or hard mode on all players, regardless of skill, the game allows for an individualized approach. It's a very welcome feature.
Also welcome is the game's orchestral score, composed by David Housden and performed by the Nashville Scoring Orchestra. Nothing here is super memorable, but it's lovely, relaxing music — like the tunes piped into a Disney theme park. More impressive is the game's voice work. Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy for over 35 years, is as great as ever. Tony Anselmo is a sarcastic hoot as Donald Duck. And Bret Iwan and Kaitlyn Robrock nail their roles as Mickey and Minnie, respectively.
Disney Illusion Island isn't as good as Castle of Illusion, but it's a perfectly decent entry in the Disney game canon. While the story and venue fail to leave a strong impression, and the backtracking gameplay gets old fast, the game's successes in animation, platforming mechanics, and end-game content help balance things out. This is an adventure that gets better as it goes, so if you decide to invest in the game, be careful not to bow out before reaching the good stuff.
VGChartz Verdict
6
Decent
This review is based on a digital copy of Disney Illusion Island for the NS, provided by the publisher.
