This game is extremely similar to Magical Quest, but does not have the words Magical Quest in its title. Nevertheless, it is considered the sequel. It has 2-player simultaneous play, so there's probably a good reason that the went back to Magical Quest for the third entry.
Anyway, the circus has come to town. When Mickey and Minnie Mouse make their way there, however, the circus is strangely awry. Even Goofy is at a loss for what has happened. Mickie and Minnie then go into the circus to see what's going on, but will they get more than they bargained for?
Anyway, you can choose between Mickey and Minnie before the first level. There's no actual gameplay difference between the two characters, except the suits look different. (Yes, there are suits just like Magical Quest.) Of course, if you've played the Game Boy Advance version of the first game, you'd probably already known this.
Stage 1
The Haunted Circus
Anyway, the gameplay is much like the first game. The grey clown-like things that you see running around at the beginning of the level are just like the bugs from the very first level. You can jump on them, then grab them and toss them around just like in the last game. The game starts off nice and slow, just like last time. (I know, I'm making too many compare-and-contrast statements here, forgive me.)
When you reach the pond with the fish and the platforms being held by balloons, go swim under the first post. You'll get a hidden 2-Up. This is really easy to miss, especially if this is your first time playing. Just watch out with the fish, as they have a water-spitting attack that has a little bit of range to it. They'll also come at you if you're right next to them, which can also be a real pain at times.
The balloon enemies can be defeated by jumping on them. They explode when they reach a certain altitude, dropping two spiked balls in their wake. Watch out for the jack-in-the-boxes, as they will pop out after shaking. Thankfully, you can also jump on the jack-in-the-boxes after they expose themselves.
You'll soon meet your first mid-boss: a fire juggling weasel. When he stops, jump on his head when he throws all of his torches at once like a massive fire ring. He'll then run towards his torches to get them back, which gives you a little more time to plan your attack if you're too far away from him. He seems tedious, since you just have a jump attack, but just be patient. He's really easy.
Watch out near the cages so you don't get hit by the monkeys or their projectiles. I'm going to have to agree with newfiebangaa and say that they seriously look so much like Abu from Aladdin to warrant consideration of them being Abu's wicked brother.
You'll then find Donald Duck rummaging around in a locked box. He'll find a zillion Mickey blocks (yup, the same ones from the last game) as well as a pair of overalls with a vacuum cleaner. This is the Sweeper Suit, and it's your first suit of the game. (You get one on the first level? Well, this is a surprise.) It has a power gauge that shows how much energy your vacuum cleaner has.
Whenever you sweep up enemies with the Sweeper Suit, you'll turn them into coins. Some enemies, like the monkeys in the cages, won't be turned into coins but will be defeated just the same.
Anyway, go back to the left and you'll see grey boxes drop down. Just like the last game, these are the stationary blocks that won't budge. The yellow ones can be picked up and used against enemies, while the pink ones are just like the yellow ones except they continually respawn at the same point you picked them up.
The batteries refill the power for the Sweeper Suit.
Be careful on the swings, as they'll fall down a few seconds after you land on them. Also, the net will cause you to run really fast on the way down, just like any other slopes do, so be careful around the enemies here.
The giant yellow Mickey Boxes make their appearance again. The first one you see has ten coins, while the second one contains a Crystal Heart, which completely refills your health increases your maximum hit points by one.
Watch out near the cannon, as it shoots not only cannonballs, but also miniature soldiers in pink that look like Pete. Why so early in the game? We'll find out soon enough.
You'll soon meet the first boss of the game: a circus lion. Use the Sweeper Suit to suck out out the parts of its mane, and jump on its head. The more of its mane that you sweep up, the easier it is to dodge its mane attack, where the main is sent out after you like a boomerang. The only real way to do damage is to jump on its head, and when you suck up enough parts of the lion's mane, you'll be able to do just that.
He also has a jump attack, and when you suck up all of his mane, that's the only attack he can resort to. Just watch for the shadow on the ground. He'll also start sneezing when he's supposed to send his mane at you, which gives you a free hit you'll definitely need, because he'll be sneezing a lot then.
Unlike the last game, where you were sent back to a certain point if you died, you come back exactly to where you died, without any sort of game interruption. It's basically the same way that deaths work in Final Fight and other Capcom beat-'em-ups. This really makes the game a lot more fun.
I should have also mentioned something very obvious: no time limits. Yep, you're not fighting the clock anymore. Feel free to take as much time as you need to do...well...anything.
Stage 2
The Jungle
You know what's really interesting? The Sweeper Suit makes Mickey looks like he came straight out of a Contra game.
Anyway, Mickey will meet with the Lonesome Ghosts, who are busy entertaining Pluto. Even Pluto got lost after being scared by something at the circus, and they've told him to come to their home on the other side of the jungle. They've also allowed you to join them there as well, and give you another suit: the Safari Suit. This is basically the same as the mountain climbing suit you got close to the end of the first game. This time around, you won't have to aim with the Control Pad and press Y to use it...and while this makes this variation of the mountain climbing suit easier to use, it's also a bit of a burden as the hook attack is no longer available to you, leaving jumping on heads as your only attack option. Just jump into the grey circles that signify hooks you can swing on, and you'll instantly hook up to it. You can also swing down vine slides by approaching them in the exact same way, and climb walls just as easily.
You can also hit enemies with your swinging animation whenever necessary. That's a nice feature to add to the suit, since I don't think you could do that in the last game. Stop me if I'm wrong.
The guys in the bushes are your throwable enemies. You'll also see more miniature Petes.
The mid-boss here is a turtle. Wait for him to come out of the water and expose himself, then jump on his head, then avoid him as he ducks back into his shell and spins back into the water. From there, he'll appear at the surface of the water and try to splash you with water. Avoid this attack. He'll then jump out of the water and his attack pattern will repeat. Use the Safari Suit to stay clipped on to the hooks and wait for him to show up. He's also pretty easy, and he'll go down after four hits.
The snails not only have black boxing gloves, they also hide into their shells and cause spikes to pop out of them, keeping you from jumping on them for a few seconds. They'll come out and go about their business after they perform this attack. From there, you can throw them into other enemies.
Enter the door below the first snake to find another Crystal Heart.
The snakes block your path. If you jump on their heads, you can temporarily stand on them and use them as platforms to get somewhere.
The flying squirrels fly around the stage and get around quickly, so be ready to jump on one if it comes your way.
In the third section, watch out for all the spiked vines and make your way to the right, avoiding the flying squirrels as you go. When you reach the water with the fish in it, go to the left and keep going. In the very far left is another hidden 2-Up.
You'll then end up in a swamp. Wait for the gases to stop creeping out of the swamp water before jumping over the pits that are full of the stuff.
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