I've played two of the titles in the Illusion series (three if you count the Master System and the Genesis/Mega Drive versions of Castle as different games, which they are), but when I found out there was a little more to it than just "go to all these places, do these things and beat the main antagonist," I just had to look further into it. And here we are.
One evening, Mickey fell asleep while reading a book of fairy tales. When he woke up, he was no longer in his home, but in a strange and gloomy village.
"Gosh, it sure seems creepy around here."
"An evil phantom has stolen the magic crystal that protected everyone in the village. With the crystal gone, the good magic in this valley has disappeared. In its place, bad magic has changed everything. Now, rather than being a place of happiness, the valley is full of gloom. Can you help us?"
"Uh, did you say...phantom?"
"Yes, an evil phantom who lives in a castle in the clouds. A good princess in the north mountains can tell you the best way to get there."
"Swell! I'll do my best."
Once you press Start on the title screen, you'll be on the world map. The first place you can go to is the Forest Stage.
Forest Stage
Much like in Castle of Illusion for Sega Master System, you have to press the jump button twice to butt bounce on enemies and defeat them. You also use the other button to pick up blocks and throw them at enemies, which also defeats them.
Enemies here include snakes, spiders that crawl across the webs and a bird that you'll only see if you keep going right instead of up at the start.
At the bottom is your heads-up display. Power indicates how many stars you have left, tries indicate how many lives you have left, score is your current amount of points earned, and time shows how much time you have left. If the time goes all the way down to zero, you'll lose a life.
If you go up from the start, you'll take the high road. You'll have no choice but to get there anyway. The spinning leaves are platforms that slowly move downwards before landing in the webs, and you can use them to jump to the other end.
Climb on the vines by jumping into them and holding Up or Down on the D-Pad. This will help you get past the whirlwinds which will blow you around.
Slices of cake will refill one unit of health, while whole cakes will refill three. To open chests, butt bounce on them.
Get into the whirlwind to get past the spikes, then use the D-Pad to grab the vine so you can stop being blown around.
To enter the opening in the background, walk up to it and press Up.
The second area has you going up a tree.
Sometimes, the arrow on a sign will change color. If that happens, you just touched a check point. You'll return there instead of the start of the level if you lose a try.
Coins give you points. Big points give more than small ones.
You can pick up the barrels to move them around and use them as platforms.
Oranges will drop down, so watch the skies. Thankfully, they always drop down from the same place every time.
The spiders here move up and down. Wait for them to come down before you butt bounce on them.
At the top of the tree is a snake. Grab the apple and throw it into the snake's mouth to continue to the key. Pick up the key, and you'll open up the exit to the level. It's now on to the Lake Stage.
Lake Stage
Unlike other games in the Illusion series, you have an air meter. If you run out of air, you'll lose a life. Use the D-Pad and the jump button to swim. If you need air, swim all the way to the surface and either jump out of the water or hold Up at the surface to get all your air back.
The water here rises and lowers, which can make you wait at times to get past certain hazards. Just stay near the surface and don't go anywhere until you have room, and you'll be all right.
Watch out for any and all enemies and hazards, such as the spikes, the green balls that float on the surface of the water and the fish that swim forward,
Every once in a while, you'll be pushed back by the current. Use Up and Down to grab onto the vines if that happens. Once the current stops moving, you can continue forward. You'll want to be quick but cautious so you don't spend so much time in the water that you end up drowning and losing a life.
At the waterfall, watch for the fish that jump out from underneath, and butt bounce them if you want. At the pool of water, you'll need to watch out for the green ball that swims around in a circle and throw a block at it to get the key. Once you get the key, go up to find the exit.
Blacksmith's Castle Stage
When you start, be ready to run! The flame at the left will grow legs and follow your around, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Thankfully, its two weaknesses are dead ends with no way out and water. Just keep going.
Dragons will come out of the lava and spit fireballs here, but if you're able to get through here pretty quickly, you won't have to deal with them very much.
Watch for platforms that move up and down above the lava.
Yes, the matches have limbs. If you go to the right with the help of the jumping board at the ladder, you'll get a big coin.
At the top of the ladder, use the jumping board to get to the flashing star to the right. This is a Power Star, and there are fourteen of them in the game. By picking one up, you'll get an extra hit point for your power. You can have up to five, but there are fourteen of them in all and getting them all will get you a 100% clear.
From here, head to the left. There will be fireballs that leap in and out of the water, and some of them will cause a little bit of fire to be in your path from hitting the underside of a platform.
At the exit door, you'll face a big red dragon. Throw blocks at it, and watch out for the fireballs that bounce around at 45 degree angles. After three hits, the big red dragon goes down, and you'll rescue a villager. He will tell you that the bad magic had him trapped in his own castle, and that you'll have to travel through a tiny cavern up ahead. However, you'll need to shrink in size to get in, and there is a shrinking potion in the castle ruins. Also, the fire in his castle has weakened, leading the water in the lake to rise and open a path to the castle ruins. He also hands you a flute that allows you to go back to previous areas.
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