Here's the entire game in one sitting, minus commentary. Enjoy!
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, as well as to break chests and open them to get the contents inside.. 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.
The arrow on a sign will change color when you pass by it. If that happens, you just touched a checkpoint. 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. To do that, move into it, then press 1 to pick it up. Press 1 again to throw it forward.
Orange spiky balls 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. After you get to the maximum of five stars for your health, picking up a Power Star will give you an extra life instead. You can also get extra lives off points if you can get your score high enough.
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 exit out of previously cleared areas.
Lake Stage
Now that the water is at a higher level, if you return to the lake, you can get to the exit instantly.
If you go back to the cave where the currents pushed you back, the currents won't be there anymore. You can also go up in that gap in the center of the ceiling to get a Power Star.
With the Magic Flute, you can leave a previously cleared level by pausing the game with the console's pause button and selecting "Yes" if the game asks if you want to leave.
Castle Ruins Stage
The place will be dark, but if you grab the lantern, you will light the room up. If you put it down, it will be dark again.
The ghosts just move back and forth. If you bounce on them, they will come back after a few seconds. The jack-o-lanterns will fly towards you, but you can butt bounce on them easily.
There is a power star the checkpoint, but you won't be able to get it yet.
The Mickey blocks are re-usable. You can use them to make a bridge across the spike pit, and you can also use them to get to the treasure chest at the end of the first section. Make sure not to accidentally bounce on them and break them.
The second section is an auto-scroller. The buttons will make the screen go in the opposite direction. Once you get the key at the end, you'll be able to use them to get back to the wall with the keyhole at the far left. Make sure you stand on a button to scroll enough of the screen back to the right so you can reveal the next button and get to it in time. As for those blocks stacked on each other that you couldn't get rid of, you'll need to put the key on the button, stand on the key, grab and throw the top block to get rid of it, then grab and throw the bottom one. From there, you can grab the key and get to the door with the keyhole.
The boss is a ghost. When the ghost dives at you, bounce on its head. The ghost will produce flames with every hit you deal, and you'll have to watch out for the flames as you bounce on the ghost. After three hits, you'll get the shrinking potion. While crouching, you can now press Button 1 to shrink in size. Doing that a second time will allow you to return to normal size.
Tiny Cavern Stage
You'll need to use the shrinking potion to get around in here.
The pill bug enemies will roll towards you when you get close enough. Just approach, and jump straight up and butt bounce when they move.
The stag beetles will rise out of the ground and chomp away before going back into the ground; wait for them to descend before walking past them.
Watch out for moving floors; they can crush you into the ceiling if you're not careful.
There is a background layer and a foreground layer to this stage; to switch between them, you'll have to find an opening with a purple background and enter it. Also, just walk past the spider on the way to the key, and don't jump near it.
Flower Field Stage
The worms just move back and forth; the bees will dive down at you. Wait for the bees to stop and move straight up before trying to butt bounce on them.
The yellow piranha plants will eat you if you land on them.
The drop of water that moves down across the leaves will hurt you if you touch it.
The white puffy dandelion produces seeds you can stand on and ride to get past the second set of piranha plants.
The butterfly just flies forwards. If you shrink with the Shrink Potion and butt bounce on it as it heads to the left, you'll find a Power Star.
The brambles are spikes; don't land in them.
Toy Workshop Stage
The cannons shoot mortar shots upwards; wait until after they fire to butt bounce them.
The orange blocks can be grabbed and thrown at enemies, but they can also be butt bounced on.
Just like in World of Illusion, put barrels on switches by picking them up and placing them with Button 1.
The water shooting out of the water pistols act like conveyor belts; watch how the fish move before butt bouncing on them.
If you see a door, either transparent or solid, press Up to enter it. At the piano keys, jump over the musical notes. Enter the door after the piano keys, go right to get a Power Star and open a shortcut back to the piano keys.
The decks of cards drop cards down; you can either wait for them to get out of the way or butt bounce on the cards.
The ? block has a boxing glove inside. Avoid the boxing glove and use it when it punches downward to get to a new area.
To go up on the yo-yo, jump onto the yo-yo, then run to the right to get it moving upwards. Take care not to accidentally run your way into the ceiling spikes.
Throw an orange ball into the big orange prize ball in the ceiling to get the key.
From here, keep yourself lined up with the doors as you make your way down to get to the last part of this level, and use the shrinking potion to get to the second key. Use the key to get to the button, stand on the button, and stop it so the crane on the ceiling grabs the key and takes it to you. From there, use the key on the keyhole to enter another boss battle.
The boss here is a set of cards. Butt bounce on the cards when they are on the ground as they jump, then be ready to jump over the last card as it spins back and forth across the room. When the card stops, butt bounce on it, then be ready to dodge again. After three butt bounces, you'll save Goofy, who will tell you about the nearby cliff that you'll need the rope in the Palace Ruins to climb on. Goofy will then destroy the boulders blocking the ruins with a toy cannon.
Palace Ruins Stage
Bats will swoop at you at the start. They can be butt bounced on.
If you see any bouncing rocks, butt bounce them to stop them. The debris will destroy any destructible blocks.
Watch out for the fireballs from the stone dragon heads.
The static brown boulders explode when you get near them, and the debris can destroy destructible blocks. You can butt bounce them near the blocks to speed up the process if need be.
You'll need to use the barrel with the blue M on it to get further up the first area.
You'll need to make your way down an quickly. While the white stars that create barriers of other white stars are fast, they don't outright kill you, but they can block your path and leave you no choice but to lose a life. Once you reach the checkpoint in the middle of the area, you'll have to deal with a rolling boulder.
When you reach the bottom, the boulder turns into a boss. Keep away from it. When the boulder hits a wall, it will drop a bouncing rock. Butt bounce on the bouncing rock and throw it at the boulder as it smiles. You can only have one bouncy, throwable rock on screen at the time. After four hits, you'll get the rope. The rope allows you to climb walls by simply moving towards them and pressing Up on the D-Pad. You'll then get a key to exit the level.
Forest Stage
There is a shortcut that leads straight to the snake: bounce off a snake into the wall next to the door leading to the tree and keep holding Right. You'll go through the wall and find a vine that leads to the snake. You can then climb back down to the tree.
Head back to the tree and enter the second door you see on the way up. Press Up at the wall, then jump mid-way up the wall to get to the Power Star.
Castle Ruins Stage
Head all the way to the left at the start and use the lanterns to get there. At the checkpoint, climb the wall to the left with the Rope to get the Power Star.
If you jump to the left at the wall after the Power Star, you'll find a hidden chest with a big coin. From here, head right to get out.
Tiny Cavern Stage
Climb up the left wall where the three climbable root vines are. You'll climb into a hidden area. One of the two chests instead contains an extra life. From here, use the Shrink Potion and head left.
At the exit, climb up on the wall to the left with the Rope, then hold Right on the D-Pad and jump to get the Power Star. Thankfully, you can climb back up with the Rope if you miss it.
Palace Ruins Stage
At the second bouncing boulder, you'll need to climb up the ladder. Use the Rope on the wall to the right to find the Power Star above.
Craggy Cliff Stage
For the first section, you'll need to climb to the top. If you use the Shrink Potion and bounce off the vulture at the start, you can find a Power Star.
You must have the Rope in order to climb up.
The vultures just fly around in circles. That's it.
To get the Power Star here, you'll need to use the Shrinking Potion and butt bounce to the left off the first vulture in the stage. The Power Star will be on the other end.
In this area, you'll be dealing with floors that ascend and descend as the lights go in and out. Use the Shrink Potion before going any further and watch for spikes when the lights came back on. If you need to break a crate, turn big again.
You'll be climbing just a little bit more in the third and last section of this stage. Bounce off the vulture while small to grab the key and exit.
Desert Stage
The vultures will show up from out of nowhere and divebomb you here; be ready to butt stomp them. Also, butt stomp the mounds with the one eye that move back and forth across the sand.
You can butt stomp the cactus enemies on the pyramid.
Going all the way to the right takes you to an exit. I go there first in order to get a huge time bonus and open up the path to the Good Princess' Castle Stage.
Good Princess' Castle Stage
By going up from the Desert Stage, you can reach the Good Princess' Castle.
After a warning by the Good Princess to watch out for enemies, grab the key to get it out of your way. Take the spring to the right to continue on, and bounce off the enemies while small to keep on going. The path you take will dictate which path you will take next.
You'll have to deal with pit of purple water and spinning stone spheres on the top path, and a bunch of stone lion heads that spit projectiles. on the bottom path. Pick your poison.
If you take the top path, however, you'll get a Power Star at the end. Just use the Rope to get it. Be prepared to lose a few lives trying to get through the top path, as some of the spinning stone spheres are fast, hard to land on, and hard to leap to the right and land somewhere safe from.
Stack the Mickey Blocks to reach the platforms above you while keeping the moving spikes from hitting you. On the first level, take one with you to the second level. From here, you'll have to use the Rope to get to the door at the top.
You'll then be back in the first area. Shrink down and stand in the gaps between the spikes to avoid getting hit, and watch out for the big moving spikes that move up and down along the way. You'll need to jump to get over the columns with the spikes in between. The door will be at the end.
You'll then meet the Good Princess, who is indeed Minnie. She will tell you that if you plant the beans beneath the Phantom's Cloud Castle, a beanstalk will grow into the clouds. You'll find out that clouds have moved out to sea, so you'll have to plant the seeds on an island in the ocean so that the beanstalk will grow in the right place. She will then tell you that there is a stone pyramid in the desert, and you will find the Magic Cloud Shoes to help you walk on the clouds without falling through. Thankfully, we've already gotten those. The Good Princess promises to reward us with a kiss if we find the entrance.
Desert Stage
This time, throw the blocks that are situated around the pyramid. Inside one of them is a door you can enter while small, and if you enter it and pull the block to the right to open a path to the door, you'll find a way into the pyramid.
Spikes will rush at you from the left when you enter. Be ready to climb up the wall and get going, and watch out for the spikes. Once you're away from the spikes, hurry right and grab the blocks to ensure passage to the right. When you reach the end, the spikes will disappear.
The rotating stone spheres can be stood on. Also, the brown platforms with the red triangles will move in the direction you are facing, allowing you to avoid the projectiles that drop down from the stone lion heads on the ceiling.
When you reach the key door, butt stomp the arrow block to get the key. Unlock the key door, but don't leave just yet. Instead, go back up to get another key, then drop it at the left side of the door. Jump onto the key, jump to the wall to the left, then head left through a fake wall to find a Power Star. Use the Rope to get out.
The boss here is an egg. You'll need to trick it into hitting the wall a few times by standing near the wall and jumping over it when it comes your way. After a few collisions with the wall, a snake will pop out; butt bounce on the snake.
Soon, the snake will leave the egg and bury itself in the sand. When the mound of sand comes your way with one eye sticking out, butt bounce the mound, then butt bounce the snake before it gets back into the sand. After three hits, you'll get the Cloud Walking Shoes, which allow you to walk on clouds. You'll also be able to exit.
Sand Castle Stage
Keep jumping to save yourself from sinking into the quicksand. Watch out for hermit crabs that chase after you on the slopes, which push you around somewhat like a conveyor belt. When you reach the part where the sand collects and pours down like an hourglass, stay there to drop down and continue on.
Butt bouncing the crab only sinks it into the sand briefly, but you can use that to help yourself get away.
You'll be swimming again. Hit the sign to trigger the checkpoint, and avoid the fish and spikes and remember to surface at the pockets of air as you hit the switches to open up more of the maze.
Near the end, the water will rise and fall upwards. When you reach the wall at the end, climb all the way up with the Rope and jump across the sand blocks to get a Power Star.
You do not want to be in the water near jellyfish when the jellyfish flash, as they will shock the water and cost you a hit point if you're still underwater when that happens.
Place the barrel on the geyser to get to the door at the end and face the boss.
The boss is a giant crab. Throw the barrel at the crab, and when it spins its arms, stay far away and near the surface to duck under the tornado it creates. You'll then need to grab the barrel and throw it at the crab as it stands there and blinks its eyes...and you have to be fast or else the boss will be invulnerable again for a little while. Thankfully, the crab goes down after only three hits, which is the saving grace of this battle in case you can't move fast enough to get a hit in on the boss. Also, if you can grab the barrel before the tornado disappears, you can still duck while holding it.
When you beat the crab boss, you'll rescue King Donald. He'll tell you that this fortress was used to guard the harbor until it was turned to sand, then give you a ship from the harbor to reach the island.
Island Stage
By moving into the boat, you'll head to the island.
You'll need to throw the bean to get a beanstalk. If you throw it to the ground and it sinks downwards, you've found the magic spot. From here, a beanstalk will grow on the world map.
From here, you'll need to climb up the beanstalk. If you have the cloud shoes, you'll be able to walk on the clouds. Bounce off snakes, birds and spiders to get to other places when necessary. You may have to use the tornadoes to get to other places, too.
The key and the door is at the top. If you go left at the top and drop down, you'll find a Power Star.
Phantom's Castle Stage
The door you pick chooses which area you get next.
The left door has you climbing on a wall on the left side of the screen with the Rope to avoid the spikes below and in the air. You will also have to throw blocks out of your way, too. Use the Shrink potion to get to the exit.
The middle door has you riding a moving platform over a yellow liquid. Be ready to avoid projectiles from the dragon heads as well as spikes that line a few of the walls, and be ready to throw some blocks out of your way near the end.
The right door has you riding on platforms while avoiding flames and spikes. You'll have to switch between the two platforms in order to get to the end. Believe it or not, this is the door you want to take, as the final Power Star of the game is at the end of this section. (Pretty cheeky, game.)
Regardless of which room you go through, you'll end up here. Pulling the switch at the beginning gets the wall out of your way, but watch out for the ball and chain that drops down in an attempt to squash you when you get close. Grab the key and take it to the keyhole wall, then grab the key near the door, hit the checkpoint, pull the button above, then leave the room to turn the yellow water into better blue water and enter an upside-down version of this room below.
From here, go left, jump into the switch on the ceiling and go through the door, then get the key and take it back to the upside-down area. Take the key to the keyhole to the right, then go left and hit the switch upwards if you haven't already, trigger the checkpoint after passing by the ball and chains and enter the door.
Here, get the door to follow you around, then butt stomp it and enter the door when it lands on the ground. Go up and pull the switch up, then go into the translucent door to go back to the previous room and butt bounce on the door immediately once you get close to it to make it alive again.
Here, you'll need to swim past the spikes - with some of them moving around - on the way to the bottom. If you can make it to the chest at the end, you'll be able to heal yourself. Hit the checkpoint near the door before going in.
At the bottom is the final boss: the Phantom, who is actually the Horned King from The Black Cauldron.
Butt bounce off the Phantom's head before he raises his arms. When he raises his arms, get right next to him and duck to avoid the fireballs. When he spins around the room, jump over him. If you butt bounce off him when he does this, you won't damage him, but you'll avoid taking damage yourself.
When the Phantom flies to the ceiling and starts spinning around there. When the Phantom stops and raises his arms, watch the ceiling and avoid the falling blocks. One block will stick around on the ground; grab it and throw it at the Phantom the next time he stops spinning. Repeat until you damage him twice.
He will then turn into a projectile that bounces around. Run right under him to avoid getting hit. When he is back in a more humanoid form, butt bounce off his head, then immediately get away to avoid being hit by the lightning bolts.
After three more hits, the Phantom will defeated and he will drop a crystal. Grab the crystal, and you'll beat the game.
Mickey will get a kiss from Princess Minnie. The cast of characters and credits roll, then you'll see how many power stars you got as well as your final score. Mickey wakes up on the couch with a book in his hands and lipstick prints on his cheek. You've just beaten Land of Illusion!
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