Mickey Mania - The SNES OST

Here it is...the soundtrack for Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo.

FreezingInfernos plays Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo - Part 7 of 7

We finally finish the game!

Section 4

You're now climbing Pete's Tower...which is anything but easy!

The platforms crumble a second or two after you stand on them. As you ascend the tower, a huge wall of fire will rise up the tower. If you mess up, you're heading back to the beginning.

You'll also be dealing with some tough jumps as well as barrels, but the barrels are easy to avoid. The jumps are the hard part.

Section 5

When you make it to the doorway at the end, you're still going to have to deal with the fire. You'll also be dealing with weasels as you leap up this vertical shaft of death. At least the weasels in this part only take one hit before they die.

When you make it to the top, you'll be able to refill your health and get some more marbles. The path to the right has weasels who now take three hits to kill again as well as some more marbles. You'll also be swinging off long chains and suffering the Ninja Gaiden-esque problem of...you guessed it...enemies hanging out on the edge of a platform.

Section 6

Oh, you thought we were fighting the boss yet? Well, let's see what's going on in the Sega/Mega CD version!

Yes, besides having better music and more crisp recordings of Mickey's voice, you have a few scenes that aren't available on the Super Nintendo version. Pete will be standing on crates and mocking you for your inability to reach him.

In this CD versions-only prelude, you'll have to summon past Mickeys to fight off Pete. First, move all the way to the left. Grabbing the pencil summons a past version of Mickey Mouse from the other cartoons in the game helping you bring Pete down to your level. The first pencil summons Mad Doctor Mickey, who fires a cannon at the top crate. Pete will then summon weasels.

Whenever you grab a pencil, you'll regain some health. You'll need it, because the weasels still have the habit of hanging out at the edges of platforms despite the fact that you can hit them from off-screen in any version of the game.

Take out the weasels when necessary, and head all the way to the right. You can jump up and hit Pete with a marble at the center of the section at this point, but it doesn't do anything.

Grabbing the second pencil will summon Mickey and the Beanstalk Mickey, who will cut the second box into sawdust. Pete will whistle again, respawning any weasel you killed. At least the marbles respawn, too.

Head all the way back to the left and get the pencil. This will summon Lonesome Ghosts Mickey, who pushes the box to the right away in typical fashion as he runs into it twice and finally darts away with the box in front of him.

Go to the right and grab the last pencil. You'll summon Moose Hunter Mickey, who summons the moose to run Pete over...but Pete's not done! You'll have to head all the way to the left and get the fifth pencil. This summons the twin Mickeys we've seen earlier in the level. They basically embarass him...but Pete's still not done! You'll have to head all the way back to the right and grab the last pencil! Steamboat Willie hoists Pete away, and you now face him alone!

Section 7

Back to the cartridge versions.

Pete will throw a sword at you and then jump to the left. Duck under the sword and avoid Pete, as well as the shurikens that drop down whenever Pete shakes the room. (Disregard the red stuff around the sword when it's thrown. As slightly interesting as it looks, it's really a graphical glitch and doesn't happen on the actual cartridge.)

Whenever Pete shakes the ground, a wooden cart with spikes on the top will drop down. You'll want to position this so that when Pete lands on the ground, he also lands on this. After four instances of this, Pete will change his tactics.

There are five stars in this room, and you'll need to save them until you're badly in need of health. Keep that in mind, because the second phase is going to be harder!

There will now be a ball and chain suspended from the unviewable ceiling. There will also be two switches, with one on each end of the room. Pete employs the same tactics, but when he stomps the floor, two rows of shurikens fall instead of one. The first set falls slightly to the left, and the other slightly to the right. They are dodgeable, but you'll have to think on your thumbs as you do so. Sometimes these sets of shurikens will fall next to each other at the same time and have you staying in one spot, while other times they're staggered enough for you to just move out of the way with the first one, then the second one. The distance between the two shuriken sets will vary.

You will need to trigger these switches in order to deal damage to Pete. You have to jump onto the sword he throws, then jump into the switch to trigger it. The ball and chain will swing to the other end of the room. You will have to hit the switch on the side where the ball is in order for this monstrous weapon to move. Four more hits and plenty of patience later, you've done it! Enjoy the ending!

The "next animated cartoon" refers to the 1994 theatrical short "Runaway Brain," in case you're wondering.

Notable credits include outspoken game desinger David Jaffe (who later directed the Twisted Metal series and the first two God of War games) and Michael Giacchino (who would work on Gargoyles by Disney Interactive before working on the soundtrack to Lost).

FreezingInfernos plays Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo - Part 6 of 7

We have one more level to go...and this is where the difficulty spikes up.

The Prince and the Pauper

1990

Section 1

If you go to the right, the stairs disappear.

Push the crate to the platform at the start of the stage. From there, leap up to the chandeliers. Walk back and forth on them to rock them, and make the jumps to the right easier.

Hit the switch to light up the library. The weasel knight will attack with either throwing daggers or crossbows, and the only way to defeat them is with marbles. It takes three marbles to take down one of the weasel soldiers, and you'll need to collect every marble you see if you want to survive.

In the library, you'll be using books either as trampolines or as magical teeter-totters that will get you around so you can continue the level.

When you reach Pauper Mickey, you'll find out Prince Mickey is still in the dungeon.

Section 2

Use the pitcher to jump up the platforms and hit the switch at the start. If you need to, move left into the wooden platform to push it to the left enough to make the jump to it and the jump after it. With this, you can continue to the right and enter the chute that lets you exit this section.

Also, coals will fly out of the fireplace to the right of the starting point.

Section 3

Jump on the pump three times so you can inflate the inner tube. Stand on it so you can float to the top of the chamber. You have until it floods to get up there, or else you're going to lose a life.

From there, keep heading right. At this point, you're going to start finding out that the weasels can attack off-screen. The more you play these levels, the better you'll get at figuring out where the weasels are and also attack them from off-screen.

The platform on the chains moves around when you stand on it. Jump over the spikes and make your way to the other end as soon as you're able. The spikes will move on the second platform, and if you can jump to the right from high enough with the second platform, you'll get a hidden star.

You'll then be jumping off platforms over fire pits, complete with coals that jump out and have the potential to damage you. That will be just the worst of your problems, as you'll see weasels hanging out on the edge on the other side.

Go down the next shaft before the walls crush you!

At the spikes blocking your path, move to the right as soon as the first spikes sinks back into the floor. Love the animation on them.

When you reach the dungeon, push the rock onto the switch. From there, you'll have to leap on the platform on the rope and use the platforms to the right to avoid the spikes on the wall and jump back onto the rope platform when it stops moving. The platforms to the right will break after you stand on them for about a second, and if you mess up, you'll have to off-screen the platforms in order to start over. When you make it to the top, you'll meet Prince Mickey.

FreezingInfernos plays Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo - Part 5 of 7

We finally take on Mickey and the Beanstalk!

Mickey and the Beanstalk

1947

Section 1

Head to the right, avoiding the butterflies along the way.

The seeds that come out of the flowers are easier to avoid on their way down, as they separate more after they stop dropping. Push the apple to get up to the platform.

Push the flower pot to the water droplets to create a flower. Push the flower pot back to the left and leap to the closed-up mushroom to the left to climb up the leaves.

When you take the leaf platforms across the water, watch out for the mosquitoes. They fly back and forth pretty fast and you could get nailed from out of nowhere. They also have their own flying sound for when they're nearby.

Other enemies here include butterflies (which can be destroyed by jumping attacks or marbles) and beetles (which can only be destroyed while they're flying).

Section 2

You'll now be underground. Besides the beetles, you'll also be dealing with these golden, web-like pupae that fall to the floor and shoot out two baby spiders. Avoid the spiders as they come down, and be sure to back off as soon as the pupae come down

Some of the baby spiders will drop down themselves and float to the ground with parachutes I can safely assume are made out of spider webs.

Keep going right and you'll hit a floor switch. Jump on it and you'll remove the wooden bridge you passed along the way. Fall down and hit the switch to reveal a giant spider. Go to the right immediately, and ride on the ladybug to get out of there!

There are health and marbles down there, but there is no way you're going to outrun the spider (which is instant death) and you're better off staying on the ladybug anyway.

Section 3

The seeds sticking out of the ground create beanstalk platforms when you jump on them.

If you use the butterflies at the beginning to reach the platform above the start of this section, you'll get four stars and an extra try. You'll also be able to get the portal to the Band Concert level. Of course, this is for the Sega systems only, but this time around FreezingInferno shows off how to actually get it. Referring back to WWalker's guide on GameFAQs:

"In the third stage of Mickey and the Beanstalk, jump up the steps but DON'T KILL ANY BUTTERFLIES! When you reach the first beetle, wait until he's about to fly up, and then jump on him. You'll kill him and hopefully trip the switch above him. You only have one chance, so do it right. Once you've tripped the switch, go back down to the second ledge, and, using the tips for this stage, reach the ledge by bouncing off the two butterflies that take two hits to kill. The ledge is above the start, and is tough to reach. Grab the four stars and the 1-Up hat, and then touch the red question mark to be warped to the band concert."

Keep going to the right and climb up the twisted column of wood. Turns out, this is a table leg that takes you to...

Section 4

...the kitchen table. I'm with FreezingInferno here. How does Willie the Giant live with all these human-sized bugs?

The second pot with the spoon in it can be walked into from the right side to find a star.

If it's a bowl or cup, chances are you can probably stand on it.

The bowl of Jell-O mold can be used as a springboard.

You'll soon see beetles playing with orange slices...almost reminds me of Do-Re-Mi Fantasy.

You'll then see Mickey and the Beanstalk Mickey. You're done with this level.

CGR Undertow reviews Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo

CGR Undertow takes a look at the Super Nintendo version of Mickey Mania.

FreezingInfernos plays Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo - Part 4 of 7

In this episode, we traverse through a haunted house and try to make it out in one piece!

The Lonesome Ghosts

1937

Section 1

This house not only has parallax scrolling, but the front of the house has some 3D elements or something. When you enter the house, the front side of the house will rotate clockwise, as if a cameraman was strafing to the right while keeping the camera still. The Genesis version also does this, which is pretty nice.

If you drop down one of the pits, you'll land on a boat with Pluto in a dark flooded area. The right-most pit you can drop down has enough stars to give a low health count a well-needed revitalization.

Section 2

This part will be dark. Be careful as you walk around, as you can't see the sides of the screen and the ghosts will be popping up from out of nowhere to whack you with a floorboard or get in your way.

The stairways' steps will tilt and turn into slopes after you go up a certain distance, leaving you to slowly walk jump up them instead, and platforms will tilt as your distribute your weight to one side. There are some stars in this part of the section, as one of the platforms has some stairs and two ghosts in annoyingly-placed positions in it. You'll have to raise the left side of a platform while dealing with a ghost, and then deal with the stairs and two ghosts: one from the platform and one at the stairs. Expect to get hit at least once.

Near the end of the platform and stairs section, you can jump to the left off the highest platform to get an extra try.

You'll then be dealing with bats and pipe covers. You can bounce off the pipe covers to find even more stars to refill your health with.

After climbing some more pipe covers on walls that open and close, you'll have to walk to the left across a fallaway bridge. There are ghosts in this last part, and you'll probably get hit at least once.

Section 3

In this section, you'll start out by jumping on barrels to make your way across the water. You'll also be following a ghost on a motorboat.

You'll also be pushing a table to reach a staircase. As you do so, you'll be dealing with hat-throwing ghosts, and you'll have to position Mickey perfectly so he doesn't get hit by 

the ghosts' throwing arms. Not the hats...the arms.

The hats seem to have boomerang-like capabilities if you go far enough soon after a ghost throws the hat. This usually doesn't happen.

You'll then walk across a floor that drops and rises every so often. Use this to your advantage as you avoid the ghost. Also, be sure to move past the door at the end and get the star near Lonesome Ghosts Mickey before entering the door at the end.

FreezingInfernos plays Mickey Mania for Super Nintendo - Part 3 of 7

In this episode, FreezingInferno shows off the Genesis/Mega Drive version, which has the bonus level that Nintendon't. Also, moose hunting.

The Band Concert

1935

This level is not available on the Super Nintendo version at all. It's only available on Genesis/Mega Drive and Sega (Mega) CD, and after some research, I found out how to get to it via WWalker's guide on GameFAQs:

"In the third stage of Mickey and the Beanstalk, jump up the steps but DON'T KILL ANY BUTTERFLIES! When you reach the first beetle, wait until he's about to fly up, and then jump on him. You'll kill him and hopefully trip the switch above him. You only have one chance, so do it right. Once you've tripped the switch, go back down to the second ledge, and, using the tips for this stage, reach the ledge by bouncing off the two butterflies that take two hits to kill. The ledge is above the start, and is tough to reach. Grab the four stars and the 1-Up hat, and then touch the red question mark to be warped to the band concert."

It should also be noted that the music that plays when you see the stage name is in the Super Nintendo version, but goes unused there unlike the other ports of the game...leaving you to enter stages in silence while the other versions give you a fanfare. Weird.

The music here isn't anything special, either. It's actually the same as the rotating tower near the end of The Prince and The Pauper.

Anyway, the aim of this stage is simple: leap onto the boxes that are flying around in a huge tornado and make it to the top. When you reach the box below Band Concert Mickey, you'll get a Continue for your efforts. If you fall past the bottom of the level, you don't get to start over, and you get absolutely no reward for your efforts.

Some of the boxes just move left and right, while others make figure eight patterns. The ones in the figure eight patterns are most easily jumped onto when you wait for them to reach the lowest position of their paths.

As for why the Genesis/Mega Drive version has no load times compared to all the others...there's no CD, and the system has a faster clock speed than the Super NES.

Moose Hunters

1937

Section 1

Take it slow here. Sometimes, branches will fall from the trees. Other times, it's boulders. Regardless of what it is, you don't want to walk into it.

Now that you have Pluto and you're out of the Mad Doctor's lair, Pluto makes himself useful here. When Pluto makes a pointing gesture, The Moose will come at you from the direction Pluto is facing. It will always be from the left, and Mickey will also make an "uh-oh" just like when he dies, so you have no excuse for not jumping over the moose.

The branches on stilts is Moose Hunter Mickey. When you see him, you've reached the end.

Section 2

Unfortunately, the moose doesn't like the fact that you've outsmarted him, and now he gives chase. This is a different kind of level that I had never seen before and has never really been done in the 2-D arena since (at least, not in any licensed games that I'm aware of). Here, you're running away from the moose...but Mickey is running towards the screen. Avoid the rocks on the ground and the streams, as they'll both slow you down...particularly the streams. Also, you want to collect as many of the apples as you can while you outrun the moose, or else Mickey will slow down and the moose will catch up. If you see too much of the moose, Mickey Mouse will die without any warning whatsoever.

Thankfully, this section isn't very long, and you'll cross the line at the end before you know it.