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Double Disney Dip, y’all. Plus, a few post-mortem thoughts on E3. More after the jump.

Platform: Both of them are for the Sega Megadrive/ Genesis

Year Released: Castle of Illusion, 1990, World of Illusion, 1992

Developed by: Both games by Sega of Japan

A long time ago, Disney games starring the Mouse in the House didn’t suck so bad. Hard to swallow, yes, but it was true. There were two games from Disney starring Mickey Mouse which made an impression to my less-than-stellar youth: Castle of Illusion & World Of Illusion, all developed by Sega of Japan. Both of these titles are platformers, with varying concepts between the two.

From the name of the building itself, probably something bad. And, er..illusions, I guess.

Castle of Illusion pits the Mouse against a series of worlds enclosed in castle doors (hence, the Castle ), going from point A to point B. This might seem similar to the exploits of Mario & Luigi, but there’s a small catch: you can’t just jump and land on your enemies, no, no. You have to jump, THEN press down, as Mickey goes into a butt-landing position, to knock out enemies. Holding down and the jump button mid-butt-stomp when you land on an enemy lifts you up higher. The levels themselves are full of variety back in the day: the forest, followed by a toy-themed level, and then an Aztec-themed level and an oversized table level to boot.

All this trouble just to get him back some fine Minnie Mouse booty: truly a noble cause, and an example to children everywhere.

World of Illusion did what Gears of War and the upcoming Army of Two incorporated a decade later: true Co-Op gameplay. The game lets you either choose to play with yourself, using either Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, or choose to play with a friend, controlling the famous duo on an adventure in a strange land, trying to return back to their home. Trust me, having two people play this game is a blast. For starters, both of you will have to use the see-saws in the first level to send each other up. Then, the person on top will lower a rope for the other one downstairs to climb up to. This is just one small example of teamwork in the game.

All the enemies in this game are at least recognizable from other Disney shows, like the evil cards posing as royal guards from Alice in Wonderland, the witch from Sword in The Stone, a midget version of Pete’s Dragon, and, thanks to its wonderfully-animated and detailed graphics, a bunch of enemies that looked “Disney-fied”. You know, weird cute eyes and trademarked facial features.

Such ingenuity bears a price however: The game was as easy as the female-ish denizens in the back alleys of Bangkok . As long as you see eye-to-eye with your buddy, both of you would breeze through this game. Even if you or your partner bites it, they will reappear a few screens later, dazed and ready to go. Having said that, I personally find such sadistic joy when my buddy jumps off to a platform, only for me to hit him with a swipe of my magical cloth, ensuring his plummet to his doom. You see, when you ‘accidentally’ hit your buddy with your attack, his character will be stunned momentarily, complete with the character distorted like a twisted-up towel. This does not deal any damage, so feel free to exploit this option to infuriate your team mate.

This was in contrast to Castle of Illusion, which would elicit profanities from children at around the Aztec stage and beyond. The game degenerates into a fiesta of unfair enemy placements, precise platforming onto really small ledges, and loose controls. It was a little too challenging for the young and old ones. Don’t get me started on Hard mode; the penultimate level was near-impossible to finish at times. Another little thing to point out: both of the beginning and the fourth levels of the game are alike in theme and setting. The first level’s a forest, and the fourth level takes place in an oversize table littered with household objects, coupled with a sugar-themed level. I’m just saying.

These two games hold a special place in my heart because, well, they made me bond with my two younger awesome siblings. You could even say that these games introduced them to the wonderful world of moving pixels; a world where plumbers are revered as saviors of the world populated with mushrooms, and where azure hedgehogs introduced the marketing concept known as “Blast Processing.”

Such inspirational words…..

Bonus Section: E3 thoughts

Yes, yes, I’m a little late in this, but just wanted to blurt out a few things on the top of my head:

- Assassin’s Creed: What’s with all the glitches and the two different cities which look alike? Jade Raymond’s pretty face isn’t going to save this game if things like this continue until its release date in Winter.

- Sony did a pretty awesome show, better than both Nintendo and Microsoft. Of course, with the way things went after the release of the PS3, they HAD to show off their new wares ASAP, otherwise people would lose faith. Still, good showings. I definitely want Little Big Planet and Killzone 2 now.

- Speaking of Nintendo, are they still making real games for us gamers? Granted, Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 were exceptions, but with so much focus on Wii-Fit and new ‘Brain Age’-style games, I’m beginning to wonder.

- Microsoft’s showing was average; nothing stupid done (Peter Moore’s Rock Band performance was a probable exception, but I found it more hilarious than sad), but nothing mind-blowing. Still, Mass Effect is looking suh-WEET!

Macking on blue aliens? Sign me up, Bioware!

Technorati : Disney, Sega, co-op, donald, duck, mickey, mouse, platformer