While the game is accessible for genre newcomers on the critical path, this isn't 'Mickey's first Metroidvania' - or a Mickey-vania, if you will. It's through these extra side challenges that Disney Illusion Island ups its difficulty. That said, Mickey will gain typical power-up abilities like wall jumping, gliding, swimming and swinging, and there's always a reason to backtrack - particularly through hidden areas and extra collectibles like Mickey Memorabilia, which give players a little history on Disney's famous mouse. Combat just didn't fit with the design concept for the game despite its Metroidvania influence after all, you wouldn't expect Mickey Mouse to wield a gun.Īstrono is an inventive and colourful take on an underwater planet The likes of Mario and Rayman have provided inspiration here. Without combat, the focus is on platforming challenges - of which there are some tricky looking sections - plus the simple joy of movement and exploration. Other biomes include a botanical area inside a giant peacock, and an area inspired by Rube Goldberg machines.

The level sees Mickey jumping past alien starfish-like enemies, avoiding spiky coral, and swimming through pockets of water in shades of electric violet. In a hands-off look at the game, I got to see a biome which combines nautical and astronomical themes, named Astrono.

'I wonder if they carried on making Illusion games, if this is where they would have taken it,' Grand-Scrutton says. The action takes place on one giant map of three unique biomes to create a consistent platforming game.

Nowadays, it's Metroidvanias that dominate the 2D space, so it's little surprise Disney Illusion Island takes inspiration from that genre, albeit without combat. Of course, back in the 90s, mascot platformers were all the rage. Watch on YouTube Disney Illusion Island - Nintendo Direct

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