Several weeks ago a short teaser trailer found its way online but failed to tell the world what it was teasing. There was alot of speculation with the witch, the toy soldiers and the spooky castle that this may be a remake of Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (left video).
Well the speculation can end now as an official trailer was released earlier this week that confirmed that this is just that. It’s set for a Summer 2013 release for PS3, XBOX 360 and PC (right video).
Known in Japan as I Love Mickey Mouse: Great Mysterious Castle Adventure, Castle of Illusion was a platform game released November 22, 1990 on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.
An 8-bit game based on the Sega version was released for the Master System in 1990, followed by the Game Gear in 1991 which was known as Mickey Mouse’s Castle Illusion.
The remake will be a combination of both 2D and 3D and is being developed by Sega Studios Australia who are working very closely with the game director from the original 1990 Sega Mega Drive game.
Back in the day of the Sega Mega Drive, Sega was known for its great platforming games. As a result, Disney gave Sega the rights to use Mickey Mouse in what would become known as the Illusion Series. Castle of Illusion was the first game in the series and is arguably the best. The series also included Land of Illusion and Legend of Illusion, both starring Mickey Mouse. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and Sega Ages: I Love Mickey Mouse were also part of the same series.
Mai Kawaguchi, Sega’s senior digital brand manager, explains that the technical limitations they had when building the original game are no longer holding them back. This means they can add all the content they wanted to have originally but were forced to cut out. Sega have also promised that they’re keeping the overall feel and iconic elements from the original so gamers who played the classic will immediately recognise it.
The remake will include additional levels as well as HD remakes of the levels included in the Sega game.
Grant Kirkhope revealed that he will be teaming up with Sega to create the soundtrack for the game. Grants previous work includes soundtracks for Perfect Dark, Golden Eye and Bajo-Kazooie. He recently tweeted the following “Should hopefully finish my final piece for “Castle of Illusion HD starring Mickey Mouse” tonight!!!“. This would suggest that the game will have a completely new soundtrack though we’re hoping there are elements from the catchy original tunes.
The game will be downloadable and there are no plans for a disc version of the game to be released at this time. The price is also yet to be revealed so all we really know at this time is that it will be released this Summer.
We’ll keep you up to date with any information as soon as we hear more.