PixlBit

The recent announcements about Epic Mickey 2 and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion has gotten me reminiscing about when Disney had good games being released. Oddly enough, this reminded me of something else from my childhood that I rarely think of. When I was little, for some reason, I was always being babysat. I wasn't a latch key child per se but since both my mothers worked, after school, I was picked up by a babysitter and I stayed at their house until one of my mother's came to take me home. There were various caretakers throughout my childhood but one of them I remember because she had like twenty some games that I had never heard of.

I was in either second or third grade and she lived a block away from the school. She had a Sega Genesis and a big (for the time) old school TV that sat on the floor, complete with a wood finish. Next to the TV was this black wooden finish shelf with other various stereo equipment but the bottom shelf had a complete row of Genesis games, all complete with their manual and cases. Actually there were two rows but they were on the same shelf. You had to move games out of the way from the front row to get to the ones in the back.

I had a Genesis at this point but I had games like Sonic the Hedgehog, NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat. What I didn't have were titles like McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure, Taz Mania, and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Among those titles were three Disney games that I came to love very much. They were Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, Quackshot, and, my favorite, World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. One of the reasons I remember really enjoying these games is not just that the platforming was solid and the levels creative, but since I had never heard of these games and couldn't find them anywhere, they were something special. For my young mind, I had found an unknown treasure.

Every gamers has a game that qualifies under this distinction. Perhaps even more, such as my previous blog about the Sega Saturn and how I proclaimed it the King of the Consoles. This distinction has recently continued somewhat. My friend bought Epic Mickey back when it came out and I did play it a bit but haven't since. Nostalgia makes me keep Disney games (original ones anyway, not movie licensed games) on my radar and with the announcement that the new 3DS title Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion will be a sequel to Castle of Illusion, chalk this up to another 3DS game I'm dying to get my hands on. I'll rent Epic Mickey to satiate that itch in the meantime.

Oh and Donald needs a game. He's better than Mickey.