Disney Illusion Island is a 2023 2D platformer video game created by Dlala Studios (Battletoads (2020)) in the style of Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. The game released on July 28, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch.
When the mysterious and magical island of Monoth is in danger, the inhabitants must turn to an unlikely quartet of outsiders - Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy - to retrieve the three mystic Books of Knowledge from across the island's three biomes and save the day. Players can play solo or up to four-player co-op and use each character's unique abilities to overcome the challenges awaiting them across Monoth.
Previews: World Premiere Trailer
, Release Date trailer, Story Trailer
Disney Illusion Island includes the following examples:
- Ability Required to Proceed: While it's standard fare for a Metroidvania-type game, the map helps out by pointing out what spots requires a yet-unobtained ability to make it easier to let players know when to return later.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Mazzy" turns out to be a nickname for Grayzar by the PostOfficer. Apparently, it's because he's mad and sassy, making "Mazzy" a Portmanteau.
- Ambiguous Gender: Peahen is referred to as they.
- Astral Projection: The version of Mazzy/Grayzar that Mickey and friends constantly met throughout the journey was only a small part of his (intact) personality that his subconscious was able to project out of his banished workshop; explaining not only why Mazzy wasn't mind-controlled to stop them or wearing the mind-control crown during said journey, but also why he appears a lot pinker than he normally is.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Minnie of all characters kicking Toku over the horizon.
- Big Bad: After retrieving the three books, it is revealed that Toku serves as The Dragon to Grayzar, a former hero of Monoth who turned evil; this makes Grayzar the main villain. Near the game's end, however, it is revealed that Grayzar became Brainwashed and Crazy thanks to Toku; making him the true villain of the game instead.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Donald considers a thousand evils raining down an average Tuesday in his life.
- The Cake Is a Lie: Subverted. While the initial picnic promised to Mickey and friends was just a lie by Toku to lure them to the island, the heroes of Monoth ultimately reward them with a real picnic at the end of the game.
- Collapsing Lair: The final challenge in story mode is escaping Grayzar's prison dimension before Toku's spell destroys the whole place.
- Company Cameo: At the beginning of the announcement trailer, a purple shooting star briefly makes an arch over the Monoth palace, subtly referencing the Walt Disney Pictures Vanity Plate.
- Conjoined Eyes: Donald and Goofy's character designs this time around have their eyes seemingly joined in the middle.
- Cutscene Boss: Before Toku can fully power up for his intended battle, Minnie punts him away.
- The Dog Bites Back: Once Toku and his minions, after Mickey and friends escape, get trapped in the world Grayzar was stuck in, his minions become unhappy and prepare to give Toku a smack down.
- Evil All Along: Toku, the Hokun that set out heroes on this adventure in the first place, is revealed to serve the corrupted, former hero Grayzar when all three tomes are returned. Near the end of the game, it's then revealed that Grayzar was merely Brainwashed and Crazy thanks to Toku.
- Subverted with Mazzy. While he is revealed to be Grayzar, the corrupted Guardian of the Tome of History, the corruption in question is due to a brainwashing crown, making him Good All Along instead.
- Extra Eyes: Mazzy/Grayzar has three eyes, although the one of them is much smaller than the other two. In cutscenes, this would be his leftmost eye and wouldn't be visible on certain angles, but in-game, it depends on which direction he's facing and would always remain visible.
- Feathered Fiend: One of the Heroes Peahen is, well, a hen, and isn’t friendly to that take her Tome of Botany, heck, it’s mentioned that they’re elusive and antisocial.
- Final-Exam Boss: The final boss fight against Grayzar spans multiple phases, and each one consists of a platforming challenge borrowed from each of the previous bosses.
- Fish People: Crater's Bay is home to anthropomorphic fish of where they have a mayor named Leeward.
- Foreshadowing: There are some hints as to the identities of the game's villains:
- Minnie points out early on how the spell only working on the thieves is suspiciously arbitrary.
- Mazzy's sinister expression on the boxart hints at his apparent villainous nature.
- As for the true Big Bad, Toku, his Tokun description goes out of its way to say he's "super nice" and "definitely didn’t write this", unlike every other Tokun which are pretty straightforward, implying he's not what he seems.
- Foul Waterfowl: Donald vigorously takes up this mantle as the most aggressive member of the team.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Once Toku's true colors are revealed, he tells to tell a sob story of how he did what he did because he wasn't taken seriously due to being small. It falls flat in light of his attempts to use the Tomes to destroy the world.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Mazzy is a friendly Monoth civilian that always provides Mickey and friends with unique gadgets that help them overcome an obstacle such as large gaps or places too high to reach.
- The PostOfficer, who guards the Tome of Engineering and built Gizmopolis, also counts.
- Giant Flyer: Pavonia isn’t just a home for all sorts of flora and fauna, but it’s also home to a giant peacock known as the Highness.
- Good All Along: Grayzar was revealed to be the Big Bad that Toku was working for after the three Tomes have been returned to the bookcase; but after Grayzar has been defeated, it turns out that he was simply Brainwashed and Crazy, courtesy of a crown that Toku gave him; in reality, Grayzar is actually a Brainwashed and Crazy Mazzy, who is particularly jovial without the crown.
- Good Is Not Nice: The PostOfficer clearly is the most irritable of the Tome Guardians.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: The four friends have these to swing across gaps. Mickey gets a yo-yo, for Minnie a carabiner, for Goofy sausage links, and for Donald a fishing rod.
- Ground Pound: The four use this ability to destroy breakable obstacles below. Mickey gets a hopper ball crossed with a boxing glove, Minnie gets a suitcase, Goofy gets a donut, and Donald gets an anvil.
- Hartman Hips: Similar to her Paul Rudish portrayal, Minnie sports broad hips and a large rear end in this design.
- In a Single Bound: The characters have a "boost jump" that lets them clear large distances in one jump. Mickey gets a Jet Pack, Minnie gets a paper airplane, Goofy gets a chili pepper, and Donald gets a firework.
- Intimate Healing: Players can restore each other's health by having the characters hug.
- In-Universe Catharsis: Minnie expresses that punting Toku over the horizon after everything he manipulated them into doing was "extremely satisfying" shortly after she does so.
- Justified Extra Lives: A particularly bizarre example. When characters lose all their health, instead of dying, they get wrapped into an envelope and mailed to the last checkpoint you touched, with the checkpoints being mailboxes.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The announcement trailer stated that the game was set for release in "TBD 2023". Shortly after, Minnie asks if those are placeholder words or the actual word. Toku simply answers "yes". In the game itself, "TBD" (spelled as Teebeedee) are the words for a magic spell that the main heroes are taught against bosses.
- MacGuffin: As Toku explains, Mickey and company's mission is to retrieve three Books of Knowledge from across the island.
- MacGuffin Guardian: This won’t be easy, as each tome is guarded by a… well, guardian, 3 of them to be exact. Each of them have their own unique theme, in fact these guardians created these tomes, and they won’t give them up willingly, not without a fight that is.
- Meaningful Background Event: It's really a detail and not an event, but the PostOfficer's office contains a portrait of the first boss, providing an early hint that the keepers of the tomes aren't actually thieves.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Mazzy, aka Grayzar, granted Mickey and friends abilities that made it possible for them to acquire the tomes... and also allow them to fight and defeat him. However, it's subverted when it's revealed that Grayzar was merely Brainwashed and Crazy, so granting Mickey and friends new abilities was completely beneficial to him, as it led to his ultimate freedom.
- Not Quite Flight: The four can use gliding abilities on updrafts to go up on hard-to-reach places. Mickey gets a cycle-copter, Minnie gets an umbrella, Goofy gets a giant mustard bottle, and Donald gets two feathers.
- Obsessed with Food: Goofy, to the point that his gadgets for getting across Monoth are all food-themed.
- Only in It for the Money: Donald wanted nothing to do with retrieving the Tomes of Knowledge after finding out he had been tricked and only decided to help when a reward was promised.
- Scienceville: Gizmopolis is this as it is home to all sorts of gadgets and gizmos great and small, it’s also home to one of the Heroes of Monoth, PostOfficer, who created all sorts of robots.
- Shout-Out:
- The hopper ball Mickey gets from Mazzy bears a resemblance to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
- After learning that Toku was Evil All Along and tricked them into collecting the three tomes for his own selfish ambitions, Mickey and Minnie realize that they haven't been acting as heroes, but rather as villains. Cue Dramatic Thunder, and the four protagonists are suddenly dressed as classic Disney villains, with Mickey as Captain Hook, Minnie as Jafar, Donald as Cruella De Vil, and Goofy as Maleficent.
- The cutscene near the end where Toku's henchmen all turn on him is clearly modeled on Scar's death scene from The Lion King (1994).
- Space Zone: Astrono is the biome of Astronomy, as such it has all sorts of stars and planets, down below that is. The place has a space ocean underneath called the Sky Below. It’s also home to one of the Heroes of Monoth, Old Timer, as the name implies she is as old as time itself, and wise as they come.
- Super Swimming Skills: The four can swim with swimming gear to get around underwater. Mickey gets a fishbowl (with a goldfish inside), Minnie gets diving fins, Goofy gets a watermelon fin, and Donald gets an underwater fan.
- The One Guy: Grayzar is the one male Tome Guardian, whereas the others are female. It just so happens that Grayzar is also the one that turned evil, albeit due to brainwashing.
- This Is Reality: When the natives of Monoth mention all of the "heroic exploits" Mickey and his friends are famous for, Mickey agrees that they've had many adventures. Donald pulls him into a huddle to remind him that those "adventures" were pretend and they're currently being asked to embark on a genuinely dangerous quest.
- Wall Jump: The four use this to jump through walled in spaces. Mickey gets a pencil, Minnie gets a pickax, Goofy gets a fork, and Donald gets a plunger.
- We Used to Be Friends: Grayzar/Mazzy used to be best friends with Toku and the Hokuns, so much that Mazzy had no idea that Toku would ever turn on or against him, even if the latter's gradual resentment towards the former was rather obvious in retrospect.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Upon being the first of the guardians to be freed, then realizing that Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy stole the Tomes from all three of the guardians before giving them to Toku and the Hokuns, the Post Officer becomes rightfully angry on what they did, glaring as Mickey explains.
