YMMV / Castle of Illusion

• Awesome Music: Both the original soundtrack and the remake's updated soundtrack, scored by former Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. The remake offers an option to play the game with either Kirkhope's soundtrack or the original 16-bit music.
• Faux Symbolism: In the first game, the opening cutscene states Mickey and Minnie live in "Vera City". As in, veracity, the quality of being truthful, as opposed to "illusion".
• First Installment Wins: Most people don't even remember the game's four follow-ups. Though they're generally agreed to be good games in their own right.
• Friendly Fandoms: There's some overlap with Banjo-Kazooie since both games have pretty much the same exact plot.
  • Taken even further by, as mentioned, Grant Kirkhope, the composer for Banjo, remixing all the music, making it even more of an overlap.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The Rainbow Gems you collect after you beat each boss are eerily similar in concept, not to mention appearance, to a more famous set of magical jewels from another iconic Sega Genesis series that came out shortly after this game's release.
  • Needing a Rainbow Bridge to reach the tower where the villain is holding a fair maiden captive was utilized in this game, but not for the last time.
  • In the case of the HD Remake, this isn't the first time Grant Kirkhope has composed for a game in which an evil witch is involved in a kidnapping in order to make herself younger in a Fairest of Them All plot.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: The most common complaint about the game is how short it is, even by the standards of the time, as a competent player can easily complete it in around 30 minutes to an hour if they know what they're doing. The HD remake does make the adventure a bit longer, but it also receives this criticism as well, as the story mode can be completed in about two hours, with 100% completion taking five, depending on one's abilities.
• No Problem with Licensed Games: One of the most beloved licensed Sega Genesis platformers, and considered one of the best Disney tie-in platformers. Sega notably gave it a promotional highlight via their "Genesis Does" ad campaign. This also applies to the HD remake, which is considered to be a fantastic reimagining that stays true to the original, while making it feel fresh.
• Pandering to the Base: The HD remake, seemingly confirmed by this Siliconera article. It even goes on to brag about how hard it will be and how "it doesn't feel like a kid's game"^note Even though it's technically supposed to be either way. What's more, it mentions that it won't have an easy mode, despite the fact that there is one in the original version. Regardless, the game itself is nowhere near Nintendo Hard (except for perhaps the final boss).
• Remade and Improved: As classic as the original Genesis game is, most regard the 2013 remake to be superior, due to the expanded campaign and having more elaborate levels and bosses compared to the original game.
• That One Boss:
  • The Jack-in-the-Box in the remake takes much longer to take out than any other boss prior to the final boss, and has the widest variety of attack moves.
  • Said final boss, Mizrabel, is an absolute nightmare, as it's a six-phase battle where all of her attacks require very fast reflexes to avoid, and you need to hold on to as much of your health lest you die and are required to start all over again with the unskippable cutscene that precedes the battle.

---