When Disney Illusion Island was revealed at D23 in 2022, I didn’t pay much attention to it. When it showed up at various showcases later on, I enjoyed seeing the cartoony animation but aside from that, I didn’t have high hopes that this would be anything more than a nice-looking generic licensed platformer. However, after hearing the developers call it a “Mickeyvania” and talk passionately about how this is an exploration-heavy platformer made for the whole family, my ears perked up. I love me some Metroid and all of the indie games it inspired, but the majority of those skew more difficult or at the very least require knowledge of the genre. Illusion Island bucks that trend, and after spending a number of hours with it both by myself and with my family, I’m ready to be signed up as a Mouseketeer because Disney and developer Dlala Studios have made a game that takes the paramount concepts of a Metroidvania platformer and distilled them into a form that is fun for all ages while not being a pushover. This is 2D Metroid made gentle or maybe more apt for the year it comes out: this is to Metroid what Super Mario RPG is to Final Fantasy.

The premise for Illusion Island reminds me of the Sega Genesis-era Mickey games like Castle of Illusion. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy wind up on a mysterious island where they’re tasked with collecting three legendary tomes to help out a group of locals trying to restore order. The gameplay and world doesn’t have a lot of overt Disney references, as the folks you interact with are all original characters. That being said, to a degree this just feels like a new Mickey Mouse cartoon. While there aren’t a ton of cut scenes, each one is a few minutes of adorably written and lovingly drawn animations highly reminiscent of modern Mickey Mouse media. It’s filled with a lot of tongue-in-cheek jokes that reference video game tropes, much in the same way Pixar movies stick in gags that adults will get instantly and that kids won’t be bothered that they didn’t fully understand the bit.

Beyond the story and setup is the truly magical part of Illusion Island: it’s a blast to play. The Metroidvania world layout and overall design is highly evocative of Ori and Rayman Legends, though the challenge skews significantly easier. That doesn’t mean it’s a breeze, though. Early on, it’s definitely sleepwalk-easy for anyone with a decent amount of platformer experience. By the back half though, it became way more demanding than I expected. This never enters any stratosphere of Meat Boy levels of pain, but if you play on the hardest difficulty, you might be surprised by how hard this game can get. Of course, you can make it so you have multiple hits before you perish, even making it way easier by having infinite health. Checkpoints are reasonably spaced so even if you do go hard, it’s never that frustrating.

The marketed appeal is that this is a four-player platformer that can accommodate players of all skill levels. In my experiences playing a few hours with my kids, Illusion Island lives up to that promise. Every player can choose their own difficulty and toggle different assists, ranging from a jump assist to a wall-cling ability. One player can even drop a rope when they reach the top of an area, so the others can join them easily if they’re having a hard time. The multiplayer is local only, which is a little bit of a bummer even if I think the ideal experience for this involves adults and kids playing in the same room.

In addition to my time with the multiplayer, I played through the game and 100%-ed it on my own, which took me around 8-9 hours. This was way more compelling as a solo experience than I expected, with a good amount of secrets to uncover and a cadre of collectables to find. I found myself bouncing between which character I played as, largely because every power-up and ability has a unique animation. Mickey hovers in a cycle-copter while Donald comically flaps two feathers to stay afloat. Goofy rides a hot pepper for a secondary jump boost while Minnie grapples with a carabiner on a string. Aside from the whimsy of the animations, the characters play identically and all of the abilities are stock platformer upgrades. However, in the later stages, the degree that you can move effortlessly around the screen is thrilling. Movement feels good across the board.

Movement is important because that’s basically your only means of interaction with enemies since this is largely a non-combat game. It felt weird at first, but the deeper I got, the more I enjoyed the flow of rhythmically moving past enemies. The baddies have a good deal of variety, too, with each area and biome adding new twists and designs. You can find out all their goofy names by collecting different cards hidden throughout the world. Other collectables include Mickey Mouse memorabilia that references different shorts Mickey and the gang have appeared in over the past century and hidden Mickeys strewn across the background. The hidden Mickeys are a cool touch, but for some reason you aren’t introduced to collecting them until after you go through a few areas. Backtracking is the name of the game, but it’s frustrating to have to redo an area no matter how attentive to detail you are (an option to give visual and audio cues when you’re nearby a hidden Mickey minorly alleviates the issue). The most noticeable items to find are “Glimts” - little balls of light that number in the thousands. Finding these unlocks lore about the world you’re in as well as extra hearts that let you weather more hits, something that definitely came in handy during the more challenging late-game segments.

I’m blown away by Disney Illusion Island. In a sea of hard-as-nails Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight or Metroid Dread, it stands out as being just as well-crafted but skewing towards a different, gentler experience. This is the platonic ideal for an entry-level platformer because it is filled with smartly designed gameplay that takes well-worn tropes and makes them more approachable for everyone while still providing a nice romp for those experienced with these types of games. If you’re a parent who wishes your child would cut the crap and start playing Symphony of the Night with you, maybe start them here and then work your way up to fighting Dracula with some pit stops like Ori and Guacamelee along the way. Here’s hoping the quality of this game leads to the Quackshot remake of my dreams.