In December of 1901, a man named Walt Disney was born, who would go on to become co-founder of the Walt Disney Company. Originally a cartoon studio, this company would go on to create and showcase many stories that we still enjoy to this day (as a matter of fact, I’ve already reviewed some games based on their products, such as Aladdin and Darkwing Duck). However, one of the original ideas from Disney himself would become their most widely known creation: Mickey Mouse. Ever since appearing in the 1928 short “Steam boat willy”, this mouse has managed to enter hearts and homes across the world; through animated shorts, full length movies, TV shows and, of course, video games. Today I’m here to talk to you about a popular Super Nintendo game called Disney’s Magical Quest. Oh, and if you’re asking why I provided all of this information for a character you should already know about that doesn’t affect the game at all, the answer is “because it sounds better than just going *Capcom time* again”. Here’s Disney’s Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse for the SNES.
The game starts with Mickey, his friends Goofy and Donald, and his dog Pluto having a good old game of catch. However, things take a dark and unexpected turn as Goofy… throws the ball a bit too hard. Pluto runs after it, but leaves Mickey too far behind. Goofy says he’ll find Mickey’s dog for him, but being smart enough to second guess the abilities of a man named “Goofy”, Mickey decides to look for himself, while Donald stays behind and does nothing I guess. Mickey soon meets up with a Wizard, who informs our anthropomorphic hero that the evil emperor Pete has kidnapped Pluto because… umm… *Drawn Together: “For no particular reason”. In this way the plot sort of reminds me of a Disney short called “The Mad Doctor”, something they throw back to a lot apparently. As a matter of fact (*spoiler alarm* slight spoiler here) this game even has the same ending. Back to the subject: the Wizard agrees to help Mickey by placing blocks he can use across the land, guiding him along the way and even providing a few power up. Will Mickey be able to save his pet with the Wizard’s help? Will he be able to stop the emperor’s terror across the land? While I’m holding the controller, I say he will.
As I’ve already mentioned, Mickey will be given more power-ups and skills as you play through the game. To start off, his only abilities are jumping and grabbing things. You can grab stunned enemies and other object, but most of the time, it’ll be the wizards block you’ll be grabbing, which you can not only use to hit enemies, but will often contain hearts and coins. However, after the first level, the wizard gives Mickey a turban, which gives Mickey the ability to shoot a magic beam of some kind from his hat. Mickey later finds a fire fighter’s outfit, which gives him a hose, and lederhosen, so he can use a grappling hook. But the main game play element doesn’t rely so much in each individual skills, but in his costume changes. It’s all about knowing what situation they’re useful in (don’t worry, it’s often pretty easy to figure out).
The graphics are pretty good, and really showcase what the SNES is capable of doing. Things look detailed, vibrant and the characters’ faces even clearly show different expression. However, things look a bit too small to me, as if they wanted to make Mickey bigger, but were told they couldn’t. And although the expressions look good when they change, Mickey just has a creepily frozen smile most of the time.
Where this game does shine though is, typically for Capcom, in the music. For lack of a better term, the music in most levels is, well, magical. The first level has a magnificent fanfare to start our hero’s adventure. The quality follows through the entirety of the game, invoking the appropriate emotion on each level, whether it is the anxiety of being in a different area or the excitement of adventure.
So that’s Disney’s Magical Quest in a nut shell: another great game by Capcom. It has great platforming with a game play element that, though has been used before, is done very well in this game. It feels like an amazing journey and captures the wonder of an original Mickey Mouse tale, and the great visuals and fantastic music only contribute to that. I wasn’t blown away by it though, but like Darkwing Duck, it’s the type of game I enjoy just picking up on occasion and playing all the way through. I give Disney’s Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse for the Super Nintendo 8.5 levels out of 10.
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