For the last several weeks we’ve been getting some serious hints that a remake of the classic Genesis Mickey Mouse game Castle of Illusion was incoming, including leaked box art and a teaser trailer. With today’s announcement on Sony’s Playstation blog we can finally confirm it: the remake is real and it will be hitting PSN, Xbox Live and Steam this summer.
The game is being developed by SEGA Studios Australia, which will be shutting down later this year. The team has confirmed that they are working closely with the director of the original game to ensure that they not only remain true to the original, but also include new elements that were intended for the original game but could not be implemented due to the technical limitations of the day. You can find some gorgeous screenshots, as well as comments from the team, below the fold.
We know that Castle of Illusion has a special place in many gamers’ hearts and Sega Studios Australia is putting lots of care into this new 2D/3D game. Our plan is to deliver a fully reimagined experience that takes advantage of the power of PS3 with all new graphics and new adventures, while at the same time making sure that the game maintains the Disney magic that the original Castle of Illusion captured in 1990.
We have also been working very closely with the director of the original game, who is now at Disney Interactive. We are having a blast working with her to realise many of the elements that were intended for the original game, but couldn’t be achieved until now due to the technical limitations of previous generation consoles. If you have played the original game, you will also see that we have kept intact many of the major iconic elements of the game that helped define this groundbreaking game at the time of its original release.
Look out for our developer interviews and behind the scenes videos soon, as the Sega Studios Australia team and members of the original game development team share their experience working on Castle of Illusion.
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Loved playing the original. Let’s see if world of illusion follows.
This is probably one of the coolest digital releases to come from SEGA in a long while, and now that I think of it, it is one of the few sequels (well, its a remake, but its brand new so it could count as a sequel) to come from an old SEGA developed franchise. Power of Illusion just doesn’t count, in my eyes.
Wow so they actually did remake it.
That’s awesome. Here’s hoping it’s a bit longer than the original, to justify the high price Sega’ll likely be charging for it.
I hope they also plan to remake World of Illusion, though I sorta have my doubts.
I’m guessing $14.99, and World of Illusion if this remake is well received.
Hope the original game is included. I’d hate for people to not be able to play the Genesis classic.
Capcom did say that if Ducktales Remastered is succesful they’d look at remaking other classic Capcom Disney games. Maybe SEGA would do something similar? This is being made by a studio that they’re planning on closing later this year though.
Why does this look so much better than Sonic 4?
All we’ve seen are CG bits from the game and cutscenes, no gameplay footage yet. From what we do see, it doesn’t look that much different from Sonic 4 Episode 2 in terms of graphics.
I hope they add a mode where you can play through the game with the original graphics, just for the nostalgia if nothing else.
Only played World of Illusion, but for a non-plaforming fan I still enjoyed that game and actually completed it.
This being on Steam greatly increases my chance of getting it if I have one of my rare hankerings for platforming.