Two whole episodes! Sorry about the errors yesterday folks, WordPress just wouldn’t let me upload the audio files for some reason. It’s fixed now though so here’s two new episodes! The first is Black & White and the second is Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse.
In a personal way, it’s kind of fitting to talk about these two games together because they were both games I got to see from a distance but never got to play myself. I was also absolutely fascinated by both of them. At the time, Castle of Illusion’s graphics and Mickey Mouse aesthetic was just great! I loved Mickey Mania and the idea of more of that, and a later game in the series with co-op was mind-blowing.
Black & White, on the other hand, I got to see when I was a bit older. I would have been around 14 or so when I went over to a friend of a friend’s house and saw him playing the game. I was mostly a console gamer so I wasn’t exposed to god games until much later. I think From Dust was my first entry in the genre…
Anyway, the way he made things happen with gestures on the screen was incredible to me and the possibilities seemed endless. I always wanted the game but didn’t have a computer strong enough to play it. To this day, I’ve only had a couple, limited experiences with Black & White which has always bummed me out. If it was released on Steam or GOG (or, more likely, EA Origin), I’d get it in an instant. Until then!
2/7 – Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
Hello and welcome. My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s video game of the day.
Today’s game is Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, originally developed by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1990. Castle of Illusion was also ported to the Game Gear and Sega Master System a year later in 1991.
Castle of Illusion sees Mickey Mouse setting off to save Minnie Mouse from the clutches of the evil witch Mizrabel. In order to defeat Mizrabel, Mickey must collect the 7 Gems of the Rainbow, scattered throughout the castle in illusory worlds and protected by the witches henchmen.
Castle of Illusion is a side-scrolling platformer and is the first in the Illusion series starring the famous Disney characters. Releasing in 1990, Castle of Illusion predates Sonic the Hedgehog and helped significantly in establishing the relatively new Sega Genesis console. It’s popularity caused it to spawn three sequels, Two of which appeared exclusively on the Master System and Game Gear, and one of which would return to the Sega Genesis. It was also remade in 2013 by Sega Studios Australia and was released on Xbox 360, PS3, PC and mobile devices.
The original Genesis release was very well received by critics and players. In the 90’s, several publications listed it as one of the top 10 games on the Sega Genesis. As recently as 2010, Gamespot called it influential to all Disney games that would follow. While the 8-bit versions were not as well received as the Genesis version, they were still given mostly positive reviews. The 2013 remake was not regarded as fondly and was criticised for its short length and slippery controls.
While the game has not seen a true sequel since 1995’s Legend of Illusion, the game did get a spiritual successor in the form of Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, a spin-off game to the Epic Mickey series which took heavy influence from Castle of Illusion. Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion was released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2012.
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2/6 – Black and White
Hello and welcome. My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s video game of the day.
Today’s game is Black & White for Windows and Mac. Black & White was made in 2001 and was the first game by Lionhead Studios, the studio that would later go on to create Fable. This was also the first game made by controversial game designer, Peter Molyneux, after he left his first company Bullfrog, amidst disagreements with EA Games. Black & White was fully funded out of Molyneux’s own finances.
Black & White is a god-game, meant to be a culmination of what Molyneux learned during his time working on the Populous and Dungeon Keeper series. While not a common genre today, god-games were more prevalent in the 90’s but had started falling out of favor by the early 2000’s. Black & White is one of the later examples of this genre during its peak.
Players are put in the role of a god who rules over several islands containing tribes of people. While the player does not have direct control over the villagers, they can influence the world by performing miracles, directing their villagers to perform certain tasks, or even move villagers to other locations. The goal of each game is to get every villager to worship the player. This can be done by becoming a benevolent god or a destructive, fearsome god, hence the title of the game. Players also raise an avatar creature that gains various abilities along with the god’s development.
Morality plays a large part in Black & White and all of a players actions or inactions effect how the villagers see the player. Based on a player’s alignment, the landscape and villages change. When a player is seen as a benevolent god, their temples may be bright and cheery, the land in harmony with the villages. If a player is evil, their temples are dark and foreboding, the land burnt and cursed.
Black & White was very well received in 2001 by players and critics alike. It received nearly universal acclaim and won several awards including a number of game of the year awards from various outlets. Despite the success of Black & White, it is actually a notoriously difficult game to play on modern computers. The game has never been released digitally and is quite buggy on modern operating systems. So while it’s not a hard game to find, nor is it particularly expensive, it can be difficult for modern players to enjoy this title.
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