The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse

I wasn’t entirely thrilled with having to review another Mickey Mouse game, but, well, we can’t possibly go any lower than we did last week.

This is yet another game starring everyone’s favorite mouse (well, almost everyone’s favorite, I personally would rank the Mickster behind Rizzo from the Muppets and Speedy Gonzalez) by Capcom.  This time we have moved up to 16 bits, as this game was exclusive to the Super Nintendo. Those of us that were gaming back in the day can vouch for how big a jump that was.

Looking at Mickey Mousecapade, which I reviewed a few weeks ago, it was pretty clear to see it was a typical licensed game, a cheap cash in designed to sell copies to unsuspecting kids or parents who didn’t know any better.  That was pretty common back in the pre-internet, pre-streaming era.  There really wasn’t any way to know if a game was good without buying it, subscribing to a magazine or finding it at your local video store.  It still happens today, but not nearly as frequently.  It used to be so bad that you had to go out of your way to avoid any licensed game, since the probability that it was going to absolute garbage was very, very high.  Fortunately, that isn’t the case with Magical Quest.

Don’t get me wrong, this game is nothing to write home about.  It’s not a major hidden gem or anything like that, but its a good solid playthrough that will appeal to the younger audience its directed at.  Everything is quality here, from the graphics to the sound to the controls.  You play as Mickey, who has to traverse six unique levels to rescue Pluto from the evil Pete.  Nothing groundbreaking, but a hell of a lo better than whatever was going on in Mousecapade.

Mickey’s primary attack is jumping on enemies.  Jumping on them once stuns them, while jumping on them again knocks them out.  You can pick up stunned enemies and throw them at other enemies and you can also pick up and throw blocks.  This is nice, as it gives you a variety of ways to approach enemies.  The level design does a good job alternating between forcing you to attack with a a specific method at some points while allowing you freedom to choose at others.  Mickey will also acquire three outfits: a magician’s suit allowing him to throw projectiles, a firefighter’s uniform that allows him to spray water and a mountain climbing suit with a grappling hook.  All of these serve a unique purpose and can also be used to attack.

The levels aren’t particularly long, but they do provide some nice variety and are well paced.  The first level serves as an introduction, and each individual stage is set up to allow the player to learn how the game works before throwing any real challenge at them.  Each stage gradually steps up the difficulty and throws more obstacles at the player.  In level three, for instance, you will have to use your fire hose to push blocks and cool off burning platforms.  The challenge never really peaks and the game is relatively easy, but come on, its Mickey Effen Mouse.  

The controls are tight, responsive and simple.  That’s exactly what you want to see in a game like this.  The hit detection is a little wonky and can be frustrating at times, but it isn’t gamebreaking.  You have a lot of control when you are in the air and you never have to worry about BS like falling through platforms that you clearly land on.  You also don’t lose control when you jump on enemies, which is nice.  My one complaint is that Mickey walks pretty slow and there isn’t any run button.  It’s more annoying than problematic though and the game is designed for a deliberate pace.

The graphics are outstanding, everything is crisp and the pixel art is really clean.  The Mickey sprite is great and has tons of personality, especially when he gets hit.  The backgrounds are extremely detailed and I especially liked the living trees in the dark forest level.  I wish the enemies were a little more varied, but the bosses look great and even feature some mode 7 effects.  I think the presentation more so than the graphics are what stands out here.  Every level has a enemies, backgrounds, objects and sound that fit together in a cohesive package.  The music ranges from good to downright beautiful and the quality is top notch for the SNES. The impact of music can be hard to explain and sometimes a track will just make you feel a certain way.  When I got to the ice level, I swear I felt like I smelled snow in the air despite the fact that its the middle of August.

So, lets get down to it:

Could your kids play this game?: Definitely.  It’s easy to learn the controls, the graphics are appealing and it isn’t punishingly difficult.  There is enough variety here to keep the youngins entertained and there isn’t anything overly frustrating.

Would your kids enjoy this game?: Probably.  This probably hits the target demographic closer than any game I have looked at so far.  Even young kids will find something to enjoy and Disney fans will be in their glory.

Would gamers enjoy it?: Maybe for a quick playthrough.  There isn’t anything wrong with Magical Quest, but it just doesn’t have much substance.  It’s very easy and very short (took me just under an hour) with little to make it stand out from a gameplay perspective.

7/10

Play this if:

You are a big time Disney Fan

You need a quick playthrough

You are a young or inexperienced gamer looking for a reasonable challenge

Avoid If:

You are the type of gamer that thinks everything should be at least as hard as Dark Souls

You really hate Disney