The Castle of Illusion remake was released in 2013 but the original game was released in 1990 on the Sega Genesis. The remake was developed by Sega Studios Australia and published by Sega.
This game's animation and level designs are just fantastic, colorful and fun to play. The music is great and the boss battles are challenging but easy once you learn the tactics.
Some of the levels are linear but others are free and open to explore in any way you want but ultimately have the.. "reach the end" task. The whole point of the game is to collect 7 rainbow crystals to open the path at the top of the castle to reach Minnie and save her.