Land of Illusion Game Sample - Game Gear
0"Land of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse" is a good Game Gear side-scroller/platformer (which was originally released for the Sega Master System) and a great follow-up to the popular "Castle of Illusion" released for Game Gear, SMS, Sega Genesis/MD, and Sega Saturn (in Japan as part of the Sega Ages line-up; it was Sega Ages: I Love Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck). It takes the basic formula of CoI and expands on the story, item collectibles, special abilities, hidden areas (I skip one on the first level to show more of the stage), secrets, and difficulty. It is part of a GG/SMS trilogy which consists of "Castle of Illusion", "Land of Illusion", and "Legend of Illusion". Naturally, this excludes the Genesis/MD exclusive, "World of Illusion" (Great game that it was).
In the game, Mickey is reading a book of fairy tales and eventually falls asleep. When he wakes up, he's not in his house but in a strange village. A girl (Daisy Duck) asks for his help as a magic crystal was stolen from the villagers by an evil phantom, and now monsters and those with ill-will have overrun the land, causing mischief and removing kings from their thrones. Once happy, the inhabitants of the land now fall into despair and Mickey is apparently the only one who can save them now, so he accepts. Swell.
Mickey can throw objects at enemies or jump on them, but can also gain possession of various magical items or spells, collect magical stars hidden throughout levels to increase his max health and lives (collecting all of the stars in the game rewards you with a special bonus), and collect various health and point pickups. There are minor puzzles to solve, bosses to fight, and varied stages to play. You can also revisit previous stages to collect things you missed (which is a must if you want everything). The game has good audio/visuals for a Game Gear title. This is a video of the first few stages. Enjoy.