Mickey Mania
More proof that the Sega CD was essential add on for the Sega Genesis; albeit an expensive and unpopular one. Mickey Mania was one of many titles that were available as both a cartridge and CD-ROM, where the CD version was either significantly more feature heavy or graphically more impressive. So, owning one, if I had the choice I would always push to buy the CD version, which was also more convenient since they were priced cheaper, being on CD and all. Such was the case with the Sega CD versions of Earthworm Jim, Batman the Animated Series, Out of the World and amongst others, Mickey Mania. In this case, the Mickey Mania CD version featured slightly richer graphics and a few special levels special only to this disc release. Special levels that included what seemed like 3D elements which I suppose must have required the extra storage space.
Mickey Mania really was a fantastic game for Mickey fans. The entire game revolves around the concept of modern Mickey re-visiting his cartoons throughout the years. Each level is an homage to a specific classic cartoon from Steamboat Willy to the Mad Doctor to Prince and the Pauper. (The most recent Mickey cartoon at the time.) Mickey Mania was also yet another 16-bit title that actually featured classically animated frames from Disney animators. (Over 1500 of them, which could mean be anywhere from about a minute of animation and up depending on the framerate.) Of course, this made a huge impact on the overall look and fluidity of the game and it's characters.
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Believe it or not this game was also primarily designed by David Jaffe who also directed the God of War and Twisted Metal series oddly enough. I guess it's no more bizarre than Warren Spector creating Epic Mickey after his major successes with Deus Ex and the Ultima series. But then again, that was in the opposite order.
Mickey Mania really ended up as one of those solid platformer titles of the mid-90's. Unique enough to stand out from the hoards of other side-scrollers and yet not so off-track that it didn't catch on. It also struck at just the right time for me, back when, as a young teen I was primarily concerned with games that were based on cartoon properties I was already familiar with. Which was a fine place to be at the time since there were a ton of great games like this one hitting the 16-bit platforms regularly.
More proof that the Sega CD was essential add on for the Sega Genesis; albeit an expensive and unpopular one. Mickey Mania was one of many titles that were available as both a cartridge and CD-ROM, where the CD version was either significantly more feature heavy or graphically more impressive. So, owning one, if I had the choice I would always push to buy the CD version, which was also more convenient since they were priced cheaper, being on CD and all. Such was the case with the Sega CD versions of Earthworm Jim, Batman the Animated Series, Out of the World and amongst others, Mickey Mania. In this case, the Mickey Mania CD version featured slightly richer graphics and a few special levels special only to this disc release. Special levels that included what seemed like 3D elements which I suppose must have required the extra storage space. Mickey Mania really was a fantastic game for Mickey fans. The entire game revolves around the concept of modern Mickey re-visiting his cartoons throughout the years. Each level is an homage to a specific classic cartoon from Steamboat Willy to the Mad Doctor to Prince and the Pauper. (The most recent Mickey cartoon at the time.) Mickey Mania was also yet another 16-bit title that actually featured classically animated frames from Disney animators. (Over 1500 of them, which could mean be anywhere from about a minute of animation and up depending on the framerate.) Of course, this made a huge impact on the overall look and fluidity of the game and it's characters. Mickey Mania really ended up as one of those solid platformer titles of the mid-90's. Unique enough to stand out from the hoards of other side-scrollers and yet not so off-track that it didn't catch on. It also struck at just the right time for me, back when, as a young teen I was primarily concerned with games that were based on cartoon properties I was already familiar with. Which was a fine place to be at the time since there were a ton of great games like this one hitting the 16-bit platforms regularly.
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