Revealed today during Disney and Marvel Games’ somewhat disappointing showcase, illusion island is a new 2D animated platformer being developed by DLaLa Studios and featuring sseems to be heavily inspired by recent (and fantastic) animation Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts. And oddly enough, this new platformer will be exclusive to Nintendo Switch.
illusion island is a four-player co-op platformer starring iconic Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy… er, Goofy. Corresponding an interview with IGNthis new platformer builds on the “core elements” of a previously discontinued game play studio also developed. This game, which was never officially announced, was also meant to be a co-op game with 2D, hand-drawn art and famous Disney characters. It all sounds a lot like this new thing illusion island. This original game was canned in 2016 before it was officially announced, but now it seems to live on in some form.
“Is it exactly the same game? It’s not,” said Luigi PrioreIs, Disney VP of Disney, Pixar and 20th Century Games. “Is it [developed by] dlala? Yes. Bring in your creativity? Yes. Are they the same characters? Yes. It didn’t work back then, but the environment has changed.”
While today’s showcase wasn’t the most exciting, it’s an indication that Disney appears to be more invested in games after over half a decade of mostly enduring things except for a few mobile games and Kingdom Hearts. illusion island is an example of Disney seemingly taking ideas that didn’t make it and reviving them for a second chance at life. Based on what we saw in the D23 trailer, illusion island looks pretty and could end up being a wonderful platformer with the most famous animated mouse in the world. And for the developers at Dlala, it seems they can finally make a game they’ve wanted to make for years. That is beautiful. illusion island coming to Nintendo Switch sometime next year. No other console ports have been announced and no specific release date beyond 2023 is known.
