From that point on, Castle of Illusion changes perspective constantly. Most levels will begin as 2D platformers but smoothly shift into a 3D maze or a towards-the-camera chase sequence. The game constantly changes not just how you're viewing it, but what kind of activities you're performing. It isn't challenging or groundbreaking, but the game is so open to transformation that I found myself helplessly rapt — and I found I was able to switch from platforming in different dimensions just as smoothly as the game.

Boss battles at the end of each level are the only rough patch. They each follow an offensive pattern to avoid until they're open to attack, and take as many as six or seven hits to take down for good. But their patterns change slightly after each attack, and on several levels, I often whittled a boss down to one point of health left and then died to a new or revised pattern and had to start the whole sluggish fight over again. It felt punitive and frustrating.

A short running time may be the only element that Castle of Illusion lifts wholesale from the original. I finished the game in just over three hours, and it doesn't have a lot of reason to return aside from collecting gems you missed or rerunning levels as time trials. Though its unwillingness to repeat tricks in order to pad length is one of its greatest qualities, I was left wanting more.