Nobody is taking Donald away from me. I love his perpetual grumpiness and ‘over it’ attitude, combined with that wet and phlegmy unintelligible babble. In a game of childlike magical wonder and relentless positivity, Donald’s is the squawking voice of reason – at least, with subtitles on.
Disney Illusion Island is a 1-4 player co-op metroidvania, with players able to choose between Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. The famous mouse is persistently upbeat, he and Minnie are all lovey-dovey, and Goofy is just gormlessly there to make irrelevant comments. There’s no contest on who to pick.
I do feel sorry for Donald, though. He’s always ready with a sassy remark to undercut this whimsical adventure, yet he’s forever the butt of the joke. Take upgrades, for instance: whenever the four characters receive a new ability – typical of the genre – it’s individually tailored to each but with the same function. For the boost jump, Mickey gets a cool jetpack, Minnie an elegant origami plane, Goofy rides a spicy pepper (all his upgrades are food related), and Donald gets a firework rocket in danger of exploding beneath him. Later he’s ironically given two extra feathers to glide with – apparently his wings aren’t already enough.
