Welcome to the 32 Dangerous Cheat Codes, a brand new series that will run daily between November 24 and December 25. Join us as we discuss the hazardous ramifications of some of your favorite cheat codes. Today we're killing off Mickey Mouse and using his incorporeal body to beat the Castle of Illusion. Okay, so maybe it isn't that gruesome, but we do spend some time talking about the pettiness of Disney villains in today's episode of the 32 Dangerous Cheat Codes.


Have you ever noticed how petty most fairytale villains are? The Queen of Hearts had a bad temper, Lady Tremaine was fueled by jealousy, Maleficent was spiteful and Madam Mim attempted murder in The Sword and the Stone just for fun. We're not exactly dealing with deep thinkers in these classic Disney movies.

Of all the eye-rolling reasons cartoon villains give for trying to ruin people's lives, I think Mizrabel's motivations for kidnapping Minnie Mouse in Castle of Illusion are by far the pettiest. In a nod to the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mizrabel is threatened by the beauty of Mickey's girlfriend and locks her in a giant castle. That's just not the way you're supposed to handle personal insecurities.

This sets the world's most famous mouse on a fairly easy adventure through a bunch of beautifully rendered 16-bit levels. It's an early Genesis game with great gameplay and no real surprises. Well, except for one surprise -- You can murder Mickey and come back as a ghost.

Okay, so maybe it's not as brutal as I make it out. But if you hold A, B and C buttons and press start, our rodent hero will become a ghost. This basically allows Mickey to walk through the stages without worry of getting hit. He can just glide right through the enemies, without them even noticing him. At least, that's what it was supposed to do. I couldn't get it to work properly, but considering that pretty much every magazine alive in 1990 ran with the code, it apparently works with some versions of the game.

But let's not get hung up on that small caveat, because I have an important point to make. This is one of those "don't try this at home" scenarios you hear so much about. As tempting as it might be to make life easier to turning into a ghost, there's no guarantee that you'll, y'know, actually come back as a ghost. Chances are you'll just die and stay dead. And even if you do come back as a ghost, you'll probably be stuck haunting a single location. Who wants to be on house arrest for eternity? Take it from somebody who doesn't exist: Becoming a ghost won't make life any easier.