Mickey stands up once again as a hero protagonist to save the now dark and forgotten deepest past of Disney,but will this mouse determinedly save it's obscurity like art,or should the work be erased with thinner for history?
Epic Mickey is an exclusive Wii game released on 2010 which got major hype as one of the most wanted 3rd party games for the console before release,created by the mind team of director Warren Spector from Junction Point,who worked alongside Disney for the development of the game.Oh boy,this review did need a bit of research in order to clarify certain aspects here.
Starting up just like the beginning of an old classic Mickey Mouse short,'Thru the Mirror',Mickey's sleeping after apparently reading Lewis Carroll's 'Alice through the looking glass' and then wakes up to go through his mirror that can 'magically' take him to Yen Sid's(you might know him from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia as the main sorcerer himself) castle chamber,and the mouse notices the wizard doing some adjustments with paint and thinner in a map called Wasteland,where is filled with long-time forgotten Disney characters.Yen Sid then goes to rest a bit,and as expected,Mickey curiously decides to use the paintbrush a bit on the map,but since he doesn't know how to use it properly,he ends up creating a paint mixed with thinner monster beast known as the Shadow Blot(not to be confused with the Phantom Blot from the older days),thus creating what is called the "Thinner Disaster",and the mouse escapes the place without being identified by Yen Sid,but yet again,his creation has managed to invade Wasteland and team up with the Mad Doctor to destroy the place in ruins,and months later,it captures Mickey into the land that is now a messed up and destroyed home for these poor toons,and while there,he will encounter,as mentioned,old Disney characters that have been left there because their popularity has vanished over the years,like Horace Horsecollar,Clarebelle Cow,and even Big Bad Pete,while also teaming up with uncle Walt's older mascot that has been replaced by Mickey himself,Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,to stop the Shadow Blot from ruining Wasteland once and for all.The story,in all honesty,is fantastic.It's not even something created solely for the game,because most of what is here for the story is indeed based upon true history that has been going for almost a century,with the "once popular,now forgotten" type of characters included,and locations based mostly upon popular attractions from Disneyland,with some of them already replace by other parks,or just left abandoned.
During gameplay,you,as the cartoon protagonist who has to fix what you caused by accident without anyone aware of the suspect,controls Mickey Mouse set with the magic paintbrush that also fell alongside Mickey's "arrival" in Wasteland.The gameplay centers all around the use of paint and thinner to help on the environments,and consequently,affect your trajectory throughout the game for the most part.Other than that,you're mostly wandering around 3D platforming scenarios with the brave mouse using paint of thinner with motion controls,or doing side-quests for certain characters in the hub worlds.The bigger and more traditional levels where you have to explore the area until the end are very well inspired and structured from Disney's old past moments,like from a whole mountain climb-up full of Mickey related merchandise including toys,comics and even games,to Disneyland's remarkable area we're all aware that got a movie adaptation this year known as Tomorrow City.The overall design and structure of these inspired levels really shows that the guys at the development team tried their best to make a twisted abandoned-like setting for all of these places,and because of that,I'm overly impressed with what they offered us.Also,the 3D character animation is impressive on their transaction from their older 2D versions to 3D,and that's something quite difficult to accomplish in mind,so there's credit for that too.
Sometimes,you'll have to travel from one area to another by jumping into a projector screen and pass through a level based off a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon,and I was very happy to recognize most of these shorts that I saw as a kid in here,like 'Mickey and the Beanstalk','Lonesome Ghosts' and more;and you can actually go through some few cartoons from Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,with one of them being what's considered one of his most popular adventures,'Oh,What a Knight'.But,in some cases,you'll be forced to go through these paths over and over again to get from Mean Street(the main hub-world of the game) to another hub-world.Example,it sure was fun going 'Thru the Mirror' the first time,but eventually,it just gets repetitive to use that same pattern just to go to another place.Thankfully,not all of them do repeat themselves more than once in that matter.
Certain side-quests will affect how you progress through the story and be recognized by other characters,while others are there just for more stuff to do.The alternative to do these is optional,but sometimes,one side-quest can lead to a marathon of them to complete,which can be a bit too much for some.By the way,the dialogue between characters are also well portrayed,making them more recognized and giving them more personality,even if there isn't a bit of voice acting to be seen from the characters,other than Yen Sid's in the beginning and the end of the adventure,since all of them tend to make one voice noise when speaking one rectangular box of dialogue,but not too much like the talking from Banjo-Kazooie,for assurance.There are also cutscenes here that take the classic Mary Blair style to narrate important parts of the story.They do look nice and beautiful,and don't worry,the dialogue is still explained through text,in case you're wondering.
Most of the time,while on certain levels,you'll face many Blot variations through combat that can turn into either into your allies or drippings of thinner by using paint or thinner on them.There are also sketches that can help if you're having trouble facing some enemies,like,you can drop an old TV to show a cartoon to distract them,or even use a clock sketch to slow time and have more time for reaction.These sketches can also be used on puzzles,where I feel they have a bigger role,because I sort of forgot to use them on the times I had more confusion on combat.I also have to mention you have a Spin Attack by the shake of the Wii Remote,but that serves only to stun enemies or solve puzzles,as well as giving you a little extra air time while jumping.
The boss battles here,as few as there are,are in a short word,epic with their creativity and charisma.When you have to fight one,like the usual enemies,you can end the fight in two ways,by either going through the "Paint" way,or the "Thinner" way.For example,the first boss,which is the tower from the "It's a Small World" attraction at Disneyland after years of repeating itself with the same song over and over again,and going nuts about it;can be fought in two ways.One,you use the paint on his arms to fix the tower and paint his face to restore him completly,or two,you use thinner to destroy it at once.Using one or other other will raise your paint or thinner capacity usage.One disappointment I had with the bosses was the final boss.I won't spoil anything,but it sure wasn't as memorable,nor fun as the others.
The characters here are well-portrayed as their original roles with their interactions,and they help the game's presentation even more,which can make you having the feeling to save Wasteland in order for them live in a happy ending.There's a big chance you'll remember characters you saw from your childhood if you watched Disney stuff before(which I suppose all of us did at one point in our lifes),and for me,I got memories back when I saw Clarebelle Cow here,as I seen her as a character in The Three Musketeers adaptation of the classic Disney trio,Mickey,Donald and Goofy,as well as in another short named 'Orphan's Benefit'(the remastered version of 1941),and Pete as a big likable brute that would often appear in many Mickey shorts,shows and movies(I say often because he isn't all that bad,as demonstrated in 'A Goofy Movie).
If there is one minor complaint that everyone points out as a major flaw in the game,is the always hated camera.It is disorienting and unhelpful at the majority of the time,sure,but you can control the camera by moving the Wii Remote's D-Pad in order to put it in the direction you want,and trust me when I say that the camera becomes much less of an obstacle when you get used to controlling it on imprecise moments.
The soundtrack here often is composed in a dark and rather calm tone,and it really does set up the atmosphere for the game.I've seen from another reviewer that some of the music for the levels also have some minor musical references related to the area they're based on,which is a neat little detail in the musical score.In general,the music is quite good,and I especially like the music scores shown in some of the 2D projector screen levels.
Though,it has a confused camera,some repetitive 2D-side scrolling levels and a few other disappointing aspects,Epic Mickey is an impressive game that truly captures the glorious Disney moments portrayed here in a twisted matter that is just amazing.Wheter you're a small or big Disney fan yourself,I'll recommend this game for your list.Outside of that,if you like platforming exploration games and great writting,this could also be a good recommendation.Mickey hasn't gone in a big adventure like this for years,but the title says precisely says what you're in for,and that is epicness.
Epic Mickey is an exclusive Wii game released on 2010 which got major hype as one of the most wanted 3rd party games for the console before release,created by the mind team of director Warren Spector from Junction Point,who worked alongside Disney for the development of the game.Oh boy,this review did need a bit of research in order to clarify certain aspects here.
Starting up just like the beginning of an old classic Mickey Mouse short,'Thru the Mirror',Mickey's sleeping after apparently reading Lewis Carroll's 'Alice through the looking glass' and then wakes up to go through his mirror that can 'magically' take him to Yen Sid's(you might know him from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia as the main sorcerer himself) castle chamber,and the mouse notices the wizard doing some adjustments with paint and thinner in a map called Wasteland,where is filled with long-time forgotten Disney characters.Yen Sid then goes to rest a bit,and as expected,Mickey curiously decides to use the paintbrush a bit on the map,but since he doesn't know how to use it properly,he ends up creating a paint mixed with thinner monster beast known as the Shadow Blot(not to be confused with the Phantom Blot from the older days),thus creating what is called the "Thinner Disaster",and the mouse escapes the place without being identified by Yen Sid,but yet again,his creation has managed to invade Wasteland and team up with the Mad Doctor to destroy the place in ruins,and months later,it captures Mickey into the land that is now a messed up and destroyed home for these poor toons,and while there,he will encounter,as mentioned,old Disney characters that have been left there because their popularity has vanished over the years,like Horace Horsecollar,Clarebelle Cow,and even Big Bad Pete,while also teaming up with uncle Walt's older mascot that has been replaced by Mickey himself,Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,to stop the Shadow Blot from ruining Wasteland once and for all.The story,in all honesty,is fantastic.It's not even something created solely for the game,because most of what is here for the story is indeed based upon true history that has been going for almost a century,with the "once popular,now forgotten" type of characters included,and locations based mostly upon popular attractions from Disneyland,with some of them already replace by other parks,or just left abandoned.
During gameplay,you,as the cartoon protagonist who has to fix what you caused by accident without anyone aware of the suspect,controls Mickey Mouse set with the magic paintbrush that also fell alongside Mickey's "arrival" in Wasteland.The gameplay centers all around the use of paint and thinner to help on the environments,and consequently,affect your trajectory throughout the game for the most part.Other than that,you're mostly wandering around 3D platforming scenarios with the brave mouse using paint of thinner with motion controls,or doing side-quests for certain characters in the hub worlds.The bigger and more traditional levels where you have to explore the area until the end are very well inspired and structured from Disney's old past moments,like from a whole mountain climb-up full of Mickey related merchandise including toys,comics and even games,to Disneyland's remarkable area we're all aware that got a movie adaptation this year known as Tomorrow City.The overall design and structure of these inspired levels really shows that the guys at the development team tried their best to make a twisted abandoned-like setting for all of these places,and because of that,I'm overly impressed with what they offered us.Also,the 3D character animation is impressive on their transaction from their older 2D versions to 3D,and that's something quite difficult to accomplish in mind,so there's credit for that too.
Sometimes,you'll have to travel from one area to another by jumping into a projector screen and pass through a level based off a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon,and I was very happy to recognize most of these shorts that I saw as a kid in here,like 'Mickey and the Beanstalk','Lonesome Ghosts' and more;and you can actually go through some few cartoons from Oswald the Lucky Rabbit,with one of them being what's considered one of his most popular adventures,'Oh,What a Knight'.But,in some cases,you'll be forced to go through these paths over and over again to get from Mean Street(the main hub-world of the game) to another hub-world.Example,it sure was fun going 'Thru the Mirror' the first time,but eventually,it just gets repetitive to use that same pattern just to go to another place.Thankfully,not all of them do repeat themselves more than once in that matter.
Certain side-quests will affect how you progress through the story and be recognized by other characters,while others are there just for more stuff to do.The alternative to do these is optional,but sometimes,one side-quest can lead to a marathon of them to complete,which can be a bit too much for some.By the way,the dialogue between characters are also well portrayed,making them more recognized and giving them more personality,even if there isn't a bit of voice acting to be seen from the characters,other than Yen Sid's in the beginning and the end of the adventure,since all of them tend to make one voice noise when speaking one rectangular box of dialogue,but not too much like the talking from Banjo-Kazooie,for assurance.There are also cutscenes here that take the classic Mary Blair style to narrate important parts of the story.They do look nice and beautiful,and don't worry,the dialogue is still explained through text,in case you're wondering.
Most of the time,while on certain levels,you'll face many Blot variations through combat that can turn into either into your allies or drippings of thinner by using paint or thinner on them.There are also sketches that can help if you're having trouble facing some enemies,like,you can drop an old TV to show a cartoon to distract them,or even use a clock sketch to slow time and have more time for reaction.These sketches can also be used on puzzles,where I feel they have a bigger role,because I sort of forgot to use them on the times I had more confusion on combat.I also have to mention you have a Spin Attack by the shake of the Wii Remote,but that serves only to stun enemies or solve puzzles,as well as giving you a little extra air time while jumping.
The boss battles here,as few as there are,are in a short word,epic with their creativity and charisma.When you have to fight one,like the usual enemies,you can end the fight in two ways,by either going through the "Paint" way,or the "Thinner" way.For example,the first boss,which is the tower from the "It's a Small World" attraction at Disneyland after years of repeating itself with the same song over and over again,and going nuts about it;can be fought in two ways.One,you use the paint on his arms to fix the tower and paint his face to restore him completly,or two,you use thinner to destroy it at once.Using one or other other will raise your paint or thinner capacity usage.One disappointment I had with the bosses was the final boss.I won't spoil anything,but it sure wasn't as memorable,nor fun as the others.
The characters here are well-portrayed as their original roles with their interactions,and they help the game's presentation even more,which can make you having the feeling to save Wasteland in order for them live in a happy ending.There's a big chance you'll remember characters you saw from your childhood if you watched Disney stuff before(which I suppose all of us did at one point in our lifes),and for me,I got memories back when I saw Clarebelle Cow here,as I seen her as a character in The Three Musketeers adaptation of the classic Disney trio,Mickey,Donald and Goofy,as well as in another short named 'Orphan's Benefit'(the remastered version of 1941),and Pete as a big likable brute that would often appear in many Mickey shorts,shows and movies(I say often because he isn't all that bad,as demonstrated in 'A Goofy Movie).
If there is one minor complaint that everyone points out as a major flaw in the game,is the always hated camera.It is disorienting and unhelpful at the majority of the time,sure,but you can control the camera by moving the Wii Remote's D-Pad in order to put it in the direction you want,and trust me when I say that the camera becomes much less of an obstacle when you get used to controlling it on imprecise moments.
The soundtrack here often is composed in a dark and rather calm tone,and it really does set up the atmosphere for the game.I've seen from another reviewer that some of the music for the levels also have some minor musical references related to the area they're based on,which is a neat little detail in the musical score.In general,the music is quite good,and I especially like the music scores shown in some of the 2D projector screen levels.
Though,it has a confused camera,some repetitive 2D-side scrolling levels and a few other disappointing aspects,Epic Mickey is an impressive game that truly captures the glorious Disney moments portrayed here in a twisted matter that is just amazing.Wheter you're a small or big Disney fan yourself,I'll recommend this game for your list.Outside of that,if you like platforming exploration games and great writting,this could also be a good recommendation.Mickey hasn't gone in a big adventure like this for years,but the title says precisely says what you're in for,and that is epicness.
Rating:
That's all for the amazing show,folks!
That's all for the amazing show,folks!
