What if there was a world in which forgotten Disney characters lived? In Warren Spector and Junction Point Studios' latest passion project, Disney Epic Mickey, that is the world that Mickey Mouse finds himself trapped inside. Except, instead of being a peaceful place like it normally is, the world has been attacked by inkblot monsters, who have begun to destroy the beautiful colours that the world one had, using paint thinner. The world of Wasteland is in disarray and it's up to Mickey to restore it to its original glory (if he chooses to do so.)
As Mickey slumbers in his bedroom one night, he is awakened by noises on the other side of his wall. After inspecting the area and climbing through a mirror on his bedroom wall, Mickey finds himself in magician Yen Sid's workshop, watching him apply paint to what is seemingly a very detailed map of a fictional world. However, when Mickey approaches the painting and decides to do some of his own painting after Yen Sid has retired for the night, he accidentally knocks over a cup of paint thinner. Little does he know of what he has done to the world of Wasteland, until an inkblot monster kidnaps him days later, and drags him into the map.
As mentioned before, Wasteland is a world where Walt Disney's forgotten creations live their day to day life in obscurity. Their leader is Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the first character that Walt created, whom he lost to Universal Studios in a rights battle shortly afterwards. Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement and Oswald resents him for that, especially since Oswald never really saw the light of day as a Universal character. It is Oswald's plan to trap Mickey Mouse in Wasteland forever, so that he will be forgotten as well. As the game progresses, Mickey will befriend the inhabitants of Wasteland, and will be tasked with helping them defeat the evil inkblot and his minions, in order to restore Wasteland to its original glory.
At its core, Disney Epic Mickey is a traditional platform action game (like Banjo-Kazooie from the N64 days,) with role-playing elements. Players are able to use paint or thinner to help solve problems, complete quests and 'defeat' enemies (which can be done either by using paint to make them friendly or by using thinner to make them disappear.) Players progress through the environment and must use paint to restore missing bridges, walkways, or ledges in order to move forward. The control scheme is quite basic, and allows you to control thinner with the nunchuk and paint with the Wiimote, although it takes a bit to get used to. In addition to being able to use paint and thinner on walkways, ledges and the environment, players can also help restore the buildings throughout Wasteland that have been hit by thinner and have sections which have completely disappeared.
This gameplay mechanic sets up the game's moral choices, which allow gamers to decide whether they will help the citizens of Wasteland or whether they will ignore them and use thinner to finish quests and boss battles faster. Bosses such as the 'It's a Small World' clock tower can be restored to their normal, peaceful selves with the use of paint, but it involves more effort and results in a tougher battle, whereas thinner can defeat bosses in a much faster and easier manner. Players will be enticed by bonuses for using thinner, so it becomes a tough decision, especially when the game rewards you with a larger carrying capacity for whichever one you decide to use. At the end of the game, players will be shown what they have done to the world and its people, through a long cutscene.
Wasteland is made up of several adjoining worlds taken from Disney lore. The main hub of the game is Main Street, but most of the adjoining worlds also have mini-hubs. In the hub worlds, players are able to talk to the townspeople, take on quests, visit stores and help to restore the environment (using paint and thinner appropriately.) As Mickey collects missing power sparks by defeating bosses or completing quests, he is able to travel to new worlds through projector screens set up at the end of Main Street. These projector screens allow Mickey to travel from one world to another - most containing their own mini-hub world, such as Adventure Land, Bog Easy and Gremlin Village.
The most inventive and interesting worlds are the classic Haunted Mansion, as well as an incredibly creative new addition known as Mickey Junk Mountain. As its name suggests, Mickey Junk Mountain is a mountain range where forgotten Mickey Mouse merchandise is piled all around the environment and must be used as ramps, floating platforms and ladders to help Mickey make his way up the mountain. It's amazing being able to walk amongst classic Mickey merchandise such as the Mickey Mouse phone, Nintendo and Super Nintendo games, and even Mickey Mouse pesticide. Seeing the old Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse Super Nintendo cartridges was a very nostalgic feeling for me as it was the first game I ever purchased and one that I played a ton as a child. It's details like this that make you respect the great attention to detail and the insane amount of research that Warren Spector and his team put into this game. It clearly was a passion project.
Another one of the great and charming aspects of the game is the fact that each projector screen contains its own mini travel level modeled after classic Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from decades ago. When Mickey enters a projector screen (which is required to progress to different sections of each world, as well as back to the main hub,) he enters a 2D platforming level. Each of the main worlds generally has one cartoon split into at least three different 2D sections, as its travel levels. These are some of the most innovative, interesting and charming parts of the game, and are sure to appeal to Disney lovers of any age. Being able to play through cartoons such as Steamboat Willy, The Mad Professor, Fantasia and Jungle Rhythm, is an ingenious addition to the game and it helps add variety to the core gameplay, which can get a bit repetitive and tedious at times.
Characters that you meet along your journey will offer insight into the state of the world and will also give you side quests. These quests can range from very basic things such as finding a book that was lent to someone or finding out who stole something, to more involved quests such as putting a halt to mischievous ghost activity in the Haunted Mansion's library. Generally, the quest types are varied enough to prevent repetition, but there are several that are quite similar. A bright spot is the fact that you will sometimes there will be two sides to a quest, resulting in the necessity to make a moral choice. You will also find collectible pins scattered throughout the environments (which can also be earned for doing specific tasks,) and pieces of popular animatronic Disney characters Daisy, Goofy and Donald.
The game's structure works quite well and is quite varied, which is nice. However, quests can sometimes be very vague, which can lead to frustrating moments. Another issue in relation to quests is that there is no indicator as to which characters have new quests to give you, so you will spend a lot of time talking to each character over and over again in order to see if they mention that they need your help with something new. Although this isn't a huge issue, it can be somewhat annoying at times. I wish they would have placed some sort of a graphic indicator over characters who have new quests to share, to make it hard to miss new side quests.
Visually, Disney Epic Mickey has a vibrant colour scheme and detailed graphics during gameplay and cutscenes. Each environment or level has a different colour palette and features good texture work. Mickey Mouse and the other characters within the game are detailed, very recognizable and animate well. However vibrant and interesting the game looks, its graphics tend to also look outdated based on the fact that the Wii's hardware just can't compete with the high-definition graphic capabilities of the other gaming consoles. Then again, this does look better than a lot of Wii games, so that's definitely nice to see. In my opinion, beautiful graphics are not a requirement for a game to be good (or even great,) but they're a nice bonus. It is interesting to note, however, that Epic Mickey began its development as a multi-platform game, although the other versions were cancelled.
The game runs well, without many hiccups, but it does have a frustrating camera. Like other games of its ilk (namely ones from the N64 era,) the main issue with the game is unfortunately its camera, which makes it hard to see where to go next at times. It's an issue that most gamers are used to dealing with and is not game breaking, but it can be annoying. Manual camera control is helpful and necessary. Just be prepared to have to adjust the camera on a regular basis, especially if you want to see quest items or important things above you. Manual camera and viewing control is available but it can be finnicky at times. This sometimes makes it difficult to paint exactly where you want to, especially if it's above you.
Although there isn't any voice over work in the game, characters have their own different noises that they'll make. Quests and dialogue will be given to you in thought bubbles during cartoon-inspired cutscenes. However, Junction Point Studios' went to a lot of effort to have an amazing original orchestral score done for the game. It's really good, especially during some of the travel levels inspired by different cartoons such as Fantasia. The game also features a myriad of different sound effects that sound quite good and like they fit in with the actions.
Overall, Disney Epic Mickey is a very creative game and, although it has some issues, is well-worth playing. It is a great addition to any Disneyphile's collection, but it should be noted that some of the subject matter is quite dark, so it could scare young children. Unfortunately, it fails to reach the great heights that pre-release buzz promised it would attain. It has some issues and its core gameplay can become somewhat tedious at times, especially since there's a lot of traveling back through the same environments over and over again, but it's still very charming. It is easy to tell that Warren Spector and his team put a lot of love and effort into this game and it's worth at least a rental just to experience all of the Disney charm and nostalgia that they infused into this game.
Rating: 7.5/10
Disney Epic Mickey was released on November 30, 2010 for the Nintendo Wii.
