Gamer Thoughts: Disney's Epic Mickey

Everything up to the release of Epic Mickey got me more and more excited for the game and when I got to sit in on Warren Spector's panel at New York Comic Con and hear him talk about the game and show footage I just couldn't be happier at what I heard. The one thing on my mind was that I did not want this to be a repeat of past games that had such great promise and burned me in the end. Would Epic Mickey live up to the hype that was being put around it?

I recently finished the game and I would highly recommend this to any Disney fan. I had a wonderful time playing it and the game really is a tribute to the works of Walt Disney. At $50 the game is more than worth the money since there is a lot of unlockables to collect and two paths to take; 'good' Mickey and 'evil' Mickey.

Presentation: The game is visually stunning and the animation style for the cut-scenes has a rugged oil painting look to it that fits into the whole theme of the game. The color scheme of the game completely sets the mood for the location that you are in. Your mood will shift with the game as you go from the bright and vibrant OsTown (Wasteland version of Toontown) to the darker and creepier Lonesome Manor (Wasteland version of The Haunted Mansion).

Story:  The story is fluid and takes you through locations that every Disney fan will be familiar with and get excited about. The writers did an amazing job.Without going into too much detail to avoid spoilers, Mickey unknowingly creates a Blot monster by fooling around with Yen Sid's paintbrush and when he tried to erase the monster he only makes it worse and  creates Wasteland. Years pass before Mickey is pulled into Wasteland and meets Disney's first creation, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald's jealousy of Mickey creates great tension between the characters and eventually Mickey will set off to restore Wasteland into its former self in order to atone for his mistakes and and win Oswald's trust. You'll run into all of Disney's 'forgotten characters' in Wasteland as well as some of your favorites. Surprises are everywhere.

Mickey Mouse  & Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Gameplay: The two paths presented to you,'good' Mickey and 'evil' Mickey, are determined by the amount of paint or thinner you have Mickey use in the game. For my first play-through I took the 'good' Mickey route where Mickey mostly uses paint to fix the world known as Wasteland and turn his enemies into allies. By using mostly thinner, Mickey will take the 'evil' route and erase things from the world of Wasteland; trees, doors, bridges, ect. You can also use thinner to erase and kill enemies. The game story adapts to the choices you make (paint or thinner) and will have rewards or consequences accordingly. I felt this game mechanic added a lot of style and personalization to the game. Unfortunately there is no character voice acting except for the narrator (Yen Sid) and the usual grunts and squeels from the characters. Dialog is delivered as subtitles for the actual characters. Lastly, there is a lot of talk about the game's cameras being awful but in my personal experience except for some spots where it was hard to see where you were jumping the camera was fine to me.

Music: Beautifully composed music covers this game from start to finish by the Emmy award winning Jim Dooley. Dooley composed 20 tracks for this game to give it the "classic Disney" feel. He succeeded 100% in creating and recreating original and classic Disney songs.

Replayability: Since this game has two 'paths' and changes around your in game choices, replayability is definitely high. Gamers will certainly want to go back and play through the other options and try and collect all of the Disney pins in the game, as well as other hidden secrets. You also collect film reels and they can be turned in to watch actual Disney classic cartoons. You even have a chance to watch the original Oswald cartoons from the 1920s & 30's.

Final Thoughts: This is a game that I highly recommend and strongly urge all Wii owners and Disney fans to pick up. Replayability is high and the game is stunning.