Despite it selling approximately 4.3 billion units, I lived in one of the few households in the mid-2000s without a Nintendo Wii. I missed out on too many great Wii-exclusives to name, one of which was Epic Mickey. It was a platformer starring Disney’s mascot, and now anyone can enjoy Mickey’s adventures with the remake Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, a very solid game that’ll surely hit with the Disney Adult crowd.
Epic Mickey hailed from immersive sim king Warren Spector and his development studio at the time, Junction Point Studios, while the remake was created by THQ Nordic’s Purple Lamp. It returns Mickey to his mischievous roots – his child-like trouble making in the opening of the game sets its story in motion – while also empowering him to be a hero, of sorts. An epic hero, if you will. He’ll venture through various locales inspired by Disney properties, interact with a cast of black and white cows and characters of yesteryear, like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was quickly neglected by Disney once Mickey Mouse was created.
The main plot of the game is to find a way out of the Wasteland, a realm home to mostly characters and areas that Disney may not use much; you won’t find Simba around, but you will find discarded Mouse merch, like a Mickey-themed telephone, in Mickeyjunk island. You’ll bounce between levels like Tomorrowland and a pirate-themed jungle. They’re fun, and offer up some entertaining platforming.
However, the quest structure in each level drags tremendously as they’re almost all the same. You might have an NPC who wants you to find not-so-scattered items for them, or you have to repair some mechanism to get an attraction rideable, like lifting a metal gate so Mickey can ride a boat safely to advance the level. They all just became too tedious and, at times, felt like padding. Though, Epic Mickey Rebrushed does deserve some praise for how you can approach different situations. Sometimes you can outright pay an NPC for whatever you need instead of partaking in their fetch quest, and you can avoid some enemy encounters entirely based on your actions, giving you different options on how to approach the game.
I did enjoy most of the 2D levels, some perhaps more than the main game. In between areas, Mickey will hop into a projector screen showing old-timey cartoons. You’ll platform through them, gathering tickets (in-game currency) and collectible film reels, on your way to the next stage. Maybe it’s my inherent bias for 2D platformers over 3D ones showing, but at times I felt like Epic Mickey’s 2D levels flowed better than their 3D counterparts.
In terms of gameplay, the main mechanic is Mickey’s paintbrush that can spray paint or paint thinner. Paint will create absent elements of levels, like thinned-out platforms for Mickey to hop on, while thinner will make objects and walls disappear, often revealing hidden chests or pathways. You’ll constantly be spraying paint and thinner everywhere, trying to uncover every last secret or collectible. It’s definitely a great mechanic, but the game needs you not to think too hard about its internal logic. If you start wondering why you can thin some walls but not the bars imprisoning a gremlin – and then later on thin gates blocking your path – you’ll become frustrated by the arbitrary limitations.
Painting and thinning also come into play during the game’s combat, which is simple enough and gets the job done, though it lacks any really remarkable elements. Mickey can thin enemies to weaken their defenses and follow up with a spin attack or ground pound to finish them off. Some enemies can even be turned to his side by filling them with enough paint, which is a somewhat unique element as Mickey becomes a leader of brainwashed inkblots.
Ultimately, I think Epic Mickey: Rebrushed will be enjoyed more by the Disney fanatic than the layman. It’s a competent platformer with some fun gameplay elements, namely Mickey’s brush, but too often it drags with bloat and repetitive quest structure. Hardcore House of Mouse fans might be able to look past those complaints to just enjoy the world in the game, full of Disney easter eggs references and iconic locations, and more power to them.
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