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Without a doubt, Epic Mickey is a game that is going to polarize people. This is possible the hardest I've ever had to struggle to rate something. You can rate Epic Mickey anywhere between 3-5 stars and it never feels appropriate. It almost defies rating.
Disney Epic Mickey is a Wii exclusive developed by Junction Point Studio, headed by the legendary Warren Spector. The game was released November 30th and came in the mail for me far earlier than it should have. Disney and Junction Point intend to revitalize Mickey Mouse into a more relevant figure through video games, and reintroduce Oswald to the world. A monumental task to be sure, but in pursuit of that goal, Warren Spector has created a game unlike any other.
The game is simple and intuitive in its control. Mickey is equipped with a double jump, and spin attack, as well as the ability to use paint and thinner with his brush. It's very natural and is utilized quite well in the game itself. For two simple choices of painting and thinning, the game gets quite creative with level design, questing, exploration and boss battles.
One the biggest issue with this game is knowing how to approach it. This game will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the two Mario Galaxy games and I will say right now that those comparisons are, for the most part, going to be wrong because of the simple fact that the Mario Galaxy games are as linear as 3D platforming gets while Epic Mickey's maps are mostly nonlinear. There is nothing wrong with either approach, but it's important to know and understand the benefits and limitations of both to be able to appreciate what Epic Mickey has to offer.
The Super Mario Galaxy games used their linearity to craft obstacle courses with extremely well tuned challenges that are second to none. However the games gave up any sense of exploration or giving the world any coherency in order to do so. With Epic Mickey, it's an entirely different beast. Not only is it non linear, but it also has to resemble a functioning cartoon world. Because of this, the challenges you are expected to go through aren't and will never be as perfectly tuned as in the Galaxy games but that works fine with the game because it compensates with a sense of freedom, exploration and free roaming. Comparing the two based only on how fine tuned the platforming is would be akin to comparing Oblivion or Minecraft to Halo and saying those two are inferior because the archery in those games aren't as fun as shooting in Halo is. Epic Mickey stands with the best nonlinear 3D platformers and this is and this achievement of it is going to get lost in the Super Mario Galaxy comparisons.
While the game and its levels have a slow start for about an hour or so, the game manages to pick up pace and provide some creative, breath taking, atmospheric (A word you will see repeated many times in this review) nonlinear levels. The game's reimagining of known Disney locations provides an incredibly varied game world that is just a blast to explore for both Disney fans and nonfans alike thanks to being well executed both technical and artistically. While much of the magic will be lost on nonfans, the game's dark, colorful, creative and varied environments will still be engaging. The game is also one of the atmospheric and immersive platformers ever made. The mood and tone practically creeps off the stages and pulls you in. The game's frame rate does drop from time to time but this is a rare enough happening to keep from ruining the experience.
Speaking of engaging, Epic Mickey sports a fantastic narrative and story that runs the gamut of emotions from hilarious, to tragic, scary and very heartwarming. The game's narrative stands as one of the better video game stories and holds its own with the better Disney and Pixar films. The game gives Mickey and Oswald a startling amount of depth. And the game's many NCPs and quest givers are just a blast to talk to, just to hear what they want to say.
The game's music is simply award worthy. The score does what it needs to perfectly well, always serving to enhance to mood, the action and atmosphere of the game. It masterfully dances back and forth between ambient tracks, truly epic combat music, and strange, surreal twisted ones such as an awesome remix of "Its a Small World",
Unfortunately, the game is hit by some considerable flaws. The camera is the single biggest problem in the game. There is a good chance the camera will kill you more than anything else in the game. It can be auto focused on Mickey with the press of a button, but this option isn't always available. While there is certainly an impressive number of quests in the game, far too many of them are simple fetch quests.
Combat isn't this game's forte either. Mickey can befriend enemies with paint, or erase them with thinner. There are also animatronic enemies that require other methods to defeat. Unfortunately, all enemies feel a bit too bloated with hit points, requiring a bit too much paint or thinner to deal with them. At the same time, enemy variety is very dull. Combat could be improved by speeding it up and adding more enemies each with unique ways of taking them down. Boss battles are exempt from this, however. They are all fun, imaginative and have multiple ways of dealing with them. Unfortunately, the game could have used several more bosses to break up periods of exploration and questing.
When moving between game worlds, Mickey jumps through a projector, taking him to a 2D creation of a classic Disney short that he has to traverse to reach the next game world. While these are provide really neat recreations, the feel out of place with the rest of the game mostly because of the lack of danger or challenge in them. It simply feels as though they are padding between the game zones, rather than an integral part of the game play and pacing. I suppose they work as nice pallet cleansers between zones, but they still feel like they're missing something. That said, most all of these can be completed in less than a minute and aren't that distracting.
Overall, Epic Mickey's numerous flaws are particularly frustrating, not because they ruin the game, but because the game is so good. With better enemy variety and combat, more boss battles, improved and a better camera, and less reliance on fetch quests, Epic Mickey really could have been one of the all time greats. Instead it is simply a rock solid game for Wii owners, and a must have for Disney fans, story loving gamers and fans of platforming and exploration.
Pros:
+ A fantastic, modernized take on the nonlinear plaformers from the N64 days.
+ Solid control.
+ Looks amazing thanks to being both Technically and artistically well executed.
+ a 15+ Hour adventure with lots of replay value.
+ Unique in its addition of a fairly well done moral choice system.
+ Paint and Thinner are quite fun.
+ A treasure trove of classic Disney lore.
+ Fantastic, Pixar quality narrative and writing.
Cons
+ Camera is difficult to manage.
+ Combat could be improved.
+ The 2D segments don't quite jell with the rest of the game.
+ Over reliance on fetch quests.
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"This game is so close."
This is the thought that continued to fly through my head as I played Epic Mickey. Honestly, Epic Mickey is a victim to two years of hype more than anything, well that and its abysmal camera, but we will get to that.
Most anyone intersted in this game knows the story by now. Yensid (right) created a world where Disney's forgotten works have a place to live, even though they aren't being used anymore. Mickey accidentally spills ink and paint thinner all over this world and creates an evil blot and damages the world greatly. Later, Mickey is pulled into what is now known as the Wasteland.
It starts with a Mad Scientist getting ready to literally plunge Mickey's heart out, but Oswald the Lucky Rabbit saves him. Mickey meets Gus the Gremlin who helps you through that first section with serves as a tutorial on the controls and the paint/thin element of the game. Also note this Nintendo. Gus basically plays the Navi of this game, and Gus isn't annoying. See? It can be done, please do so with Skyward Sword.
Mickey has a magic paintbrush that can create as well as destroy. B creates, Z uses thinner to erase the world piece by piece. The mechanic is almost limitless and works well. I won't spoil all the surprises, but early on you will create and remove gears for platforms, make rocks disappear and a variety of other interesting things.
You chase Oswald through a number of early worlds, saving other Gremlins (or not) and performing tasks for them. Most familiar of course being the Small World Ride.
Which brings us to the games problems. First it relies wholly too much on fetch quests to artificially lengthen the game. At one point you reach Main Street and have to get several items prior to leaving the area. This requires you to basically criss cross across the town several times over talking to different characters. It is annoying to say the least.
Second problem, which has been harped on by everyone is the abysmal camera. Luckily, the Epic Mickey team realized it was awful and put in a manual control scheme, however, that is little solace when making tough jumps onto moving planes above a lake of thinner. At one point, I made that jump and it looked like someone has dropped the camera. Needless to say, I wound up missing the jump and starting again.
Finally, for all of its hype, it is an awfully linear game. It plays more like a cross between Zelda and Mario than something truly epic and new. Each world is filled with large arenas that have multiple things to do. You basically methodically complete each room until you reach the end boss. This isn't necessarily bad, but you should be expecting it. I was not.
But the positives outweigh the negatives.
The game is just beautiful. The world is fleshed out and you can tell great love was put into this game by people who love Disney. Little things like the remade "Partners" statue from the parks will get the Disney lovers (like myself) smiling. But overall, the art direction is just amazing. And while the 2D "projector" stages may seem a bit incongruous in the game, they look and play beautiful.
Furthermore, the story is as good as any on the Wii right now. It is Disney and it comes with Disney quality. What struck me about the story is its sadness. Mickey has a long discussion with Clarabelle the Cow early in the game and it is heartwrenching. It is a story of loss and redemption. A story of memory and longing. It is a true experience, told through great cut scenes (though bizarrely unvoiced).
Finally, the decision engine works well. There is no "right and wrong" as many decision engine games have had. There is only what you want to do. Not only does it affect the ending, but it affects the gameplay. If you help Little Pete early for example, he will give you a treasure trove before you fight the Clock Tower. It feels organic and it works.
Epic Mickey is awfully close to being a great game, but in the end, it winds up being a very good one. There are spots that will bore you and others that will make you scream in frustration. But overall, the game will give you that same warm feeling that seeing a great Disney movie will.
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after reading a feature in game informer about epic mickey a while back, i couldn't wait to get my hands on this game. as many other reviewers, i have been an avid fan of vintage disney (and poor little oswald!) for most of my life.
i want to start with the good, as there is definitely some there.
the art direction is AMAZING. there are so many wonderful little touches that are delightful (walt's apartment!). the music is AMAZING! i loved seeing wasteland...a very ridden-hard/put-away-wet version of disneyland. dark, sometimes bizarre, but always intriguing.
the concept for the game, i loved. that being said, i have never been more frustrated or said "oh what the crap" so many times while playing a video game.
the game bugs are too frequent. i would get stuck in a view where not only could i not see mickey, but i couldn't center the camera behind me either. there were bugs where i could use paint or thinner, however instead of the desired medium going where i was pointing, it would shoot straight back as if i was trying to paint or thin the "fourth wall" if you will.
the camera...oh that dreaded camera. so many times the dedicated camera would take over (when you can not center it behind you), and i could not see where i was going, i sometimes could not see where i was, and would end up dying because i couldn't see a jump, a platform, an enemy, anything. this factor ruined a majority of the game for me. call me old fashioned, but i like to see where i'm going.
the aiming system was...really something. you get used to it over time, but many times when you aim at something, even when your target is centered on it, your medium does not go there. you can overshoot and usually hit your intended target, but that seems a little funky to me. you also can not paint or thin an area you are standing on.
the save points are a little wonky. sometimes i had no idea when it last saved. sometimes if you had to start a level over (which is frequent when you die from things you can't see), some of the things you had done were saved, and some were not (oh you dreaded mad doctor sequence!). there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it.
i didn't understand the benefit to painting in the scenery (even though i did) when you have to paint it again each time you return to the same area. it was like, what's the point?
i am at the final stages, so i did plow through, and that was mainly because i didn't want to miss the scenery. i think it was a little silly that you have to play the side scrolling levels each time you go back and forth between "worlds" but i did find the side scrolling levels to be very well done. i loved the art in the cut scenes, and the ability to collect concept art overall. i just spent too much time frustrated at the poor controls to ever want to play this again after i have completed it. i don't even want to keep it, which for me is rare.
a weird review, for sure. a confusing experience most definitely. if they restructured the controls, i would pick this back up in a heartbeat. but i can not recommend this to anyone in the state it is in. :(
long live oswald!
*** UPDATE ***
after completing the game last night i feel i have to adjust my review slightly (no spoilers, don't worry!).
i was so moved by the ending that i no longer want to get rid of the game. i am now set upon re-playing to complete as many quests as possible.
i just thought it was worth putting out there. tremendous ending. (02.02.11)
Honest reviews on Disney Epic Mickey - Nintendo Wii
As the title implies, this game is a mash up of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and various Mario games. Which is not a bad thing at all, both properties are great in their own right and very much worthy of imitation. Epic Mickey borrows some storyline ideas from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and game play mechanics from Mario with a side of Disney and makes it their own.
There is a lot of history to be had with this game, if you're an avid Disney fan this is a must buy. Now with that being said it is still just as enjoyable even if you're a casual fan to even really not being one at all. I believe this game would be a good time for just about any age group, and any gamer just looking for a fun game to play, there's a little something for everyone.
The controls are pretty fluid and intuitive for the most part, and very easy to pick up from the start. The graphics are amazing by Wii standards, you really feel as if you're in the cartoon itself. The characters are engaging and the story is well thought out and entertaining. As stated above the history is rich and actually pretty interesting.
A couple of cons would be that sometimes the aiming system is a little off, takes some playing around with depending on where you're located. The camera takes a little time to get used to, it would be better if it was fixed but since it's not I wish there was another way to control it rather than using the cross pad. My final complaint would be that I wished they used real voices instead of the dialogue being in a text format; realistically this isn't really a con as more as it is a preference.
Overall the cons don't really do much to hinder the game experience, and for sure the pros out weight them. Honestly the only people who wouldn't find this title enjoyable would be the hardcore guns blazing FPS fans and/or Microsoft/Sony fan boys that refuse to play the Wii for some crazy loyalty to their system of choice.
Worth picking up for full price, you won't be sorry.
Michael
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I've been looking forward to this game quite a bit, but was very disappointed by the camera. It causes game play issues as many have noted, but it also is really bad for those of us with motion sickness.
The camera doesn't move smoothly, and often requires manual movement with the D-Pad. Either of these issues would be enough to make me ill. Both together were far more than my body could handle. I was deeply ill with nausea in a very short time of playing, and unfortunately I won't be able to play this Epic adventure that I've looked forward to so much.
Notably I haven't had any motion sickness with many games. Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Zelda: Twilight Princess and Endless Ocean have all been great for me (to name a few...and they're all GREAT games!) However, this title didn't work for me to my sadness. Looking around the internet my plight isn't uncommon. I found several reviews suggesting that people with motion sickness should avoid this game, I was sorry I hadn't seen those reviews sooner and hope this review will be useful for others who deal with Motion Sickness.
