Disney's Epic Mickey

Hey folks, I know it's been a while since my last review. My apologies. The
holidays and my day job are trying to keep me down. Well, take this, THE MAN.

This is a game I've wanted to try since I first heard about it so long ago.
Mainly because I thought it would be so dumb that I would be able to mock it
ceaselessly like I do with World of Warcraft.

Storyline - 5/5

I can't believe I'm saying this, but they came up with a story that would make
Walt Disney himself proud.

The story is that one day Mickey Mouse finds a portal to Yen Sid's workshop via a
Mirror in Mickey's bedroom. Yen Sid is putting the finishing touches on his
creation, a world where the forgotten can be in peace.

Like a retard, Mickey decides to screw with Yen Sid's creation by splashing it
all over with paint and paint thinner, eventually creating the Shadow Blot, which
then eventually pulls Mickey into the world that Yen Sid created, now called
Wasteland.

It's here in Wasteland where Mickey meets his long-lost half-brother, Oswald the
Lucky Rabbit, who is one of Walt Disney's first creations. It soon becomes
apparent that Mickey has to save the world he unwittingly doomed using the power
of the brush that he himself used to create the Shadow Blot.

Graphics - 5/5

This is one of those rare games that would probably not be as good if they'd
tried to implement hi-def 1080p or 3D graphics to it. Seeing as the developers
were taking the game back to its original 1930's look, they did a hell of a job.

The fact that just about every area in the game is inspired by real Disney
cartoons is just a minor hint to how much effort they put forth in bringing
Disney's original vision to life, every animation, every show of emotion, every
movement is exactly how it looked in the early 30's cartoons.

The world is laid out like a twisted facsimile of a theme park, complete with the
tea cup and Dumbo rides, and a warped version of Disney's Main Street, now called
"Mean Street", which also serves as Mickey's base of operations.

It's also great to see how the world changes with your choices and actions.
Generally, the more Paint you use, the more the world becomes bright, vivid, and
inviting. While the more you use Paint Thinner, the world becomes more dark, dreary, and downright unpleasant.

It's readily obvious how multiple art styles and excellent art direction blend
together to draw you into the overall feel of the game.

Audio - 4/5

The game has several choice musical pieces that enhance the experience that sound
like they came directly from the Disney vault, from the old, familiar music from
"Steamboat Willie", to original, inspiring songs that play during most boss
encounters.

Most of the time, the music is well-placed and fits the situation nicely,
especially during combat segments, where you almost half-expect to hear "One-
Winged Angel" as the boss or blotlings try to off you.

That said, sometimes the music during the platforming parts of the game can get
repetitive and dull, which sometimes made me want to finish the stage faster just
to listen to a new track.

Voice acting is kept to a minimum, with the only real spoken dialog being
provided by Yen Sid as he gives narration to the tale. Otherwise, everyone else
just speaks in familiar squeaks and giggles, translated by captions on the
screen.

Gameplay - 3/5

The gameplay is pretty standard fare for a platformer, with all the running,
double-jumping, and puzzle-solving you might expect from classics like Super
Mario 64, Legend of Zelda, or Banjo-Kazooie.

The game is controlled exclusively with the Wii Remote/Nunchuk configuration,
using the Nunchuk for most navigation, and the Wii Remote for performing most actions.

The game's bread and butter is the use of Paint, and Paint Thinner. Paint is used
to either add in platforms to leap to, repairing gears to get machines running,
or befriending enemies to fight for you. Paint thinner does the exact opposite,
removing obstacles and enemies from existence entirely.

With the game's "Good vs. Evil" choices mechanic, you can use Paint, which is
generally the "Good Guy" path. You can also use Paint Thinner, which is the
opposite. Even though you're technically doing the right thing regardless of
which path you choose, you can make Mickey come off as kind of a jerk, if you so
choose.

You can probably blow through the game in 10-12 hours, but tons of side quests
and collectibles to gather extend the playtime significantly, with the choices
aspect making it impossible to see and experience everything the game has to
offer in a single playthrough.

There are also multiple endings decided by your use (or lack thereof) of Paint,
Thinner, or how many side quests you complete, or how many people you help or
completely ignore, making you want to play again and again, if just to see what
happens if you paint outside the lines, so to speak.

Now for the downside, and it's a doozy: The camera. It honestly feels like the
camera is your own worst enemy at times, with no lock-on feature available to
ease some of the added difficulty of slowly navigating the camera with the D-Pad.
Most of the time, you'll think the camera is actively trying its damnedest to
kill you. Fortunately, frequent checkpoints keep this from being a game-breaking
problem, requiring only a mild amount of patience to deal with.

That's it for the specifics, here's the breakdown.

Score

Storyline - 5/5 Wonderfully assembled story that even Walt Disney himself would
have envisioned, that you'll want to experience over and over.

Graphics - 5/5 Lovely stylized world, reminiscent of the world's 1930's origins,
with multiple art styles blending ing beautifully.

Audio - 4/5 Excellent music selections, both classic and original, although it
can get kind of stale sometimes.

Gameplay - 3/5 Wonderful gameplay, with a near-perfect blend of platforming and
puzzle solving. Multiple endings and side quests keep you coming back for more,
even after you finish the game, but a poor camera almost cripples the fun factor.

Total - 17/20

It's extremely rare that a game makes me put my foot in my mouth; I really wanted
to make fun of this game for being what it is, but it's just too damn good.

The one thing I didn't mention in the review is that you'll notice it plays a lot like Super
Mario Sunshine. Which, given how well this game does, I hope will convince some
of you to go back and give Sunshine a second look. Maybe you'll find that it's
not as bad as you first thought.

That said, Epic Mickey is exactly that: Epic. This game makes an excellent
addition to anyone's Wii library and will give hours of fun for all ages.

As always if you have any questions, comments, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, or want me to give you my thoughts on a game that you're on the fence about, drop me a line
at grifsgamereviews(at)gmail(dot)com. Again, note the donation button if you feel
like giving an incentive to pick your game to review over everyone else's. :3

Thanks for hearing me out, and happy gaming! Merry Christmakwanzakah!

And look forward to my next review!