25.5.2015

I’m not much of a gamer, and when I do play a video game, I prefer the simpler games like I grew up playing. As a result, the quest games that follow a long story through a created world aren’t normally my thing. But I quickly made an exception when Epic Mickey was released for Wii. You expected this Disnerd to do any differently?The game is a dream for those of us who love all things Disney. Once upon a time, the wizard Yensid (from the movie Fantasia) created a world for all the forgotten Disney characters to retire to. However, during its construction, Mickey accidentally stumbles into the studio and spills paint and thinner on it. Now, years later, the place is in disrepair and Mickey is kidnapped and drawn into the world,now known as Wasteland. In order to get out, he must make his way through a bunch of quests. He is helped along the way by Gus, a Gremlin who helps guide you through the game. You also have a paint brush filled with paint and thinner you can use to create or erase things and even enemies in the world.I’ve got to confess that I have had multiple geek out moments as I’ve played this game. You spend parts of it chasing Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and you meet up with Clarabelle and Horace. Plus you are playing through levels that resemble various places in Disneyland (some say Disney World, but I think of Disneyland). While most people will recognize the places, few will probably get the characters. I’m enough of a Disnerd that I not only get them but I absolutely love seeing them.The game looks impressive. As my brother was the first say what I was thinking when we started playing it together, it’s Disney with a Gotham City make over. You’ll recognize much of what you are playing through, but it looks darker, sadder, and run down. Okay, so it’s still cartoony rather than realistic looking, but since we are living in a cartoon world, that’s not that surprising.Likewise, the music is good. It sounds like the soundtrack from some epic movie. Yes, at times they mix in classic Disney songs, but at other times it is all completely brand new.The majority of the game is made up of various quests, and you have to explore your current level to find what you want, then bring it back to your starting point. It gets repetitive, and it would be nice if they mixed it up a bit more. I also don’t like the fact that once you move through an area, you can’t get back there easily. So make sure you have explored everything there is to see before you move on.Much has been said of the “camera” for the game, and with good reason. That is the weakest flaw by far. It can be hard at times to get things to the angle you really need to see. Yes, you can use some buttons on your controller to tilt the camera and you can hit one button to recenter the camera from Mickey’s viewpoint, both things I do regularly. But still, it manages to mess me up and kill me more often than I would like.Then again, that’s also part of my non-gamer nature coming to the forefront. I get frustrated after two or three tries at an area if I can’t move on, and there are a few points in the game that have really frustrated me. This game will probably be too complex for those under late elementary school age, and just at the time when Disney will no long be cool. Then again, with all the obscure Disney history in this game, maybe the real target is adults after all.The games uses not only the Wiimote but all the Nunchuck as well. You use the little joystick to move and the buttons to jump and spray the paint and thinner. You shake the Wiimote to do an attack spin. I found these controls very easy to grasp, and they were second nature to me almost right away. I struggled a bit more with aiming the paintbrush when I shoot the paint and thinner. There is a target on the screen that reads off your Wiimote and where it is currently pointing. I kept firing and wondering why Mickey was shooting the paint in a different direction until I remembered to watching where I was aiming that thing.There are lots of times where your actions determine the outcome of the game. If you aren’t careful, you can make characters mad at you who won’t help you later. Or, if you free them from a prison, they’ll save you a lot of work later. That’s definitely an interesting feature.As you transition from one world to another, you do it through 2D levels based on classic Mickey shorts. Most everyone will have at least heard of the shorts we play through, things like “Steamboat Willie” or “Mickey and the Beanstalk.” All of that is very fun as well, although these levels don’t add too much to the overall game.This is a game I enjoy in spurts. I’ll pay it several times for a week and get a little frustrated with a level. Then I’ll walk away for a while and come back and enjoy it again later. Okay, some of my breaks are also because I don't have the time to play it much. People who more regularly play these games will probably find it easier than I do, however. I know my sister-in-law breezed through it.But I do enjoy Epic Mickey. It’s not an easy game, made harder by a the poor camera, but it is a blast for Disney fans of all stripes with the almost constant nods to the Disney we already know or might have forgotten.

13.5.2011

I bought Epic Mickey over the Christmas period having loved the look of the trailers and watching the opening scene on you tube. First off I love graphic style of this game, for the Wii it really does stand out as one of the best looking 3rd party games. The music is very Disney and so is the story if a little darker than you may be used to.Watching the opening prologue is essential to understanding the games story, it shows you how Mickey creates the world you eventually play in. Mickey gets captured and finds himself between the wasteland world's twisted borders and embarks on a mission to get himself out while making amends for what he did.To get through the game Mickey is armed with a paintbrush which acts as both a Painter and Thinner.You use the paint to paint objects in while using the thinner to remove obstacles in your path, it really is an original idea which is another reason this game stands out. You will learn through your travels that hidden items are hidden throughout the world and thinning as much as possible will allow you to find them.Throughout the game you will be faced with enemies called blotlings which you can paint to make them friendly then they will turn blue and ignore Mickey and even help him out against other blotlings or you can choose to thin them out which will get rid of them completely. Along with these two options Mickey also have a spin attack which is used much like it is in Mario Galaxy by a quick flick of the Wiimote. Later upgrades will give Mickey TV's used to distract enemies, an anvil to crush them and get to higher levels and the ability to slow down time for a few crucial seconds which is handy when moving through fast spinning blades and closing walls.Alongside the main game you can also take part in sub quests by helping out the world's local folk which earns you extra items and power sparks that are needed to allow you to open up new worlds to progress through the game.Throughout the game you will be faced with choices which will determined the games ending and mostly consist of finding certain items and painting bosses or thinning them out. There are a few choices that will creep up on you and before you know it you have already made your choice before you realized it which is another reason to reply the game along with the alternative endings this game holds.You travel between the worlds in the wasteland through a projector screen and enter a 2D sideways scroller. The change is nice at first but doesn't last long before becoming repetitive especially when you are forced to go back and forth for sub quests. The other annoying part of this game and probably the biggest is the games camera; it's hard to control what it does sometimes making the easiest jumps difficult and boss fights very frustrating especially when moving around them and the camera is off facing a wall. You can bring the camera back to behind Mickey but when trying to move around a boss it's not the way you always want to face so sometimes you are not even facing the boss.On whole Epic Mickey is a very entertaining game which allows multiply playthroughs but sometimes the camera issues can be a game killer!

26.11.2010

Hi all :)I just bought this game and played for a few hours, (updated 02/12/10, six hours into the game, updated 03/01/11, completed) having bought a Wii in anticipation of its release.I'm very pleased to see a left handed control option in this game although so far I haven't the faintest idea why it's necessary: perhaps this will become evident as the game progresses.The only major thing I can't work out in the game is the use of 'guardians' which are little blobs of paint/thinner that you earn, and which float around your body. Apparently if you hold the wiimote vertical they show you where to go: doesn't happen for me! You can also send them to attack baddies by flicking the nunchuk: again,

26.11.2010

Okay, let's get into the meat of the gameplay straight away without any further ado. Basically, you will have control and camera issues at first but if you're patient enough, you will learn to adjust these through the relevant button presses ( C button snaps behind Mickey and D-Pad for UDLR ). My only gripe is that I couldn't change to the more gamer-friendly inversion of the Y axis to make the up down and vice-versa. You'll also need to get used to tapping the buttons quickly to get the best response, as opposed to your normal press-and-let-go operation.As for the gameplay style, it's a cross between Mario Sunshine and Spyro the Dragon...from my experience with all games from both stables.

13.2.2011

Epic Mickey is one of those games that should be great. It has all the right ingredients but it just hasn't been cooked long enough. Now dont get me wrong its still a good game and its one of the great games on the Wii but it just falls short of the mark. The problem really is Epic Mickey tries to do everything but never really achieves any of it.RPG elements of the game come in with the choices you make. You have the choice to paint or thin, to betray people in the waist land for a shiny pin or the easy way forward or help them out and make them your ally. But the consequences of your actions are not that great and weather you use paint or thinner just comes down to which is easier.

2.12.2010

OK... opinion? *I will be totally spoiler free!* :) :)I love it!!It will really help if you are a fan of Mickey Mouse/Disney theme parks in general, as there are so many little references and easter eggs to look out for! The overall presentation is nice, with a hub world branching out to various other worlds via 2D platforming sections (these tend to last for 2mins or so, just enough so that they don't get stale for the player). Graphically the game looks like a tidied up N64 game, but I must admit this adds to the charm, gets a bit nostalgic! (the cutscenes however are very very well done).The ink you use as a weapon is verrrrry similar to Mario Sunshine,

13.1.2011

I'm a big fan of good platform games, and I'm quite fussy about which I play. Obviously (well, obviously to me!), you can't beat Super Mario games - nothing ever will! However, I rate this game very highly!I note that the more negative reviews on here sound like they are from people who possibly haven't done much gaming before, and hence have problems with the controls. If you've played a good few platform games before, then you'll pick up the controls straight away.I'm 30, and I love this game- I don't know how much kids would enjoy it as I have no idea what kids are into these days (do kids still watch Mickey Mouse cartoons?), but I think it's quite obviously aimed at adults (and older kids).

28.11.2010

I brought this game the other day and already I am hooked to it. It's a lot of fun to play.The camera controls are a bit tricky to handle at first as things come at you from all angles and you don't know where, but once you get control of them, the game play is much more fun :) And it doesn't take long to control the camera angles as it's really only the up, down, left and right control on the wii remote.The game starts instantly, which is really good. There is only the prologue, but that is interesting to watch and after that...BAM! Straight into the game! :DSome parts of the game are trickier than others and some times you wander around thinking well...hang on...how the heck am I meant to do this?

31.12.2010

I got this game for Christmas and I haven't played anything else since. It's a really fun game and I like it a lot.That said, it's not without it's problems. There's not much of a challenge and it's not possible to vary the difficulty. With that is mind, some parts of the game are much harder than others and not necessarily in the expected order.The other main obstacle is the camera angles. A lot of the time you can adjust the view so it's not often a problem, but on some of the smaller stages you are not able to adjust the camera at all, and you can't even use the first person perspective view. Some times this can be frustrating,

17.1.2011

I originally got this game to play with my little boy , but have found myself hooked on it as it is I think aimed more at adults or children of a older age.The whole game has quite a dark feel , but then there are little pieces of vintage mickey mouse harping back to the 1940's that gives this game a really lovely feel.I think it is a great game for the money and I have enjoyed it more than other platform games on the wii.So in all I think this is a really beautiful game , the artwork on some scenes is lovely , it will make you want to keep going back for more.

29.11.2010

OMG I am such a Disney fanatic - this game is brill. It is one of the best games on the Wii and I haven't found the controls a problem at all :D. I spent 5 1/2 hours playing it on Saturday and was in my own Disneyland for a while. The game is based in Mickey's choices whther to be helpful or michevious in each action leading to a diff outcome i.e. once the game is completed you can start it again with a diff intention and have a diff games experience. The paint and thinner mechanic is also genius. I'm so happy I bought this game!!!

5.6.2011

Bought for a 6 year old who loved this game. A little slow at first as it has a long intro. Text hints and comments come up on screen but disappear very quickly before getting a chance to read them fully, especially for a 6 year old, but this didnt hinder him and he still had great fun and managed his way through each of the levels without any problems. Great visuals and very entertaining, overall it is still a great game. If you like Super Mario you will love this. Would highly recommend.

26.11.2010

This is a great title and defiantly worth getting for your wii. If you love Disney and platform games this is for you. I have grown up loving titles such as mickey mouse world of illusion for the Sega mega drive and i still love that game and i have always wanted something new to come out that brings the magic of those games back!! and it does. If you like games like banjo Kazooie, Mario sunshine etc you will like this game. Graphics are good aswell and the game is a lot of fun.Enjoy!!!

7.4.2011

This game is very unusual visually, and is a very interesting idea for a game. It is quite dark for a Disney venture, but Mickey makes a very likeable hero. There are some parts which are quite tricky, and my husband had to take over for my son at a few points, who was 6 when he was playing it. Overall, we all enjoyed trying to solve the puzzles and completing the missions, and it certainly held my son's attention until he completed the game.

27.12.2010

I bought this for my grandson for christmas and he is totally delighted with it he says its the best one yet and he has a number of different games for the wii. I am really pleased with service as I had pre-ordered and it came on the date promised.This is a fantastic product and seeing his face when he is playing it on the wii, is really worth it. THAAAAAAAANJS ever so much.

Disney Epic Mickey (Wii) - Reviews

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