Mickey is back with his magic paintbrush in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, debuting for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii, November 30.
Epic isn’t the word I, nor the majority of gamers, would use describe 2010’s Epic Mickey for the Nintendo Wii – a Disney Interactive/Junction Point Studios project lead by famous gaming designer, Warren Specter. While an amazingly beautiful and haunting re-imaging of the forgotten parts to The Magic Kingdom, this interactive adventure starring Mickey Mouse, as he tries to fix his discolored cartoon world with a magic paintbrush, was dragged down by a horrendous camera that was as mischievous as those brought-to-life broomsticks in Fantasia.
Now that we know that sequel is coming soon – November 30 for PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii (strangely no Wii U mention) – it’s likely we’ll get fixes to that and a bucketful of others. Actually, don’t take my word for it. Warren Specter himself listed the camera hiccups in the first Epic Mickey as a part of the improvements to Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. Go grab yourself a cookie if guessed from the title that there will an emphasis on partnering up this go around, because you guessed right.
Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, your spotlight-stealing rival in the first game is back, but instead of butting heads, you’re working together (Specter promised Epic Mickey 2 will have drop-in, drop-out co-op) to once again make right with the colorless world around you. Except, your pal Oswald has a nifty retro-1950’s remote that buzzes out a cartoon-ish beam of electricity that can be used to solve puzzles and remove obstacles placed in Mickey’s way.
Aww, I can hear the tune of “Why Can’t We Be Friends” playing already.
Another big – and ultimately impacting – addition to Epic Mickey 2, is the lasting effects of your paint job throughout Wasteland, the lost-Disney setting to the previous game and this one. The original Epic Mickey didn’t keep your changes to world as your went along Mickey’s journey and came back to revisit old stomping grounds – it literately whitewashed all the influence you had, making for a disappointing, what’s-even-the-point-to-it-all, experience.
Epic Mickey 2 thankfully does a 180 to this, and keeps every paint-soaked flick of the brush you make last forever. Now you really must be considerate with your actions throughout, which should add a lot of blissful depth to a game that already looks stunning.
Presentation-wise, and perhaps one of best design choices for a game of this whimsical sort, Epic Mickey 2 goes the classical Disney full-feature animation route by dropping in musical numbers, the kind that should hopefully get you and your little brothers/sisters/cousins/whatever singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” all the merry day. (Pfft, I could do that already!)
Here, without further ado, is the announcement trailer for Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, arriving for the PlayStation 3 (with PS Move support), Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii this November 30.
Don’t you change the channel with a retro-1950’s remote from Walyou! There’s so much awesome stuff to dig into, like those loveable Angry Birds being launched into space via a slingshot or Megatron’s revenge in slow-motion.
