Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion

So here is the long version of my review:
The game starts out with hoards of long, cumbersome dialogue that seems to go on forever. That will practically put you to sleep. But be patient because beyond that, the game starts right off into platform action and is quite fun. The funny thing is, I am NOT a platform game player – I do not like or buy them except on rare occasions. But this game, being Mickey Mouse, drew me in, and I’m very glad it did.
It’s difficulty so far (I have made it a couple worlds into the game), is not too hard for me. But there’s some areas that might cause frustration for others. My 30 year old platform game loving sister even got stuck at one point. It really comes down to a matter of patience, paying attention to instructions given throughout the game, and your problem solving skills.
For those who played/enjoyed the original Castle of Illusion game, this will not be a complex game for them. This game is actually easier, IMO. There are certain types of jumps you have to perform on top of enemies to get to higher platforms which requires perfect timing, and that is one area that I think very young children might have an issue with. Aside from that, the game is a lot of fun all around. I like that there is some problem solving involved to advance through certain areas. Such as, painting this, or erasing that (which requires you to use your stylus on the touch screen to trace a line around an object, or color in an object), and then objects on the top screen will react accordingly to help you in your adventure. It’s quite innovative and I really like that feature a lot.

As far as it’s similarity to Castle of Illusion…
It has the same sounds in some areas (which is awesome, that they did that after 20 years!). Like when you jump on enemies, it makes the same sound. Some of the levels have a vague visual resemblance that I have seen so far. Being that I have not yet come close to finishing this huge game, I am sure there is more that will remind me of Castle of Illusion. Some of the original characters from that game have shown up already too, plus many others from the world of Disney.

One of the things I love most about this game (and most other Disney games I have played) is how beautiful it looks. I played it both on my 3DS and 3DS XL (preferring the XL for this), and the visuals are just awesome. Mickey Mouse himself is adorable and well articulated, and his movements are smooth and fluid throughout the game. The backgrounds are colorful and well detailed, as are the foreground objects. I love the nod to many familiar & favorite Disney movies & characters that are found throughout the game, whether they simply make a cameo appearance, or have a whole world centered around them. This game is soooooo Disney.

There’s also an area where you talk to characters that you free within the game, and they send you on quests, and you can unlock stuff, and build the world up so expansively.

I think this game is a lot of fun, and I cannot even imagine how long it will take to get to the end of it. I very much enjoy playing it, finding the moderately easy difficulty level to be just right for this 40 year old gamer who likes games to be uncomplicated and to be very entertaining and relaxing.

I think this game is a perfect choice for most any Mickey Mouse or Disney fan (male, female, young, or old). It’s also good for fans of platform/adventure games, especially if you want something fun & not violent or obnoxious. It’s cute and cheerful and really unique in the library of 3DS games right now. I highly recommend it. I’m very glad I bought it, because it’s a truly excellent game. 🙂

The gameplay is good. The platforming and bouncing off of enemies feels enjoyable (similar to CoI’s, though I want this to stand on its own merits), and a lot of the enemy and character movements are very well animated. Despite the lack of enemy variety, it would honestly be a fairly fun (though short) game to play through if the platforming and enemies were the only gameplay mechanics. However, since this is “Epic Mickey”, paint mechanics are a primary focus of the game, much to its detriment.

Every obstacle in the game is in one or two forms – either an object is missing from the world that you have to paint in, or an object is impeding progress that you will need to use thinner to remove from the world – and there are a lot of these obstacles. Even if you were to ignore the optional areas and collectibles only attainable via painting/thinning, you will still find yourself spending about a quarter of your time doing this. You will be forced to trace the crude outlines of the same very few unrelated shapes over and over again for the sake of progression, always interrupting you from doing the actually decent platforming the game has.

Additionally, you will be tasked with mind-numbingly boring fetch quests for the various Disney characters you meet. This will involve re-visiting a stage multiple times with slightly different enemy placement for menial rewards. As a completionist, I generally enjoy trying to get and see everything a game has to offer. But it makes me angry when a character I have just saved asks me to revisit a stage a second, third, fourth, and even fifth time to get meaningless items for them. There’s no reason the length of a game should be extended in this way.

I love Disney and video games in general. I really wish I could’ve had more fun with this game than I did, but the experience was so frustratingly slow, repetitive, and uninteresting that I breathed a sigh of relief by the time I was done. And then that’s when I realized that despite all the characters that you meet, there was no storyline whatsoever. The “Epic Mickey” brand on this game has done it absolutely no favors.

I received a 3DS for Christmas from my girlfriend’s mom and downloaded the demo from the Nintendo E-shop. Like most old school Disney gamers I hoped it would be similar to Castle of Illusion. Thankfully, that is basically what I found. I instantly made the purchase and was so impressed I had to share!

What first caught my attention was the music. This game’s soundtrack is phenomenal! I want to compare it to Tomba! only because it’s whimsical yet cartoony nature are equally infectious. It definitely gets you humming along.

The paintbrush feature that is the trademark of the Epis Mickey franchise is integrated perfectly into this 2D platformer. The painting or erasing of obstacles is all done on the touch pad and it works very well. The game grades you on how well and how quickly you finish pictures, but there’s no great penalty for not doing well, so even young children shouldn’t have too hard of a time with it.

The story is another solid aspect of this game that really keeps the supporting cast of the Disney Universe in mind while playing and replaying through each level. Each character you find, old and new, is given a room in the castle which is upgraded as you complete tasks for them. Items they need are typically scattered through past levels so the game encourages replay in that respect. What I found was that each time I went through a level for such an item I discovered a new platform or new area with a decent reward that made it worth exploring further.

All in all, I love this game. I have no gripes. None. This is not a complicated game. It’s rarely challenging. It is simply fun. I may not be an experienced 3DS owner, but I do know an enjoyable experience.