As I’ve grown and matured more and more over the last couple of years, I’ve started to think about games I would consider my “white whale.” I define these as titles that I always enjoyed, particularly when I was younger, but never completed. Usually, it would be because it was either too difficult for my underdeveloped brain to understand, or because it had several technical problems that made it frustrating, or perhaps I just sold it to make room for something else.
The Nintendo Wii was a console that had many games that would fit in this category. The Wii had so many classic titles that I never beat. I always yearned for those games to return on modern hardware, but usually, they never would. One such example is Epic Mickey. Released by Disney and Junction Point in 2010, it pays tribute to Disney’s past while combining the immersive sim and platforming genres.
It sounds like a match made in heaven, but due to several licensing issues and low sales, the series never returned after the sequel. After fourteen years, though, Epic Mickey is back with a remaster called Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp have lovingly recreated the game while improving the art style, technical issues, and controls. For the first time ever, I was finally able to beat a game I was obsessed with as a child.
So how does Epic Mickey hold up, especially in an age where Remasters are everywhere? I’m pleased to say that Rebrushed isn’t just the definitive way to play Epic Mickey but cements it as a brilliant platformer worthy of your time.
Enter A Dark World For the Forgotten and Unloved
Epic Mickey begins with the lovable Disney mascot finding his way into a workshop belonging to the wizard, Yen Sid. He witnesses Yen Sid create a world for the “forgotten and unloved” characters from the company’s past. Mickey, being the mischievous mouse that he is, tries to create something of his own. It goes horribly wrong, and a monster is created, a monster that destroys the world Yen Sid had created, turning it into a “Wasteland.”
Years later, Mickey is kidnapped and taken to Wasteland by The Blot, the very same monster he created. The ancient Disney cartoon character, the Mad Doctor, tries to steal Mickey’s heart to escape the wasteland, but Mickey escapes. His escape is caused by the arrival of new allies, Gus the Gremlin and a mysterious cartoon rabbit.
Epic Mickey‘s story, appropriately, feels like something right out of an old cartoon. It’s not particularly deep or complex, but that works to its advantage, not its detriment. The game’s biggest surprise is its atmosphere. Epic Mickey has a surprisingly dark and almost apocalyptic vibe as you explore Wasteland, a shattered world filled with forgotten characters from Disney’s past.
Gus the Gremlin, for instance, originated from an unfinished cartoon by Roald Dahl in 1943. There’s Mickey’s nemesis, Pete, but there is Small Pete, Pete Pan, Petetronic, and Big Bad Pete, all obscure variations of the character. There’s Horace Horsecollar, who made occasional appearances in several old-timey black-and-white Disney cartoons. Even the Blot is a reference to an old Disney story called “Mickey Outwits the Phantom Blot.”
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t reference the biggest obscure character of them all that Epic Mickey pays homage to: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. For those unaware, before Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks ever created Mickey Mouse, they created Oswald. Unfortunately, Universal took control of the character in 1928, leading to the creation of Mickey. In many ways, Oswald is Mickey’s older brother that time forgot, and the story takes advantage of this in countless unique ways.
Warren Spector, the developer known for his work on System Shock and Deus Ex, dug deep into the forgotten corners of Disney’s vault. Every character is lovingly realized, and every world you explore is carefully crafted to elicit memories of Disney’s past. Tomorrow City, for instance, is designed to pay tribute to Tomorrowland from the Disney Land parks. It features references to some of the park’s many rides as well as allusions to underrated Disney IPs like Tron.
Oswald himself feels like a main character in his own right. He’s constantly at Mickey’s throat, resenting and berating him for the fact that he stole Oswald’s time in the spotlight. He recreated all of Mickey’s friends and his house. He even went as far as to recreate the iconic statue of Mickey and Walt Disney holding hands but replacing Mickey with himself. The CG and hand-drawn cutscenes really help to solidify Oswald’s personality, as well as those of the other characters throughout Wasteland.
There is no detail in Epic Mickey that is without purpose. Everything is designed to elicit not just nostalgia but the feeling of rediscovering a past that has been abandoned. The atmosphere and story are appropriately gloomy, yet they still have that traditional Disney optimism. The game’s narrative was a breath of fresh air in 2010, and it still is even after almost fifteen years.
Overall, Epic Mickey‘s story and atmosphere still hold up, even after fourteen years. That said, with Rebrushed being a remaster that promises to update the game’s visuals and gameplay, how does THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp revitalize Epic Mickey in the modern day? In a time where remasters have been doing the bare minimum aside from visual improvements, Rebrushed is a great change from the norm.
Paint or Thinner?
Much like the story, Epic Mickey‘s gameplay is simple in theory. It’s a 3D platformer released alongside big hits such as Super Mario Galaxy and smaller titles like De Blob. Similar to those games, Epic Mickey used the Wii motion controls to an almost excessive degree, leading to numerous problems with the camera. This was one of the main problems that Purple Lamp and THQ Nordic promised to fix. Thankfully, they did.
Make no mistake: this is by far and away the most definitive way to play Epic Mickey. I played it on the Steam Deck, and everything was as smooth as butter. Let’s start with the gameplay. Epic Mickey has two different gameplay loops. The first is the traditional 3D platforming you’d expect from other games in the era. Mickey has to make the proper jumps in order to avoid death and losing a select amount of the game’s currency: tickets.
What makes Epic Mickey a bit different is the use of the paintbrush. Players must choose between using either paint or thinner, depending on what the situation demands. Paint regenerates walls and platforms, so if you find yourself struggling to make a jump, check and see if there’s a blank space where a platform should be. If you find one, blast it with paint. Thinner does the opposite: it removes walls and platforms. For instance, if a painting is blocking you, use thinner to get rid of it.
Paint and thinner also plays a role in the game’s immersive sim mechanics. Much like Deus Ex or Dishonored, Epic Mickey has both good and bad endings. The multiple endings are triggered depending on if you use paint or thinner on the game’s bosses. Take Petetronic in Tomorrow City, for example. After he attacks, he turns his back to you and you can blast him with either paint or thinner. Paint will redeem him, while thinner will disintegrate him. This applies to every other boss fight.
It’s a pretty charming mechanic, even if it feels limited compared to other immersive sims. Even if you use thinner on every single boss, the ending is still positive, and characters like Oswald will still act amicably towards you. Then again, considering it’s a game designed for kids, there’s only so much the developers can do without traumatizing children by making them responsible for the death of dozens of cartoon characters.
The second loop is more akin to the side-scrolling style of classic platformers but with another unique twist. When traveling from one area to another, such as from Tomorrow City to the main hub, Mean Street, Mickey will jump through an old projector screen. The projector screen will take Mickey back to an old black-and-white cartoon. These can be ones that Mickey himself starred in, like Steamboat Willie, ones that Oswald starred in, like Trolley Troubles, or other works, such as Fantasia and Snow White.
These cartoons are retrofitted into side-scrolling levels. The levels are not too challenging, but they’re an absolute joy to explore. The music feels like something right out of that era of animation, and several elements that are heard back from those original works are used as platforms. There are also film reels you can use to unlock new costumes, currency, concept art, and more.
Speaking of music, Epic Mickey‘s presentation still holds up pretty well. The music is absolutely fantastic, and the developers made the right decision to leave Jim Dooley’s original composition intact. The visuals have also been lovingly recreated. The color schemes of all the characters, especially Mickey, pop far more than ever before. The other areas of Wasteland, whether it’s Tomorrow City, Ostown, or Pirates of the Wasteland, all look better than ever.
The modifications to the controls are much appreciated, too. As mentioned before, the camera is far smoother to control than the original Wii version. It will no longer spiral out of control at the slightest tap of the joystick, and platforms will now be way easier to land on. The new sprint and dodge buttons are also great additions. Plus, the inclusion of a New Game Plus and costumes, as well as the ability to skip the projector screen transitions, are the perfect new quality-of-life additions they could’ve made.
There is a small part of me that wishes they added a bit more in the remaster. Maybe a new area, some new secrets, new characters, or the inclusion of other mechanics or features that were cut from the original game. However, the additions they made were perfect and did a great job of improving the original experience without taking away from what made the 2010 release great.
Overall, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is the perfect renovation of a cult classic. The visuals are great, the gameplay is great, the story is great, and every problem you could ever have with the original release is fixed. It runs fantastically, even on a Steam Deck, and the lack of motion controls makes the entire experience far smoother than ever before. Whether you’re a Disney fan or a platformer fan, you will love Epic Mickey: Rebrushed.
A Platformer Filled With Heart
When I reviewed Disney Illusion Island last year, I found myself yearning for Epic Mickey to make a comeback. The original Epic Mickey made such an impact on my childhood as it helped to define the kind of stories that I grew to admire, stories that had a gloomy and dark atmosphere yet balanced it with relentless optimism. The fact I could never beat it always haunted me, even as I grew older.
When I found out that Epic Mickey would be getting a remaster in the form of Rebrushed, I was ecstatic. Finally, I had a chance to beat one of my gaming white whales. Yet, as I put more hours into the game, all I could think about was how magnificent it was. Unlike so many other experiences of the last few years that are built off of nothing but nostalgia, Epic Mickey manages to stand out because of how it uses nostalgia to create an atmosphere unlike anything I’ve seen from a kid’s game.
Even after all these years, I’m still blown away by everything Epic Mickey has to offer. The visuals are stunning, the gameplay is both fun and addicting, the story is intriguing, the characters are charming, and the writing is so much more than you’d expect from a game of this genre. I fell in love with Epic Mickey in 2010, and Epic Mickey: Rebrushed has managed to reignite that love even after fourteen years.
A Disney game created by the mind behind some of the greatest immersive sims of all time feels like a match made in heaven because it is. In 2010, Epic Mickey was overlooked due to its over-reliance on motion controls and a broken camera. Now, in 2024, all those problems have been fixed in Rebrushed. Further, the game has been lovingly updated with several quality-of-life updates for the modern age.
If you have liked Disney at any point in your life and have a passion for the platforming genre, you owe it to yourself to play this game. Who knows? Maybe if it does well, we can get a remastered version of Epic Mickey 2. Better yet, maybe we could even get an Epic Mickey 3.
