Epic Mickey: Rebrushedwas a Disney classic stuck on the Wii but has now been remade to a stellar degree for modern systems. Purple Lamp has done an outstanding job of bringing this game to newer audiences, and after this and their work on theSpongeBob SquarePantsseries, publisher THQ Nordic should be proud to have it under its wing. It’s one of the best at creating and reviving older 3D platformers.
Hot Dog! Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Looks Great!
It’s wonderful thatEpic Mickeyis now off the Nintendo Wii because now the Rebrushed version truly shines with its completely remade graphics. The colors pop on screen, and when the game truly wants to show a darker side of Disney landscapes and characters, it does make an impact. Disneyland rides deeply inspired the environments, but you can see them in disrepair. You can see them breaking down, hardly able to move. It tugs at your heartstrings seeing the Dumbo ride all rusty and breaking apart, for example. The character models have all been touched up and look great on-screen. When Mickey uses his spin attack or the new ground pound, you can see paint slipping off him, which adds a magical effect to the platforming action.
What does shine is the attention to detail to the old cartoons. When Mickey is traveling to another part of the world, he has to enter a projection of a classic cartoon likeSteamboat Willie.You can see the characters in detail interacting with the level, and there’s imaginative game design within these small sections. Ground pounding on a bed, for example, lifts Mickey high enough to reach an attic and get some collectables like the currency called E-Tickets. One character in the world plays an instrument and then the magical note flies in the sky, acting as a platform. It’s cool as the game constantly surprises you visually and gameplay-wise. These cartoon sections differ from each other depending on their origin.Steamboat Willieis in black and white and Mickey really stands out as the only character with color.
The atmosphere truly shines inEpic Mickey: Rebrushedand it can be genuinely creepy to look at. You’re exploring a world called the Wasteland, a landscape ravaged by thinner. If you watch the intro, you’ll find out Mickey accidentally caused this disaster many years ago. As a result, you’ll see the Wasteland filled with ruined towns that the forgotten cartoons used to live in.
The atmosphere truly shines inEpic Mickey: Rebrushedand it can be genuinely creepy to look at.
One creepy spot is Mickeyjunk Mountain. You’ll see these rickety toys of Mickey sitting in the environment with parts missing from their faces and old, tired merchandise filling the walls with the environment. The sludge of thinner in the water as well is genuinely off-putting as well, but it all comes together into an impactful area, especially with its remade textures from the Rebrushed version. It’s cool as a Disney fan to see all the references to past media inEpic Mickey: RebrushedlikeTron, Peter Panand old Mousekateer merchandise. There’s even an old SNES game lying around. With how dark this game looks at times, it’s kind of a miracle that modern-day Disney approved this release, which is a great thing.
There are a few minor graphical issues, though. At some points, Mickey’s feet get stuck in the ground. Additionally, when you jump in certain areas, he gets stuck for a few brief moments before you manage to get out. Otherwise, the game is a treat to look at. The music, while not outstanding, does draw you into the environments as well and have neat callbacks to past Disney works.
What doesn’t work are some of the cutscenes. WhileEpic Mickey: Rebrushedis influenced by the old classic cartoons, it would have been nice to get some voice acting instead of having to read subtitles. You hear emoted sounds from the characters, but it doesn’t feel elevated enough for a modern 3D platformer. The animated cutscenes also look cheap with rough, albeit stylized, animation.
A Platformer Fan’s Dream
As a platformer genre fan, there’s nothing better than feeling you have freedom to explore. Despite not being open world likeSuper Mario Odyssey,Epic Mickey: Rebrushedencourages you to look around and experiment. The paint and thinner mechanics truly shine. Painting lets you bring back past textures that have once disappeared from the thinner disaster. The thinner removes objects from the area, however, leading to many creative situations. you may take down walls with the thinner revealing treasure chests and objects behind. You can also take out a blazing fire by dropping water cans that were previously above, thanks to a wooden floor that has now been thinned out. It feels so satisfying to master the paint and thinner mechanics.
Epic Mickey: Rebrushedfeels like a breath of fresh air as the paint and thinner mechanics are so fascinating. There’s also a morality system in place that can lead to all sorts of situations. For example, you can crush a pirate with a safe that’s dangling above him if you decide to thin it out. You can also wreck someone’s chances for a date if you bring an ice cream instead of a flower. It’s an intriguing concept that will leave many wanting to replayEpic Mickey: Rebrushedto see the different scenarios play out. It’s also cool to see and hear the townsfolk’s reactions to your actions.
Unfortunately,Epic Mickey: Rebrushedcan get annoying when it comes to its collectables. You see, you can’t revisit prior levels after completing them. You can go back to past hub towns, but not the levels themselves, which is annoying. When you’re collecting Daisy’s mechanical parts (as she’s a robot copied by Mickey’s rival Oswald), you have to complete a specific amount of tasks to reach where one of the parts is. If you want to proceed with the story and think you can return to the level later, you won’t be able to. Thankfully, this is slightly relieved in theRebrushedversion as it seems you can buy each mechanical part in a nearby store. The cost is high, however, as they are sold for 1,000 E-Tickets each. It can be frustrating if you’re a completionist and want to collect everything possible. It doesn’t give you a detailed list of what’s left to find either, leaving you out of the loop.
Thankfully, each of the classic 2D platforming sections can be revisited in Mean Street’s cinema/movie theater with a breakdown of the collectables you have left to find.
Epic Mickey Rebrushed Demo Splashes Onto Consoles and PC
You can now try a demo of the remade classic Epic Mickey Rebrushed on Steam and consoles.
Well-Crafted Gameplay
While you’re in these levels, you’ll likely find a lot of fun within them. The double jump and all-new ground pound add a lot to the table. The camera works wonders in comparison to the original Wii game. There’s a confusing situation at one point with the thinner mechanics. There’s a door that doesn’t seem like it can be removed with thinner as you blast your green ink towards it. After looking up a YouTube guide, however, you may find out that you have to use your thinner on the outside edges of the door to make it fall. There isn’t enough communication about this in the game.
Thankfully, controlling the paint and thinner feels smooth with the right analog stick. There’s an option to use motion controls with the PS5’sDualSense, but if you haven’t played Splatoon for a while, it might be worth sticking without them. It feels awkward.
Despite weird motion controls included,Epic Mickey: Rebrushedrewards you for being adventurous. Want to climb on top of the mountain? Here are a lot of E-Tickets for you. It constantly rewards the player for jumping to places and thinning/painting areas of the level. The side-missions also give you sparks that are required to get to future areas of the game, so you should get them done before you leave a level. You never know if you can get back to it, which adds a lot of tension to the player.
Closing Comments:
Overall,Epic Mickey: Rebrushedis a delight to play. Purple Lamp did a fantastic job of remaking the game from scratch with grand visuals and the addition of a double jump makes the game more playable than its Wii incarnation. The paint and thinner mechanics are a true highlight of this Disney adventure, and the overall atmosphere of the game is both creepy and upbeat. It would be a real treat to see if Purple Lamp could make an Epic Mickey 3 in the future, as this game shows the Vienna-studio’s talent of making the Wasteland come to life.
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 5
Mickey finds himself in an area called the Wasteland, a refuge for forgotten characters. He has to use his paint or thinner to either help or harm the people around him.
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