Hands on With Disney's Epic Mickey for Wii

Published on October 9th, 2010 | by Scott Schaen in Video Games

One of the big highlights from New York’s Comic-Con this weekend has to be our demo of Epic Mickey for Wii. Disney’s Epic Mickey has the potential to be the hottest game this holiday season. It features Mickey in a much darker setting then we’re used to seeing him. He’s stuck in ‘Wasteland’, a world ruled by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Mickey’s Predecessor). Wasteland is a grim version of Disneyland, and it’s filled with forgotten characters and attractions. Mickey is armed with paint and paint thinner. It’s his job to dynamically change the world in his path to becoming an epic hero.

In Epic Mickey, players have the chance to control how the story unfolds. Game play is dynamic in this respect. Players can “creatively tackle different challenges in the world to explore all the possibilities and storylines,” their actions will yield different consequences. Disney calls this style of gameplay “Playstyle Matters”.

The game felt very Mario-esque. Controls were similar to Mario Galaxy. Both the Wiimote and nunchuck are used to play Epic Mickey. It’s a 1 player game. There are a lot of fun Disney easter eggs that may only be spotted by parents and grandparents who appreciate classic Disney. When traveling between levels (or lands) in Wasteland, there are vintage-inspired animated films and shorts which is quite entertaining.

Epic Mickey will be categorized as an Adventure/Platformer/RPG game. The target audience is consumers who are 13 to 34yrs old in addition to core gamers. The Epic Mickey Collector’s Edition includes a copy of the game, skins for the Wii, a faceplate for Wiimote, a DVD with behind-the-scenes videos and special features, and a five-inch vinyl Mickey, which looks like a really cool figurine to have. Epic Mickey is due to ship out November 30 just in time for the holiday season.

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