Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

Developer: Purple Lamp
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platforms: Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC, Playstation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $49.99 – Available Here

Overview

Disney Epic Mickey is a game I remember pretty well, but I think a lot of people forgot about the little platformer, which while flawed – had some decent success on the Nintendo Wii, even garnering a sequel. THQ Nordic have decided to re-invest in the game, giving it a full remaster on modern platforms. Does Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed still hold up, or was it best left in past? Let’s find out.

Story

Epic Mickey‘s story starts out with a chain of events leading to Mickey being abducted and taken into another world thanks to a mad doctor, and now must escape. Stopping him is an evil genius as well as a mischievous rabbit named Oswald, who is considered a forgotten cartoon and helped create this world for other forgotten characters to live in peace. With paint thinner beginning to ruin this world along with new foes and antagonists, Mickey equips a brush and heads out to save the world he is now in and find a way home. Yeah, the plot here is great, as it could have even been its own movie. I don’t know if the foes are too memorable, but the journey Mickey takes here is, making the game feel like one grand adventure.

Gameplay

At its heart, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a traditional 3D platformer. Mickey runs and jumps in fluid fashion, also donning a twirl attack that can hit enemies. His brush is the gimmick that both makes the game unique and adds puzzle elements into the world itself. In the world, there are two different types of environment pieces. Normal environments don’t have a ton of interactivity, yet “cartoon” pieces of the world feature interactivity with the brush itself.

Using one trigger on the controller, the player can shoot paint thinner to make the pieces disappear. Using the other has an opposite effect, with the ability to restore parts of levels that have been wiped. Its a fun gimmick with some interesting mechanics attached, like the ability to make rocks fall or re-paint bridges that lead to progression. Your brush can also act as a weapon, with the ability to either turn an enemy good, or simply destroy it with thinner. On top of the brush, there are a ton of collectibles to be found, which makes exploration feel a bit gratifying overall. 

The pacing of the game is a bit odd, as while you progress, the game kind of keeps moving forward without much of a stop in pace outside of cutscenes. This works fine I guess, but there were times I felt I would have rather had some closure between areas as there is a restriction of going back in previously explored portions, and the way the game always pushes forward kind of hurts the collecting concept as players are sure to miss out on a good bit of loot if they are not originally vigilant. Its a fun platformer and works well enough, but I will say I found myself kind of bored a good bit. Everything is in place to work as it should, but nothing really feels important or urgent, making it feel hard to keep motivation in order to progress forward.

Boss battles also are a straight up mess. Originally done with a Wiimote, the trick is now to aim with the analog controls and shoot, but it just feels off and never fun, making this “epic” moments into an instant chore. I get that the motion controls are tricky to optimize in something like this and respect the efforts, but it just kind of sucks the fun out of these moments, and without anything big to look forward to, the cogs keep turning but never feel like they go anywhere worthwhile, if that makes sense.

Audio

The soundtrack for Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is fine. Featuring some disney tunes mixed with magical fare, the world itself is oozing with atmosphere and charm, and the sound is pretty decent. The voice acting is also well done when present, as the cutscenes feel cinematic and have the charm we would expect from Disney, making this feel like a fun journey, rather than a flat one.

Visuals

I was very impressed with the visuals. I remember there being a lot of clunk when it came to framerates in the first game, and now everything feels fluid and polished, making this feel like a needed upgrade to the experience. That said, despite its themes, sometimes the dark colors just run together and the areas just seem to lack interesting animations to balance the game’s stellar production. The world is booming with smooth textures and the animations are great, but sometimes it feels like despite all of the design, everything comes off as a bit lifeless. It can still enchanting at times, but I think I expected to see more and just never found those fireworks to make the game truly come off the page.

Overall

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is an absolutely welcome platformer to have modernized. The game works well and looks fantastic, and fans of Disney lore will love the treats and easter eggs buried inside. That said, there is something a 3D platformer has to have and that is proper pacing. Everything here is just kind of mashed together with not much divide, and that makes the adventure grow stale as few tricks are used later to keep the excitement going. Regardless, there is a enjoyable romp here that fans can appreciate that is better than the original, even if it feels like it never meets its true potential.

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