Today I had the opportunity to try out Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2 at Disney Interactive’s booth at E3. You may remember two years ago when I reviewed the original Epic Mickey, I raved about the content and story details, but was less than enthused about the awkward Wii controls. I never, in fact, ended up finishing the original Epic Mickey simply because it was too frustrating to play with the awkward camera and poor controls.
I’m happy to say that I’m pleased with the newest addition to this franchise. This time, I played the game on the Playstation Move, which was instantly much more comfortable to me. The camera is much easier to manipulate. Plus, the development team rebuilt the camera from the ground up with this installment, so now, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to move the camera at all. It follows the player around at a nice, comfortable distance, allowing you to see everything easily. It was much less disorienting than I remember from the original.
All the Disney details are still there, which is very exciting for a Disney nut like me. What I find most exciting about this version, however, is the option to play co-op. Alongside Mickey, you can play as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who has his own special abilities to add to the excitement of gameplay. Oswald can hover using his ears, and Mickey can grab ahold of his foot so that you can hover over obstacles. He also has a zapper that he can use to electrocute enemies. As in the first game, Mickey still has his paint and thinner, though now the other characters in the game react to Mickey depending on how he uses his powers. If you use too much thinner to remove elements from the environment, the other characters won’t be as pleased when you come around.
Finally, a lot of extra care was given to the use of music this time around. Each level has music which is tied to the level, and it changes to emphasize your gameplay. One such level takes place in the world of The Old Mill, A 1937 Silly Symphonies cartoon. The music from the cartoon is used throughout the level.
I’m looking forward to this game’s release this holiday season. I’ll definitely be picking this one up, and, hopefully, I can make it through the whole thing this time!
