Platform: Nintendo Wii

Developer: Junction Point Studios

Publisher: Disney Interactive

# of Players 1 – 2 (Co-op)

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: Single Player D+ 6.5/Co-op: B+ 8.5

Like the piles of scattered Disney memorabilia you traverse through between maps, Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a beautiful mess. As in beautiful when it works and a mess when it doesn’t. Of course, that’s both a good and bad thing, but we’ll get to the constructive criticism below the jump. As a co-op experience, the game in a great deal of fun as Mickey Mouse and Oswald The Lucky Rabbit team up to battle enemies solve puzzles and track down a seemingly endless supply of collectibles as they tackle the task of repairing an earthquake-ravaged Wasteland. There’s less darkness here and a much richer color palette, making this one of the better-looking Wii titles this year. But both single player and co-op have a few technical and gameplay hurdles that can sap the fun down a bit. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and presumably Wii U) versions can probably be patched up to a more stellar experience, I’m gathering Wii owners will be stuck with a flawed game that could have been greater than it is as it currently stands.

In the sequel, characters are fully voiced, there’s a bit more humor (mostly in the musical portions), as noted, the visuals are more polished and the cartoon cut scenes have been given a makeover so they look a lot better throughout. Most of the voice work is great, although I’m more used to the classic Mickey I remember from my younger days rather than this higher-pitched version starring here. Still, the astounding amount of references, in-jokes and interesting re-imagined characters from Disney history will have some older players nodding and smiling, especially if they’re playing with kids they’re introducing to Mickey or like-minded older friends. Granted, Disney has been softening up their cartoon lineup over the years to be a great deal more family-friendly, so the true Disneymaniacs might find some things going against what they recall or even have in their collections.

As for the story, it’s a basic but nicely compelling story that takes a bit of time to get going and provided you’re not buried in side quests, nicely fits in with some elements of the first game. After Earthquakes strike a revitalized Wasteland, The Mad Doctor reappears and seems to be on the side of good. Oswald buys into his literal song and dance (well, more song than actual dance) and tags along while Ortensia and Gus the Gremlin get to work on summoning Mickey back to help out. I won’t say more except to expect to be helping or not helping a lot of Wasteland residents as the game progresses as you decide how to use that Magic Paintbrush. There’s an interesting dynamic that, depending on what you do can alter, add or remove quests, but you’ll need to experiment and see what happens in order to make the most of this system.

Things get off to a promising start with a lengthy cinema and musical number followed by a tutorial that teaches the basic gameplay elements and it’s here that you see some promising changes to the first game’s more problematic camera. It’s still not quite perfect, as you need to either tap the D-pad to shift the camera or use the Wii Remote to nudge it around. For the most part, the pacing of the game is slow enough that the camera isn’t too bothersome. However, you need to get used to some spots in the game where it doesn’t want to move and you’re staring at Mickey’s eyes and ears in extreme close up or it’s tailgating you every time you leave a building. None of that is game-killing at all, but nitpickers about this sort of thing will find out they’re the least troublesome issues.

During gameplay, you’ll need to be aware of jumping and nailing your landings, as Mickey and Oswald can be paradoxically bouncy but slightly stiff and imprecise if you try and force them around too much. It’s best to pause before a leap, take a breath, jump and let off the Wii Remote as you land, lest you end up leaping into harm’s way. Again, it’s something you get used to and overall, I found the jumping a bit more acceptable than in the first game. However, in solo play, Oswald’s AI leans towards less helpful and more strange. Sometimes, he’s on the spot when you need to toss him up into certain spots (or vice versa), but on too many occasions (especially in the side-scrolling stages), he’s not going to respond to your calls no matter how many times you tap that minus button.

This stinks because you can see the fix for this in one of Oswald’s animations and a few parts of the game with pressure plates. When you’re separated for a bit, he tends to “teleport” into view in a puff of smoke or something very much like Nightcrawler in the X-Men. In the many side-scrolling D.E.C. and movie themed stages, it’s impossible to reach some collectibles in single player because Oswald is ignoring some switches or leaping back and forth and all around the area you’re trying to get him to stand still so he can toss you up. As for the pressure plates, When Mickey steps on one, Oswald runs up and also jumps on it, staying in place until you reach another pad. This actually makes those sections more enjoyable because you can tackle enemies and not have to worry about Oswald’s erratic AI. Generally, it’s OK, but sometimes he won’t attack an enemy when you want him to or he’ll attack it before you’re ready to follow up with some Paint or Thinner to finish off or befriend the creature.

Speaking of Paint and Thinner, using either is fun, but you’ll also need to get used to the targeting system and how it stays locked onto former enemies you’ve painted until they’ve befriended you. This isn’t too bad with one baddie around, but with multiple foes, you’ll probably want to go at it freeform, taking out critters from as far away as possible with Thinner or making them all happy with plenty of Paint. Bosses are trickier to deal with in solo play thanks to Oswald being all over the map sometimes helpful, sometimes not so. If you’re trying to solo a boss that needs distracting, expect Oswald to somehow end up leading that boss or his minions to beating up on the both of you unless you’ve got some fancy dodging skills and great brushwork.

Again, co-op is a totally different story altogether, as things flow when both players communicate and can toon out (pun intended) enemies before they cause too much havoc. In either mode, a good deal of patience is required when using the Inkpot powers. You can coat yourselves in Invisible Ink to sneak sloooowly past traps and certain enemies (sloooowly is key, as anything faster makes the ink slide off), Indelible Ink to pass through Thinner (and it’s a nice nod to Metal Mario from Super Mario 64, another good game with a not so good camera from what I recall). Granted, I’m betting some of the issues with navigation and Mickey sometimes bouncing off or not quite reaching some areas are coming from the fact that the game has environments that can be destroyed and rebuilt (perhaps ladders would have helped in some areas?). However, some of the other frustrations like Oswald’s oddball AI behavior make the game feel a bit rushed despite the many good points it has going for it.

The thing is, losing a life in the game isn’t all that awful a thing at the end of the day.  Should Mickey end up falling for any reason, you’re simply dropped back at the last checkpoint with anything you’ve done before hand taken care of with the exception of any enemies on the map that need to be pacified. In this way, the game isn’t frustrating save for some platforming sections where you can’t reach out of the way goodies no matter how hard you try and one truly pesky and persistent boss where you need to get everything as right as rain on the first go or it’s back to the start of the battle. The best thing I can say about the game is it’s actually playable to completion and worth it of you love all the exploration and rewards it doles out on a regular basis.

As for that score, it’s the first time I’m splitting one up like that because the game is really different when you have another live body next to you on the couch. Amusingly enough, I actually truncated this review a great deal because it was reading too negative (in a constructive point by point manner, though), but at the end of the day, flaws and all, I liked all the hard work that went into this game and hope that something can be salvaged from it so people out there reading all those more negative reviews can get their hands on with something a bit more enjoyable. I guess I may as well break out in a song of my own to sum things up (a one and a two and a three…):

While it’s not as fun as it could be, I hope to see an Epic 3
that brings to gamers all the fun one would expect (and by the ton)
With camera perfect, flawless leaping, pinpoint landings, Blots-a-creeping
Singing numbers? Bring those too – get them all inside the stew
And cook it all up, nice and hot to serve to every system’s pit
So young and old (novice or pro) can give the best one yet a go
For now, I say give this a try (and how you like folks – rent or buy)
The game’s best with two and tough for one, but patience will reveal it’s fun.