Summary
I’ve been a fan ofDisneyfor about as long as I can remember, but there are a few embarrassing gaps in my knowledge. While I’ll get over not having watched Frozen 2 or never really understanding why The Lion King is so revered, there’s one shameful secret that haunts me to this day - I’ve never properly played the firstEpic Mickey.
As someone who really only used hisWiifor the major exclusives or to muck around with Wii Sports, I missed out on a ton of great games. One of those games is Epic Mickey, which Ibriefly picked up after obsessing over the creepy concept artand resurgence of Oswald, but never got all the way through thanks to my disdain for the heavy focus on motion controls.
I did give Epic Mickey: The Power of Two a proper go since it launched on PS3 and Xbox 360, but quite frankly, that was better off not being played.
I’ve spent the last decade and a bit waiting for the day that Disney realises what a goldmine it has with Epic Mickey and finally gives me a chance to clear my conscience, and that’s exactly what we’re getting withEpic Mickey: Rebrushed. I expected it would just be a simple remasterwhen it was announced earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct, but after playing it atGamescom, I’ve realised it’s so much more than a fresh coat of paint.Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
Michael Mouse Is Back In Action
My preview kicked off very early on in the game when everyone’s favourite mouse had just discovered how to use his Paint and Thinner abilities. As I wandered around one of the game’s earliest levels, the graphical upgrade was immediately noticeable, with Mickey and his dark Disney surroundings looking better than I could have imagined.
It’s a bit of a shame that there’sstill no voice acting outside of Yen Sid during the intro(and presumably the ending), but the amount of care and love that’s been put into this port of Epic Mickey is instantly impressive. A visual upgrade would have been more than enough for me, but Rebrushed veers closer to a remake than a remaster.
The most noticeable change to Epic Mickey is the new movement and combat abilities that have been added to Mickey’s moveset. The Mickster can now dash in any direction, ground pound to hurt enemies, and, most excitingly of all, sprint around at a much faster pace. Even with my brief experience, I remember how slow Mickey was in the original release, especially considering how big some of the areas are, but there’s now a bunch of movement tech that makes getting around a ton easier and more satisfying.
I shouldn’t be too surprised by how much extra has been put into Rebrushed, as Purple Lamp was also responsible for theexcellent Battle for Bikini Bottom remaster.
These major additions to how Mickey controls make getting around and playing Rebrushed undeniably better than in the original game, especially now that motion controls are completely optional. For someone like me who has barely played the Wii release, Rebrushed’s updated visuals and moves are already a dream come true, but several minor improvements add up and make this feel like the best possible version of Epic Mickey.
Rebrushed? No, Remade
It’d be impossible to go through everything that Purple Lamp told me about how Rebrushed has been changed (minor changes include Gus’ tutorials being replayable and Mickey’s position being shown on the map at all times), but the most noteworthy changes I saw were to the side-scrolling sections based on classic Mickey shorts.
In the original release, these moments were largely just extended loading screens that didn’t measure up to the cool concept behind them, but Purple Lamp has put a lot of time and effort into revitalising them. Not only do they all look a lot better with extra background detail, but they also have a bunch of new routes, secrets, and platforming challenges within them.
Considering how frequently the projector sections popped up in the Wii release of Epic Mickey and how most players ended up wanting to avoid them (which is now an option once you’ve played through each one), it seems like one of Rebrushed’s most important changes and something that both long-term fans and newcomers are going to benefit from.
Add to that a new theatre in the main hub world that lets you replay the side-scrolling sections and a bunch of new collectibles that weren’t in the original game, and Rebrushed is packing a surprising amount of new content. It’s too early to tell how successful it’ll all be from my brief time with the game, but it looks like Epic Mickey Rebrushed is going to be one hell of a remake when it launches next month.
