A myriad of technical problems prevents Disney Epic Mickey from truly being epic.
Yen Sid, the wizard from Fantasia, is making a new world out of magical paint that he calls Wasteland, which will contain forgotten cartoon characters. Happy with his work, he leaves his workshop. Suddenly, a magic mirror beckons Mickey Mouse from his sleep, and his curiosity causes him to cross over to the other side, right into Sid's workshop. After spotting the painted world, he can't help but play with the paintbrush himself, and then accidentally spills over a jar of thinner, dissolving a hole right in the middle of the land. Panicking, Mickey jumps back into the mirror and goes back to bed. Time, however, catches up to him and after many months, a monster known only as Blot comes through the mirror, not only pulling him through, but into the painted world he ruined. Can Mickey make amends for destroying Wasteland? Or will he leave it forever dissolved?
Our hero, or antihero if you so choose, is armed with Yen Sid's very own magical paintbrush. You can use it in either of two ways: press Z to dispense a green thinner, or B to spray a blue a paint. Paint and thinner represent positives and negatives in the game. There will be certain objects and spots in walls and ceilings that can be manipulated by these fluids. Thinner will cause them to disappear, while paint will fill any transparent holes that you can see. All sorts of puzzles will be laid out in front of you that will have you painting and thinning things to overcome obstacles. Thinning out the floor to drop a pile of rocks and then painting the floor back in so you can cross is just one such example.
The positive/negative function of the paintbrush applies itself to combat as well. You can destroy enemies by dousing them in thinner, or you can spray them with paint, causing them to have a change of heart. If you go this route, they'll not only leave you alone, but they'll go after other enemies in the vicinity. There are tiny sprites called Guardians that you'll begin to attract the more you use each chemical. Turps appear the more use thinner, and they can be sent off to instantly destroy enemies. On the other end of the spectrum, Tints will follow you and will instantly change the hearts of your enemies. Both sprites can be used to guide you to your next objective if you simply hold the remote upward. Shaking the remote also causes Mickey to execute a spin attack that will stun enemies.
Boss fights also can be fought using paint or thinner and depending on what you use, your capacity for each will increase. You may also affect other things in the game, such as quests and rewards you'll receive from said quests. Some of these errands present you with opportunities to help someone out or completely screw them over. For instance, a guy is standing directly underneath a hanging safe, and he gives you the combination. Do you thin out the beam holding the safe, dropping it on top of him so you can conveniently open it, or you do you look for a way to reach the safe that doesn't involve bodily harm? Whichever way you chose, most of the quests yield power sparks.
Power sparks need to be accumulated in order to power the screen projectors, which serve as portals to another world, or just to another part of the level. When you enter one of these projectors, you're placed in a side-scrolling mini-level themed after one of Mickey's oldest cartoons, such as Steamboat Willie. The presentation of these levels are cool, but they get old very quickly when you have to backtrack through the game several times. There should have been a skip option to save the gamer time.
Speaking of time, a lot of it is wasted by countless fetch quests. The game's pacing starts off great in the first hour or so of the game, but once you hit the hub world of Mean Street, it grinds to a screeching halt. The citizens of Mean Street give you menial and tedious tasks in the never-ending search for more power sparks. There are collectible pins as well as other collectibles, but the only ones worth hunting down are the film clips that eventually unlock two old-fashion cartoons. That's the problem, though, only two cartoons. It would have been much nicer if there were several more to unlock.
Playing the game can also be a horrific headache thanks to a terrible camera and target locking system. You control the camera with the d-pad, and it's very slow to move and not nearly precise like another analogue stick would be. The camera will get stuck if you get too close to a wall, and it occasionally will take up a fixed position forcing you to enter first-person to be able to look around. In order to lock on to a target, you have to hold down the C button, and then press left or right on the d-pad to switch targets. The real issue is that it rarely picks the right one you want, because you're battling the camera while running around trying not to get hit. To further complicate matters, there is no aim lock. You have to keep the cursor on the enemy while you're painting or thinning, and when you're fighting several enemies at once with a convulsing camera, you end up spewing expletives at a character you really shouldn't be.
Disney Epic Mickey is a beautiful game. It contains some of the best art direction ever in a Wii game. Thanks to brilliant uses of color, fantastic animation and terrific character and environment modeling, the game looks just like a cartoon. The projector screen mini-levels help add to this aesthetic, bringing to life cartoons from the 20s and 30s into stages that Mickey can run and jump on. The cutscenes also contain a visual style very unique from something you'd normally see from Disney.
The music is what stands out the most in the audio realm. The original pieces are conducted superbly complimenting the dreary mood of the game, while still managing to be light-hearted when needed. Original soundtracks of the old-fashioned cartoons have been lifted and used for the projector mini-levels, and they even sound like they're playing out of ancient speakers. Sound effects are pretty decent all around, very befitting of a cartoon game. The only real complaint would be the lack of voice acting. For a game full of lively characters, the lack of spoken dialogue makes it feel emptier than it should.
Epic Mickey does several things right. It's got a terrific story with a wonderful presentation thanks to excellent art direction. It has a moral system that constantly makes you think how you want to play. One might even purchase the game solely for the fact that you can play Mickey as a complete jerk. Unfortunately, there's always a major problem that makes itself known for every little thing you appreciate in the game. It's very hard to have fun with Epic Mickey when you're constantly battling the camera, and when you enter one of the game's many lulls. If you want to purchase Disney Epic Mickey, wish upon a star that you're forgiving enough of the game's shortcomings to fully enjoy it.