Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a 3D Platform Game was released in 2024 for PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBONE, Switch, and PC, and it is also confirmed for Switch 2 release in October 2026.
It was developed by Purple Lamp and published by THQ Nordic, and it is a remake of 2010's original game titled Disney's Epic Mickey for Wii which was created by Junction Point Studios.
Before I begin reviewing the game, I wanted to talk about the origins behind Disney's famous mascots.
In 1927 it was all began with the animated cartoon character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.
He starred in the series of black and white short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938, so 27 short animated films were made at the Walt Disney Studio until the rights of the titular character been taken over by Walter Lantz Productions under Universal Pictures to produce the rest of the later short animated films in 1928.
After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney had decided to create his alternative character as an replacement to Oswald...which is why we had Mickey Mouse made a first debut in short animated film titled Steamboat Willie is one of the first cartoons to include technical feats such as synchronized sound effects and fully post-produced soundtrack.
It became the most popular cartoon of its time which had gained universally praised for its animations, innovative sound design, and of course introducing a cartoon character which happened to became one of the Disney's biggest landmark mascot had gained popularity worldwide.
Mickey Mouse is everywhere...he featured in many animated shorts, feature films, storybook, comics, commerical adverts, and etc. is the reason why everyone loves this animated cartoon mouse and then over the 6 to 9 decades later you see many cool mechandises and toys, wall posters, clothing brand and costumes, animated TV series & film, and of course the video games.
I grew up watching Mickey Mouse's animated shorts and feature films that made me love the character because of his slapstick stuffs, being adventurous, and of course he is an entertainning character that gives us a laugh and joy.
I also got interested in playing video games featuring Disney's mascot hero himself such as Castle of Illusion, Magical Quest, Mickey Mania, and Mickey's Speedway USA which are really fun games back in the 90s gaming era, so going forward to the early 2010s the game that I've discovered which is Disney's Epic Mickey for the Wii which is a 3D Platform Game plays little simular to Nintendo's Super Mario Sunshine in terms of gameplay design which got me curious to try out the game.
My initial impression of the original game is somewhat mixed bag, so lets just be fair on the point starting with the positives which I adored the paintbrush mechanics, the visuals, the stages, and of course the story presentation which are decent but sadly I find the motion controls did not impressed me much which I find using the Wii remote difficult to control things like camera system and movements that prevented me enjoying the single-player adventure.
In around 14 years after the original game, it finally getting the remake for the modern platforms titled as Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed which is meant to fix the original game's major flaws in regards of controls and camera system, as well as the additional features such as enhanced visuals and new moves abilities that aren't present in the original game.
I decided to give the game a second chance with the 2024's remake to see if this version are actually done it right big time or is it just another time wasting that never be touched again? my truth will be answered throughout my review.
So without go further do, let's start the review.
Presentation
The game begins with the Mickey Mouse stumbled into the workshop room discovering the magical project are created by an elderly wizard named Yen Sid, so he designed his magical kingdom on his sketchwork using the magical paintbrush.
As the elderly wizard exits from his workshop room, Mickey came sneaking in to the workshop and fiddles with the magical paintbrush on the sketchwork until it went horribly wrong causing the creation of ink creature sabotaging the whole kingdom on the sketchwork.
As Mickey managed to get back to his bedroom, he was encountered by the same ink creature dragging him into the portal that leads him to the world of kingdom.
Mickey then wakes up in the lab captured by the crazy scientist whos about to torture him with the machinery tool of weapons until Mickey managed to escape and then meets up with the Gus who can aid him throughout the journey as their goal is to restore the kingdom and stop the ink creature to fix his mistakes.
The story in this game is easy to follow, so you're basically animated mouse protagonist made an accidental mess on the elderly wizard's project are fully covered with the dark ink causing the creation of ink monster takes over the world of kingdom inside the sketchwork and then the cartoon mouse later being dragged inside the sketchwork by the ink monster, so he must finds his way to not only to stop the ink creature harming the kingdom but also trying to resolve his mess that he made earlier.
I find the story is just as good as most of the Disney's animated feature films which is most likely that the younger audience will appericate the Mickey's adventurous sequences where he can able to learn and use the magical paintbrush for restoration or vanishing the world environments, and I also liked the in-game dialogue conversation between the friends delivering a simple backstory about the kingdom's history is something that I can enjoy the game's plot.
I say I do like Mickey Mouse as not only just being the main protagonist in the game, but he's also everyone favourite Disney's cartoon mascot for over decades is because I adored his light-hearted personality displaying him as fun, likable and charming cartoon character is the reason why he's one of the Disney's greatest cartoon mascot.
He teams up with the Gremlin Gus, which is one of Disney's forgotten character from cancelled 1940's animated movie titled Gremlins, serves a guide to Mickey in his adventures at Wasteland, and then it has Oswald the Lucky Rabbit happens to be a main lead of wasteland before the disastrous blot wars took over his homeland.
He is a deuteragonist in the game that became a first cartoon character being completely ignored is due to Mickey's popularlty is the reason he's acting up catty towards Mickey with his annoyance and jealousy at the start but he eventally agrees to join forces with Mickey throughout the quests.
The game's presentation is absoultely stunning which I descibed as magical and colourful throughout the environmental settings that has a great mix of light and dark locations such as wasteland are full of theme park areas and Disney's memorabilla, the Mickeyjunk mountain are clutted with polluted area that serves as dumping ground for several old and forgotten pieces of Mickey Mouse's memorabilla, the gremlin village are filled with fantasyland rides and gremlins home, the mean street is the central hub based on Disney's parks filled with shops, theater, station, and museum, the bog easy/ventureland is a swampy pirate-themed town that connects to pirate areas, the tommorow city is a retro-futuristic metropolis, and of course the lonesome manor is a spooky haunted mansion filled with ghosts and dancing paintings everywhere.
I say I really liked the 2D cinematic levels which is based on Disney's old-classics from the 1920-30s era which I got to praise it for its sketchbook-style scenery starting from black & white to colors schemes that you see from silly symphony's short films that I like from the past such as steamboat willie, Mickey's steam roller, the castaway, clock cleaner, and through the mirror.
Overall, it has very good story, likable cast of characters, and stunning presentation design.
Gameplay
In single-player campaign, you take control of Mickey Mouse in 3rd-person perspective, as your main goal is to beat many courses by completeing various of objectives in order to progress the game's story campaign.
You can take a look of the objectives on the pause menu which has the list of primary and secondary missions that you'll know which ones to complete these tasks.
Push the left-stick control is to move Mickey and the right-stick control is used for rotating the camera which also has crosshair icon on the centre of the screen.
Press the cross button is to jump, but double pressing again is to make double jump allowing Mickey to reach at the higher platforms.
Mickey has the paintbrush as his primary weapon, so press the square button is to melee attack, press and hold the right trigger is to shoot splash paint which does sort of two action such as restoring the invisible objects and brainwashing the enemies into attacking their own ally, and press and hold the left trigger is to shoot splash thinner which does sort of two action such as dissapearing the environmental objects and thinning enemies to death that kills them.
Using these paint and thinner can also decrease the bar meter meaning you have to fill up these bars again to replenish.
Press the right-thumbstick button is to use lock-on which centers your camera and fixes your targeting reticle onto enemies or objects making combat much easier to manage.
Unlike the original 2010's, the rebrushed version has introduced 3 brand new moves which includes sprint allowing Mickey to run faster by pressing the left-thumbstick button, the dash that makes Mickey forward dashing by pressing the circle button used for evading enemy's projectiles, and of course the ground pound which makes Mickey slamming on the ground by pressing the triangle button while in mid-air.
Mickey has ability to use magical sketch power, so you really need to obtain these sketch power which can be found in later courses.
It has TV sketch which projects a television screen allowing to distract enemies or bypassing hazards safety, as well as power electronic devices on TV-pads.
The watch sketch slows down time allowing Mickey to dodge fast-moving enemies, tricky platforming jumps, and bypassing environmental hazards.
Lastly anvil sketch which summons a heavy anvil that drops straight down used for weigh down pressure switches, smash fragile objects, and deliver crushing blow directly to enemies.
These sketch power can be used by pressing the left shoulder button, and you can also cycle these sketch items with the left and right d-pad button.
Mickey also has abilites to use guardians which will be introduced in later course, so once you've acquired them you can use these guardians by pressing the right-shoulder button which allowing them to use two types of their effects such as blue guardians will then again brainwashing enemies into attack their ally and the green guardians will instantly kills most of the enemies.
Once a guardian is launched they'll get consumed which mean you have to build the bars up again to replenish.
I am glad that the rebrushed version has improve upon the controls is because having to play the game with the standard controller is much more perfered choices over the 2010's original game which rely on Wii motion controls are much difficult to use and lack of Wii classic controller option is what preventing me enjoying the whole story campaign, so luckly the rebrushed version has addressed the original game's flaws by using the standard controller which also has gyro-motion controls for targeting reticle which is optional meaning you can also turn off these gyro-motion control if you prefered to use the right-stick controls for camera rotation and targeting reticle.
I say that the haptic feedback on the triggers are actually quite neat which I really liked the feel of the vibration intensity when holding down these triggers to shootout the splashes at the enemies and objects
just feels like a good addition to this version.
I also praised for the inclusion of brand new moves which really enhances the platforming gameplay, so that I can able to sprint faster to make the pace quicker, making multiples of dashes to evade things, and of course using ground pound to break objects or slamming on enemies just feels really good to play that weren't featured on 2010's original game.
I say the concept of using paintbrush that allowing Mickey to do really useful on various things like puzzle solving, revealing hidden secrets behind the walls, restoring environmental objects like houses and bridge, and dissapearing stuffs that blocks the entry is something that kinda reminds me of Nintendo's Super Mario Sunshine where you're using the spraying water to clean things like walls and floors or as a weapon to defeat slimy enemies.
This works really great for 3D platforming games that actually suits the Disney's personality is all about full of fun and magical moments.
I wanted to praise the game's segments throughout the story campaign which mixes the style of 3D-platforming and 2D cinematic levels, so what I mean is that the game has 3D world environment where you get to explore around the level in which you'll spend time completing various of objectives which unlocks the projectile screen that leads you to the 2D platforming stage which plays on side-scrolling perspective with full of cinematic layouts based on Disney's classic cartoons and films is got to be my favourite part of the segment is because it reminded me of classic Disney's platformers like Mickey Mania in terms of 2D platforming design and settings are quite both simular in style.
While I did managed to enjoy all the levels on both 3D and 2D, the downside is that the game is somewhat too linear meaning that you cannot able to replay or revisit the 3D platforming levels that you've already beat which is pretty fraustrating me because I wanted to achieve the progression on my Playstation trophies, so it's impossible to replay the 3D stages that I've previously beat.
Thankfully you can still able to replay the 2D stages from the theater room which is fine for collecting many of two films per levels, but I kinda feel pissed that I won't able to replay the 3D stages that I wanted to revisit again for my achievement progression.
What I liked about the game is the upgrades which can be obtained by completing some of the secondary objectives or spend it with your e-tickets at the shop, so you will have capacity for health and sketches.
If thats not enough, one of your paint bar meter can be upgraded by defeating bosses depending on which two of these splashes you're using meaning that if you defeat the boss with the paint then your splash paint bar will add-up or using with the thinner will add-up your splash thinner bar.
These will improve Mickey's strengths and skills makes it easier for him to fight with tougher enemies and bosses in later courses.
Overall, it has cool gameplay mechanics, fun platforming levels, and improved controls.
Graphics
The game's visuals is quite solid for its design and settings especially on both the 8th and 9th-gen machines are completely redesigned with the Unreal Engine 4 to fit the modern gaming standards.
The environmental areas are nicely opened allowing to have a fair size of 3D levels is good enough to explore around the area.
The textures are surely bold on the surfaces like walls, houses, objects, and floors, where as the colours has a great use of saturated display that made the locations look brighter.
The special effects are vivid and shiny for some lighting and shadow details, and of course the splashy ink that spreads everywhere on the towns and villages turns everything mess is just adds up the magical interaction.
I say I do really liked the overall design of 2D platforming levels which has a sketchbook backgrounds and layouts that feels like a Disney's old cartoon from the 1920s to 30s.
The game does have a charming character's animation which they really nailed the style of Disney's classic cartoons that we know from back then, so it delivers a wonderful facial expression and comical movements that looked really good on both the in-game areas and cutscene sequences.
The game's performance on PS5 and XSX/S (X Model) runs on full 4K resolution with 60fps, where as the XSX/S (S model) runs on 1440p resolution with 60fps in which those versions ran really smoothly with no signs of frame drops, stutters, and hiccups, so that sounds like a fantastic news for both PS5 and XSX/S.
The PS4 and XBONE runs on 1080p resolution with 30fps, where as the Switch runs on 1080p on docked and 720p on undocked with 30fps, so I say the PS4 and XBONE had performed slightly better compared to Switch which you may notice the frame dips in some open areas.
Overall, it has solid environmental areas, charming character's animation, and smooth performance.
Music and Sounds
The soundtrack in the game is remarkably fascinating which I really loved the musical style of Disney's classics films delivering the great use of orchestral sounds that fits the atmosphere of Mickey's epic adventures starting from enemies combat fight to boss battle is something that builds up the exciting platforming action.
The background music of 2D cinematic levels has the old-vintage style of Disney's 1920s-30s cartoon short is something that you hear it from the old-fashoned cinema projector which I love the feel of classic vibes to it.
Lastly I also liked the theme song at the main title is what I call a pure charming way to begin the Mickey's story quest.
It was composed by Jim Dooley, an composer behind InFamous 2 and Spider-Man: Shattered Memories, did a amazing job for creating the game's original score.
The sound design is nicely done for the use of background noises and atmospheric that fits perfectly on many environmental stages, and of course the various of cartoony sound effects coming from the old cartoon shorts has the pure classy feel that sounded acceptable on Disney's platforming game.
I had to point out the criticism that they didn't address it from the 2010's original game which is the lack of full proper voice acting for characters during the cinematic cutscenes (well except the Yen Sid's narration is the only one that has full voice dialogue on the opening intro) and in-game dialogue text which is kinda shame because I would love to hear Mickey and his friends having a proper full dialogue in the game that could have helped the game's narration a bit.
Overall, misses out full voice dialogue, but it has fascinating soundtrack and nicely done sound design.
Special Features
The game has various of unlockables such as concept art, costumes, badges, and of course the 2 animation shorts.
It also has new game plus which you can able to play second walkthrough while retaining collectables that you've previously unlocked from the first walkthroughs.
Overall, a fine overall content.
Advantages
Very good story and characters
Stunning presentation design
Cool gameplay mechanics
Fun platforming levels
Charming animation
Fascinating soundtrack
Disadvantages
Not able to revisit the previous 3D levels
No proper full voice over for characters
Final Verdict
Presentation 8/10 - very good story, likable cast of characters, and stunning presentation design.
Gameplay 7.5/10 - cool gameplay mechanics, fun platforming levels, and improved controls.
Graphics 8/10 - solid environmental areas, charming character's animation, and smooth performance.
Music and Sounds 7.5/10 - fascinating soundtrack and nicely done sound design.
Special Features 7/10 - new game plus, concept art, costumes, badges, and 2 animation shorts.
Overall 7.5/10 - I find Disney's Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a decent improvement over the 2010's original thanks to enhancement gameplay features such as revamped controls, expanded movement, and reworked camera just makes the playability feels responsive and playable throughout the single-player campaign and I say the visual overhaul is suprisingly great addition to this version with modenised graphics and refreshed cutscenes that made the game look fantastic for the modern gaming standards...oh I forgot to mention the game's performance that runs really great on 9th-gen system with buttersmooth 60fps and full 4K display is also welcome addition that are smooth and stable.
With all improvements, the game has the charm for its story presentation, fun platforming levels, and the concept of paintbrush mechanics just works really well on the single-player campaign is something that I'm really glad to say that I've give the game a second chance it deserves is the reason why I've managed to enjoy the game without any fuss whatsoever.
The physical copy for console releases are worth for between £15 and £20, where as the digital releases for PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam are cost about £35.
Is the game worth for play? I say it's a good recommendation for casuals and gamers will likely to give the game a worth of shot just proves that the Disney's platforming games can be decently fun to play on the system, so you guys might like this kind of 3D platforming adventure featuring everyone's favourite cartoon mascot doing his magical quests is something to feel appericated, so I was hoping the team behind this project will concider remaking Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two with the same treatment it deserves is something to look forward too in the near future.
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