Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is more than just a new coat of paint.
Expect more magic and mischief as the world-famous mascot revisits forgotten eras and comes face to face with his predecessors in a truly remarkable platformer.
Mickey Mouse is a gaming legend. From his starring role in Mickey's Space Adventure in the 80s to modern hit franchises like Kingdom Hearts and cosy simulator Disney Dreamlight Valley, there's no shortage of his adventures to play on the small screen.
But despite all these appearances, Disney Epic Mickey was truly in a league of its own. Released in 2010, it cast Mickey as a mischievous hero in a land of forgotten Disney stars. It boasted a new character design, replacing the jovial Disney colour palette with blacks, greys and dark greens. It also played on the Nintendo Wii's signature tactile gameplay and was (and still is) seen as a bold direction for the Disney brand.
Despite some clunkiness, the original game earned cult status. It also shone a light on long-forgotten Disney stars like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Clarabelle Cow, upgrading them into starring roles again. It's no surprise that when the decision to revisit this iconic tale was made, fans were excited.
But is this remake more face-tune than substance? And can the charm of the cult classic survive a modern upgrade?
An epic remake of an epic mouse
Put simply, Rebrushed is a faithful remake of a game you know and love. The original storyline survives the spruce-up and is as charming as you can remember. The game opens with the titular mouse tip-toeing directly into sorcerer Yen Sid's workshop through a magic mirror. Sure, your Nintendo Wii is probably up in the attic somewhere, but you can't help but feel a wave of nostalgia wash over you.
Mickey soon spots a miniature world filled with things that have been forgotten and has to investigate. There's a magical paintbrush nearby that he can't resist whirling around. At this point, you'll crack a smile and long for the days when the world-famous mouse wasn't afraid to be a bit bold.
The original magic of the game, and everything that made it so iconic, has been carefully preserved and elevated.
Soon, this mischief turns to disaster as Mickey accidentally summons the Blot, a horrifying monster made of paint and thinner. Panicking, Mickey floods the miniature world with thinner, transforming it into a literal Wasteland. He takes the coward's way out through the magic mirror, leaving the cursed world behind.
Mickey continues to enjoy decades of success as Disney's main mouse until one day, the Blot abducts Mickey, bringing him face-to-face with the world he cursed so many years ago….and the characters he eclipsed throughout his career.
Enhanced gameplay makes every paint job a masterpiece
While the original story is preserved, the core gameplay of Disney Epic Mickey has been upgraded carefully and purposefully. And it's in this way the transition from 2010 to 2024, and from old console to new, is blindingly evident.
Controlling Mickey is quick, fluid and responsive. He now has an expanded move set, allowing him to sprint, dash and even perform a body slam attack. Your spin attack is mapped to a single button, allowing you to defend yourself whenever needed. It's a platformer dream, where Mickey goes where you want to go and does what you want him to do.
The paintbrush is still the game's core mechanic, allowing players to manipulate virtually everything around them. The aiming reticle is now very generous, reducing the chance of accidental spills or wasting resources. And when levels transition to side-scrolling, you won't feel any frustrations with firing.
Spraying paint on damaged objects can restore them to their former glory. Fallen platforms can reappear. Broken walls can be restored. Abandoned buildings can be revived with colour. When fighting blobling monsters, paint can pacify them into being your friends. You're literally breathing life back into the world. It feels tactile, interactive and reactive.
But Mickey can also spread thinner, which, as you can imagine, reverses all your good work. Spraying it on walls and floors can reveal secret chambers. You can 'disappear' structures to find new paths across obstacles. You can fire it at enemies like acid, eroding their armour and making them vulnerable.
Your brain will always try to balance creating and destroying. All the while, players will enjoy a drastically improved camera angle. It's no longer fixed, allowing you to scout out the level environment and get different perspectives on puzzles. You can then centre it back on Mickey with a simple click, helping you focus on the obstacles ahead. Again, it may seem simple, but these changes alone tease out lots of frustration with the original.
A truly unique setting survives the tune-up
With Rebrushed, every asset has been remade from the ground up, making the Wasteland a place of immense curiosity. And yet, it still manages to retain its classic feel.
Like some interactive Tim Burton storybook, you can't help but take a closer look at the twisted grey environments around you. Newly introduced areas invite seasoned players to hunt for more secrets. You'll find yourself spraying copious amounts of paint and thinner around levels to discover something new. Or, sometimes, you simply want to leave a level with a bit more colour than when you found it.
Levels remind you that you're exploring a world where characters go to be forgotten. Mickeyjunk Mountain, for example, is a ghoulish land of sludge, fumes, and smog, where you climb an enormous mountain built literally out of old Mickey Mouse merchandise. Other places, like Dark Beauty Castle and Mean Street, are obvious jabs at modern-day Disneyland. All the while, you'll feel sorry for the characters who wander around, who speak candidly about how life has been since being forgotten.
Transition levels have also received a big upgrade, too. In the original, they felt like filler content. These 2D side-scrolling levels are now full of atmosphere and act and feel like a core part of the storyline. They also allow you to revisit Mickey's career through iconic movie moments like Steamboat Willie, Alpine Climbers, and Mickey and the Beanstalk. A new Cinema level will enable you to replay these levels whenever possible.
Rebrushed is also a game with immense replayability. Quests have multiple endings, and decisions you make can and will impact future content in unknown ways. For example, an early quest asked me to retrieve a character's missing axe. But on finding it, I could squander it to open a secret door I randomly discovered. So, do you honour the original quest? Or explore something brand new and unexpected? Should you complete quests as soon as you can? Or should you wait to see if future events slightly skew objectives? It's a novel mechanic that will have trophy hunters replaying for ages.
More than a fresh coat of paint
From The Last of Us Part II to Tomb Raider, Paper Mario, and more, 2024 has seen its fair share of remakes and remasters. And while the world might hunger for brand new stories to explore, Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed proves there's value in revisiting the past.
The original magic of the game, and everything that made it so iconic, has been carefully preserved and elevated. The Wasteland world is now brimming with curiosity. there are now three times the collectables in the game, giving newcomers and experts alike every reason to search level with gusto.
While the visual enhancements are obvious and should please any Disney fan, it's in the subtle gameplay improvements, including the controls and camera, that Rebrushed truly shines. Simplified paint mechanics mean you can manipulate the world to your heart's content and breadth new life into a Disney world long-forgotten.
Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is available to play on PS4/PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch from September 24th.
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