Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Review

Did you know that Mickey Mouse is 85 years old, having first appeared on film in 1928? He's certainly been in a fair few scrapes in his time, and his latest adventure is Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Twoon the PlayStation Vita.

The original Epic Mickey appeared as a Nintendo exclusive on the Wii in 2010 as a single-player title.Epic Mickey 2 introduced co-operative gameplay to the series and launched multi-platform on all the major consoles back in November last year, a full seven months before this ported handheld version appeared.

The game is set in the land of Wasteland, the home of forgotten and abandoned Disney characters. Following a series of damaging earthquakes at the beginning of the game, the Mad Doctor (one of the main baddies from the first game) warns the local toons that evil creatures known as the Blotworx are on their way to attack the land. The Doctor claims to have abandoned his former evil ways and enlists Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to his cause. Suspicious of the situation, Oswald's girlfriend calls upon Mickey to aid them.

Gameplay is primarily a mix of platforming and puzzling, which both require the use of the special abilities of both Mickey and Oswald. Using his magic paintbrush, Mickey is able to use either paint or thinner to build or destroy various objects and items of scenery, bypassing or removing obstacles. Oswald uses his remote control to electrify and activate various items of machinery, and the two work in combination.

Painting in Epic Mickey 2 is something of a frustration. You can either use the shoulder buttons to fire paint/thinner, or can use the Vita's touchscreen, both of which have their drawbacks. Using the analog stick to aim the paint stream is an exercise in frustration, as the attempt to find a balance between cursor accuracy and camera control has resulted in a system where neither works particularly well. The touchscreen is accurate for the first spray, but the paint stream is entirely obscured by the digit used so any attempt to use this under pressure - such as against an enemy while moving - proves even less effective than the analog controls.

The poor controls are not the only evidence of an ill-conceived port; the frame rate in the game also leaves a lot to be desired. Proceedings will frequently slow to a crawl when the on-screen action gets too heavy, and even occasionally plummets down when very little is going on. That performance can suffer at quiet moments with no apparent explanation certainly raised concerns over quality.

You will spend the entirety of your time controlling Mickey accompanied by Oswald, and a reliable AI partner will prove invaluable throughout Epic Mickey's puzzle and platforming adventure. It's a shame really, as this is exactly what you will not get.

Unfortunately, Oswald appears to be have suffered some sort of major head wound at some point prior to teaming up with Mickey and will prove a significant frustration throughout the game. It is very common to find him standing in front of something that must be zapped with his remote, cheerfully exclaiming "I can do this" whilst simultaneously displaying a reluctance to do absolutely anything at all other than standing there looking gormless. When stuck in a situation like this on any given puzzle, you will find yourself thinking you are missing something and waste a lot of time trying to figure out what, only for it to turn out it's just AI Oswald being an idiot again.

It's fortunate then that the game supports drop-in, drop-out co-op allowing a second player to take control of Oswald.

Except it's not that simple really.

Multiplayer in the Vita version of Epic Mickey 2 is not available through the PlayStation Network and requires the ad-hoc connection of two Vita systems. This means if you wish to play co-op you will need a friend who has their own Vita and copy of Epic Mickey 2, and who is willing to come and sit with you as you slog through the game together. It's not exactly convenient, so good luck with that.

Behind this slew of technical problems and poorly designed features lies a distinctly average game. The puzzles are mostly incredibly easy, with the occasional frustratingly obtuse one thrown in, and nothing in between. Meanwhile, platforming sections are short and uninspired, where the only challenge comes from poor camera control and difficulties in judging depth.

After a string of negatives it is important to highlight the positives. Art design in Epic Mickey 2 is great, and while not especially graphically powerful it is certainly colourful. The Wasteland is a wonderful hodge-podge of various styles all stuck together, reflective of its status as a repository for lost and abandoned ideas. Cutscenes are a highlight and appear almost hand drawn, with a classic Disney style.

Unlike the first game, characters in Epic Mickey 2 are fully voiced, and while Oswald the Rabbit can be annoying when he won't shut up, there is no denying that the voice acting on show is definitively 'Disney'.

The impressive cinematics and accomplished voice acting combine to form the highlight of the show - the Mad Doctor's singing. He'll perform a couple of numbers throughout the game and these are the highlight of the show. For such a small part of the experience to form the most impressive element is telling of the overall quality of the product.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a distinctly average platform/puzzler spoiled by incredibly poor AI support, bad camera control, frame rate issues and unnecessarily limited multiplayer. In short, it is significantly less than 'Epic'.