Review: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Handing a game called Epic Mickey 2 to an Irish man was always going to be a recipe for disaster (and childish giggles.) Not having played the original home console version, though aware of its less-than-glowing reviews, I was willing to give the game a chance. The Vita is not exactly rolling around in quality games at the moment so maybe, at the second time of asking, Disney’s most famous character could pull out the required charm and fun to make The Power of Two a worthwhile venture.

The story begins with devastating earthquakes rocking Wasteland, the game-world inhabited by forgotten or rejected Disney characters. Oswald the Rabbit confronts the Mad Doctor, the antagonist from the original Epic Mickey, only to learn that the formerly evil genius has turned over a new leaf. (I wonder where this leads.) Calling on Mickey for help, the pair set out to combat the Blotworx, the game’s generic enemies, and find the mastermind behind these events.

While the story plays out in the most obvious way possible, it also works to illustrate one of the game’s best features – its cutscenes. Gorgeously animated segments play out between levels and at certain crucial junctures, featuring solid voice work and fun musical numbers. These moments link the game to the Disney universe in a way that, unfortunately, the rest of the game does not. The difference in quality between the fluid and beautiful animated scenes and the bland and stuttering in-game visuals is starkly significant.

Epic Mickey 2 tries to get the nostalgia juices flowing by making references to the Disney universe, or outright introducing older Disney characters. However, there are not enough inhabitants of said universe that they could introduce that would make up for the drab environments you are required to traverse here. Rarely has a game-world felt so ‘dead’ – with little to no colour and cardboard cut-out background characters.

An uninspiring playground would not be so bad if the method of play was not also shoddy. The controls in Epic Mickey 2 are dire – I have not experienced twin-stick manoeuvring as bad as this since the early days of the PlayStation. The right-stick movement is jerky and imprecise. When this is coupled with a camera with the turning ability of an articulated truck, the game’s primary game-play mechanic, platforming, becomes a chore. The Vita’s touch screens and gyroscope are utilised in such a way that they do improve things, but trying to use them for platform jumping is a fool’s errand.

You may venture a guess that the introduction of co-operative play may seem like the last thing this game needs with such unhelpful control mechanics… and you would be right. Not only was it difficult to actually get an online partner, but the problems seemed to be magnified when you saw another player trying to wrangle with the system. Being ported to a handheld device is also not ideal for co-op play because you will likely be away from an Internet connection the majority of the time. And may whatever deity you pray to have mercy on your soul if you should try to play the game solo. The companion AI is atrocious. The majority of the time, you end up continuously running over a trigger spot to get your ally into place, but finding that area can be nightmarish. It’s like leading a horse to water… then dipping its head into it, while simultaneously opening its mouth and massaging its throat muscles.

When the best feature of a game is happening when you are not playing it, you know something is not right. Epic Mickey 2 is simply not a good game. While it isn’t broken, it is simply not fun. You would need to be a massive Disney fan to get anything out of this. As for me, my horse ended up dead – not sure now if it was drowned or died of thirst.