Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Review (PS5) – A Fresh Coat

Regardless of your opinion on Disney as a whole, it’s fair to say that when they put their mind (or licensing rights) to it, they can produce some classics. From the retro days of Castle of Illusion, Aladdin and Hercules, there is magic for even the most jaded of big kids. Epic Mickey, or Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed for its full title that I won’t be constantly typing, is an odd one to categorise.

Released on the Nintendo Wii back in 2010, it told a tale of Mickey and his quest to set things right with a magic paintbrush in a world gone wrong. A simple platformer, its main gimmick was the sloshing of painting supplies by way of Wii remote to make or break the environment. It had glimpses of a darker tale that wanted to be told, before it clearly got hit with the “make it family friendly” stamp.

Now back, fourteen years and on more platforms later, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is here to show us how “old school” platformers should be done. Is it worth that shiny new gloss, or is it a waste of canvas? Let’s find out…

That Pesky Mouse

Our story begins with a narration by “that wizard from Fantasia”, as he revels in his latest creation. A mock-up of not-quite-Disneyland, Yen Sid (thanks Kingdom Hearts) is quite proud of his magic paintbrush tool that he used to put it together. So far, so very twee. That is until a lesser-known Mickey Mouse is lured into Yen Sid’s realm by a portal in his mirror.

It doesn’t take Mickey long to find the diorama and, naturally, the magic paintbrush. Yet through ignorance and clumsiness, Mickey soon ruins the model and inadvertently releases a beast named the Blot: a combination of paint thinner and bad intentions. Frightened, Mickey scarpers back to his world, moves on, and enjoys a good few years of the fame we’ve come to know him for.

All is well on this side of the mirror, until the Blot finds a way to nab the celebrity mouse and pull him back through. Decades haven’t been kind to the land now dubbed “the Wasteland”, with ink monsters running amok. Armed with the very same magic paintbrush that caused this mess, Mickey and a troupe of Gremlins (the Roald Dahl WWII-inspired ones, not the Mogwai types) set about cleaning up the Wasteland.

Let’s Paint You A Picture…

So, the Wasteland should look much prettier than post-apocalyptic. Horrifying fascimiles of well-known Disney attractions are broken, or have been twisted into nightmare-ish contraptions. It’s not just the Blot that’s been running rampant; a certain Mad Doctor has been dabbling with things too. But whilst being in disarray, some of the land is disappearing too.

For you see, Mickey’s blundering with paint thinner has had a knock-on effect on the landscape. Bridges left hanging, machinery inert due to certain components missing. Yet not missing as in stolen, missing as in “needs filling in”. This is where Mickey and paintbrush need to help: restoring the scenery to restore this land to its once-intended glory.

We’ll go into how this effects gameplay shortly, but for now just picture the scene: a clock tower missing a gear in its time-telling build. A silhouette of what should be there, it’s up to the players to point the magic brush and fill in those gaps. That’s right, we’re literally tasked with restoring the world in the literal sense.

Caution, Wet Paint

If you weren’t sure about what kind of game Epic Mickey is, it’s a 3D platformer with paint as its USP. Being a Wii game back on release, the focus is very much geared towards sloshing paint around every which way. Fortunately, Purple Lamps have catered for the transition to other platforms that support dual thumbstick gameplay. Although, if players fancy the immulsion immersion, the PlayStation 5’s Dual Sense motion features can be used to good effect. I tried it, but I’m a curmudgeonly old sod who stuck to the right stick.

Anyway, the main gist of the game is two-fold: a large portion is in the 3D realm, restoring the Wasteland whilst trying to stop the Blot. Mickey’s precursor Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is about too, leading players on several merry chases through stages. A standard level progression usually involves a bit of jumping, filling in missing objects, or thinning them out to get through, and helping some Gremlins. There’s hidden objects and tokens throughout, whilst culminating in a projector finish or boss fight.

The secondary type is a more traditional 2D platforming affair. Rather than some boring transitions between realms, Mickey instead jumps into older Disney cartoon reels. Ranging across the classics, from black and white Steamboat Willie to coloured cartoons, these pleasant asides are a nice change of pace. Not particularly challenging, but usually holding a secret or two for those who like to explore.

Thinning Out Their Ranks

The other aspect of the gameplay to Epic Mickey is the combat. Well, I say “combat”, don’t come in expecting God of War-levels of violence, this is still Disney after all. No, it’s all very PG and yet still actually fun, as well as a little tactical when players get the hang of it. And yes, the paintbrush is used here, too, because of course it is.

The magical properties of the brush, in combat, are two-fold. Firstly, a lovely dollop of thinner (the green bar mapped to L2) is essentially Disney-acid to badguys, simple enough. The blue, mapped to the other side, is the “friendly paint”, that will convince the affected Blot minion to fight beside you instead. That’s right, it’s essentially a liberal coating of Stockholm syndrome.

If that weren’t enough, Mickey also comes equipped(?) with a Crash Bandicoot-style spin attack. This is used pretty much on everything, from enemies to switches, as is a jumping ground-and-pound attack. But that’s still not all, and where tactic comes in: see a patch on the floor that can be thinned? Why not stand your ground, dissolve the floor and let gravity, and the rivers of thinner, do their thing. See, it may be a kid’s game at heart but there’s still creative malice to be had too.

Modern Strokes

Normally, when I do a retro review, there’s a strong chance I’ve played the original to make some astute comparisons. Unfortunately this isn’t the case with Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, as I didn’t play the original Epic Mickey. The biggest reason is that I didn’t have a Wii, which is fair.

Yet whilst I can’t make any graphical comparisons, I can say that going in with a fresh perspective has been a positive one. If you go in expecting “remake of a 2010’s Wii game” in mind, you’ll be surprised at how crisp it looks by today’s standards. As I said in my Space Marine review, this too serves as a perfect example of time capsule gaming.

Sometimes we forget, with all the homogenised styles of gaming nowadays, that older games were fun for a reason. In that regard, Epic Mickey (this one) is actually quite fun to play and look at. Sloshing paint about and bopping baddies is… cathartic, for want of a better word. Sometimes it’s nice to just take in some retro gaming in a world of season passes and constant updates.

Painting By Numbers

However, there is a slight drawback to the simple-ish fun in Epic Mickey. It is still, at its heart it is still a kid’s game. Well, that is to say, “it is clearly more intended for the family friendly atmosphere than those off the back of a Dark Souls challenge”. Which, as one might expect, involves a lot of hand-holding. Granted, tutorials in games certainly aren’t a new thing, and in most cases are quite welcome.

But Epic Mickey is a bugger for stopping players at every opportunity. By all means, a little objective rundown when we enter a new area, that’s helpful. Yet halting gameplay for a full-on camera pan aimed right towards the objective? Well, that just removes all incentive to explore if you’re literally going to tell me where to go, game.

Now, I get that this is to give kids something to aim for. But the insistence on it every time really wears thin after a while, and it just compelled me to carry on the main track, lest the game get impatient and tell me again. Then again, we’re all different, so take that as you will.

As far as technical issues go, I didn’t have any. Mickey occasionally getting stuck on a plant pot or something, but nothing I couldn’t spin attack out of. No audio issues, bugs or otherwise blemishes on this canvas.

The Old Colours Shine Through

At the end of the day, if players go into Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed knowing the expected audience, there is fun to be had. Yes, it is predominantly a game marketed at younger players. But like any good kid’s cartoon with a smattering of adult jokes woven in, there’s clearly a market for the older Disney heads too. Those that want to push themselves, to find all the hidden artworks and film reels. The one set on getting the good binary ending, by restoring things with happy paint rather than dissolve it all.

I am a middleman when it comes to Disney. We used to have all the classics on video, right up until Toy Story, so I know the odd reference. I played the first two Kingdom Hearts, so I’m not a complete novice on the occasional bit of lore. But, I’m not super devout, I don’t have the bedspreads or whatever. Yet I can appreciate a good, old-fashioned trip down memory lane.

That is, in essence, what Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is. A trip down a trip, if you will. On the obvious level, it’s a look back at what gaming was live “way back then” in 2010. But under those pigments and other painting analogies, it’s a look at old school Disney. From Mickey Mouse’s small time beginnings, right up to the face of the corporate monster super happy funtime family that Disney is today.

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is available from 24th September 2024 on PlayStation 4 & 5 (reviewed on latter), Xbox One and Series S|X, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Developer: Purple Lamp Studios
Publisher: THQ Nordic

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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