Disney’s Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Review – A Magical Makeover

Disney’s Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Review

There’s an undeniable charm that accompanies products bearing the Disney name. Through a delightful blend of nostalgia and whimsy, Disney releases often evoke a comforting warmth, transporting us back to simpler times. Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, a remake of the 2010 Wii exclusive, captures this feeling perfectly. With its refined mechanics and a fresh coat of paint, will this playful platformer enchant players again or will it fall short of recapturing the magic that made the original beloved?

As the ever-curious Mickey Mouse, you stumble upon a portal that whisks you from your bedroom to the powerful sorcerer Yen Sid’s workshop. After he retires for the night, you begin to explore his magical creations. Spotting a mysterious paintbrush, you begin to play and unwittingly bring a monstrous creature to life. Each attempt to fix your mistake only causes the creature to grow larger. Panicked, you flee back to your own world, seeking refuge under your duvet. Years later, believing the incident was long forgotten, the monster returns and drags you back into the other dimension. Now trapped in a dark, twisted version of Walt’s world, you must navigate the eerie wasteland, confront the chaos you’ve unleashed, and find a way home.

Back to Steamboat Willie

Cutscenes intersperse missions throughout and contain a distinct art style that replicates an animated short. Although segments are crafted with love, like in the original release, voice acting is absent. As the mouths are already animated, it would have been a simple addition. This would help increase engagement with the narrative and add a layer of authenticity, making Disney’s Epic Mickey: Rebrushed feel like a playable cartoon.

Areas are wide, allowing you to discover where to go and how to get there. Interacting with forgotten characters from the Disney universe will give you key information on how to progress. While the missions themselves are rather simple, being able to wander around a dark iteration of Disney World’s Main Street or jump across a gloomy portrayal of It’s a Small World is an absolute joy. The intricate use of the IP is what adds so much personality to the game. Fans will notice minor details and references which makes each step a delight.

Armed with a magical paintbrush, you must use the tool to solve puzzles and fend off enemies. Parts of the world are missing and you can use the brush to paint areas in. However, you can also use the thinner to remove paint in certain places. This means you will discover secrets that tend to house an array of collectibles. In addition, you can also use the tool as a method of attack. Some foes require you to thin their armor so you can reach their weak spot whereas using this on others will make them friendly and fight on your behalf. You can also smother them with the paint until they can’t take much more or smack them with a spinning strike. Although there are a range of options with combat, it never surpasses being serviceable.

Improving the Mouseketools

Quality-of-life features significantly enhance the overall gameplay. Mickey is now more agile, able to dash away from incoming attacks and leap into the air to perform a ground pound on enemies. The most notable improvement is arguably the ability to run. Instead of slowly trudging through areas, you can now sprint to your destination, which greatly improves the game’s pacing. With motion controls being optional and aiming tied to your right analog, each improvement makes the moment-to-moment experience more engaging.

Linking areas are side-scrolling 2D platforming levels inspired by classic cartoons. Each stage looks fantastic, perfectly capturing the atmosphere and art direction of the source material. While the visual overhaul enhances these segments, Purple Lamp has also added more collectibles, along with new routes and challenges, to encourage replaying these sections. Though these additions enrich the experience, revisiting levels can become tedious, especially due to their low difficulty. Fortunately, there’s an option to skip these stages once you have completed them.

Some choices crop up on your adventure which will alter your Guardian-Meter. Work has been done to update this so that you have a better understanding of moment-to-moment choices. These decisions directly affect the ending so in order to 100% the game, you’ll need to play through at least a couple of times and this is made easier with the New Game Plus mode.

Rebuilding the Club House

Rebuilt from the ground up, the game looks stunning. Every asset has been meticulously reworked, adding both personality and charm to the world. The use of color is particularly striking, with characters from the 1920s and 30s strolling around in ghostly black and white. These figures inhabit environments that reimagine classic settings with a dark, atmospheric twist. Against these shadowy backdrops, vivid colors from your paintbrush create a beautiful visual contrast. The presentation is further enhanced by subtle variations of classic tunes, adding a cozy sense of nostalgia to the experience.

Disney’s Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a wonderful remake that remains faithful to the original whilst adding new elements to improve the adventure. Mickey is now much more mobile and the revised controls remove frustrations that engulfed the Wii release. Though the game lacks challenge and includes rather basic combat, its stunning visual overhaul and new features give it a new lease of life, making it a worthwhile revisit for both newcomers and longtime fans.

***A PS5 code was provided by the publisher***