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It seems that despite some gamers’ somewhat reserved opinions (including my own) Disney Interactive has decided that “Epic Mickey” was, well, epic enough to deserve not one but two sequels. In fact, “Epic Mickey” will follow in the footsteps of the other most famous, or at least the most popular, Disney video game: “Kingdom Hearts.” After KH’s release it was succeeded by two more games: a proper sequel out on its same platform, the PlayStation 2, and a smaller game bridging the two larger ones made for Sony’s handheld device. Gaming website IGN has details on the two games.
The first due out is “Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.” It will be released for the Nintendo DS. Unlike “Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories,” “Power of Illusion” won’t necessarily contain a connecting story between its two bigger siblings. Mostly it will just function as a smaller “Epic Mickey” style game on a portable platform.
In it Mickey will attempt to restore the Castle of Illusion, which has fallen into Wasteland. He’ll encounter the witch Mizrabel who lives there, and who has a plan to drain the cartoon essence from the innocent denizens of Wasteland, and other famous toons, in order to restore her own.
“Power of Illusion” is basically a mini game with its entire focus on one of the main aspects of “Epic Mickey”: repainting Wasteland so that it represents Disneyland once again. Players can draw attractions, objects, and places and have them rendered into 2D illustrations and moved around Wasteland. It’s a beefed up Microsoft Paint feature with a Disney theme, but if that’s your thing then it sounds perfect.
“Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two,” is the true sequel to the original game. In it Mickey joins forces with his older brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to save Wasteland once again. Disney Interactive is remaining mum on more specific plot details, but they have released some interesting information about the game play.
“The Power of Two” sees Mickey once again wielding his magic paint brush to either paint in Wasteland or thin out bits of it. Oswald, working alongside Mickey, wields electricity with his powerful remote control, thus able to repower other parts of Wasteland. The game is actually co-op, where two users play at the same time, one in charge of Mickey and the other Oswald. Unlike the first “Epic Mickey,” “The Power of Two” will be released not only on the Wii, but also on the XBOX360 and PlayStation 3.
I imagine that like most other co-op games there is an option in “The Power of Two” for playing solo. It just wouldn’t be smart of the game developers to exclude any potential customers who might not have anyone with whom to play. I wonder if there’s a single-player mode with only Mickey or Oswald, or if the computer will control one of the characters if only one gamer is present.
I can’t say I have much interest in “Power of Illusion,” but “Power of Two” (and what’s all these “The Power” titles, Disney Interactive?) could be interesting. I’d like to know more about the game’s story before playing. After all, the story of the first “Epic Mickey” is what drew my interest to the game and kept it there, even after the game revealed itself as less interesting than its early concept art suggested. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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*(This image by popculturegeek is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
