Something is wrong again in Wasteland, where cartoon stars go when they are forgotten. Quakes are devastating the land, robotic Beetleworx are going haywire, and the Mad Doctor says he’s turned good and can solve everyone’s problems. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, leader of the Wasteland, calls on Mickey Mouse once again to aid him in Wasteland. Now it’s up to Mickey and Oswald to team up to save the day! But can the Mad Doctor really be trusted? Epic Mickey 2 is available for all current game consoles (360 version reviewed here).

Epic Mickey 2 is a 3-D platform jumping adventure. You’ll travel through all sorts of areas in Wasteland, which is based on a topsy-turvy version of Disneyland. You’ll explore some familiar locations as well as some new ones. Just like in the last game, Mickey is armed with a magic paintbrush which can spray out paint or thinner. Use paint to fill in the landscape, and thinner to erase it. You can also spray enemies with it, with different results. If you’ve played the first game, you’ll know what to expect here.

New to the series is that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the character Disney created before Mickey, is always by your side as a second playable character now. He uses a remote control to zap electricity to stun enemies, and to power up robotic devices. He can throw Mickey high in the air to reach high places, and if Mickey tosses Oswald, the rabbit will use his ears like a helicopter to slow his descent. Mickey can grab onto Oswald while in the air to glide down as well. A human player can control Oswald at any time, and jump in and out of the game at will. Anytime a human doesn’t play as Oswald, the CPU will control him.

Epic Mickey 2 has good intentions, but there are quite a few problems with the game as well. The A.I. that controls Oswald is terrible. There were quite a few times where I manually turned on the second controller and played both characters at the same time because the computer wouldn’t do what I wanted. I imagine that playing with two players might be better. But sometimes, goals and objectives are also very unclear, so it’s a double whammy of frustration. However, the first Epic Mickey game had similar problems, so if you enjoyed that game despite its flaws, you’ll probably enjoy this one, too.

Kid Factor:

Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Cartoon Violence. Defeated robots and toons just explode or melt into a puddle of ink, and there are always non-violent solutions, too. Reading skill isn’t needed, as the sequel is fully voiced now (and very well done and professional, I might add). However, young kids might get frustrated at the unclear goals and sloppy A.I. It’s highly recommended that an older player play with a younger one to help them out.

Tags: Game Reviews