Mickey Storm and his family are visiting a new water park, but the evil Dr. Fisher kidnaps his parents and now it’s up to Mickey and his sister to save them!  Apparently their parents are also spies, so they’ve left them a backpack with all sorts of gadgets and a flying robot named B.U.D.D.Y. to guide them around the waterslide obstacles and save the day.  Mickey Storm and the Cursed Mask is a 2-D platformer available on most current consoles but reviewed on PS4 here.

In each stage you play as Mickey or his sister as they ride on pool floats on waterslides, zipping around ramps and loops like Sonic the Hedgehog.  You’ll learn new skills as you progress, but you can jump and double jump, as well as hold down the button to glide with a propeller from your backpack.  Another button lets you spin around to attack monsters and flip switches.  In the air you must keep your balance by pressing the L and R buttons, because if you land wrong you’ll wipe out and lose a heart.  Sometimes your goal is just to make it to the end of the level, while other times you must reach the goal in a time limit.  Along the way you can collect lightning bolts and keys that help you unlock new stages, outfits, and waterslide floats and rides to use.

Unfortunately this game is just flat out bad.  The host of problems include awful controls, stages that all look the same, and if you lose all your hearts, you start at the last checkpoint with only one heart left, so you must manually start over sometimes when that makes the stage impossible.  I got stuck on one stage and couldn’t figure out how to get any higher, so I just stopped.  Yuck!  Proceeds from this game go to an organization that helps out children in war and conflict areas, so if you want to buy this game to support that cause, then that’s great.  Just don’t expect the game to be any good.

Kid Factor:

Mickey Storm and the Cursed Mask is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  If you hit a monster or enemy or land on your head, you’ll just disappear in a puff of smoke, the screen says, “wipeout,” and you’ll start over at the last checkpoint.  Reading skill is helpful for some of the text, but not necessary just to play.  Younger gamers may find it too difficult and frustrating due to the bad controls.

Tags: Game Reviews