Epic Mickey 2 (PSVita) Review

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Developer:   Junction Point Studios

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment

Format: PS3/360/Wii/WiiU/Vita

Release Date: Out Now

The Vita has been crying out for decent 3D platformer to come along and broaden the variety available on the handheld. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a beautiful idea of what potential the Vita has to offer but unfortunately, as a game, it never really gets past its mediocre gameplay

platforms

Disney was always popular in our house growing up and as a result, it was a delight to play through the masterfully crafted levels, with familiar characters and jokes, both blatant and subtle, placed throughout the game to appeal to long term fans and newcomers to some of the more mature elements of the Disney franchise. The game was ported specifically for the handheld, and the visuals on the Vita’s OLED screen shine, representing the strength of the console’s graphical capability. Aesthetically, the game delivers well and deserves praise here. And thanks to Sony’s dedicated port, the Vita touch controls are well integrated into the game, something that when done badly, can result in a painful game to play. Simply placed and easy to use, its easy to see the benefits of an in house development team using their own hardware.

level

Technically, the game adds very little to its predecessor in terms of game mechanics. The selling point of “the power of two” is brandished by pairing you up with a fellow cartoon character to help you in your quest. The option to play locally with a friend is no doubt where this would shine because when using the game AI as a partner, the game suffers woefully from a companion that is more a hindrance than a help. Thankfully the areas dependent on a combined effort are few and far between as the frustration in dealing with a partner that seems wholly committed to making the task as arduous as possible is surreal. The very first example of this is a simple team effort jump from one ledge to another, requiring you to cling to your partner’s feet as you glide across the gap. The pace of the game completely halts as you try to figure out how to get your teammate to navigate to the right spot, perform the required action and deposit you safely across the small divide that might as well be miles wide for the amount of time and effort that went into it. Again, the potential here is great and I didn’t try it with another player locally, but as I imagine 90% of people playing the game will play alone, be prepared to suffer through a number of these scenes.

teamwork

But this isn’t the biggest flaw with Epic Mickey. The biggest problem with the game is that it’s simply not “Epic”, it’s pretty much “Bland”. The “puzzles” are repeated with minor visual differences, the pacing keeps the game at a steady crawl and the game follows a predictable curve throughout its narrative. Once you’ve played the first 15 minutes of the game, there is very little in this game that will come as a surprise. And while its not a bad 15 mins to play, it’s certainly not good enough to repeat.

If you want a child friendly game for the Vita that won’t challenge them excessively, Epic Mickey 2 ticks the right boxes. However if you’re looking for the premier Vita platformer, stick with Jak & Daxter.

 

SCORE 2.5/5

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