Do you remember those short cartoons back in the day? Some played before your movie, or some played during commercials on Disney. Even Warner Brothers had them with the Looney Toons; they were timeless and carried over into my generation for a while. What happened to them, where did they go and why are they pushed away for such bland cartoons nowadays, even though Mickey Mouse still very much exists as an icon? If you are like me and miss those classic cartoons and enjoy video games, then I have the game for you: Epic Mickey.

Epic Mickey is a game that takes all of Walt’s forgotten and practically unused characters and puts them in a world Oswald the Lucky Rabbit rules. That in itself takes things way back. Do you remember Oswald? I hardly knew the guy or the fact he was Walt’s original Mickey Mouse.

The game opens with the now familiar mascot, Mickey Mouse, who stumbles upon this world of forgotten characters. The world is a small miniature one very similar to that of a Disney theme park and has been created by a familiar Disney Sorcerer. Mickey sees the paintbrush and attempts to paint, which creates what becomes known as the Shadow Blot. Mickey quickly tries to destroy it with thinner but ends up spilling the thinner and paint all over this small world. The Shadow Blot then pulls Mickey into the world to steal Mickey’s heart — because the only way out of this so called Wasteland is with a heart, and only Mickey has a heart, unlike the forgotten Disney characters. So basically, the overall goal of Epic Mickey is to keep your heart and rid the Wastleland of the Shadow Blot and the destruction he is causing, earning Oswald’s trust so you can return home.

The gameplay is very similar to that of a classic platformer, and overall, it works very well. What does Epic Mickey do, though, that stands out? Mickey is equipped with a paintbrush that can splash paint or paint thinner on the environment or enemies. This becomes an excellent concept that really carries through to the end and actually affects a lot of the world and the game itself.

By aiming with the Wii-mote, you can either spray the paint or the thinner; the thinner will destroy or take away parts of the environment, while paint will recreate what has been destroyed or help you reach platforms out of reach. The paint and thinner can also be used on the enemies. The thinner does what it should and destroys the enemy, but if you use paint, the enemies become allies and can help you during the game. Throughout the game you are guided by creatures called gremlins. If you rescue them, they can help you throughout levels in solving puzzles or even beating a boss for you, but this again is your choice.

The controls work well and aren’t full of gimmicks. There is one attack, which is your spin attack, but all you do is shake your controller to do it. It doesn’t feel pushed on you and works great. When traveling in between worlds in Wasteland, the game takes you on 2-D side-scrolling adventures that are based off classic Mickey Mouse cartoons. There are plenty, and you really look forward to these moments as you travel through classic cartoons with a twist of platforming at its best.

I want to put to rest an issue Epic Mickey has suffered from in previous reviews, and that is the camera issues. People have complained it is impossible to work the camera, and I honestly never had an issue with this. You can control the camera in a 360 mode by using the d-pad, and you can also put Mickey into first-person view if the area becomes too tight and you are having issues locating your objective. I feel this critique is unfair because you can tell they put much thought into how you control the cameras and even made available a first-person perspective.

The game is absolutely stunning; Wii has really been pushing out a lot of titles that really show what the system is capable of. I highly enjoyed visiting parts of the world and really just checking them out. A prime example is Ostown, which is clearly a reference to Toon Town, and you can walk around and repaint the scenery or even take away from it. This is where the paint and thinner really shine through and honestly just work very well. You appreciate the concept behind this mechanic. The game has an excellent story that really captures you and makes you care for the progression of the story. Cutscenes are done in a cartoon style that pays tributes to the classic cartoons. There is no voice acting besides the grunts and muttered expressions, but it works well with what they aimed for. However, with such a deep story, I wished there was voice due to the fact there is a lot of reading and you miss out on what’s going on visually because you are busy reading text. But, this shouldn’t keep you away from such a great game.

I really enjoyed the heck out of Epic Mickey. There are some tasks in the game that probably could become monotonous if you just want to advance through the game, but if you are a fan of Disney and the lost classics, you will enjoy these tasks for the forgotten Disney cast; I sure did. If you are a fan of anything Disney, I say pick up the title. You can get nearly 10 hours out of this game, and there is a lot of bonus material — such as a few throwback cartoons and lots of artwork. Even if you are not a fan of Disney, I feel you may enjoy Epic Mickey. It is a bit darker than most Disney products, and it almost feels like a Tim Burton world at times; it works very well. If you’re a fan and this looks good, buy the game and you won’t be disappointed, or definitely give it a rent. Epic Mickey is unquestionably worth your time.

Check out TreavorClark's video review at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNgVKwLNmqU.