Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Developer(s)	Junction Point Studios Blitz Games Studios Heavy Iron Studios (Wii U)
Publisher(s)	Disney Interactive Studios JP: Spike Chunsoft
Designer(s)	Warren Spector
Writer(s)	Marv Wolfman
Composer(s)	James Dooley Mike Himelstein
Series	Epic Mickey
Engine	Gamebryo
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Vita[1]
Release	NA: November 18, 2012 AU: November 22, 2012 EU: November 23, 2012 EU: November 30, 2012 (Wii U) AU: December 13, 2012 (Wii U) NA: June 18, 2013 (Vita: PSN) EU: June 19, 2013 (Vita: Retail) AU: June 19, 2013 (Vita: Retail) EU: October 2013 PC: Retail WW: October 6, 2014 PC: Steam
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (known as Epic Mickey: The Power of 2 in Europe) is a platform video game and the sequel to Epic Mickey. The game has a companion called Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the Nintendo 3DS.^[2]

Plot

All has been well in Wasteland since Mickey helped defeat the Shadow Blot, with all the forgotten characters rebuilding their home. However, a series of earthquakes threatens to undo the work and the world. The Mad Doctor (who somehow survived his defeat and mostly sings instead of talking) arrives and asks Oswald to join forces with him to help repair Wasteland. Gus, the leader of the Gremlins, and Ortensia, Oswald's wife (who doesn't trust the Mad Doctor), contact Mickey Mouse. Mickey once more enters Yen Sid's workshop and takes the magic brush to aid him as he enters Wasteland. Oswald joins up with them in Dark Beauty Castle, explaining the Mad Doctor warned him of the Blotworx - Blotlings piloting mechanical suits - which have taken control of the Beetleworx production. The castle begins collapsing, forcing them to escape; Oswald retrieves his powerful remote en route.

Mickey and Oswald fight their way through Wasteland, defeating Blotlings, Beetleworx, and Blotworx (including a giant robotic dragon in which it can be redeemed or defeated) and helping other characters. After repairing the disabled projectors, they notice one of the Gremlins named Prescott is acting strange and they follow him. This takes them to Fort Wasteland, an area that was seemly destroyed before the events of Mickey's last visit, which leads to the Floatyard, where they find he has built a massive robot designed after him. Destroying or trapping the mech, Mickey and Oswald try interrogating Prescott, only to have Animatronic Daisy Duck's news team and the Mad Doctor arrive; the doc seems to put Prescott in a hypnotic trance, making him confess to being behind the chaos which convinces everyone except for the duo. Concerned, Mickey and Oswald follow the Mad Doctor's trail to his hideout, which leads them to Autotopia, another area that was also supposedly destroyed during the Blot's revolt. After finding his diary, they learn that he wants to take all the paint to broadcast a show into the Cartoon world, so people can remember him and give him a heart to escape Wasteland and it is also revealed that he was the one who made the Blotworx who eventually turned on him. They defeat the Mad Doctor, whose robotic body finally gives out and is either defeated or redeemed depending on which path was taken in his fight. Afterwards, the Wasteland celebrates Mickey and Oswald's triumph with a parade highlighting the duo's major choices in the game (including the three bosses).

However, the Petes of Wasteland, with Petetronic being present if Mickey and Oswald achieve the bad ending, kidnap Prescott, presumably having plans for both him and Wasteland.

Gameplay

Like its predecessor, Epic Mickey 2 takes place in a world based on classic and retired Disney characters and attractions. Likewise, the gameplay in Epic Mickey 2 closely resembles that of the original. One of the biggest updates is the addition of Oswald as a supporting character for Mickey; Oswald can either be controlled by the computer or a second player. Oswald uses a remote control in method as Mickey uses his paintbrush, to attack or befriend enemy characters and to alter the environment as needed to complete tasks. Oswald also has many other abilities, such as flying with his ears, taking off his leg, using his arms as boomerangs, etc. There are also some special abilities that can only be used when Mickey and Oswald are working together.

Development

On August 27, 2011, Destructoid posted an article that speculated that a sequel, Epic Mickey 2, is in development and showed possible box art for the game.^[3] These rumors were further encouraged when Disney France and Warren Spector invited the French media to an "epic project" taking place on March 27, 2012. Nintendo Power magazine also commented on the rumor, stating that their April 2012 issue would include a "top-secret" title preview, with the preview for the issue showing a cropped down picture of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Game Trailers also stated that their March 22, 2012 episode would include a "world-exclusive preview of Warren Spector's new epic adventure" and that it would be "notably significant".^[4] Warren Spector himself also commented on the game's development, revealing that he had "a team of over 700 people working on the sequel".^[5] Following this, on March 20, 2012, the official French Nintendo magazine posted a comment on Twitter, revealing that Disney had plans to create a companion to the main sequel for the 3DS, under the name Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.^[6]

Warren Spector, on March 21, 2012, officially confirmed the rumors, revealing the sequel's title to be Epic Mickey: Power of Two.^[7] Spector also directly addressed the camera issues that reviewers criticized in the first game, stating that "They'll be working on it until the day we ship the second game. (There have been) over 1,000 specific changes made to the camera. Our goal is that you will not have to touch the manual camera controls even once to play through the main story path of this game."

Spector also revealed that the game was to include voice acting and musical numbers, both of which were absent in the first game. Spector said: "I'm such a geek about musicals, I love the co-op and next-gen stuff, but for me, when a character breaks into song, which they do on a regular basis in this game, it's magic."

Spector also commented on the sequel's co-op features, stating that: "It's drop-in, drop-out co-op, you can sit down at any time with a friend who is playing as Mickey, and you can take control of Oswald. If you're playing as a single player, Oswald will be there every second of the game. He's not just a multiplayer character, he's a helper, whether you're playing alone or with a friend or family member." Wasteland itself will feature old areas ruined by earthquakes and other natural disasters, as well as new areas such as Disney Gulch, based on Disneyland's Frontierland.^[8]

12 screenshots for the game were released on October 4, 2012. Fans long speculated that the recently located Oswald cartoon Hungry Hobos (1928) would appear as an unlockable, but the final game included the Silly Symphony Skeleton Dance (1929) instead.

On March 18, 2013, the UK division of Disney Movie's announced via Twitter that Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two would be receiving a port to Sony's PlayStation Vita platform. The Vita version will be developed by Blitz Game Studios (in collaboration with Sony Computer Entertainment), which has already dealt with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the game. Was announced that this version will be optimized especially for the Vita and that the defects of the original version will be placed, in particular the frame-rate and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, boasts of a co-op online or ad-hoc.^[9]

In October 2013, the previously cancelled PC port of Epic Mickey 2 was given a limited release in Eastern European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic.^[10]

Japanese magazine Famitsu confirmed that the game would arrive in Japan exclusively on Nintendo's consoles on September 26, 2013. The Nintendo 3DS sister title Power of Illusion (renamed as Mickey’s Marvelous Adventure) would arrive with The Power of Two on the same day in Japan. Unlike the previous title Epic Mickey, Epic Mickey 2 was published by Spike Chunsoft in Japan.^[11]

On October 6, 2014, Epic Mickey 2 was made available on Steam.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (Wii) 67.60%[12] (X360) 60.80%[13] (PS3) 57.83%[14] (WIIU) 55.42%[15] (Vita) 51.50%[16] Metacritic (Wii) 64/100[17] (X360) 59/100[18] (PS3) 59/100[19] (WIIU) 57/100[20] (Vita) 57/100[21] Review scores Publication Score GameSpot 5/10 GamesRadar IGN 6.2/10 (Vita), 6/10 (console versions)

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two received mixed reviews, with most complaints being the game not fixing issues that were present in the original. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Wii version 67.60% and 64/100,^[12][17] the Xbox 360 version 60.80% and 59/100^[13][18] the PlayStation 3 version 57.83% and 59/100,^[14][19] the Wii U version 55.42% and 57/100,^[15][20] and the PlayStation Vita version 51.50% and 57/100.^[16][21]

Sales

By the end of 2012, Epic Mickey 2 sold 529,000 copies in the United States.^[22] By the end of 2010, its predecessor had sold at least 1.3 million.^[23] In a recent interview, Warren Spector stated that he was 'in doubt' about the future of the series.^[24] Despite heavy advertising and due to gameplay criticism, the game barely sold a quarter of the copies the original did, making it a commercial bomb (its sales were scoped at around 2 million), despite being available on multiple platforms. Following these financial losses, Disney made an official statement on January 29, 2013 that Junction Point Studios was to be closed in order to direct resources to other projects. It is revealed that Disney still owns the Epic Mickey IP, but has no plan for the series.^[25] In 2016, concept art was leaked of a cancelled kart racer based on the Epic Mickey franchise, named Epic Mickey Racers, which was to include a number of other playable characters from Disney's legacy including Scrooge McDuck and Cruella De Vil as well as Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Rabbit.^[26]

Cancelled sequel

A sequel titled Epic Mickey 3 was originally intended to be the third and final part of the Epic Mickey trilogy. Due to the poor sales of Epic Mickey 2, Junction Point Studios closed on January 29, 2013, therefore canceling production on Epic Mickey 3.^[27][28][29] Disney Interactive Studios also closed on May 1, 2016.

References

External links

• Official North American website