Disney’s Mickey Mouse’s somewhat dark adventure Epic Mickey gets ‘Rebrushed’ with a new coat of paint. Find out more in our Epic Mickey Rebrushed review!

Originally released on Nintendo Wii in 2010, Epic Mickey sees Mickey Mouse getting himself into a bit of artistic trouble. Now in 2024 he’s at it again in Epic Mickey Rebrushed as developer Purple Lamp and publisher THQ Nordic revive this classic platforming title. Is this updated version a successful restoration or is it a bit of Elías Martínez’s Ecce Homo? Find out in our Epic Mickey Rebrushed review!

Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review – Story

Mickey Mouse, the rather round eared fellow from Disney, finds himself in his usual mischief. Inspired by his night time reading of Alice through the Looking Glass he sneaks through his mirror into the realm of Yen Sid the sorcerer and discovers the sorcerer’s magic paintbrush. Seeing the world of Wasteland on the table Mickey grabs the brush and narcissisticly attempts to paint a likeness of himself. This goes horribly wrong turning into a monster. In panic he knocks over the paint thinner, right over the town, and tries to get rid of his wrongdoing before running back to his bedroom. Months later however as Mickey sleeps soundly he is interrupted by none other than the monster he created and is pulled into the painted world of Wasteland.

Photos that precedes disaster…

Wasteland itself is roughly based on Disneyland and is full of forgotten characters who no longer had anywhere to exist, unlike the ever popular Mickey. The story theme is quite dark, it’s sort of like a twist on the world of older Disney with characters sporting a somewhat older art style reminiscent of old cartoons like Steamboat Willie. Beginning his time in this world strapped to the Mad Doctor’s table with a machine trying to extract his heart, Mickey quickly escapes and learns how to use his new paint abilities to destroy the machine. Here he also encounters Oswald the Rabbit, a precursor of sorts to Mickey’s role in Disney. He runs away and Mickey decides to follow. As the adventure progresses more and more is discovered about Oswald that paints him as an antagonist, but is he?

Mickey spends a fair bit of the adventure trying to track down Oswald the Rabbit.

Many of the levels are lightly themed on Disney Land with boat rides making up most of the first major level. There is also the main hub of Mean Street, which is broken and down spirited as the thinner did so much damage to them. Here Mickey meets all sorts of characters who remember him but he doesn’t seem to remember them, which upsets them and Mickey also seems saddened by his lack of memory. Working with these characters across the game makes up much of the more emotional parts of the story but as the game progresses things do gradually pick up in tone a little as Mickey starts to push back against the destruction he wrought.

Side-scrolling levels often throwback to classic Mickey Mouse cartoons.

There are lots of fun little winks and nods to Disney’s origins as well as some classic throwback stages Mickey traverses through between level segments all of which are based on Disney’s original short cartoons. It’s a really interesting title when it comes to themes and writing style though often the story pacing is a bit slow as the levels tend to be very long. Players should still be engrossed at times though with great charm and character afforded in its big glowy remade cutscenes and cute 2d animated ones. Players who loved the original story will find little has changed here but that the presentation is sharper and more colourful.

Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review – Gameplay

Here this remastering or “Rebrushing” effort is far more starkly changed with proper camera controls. Something the Wii couldn’t handle due to its single analogue stick control scheme. Now movement is on the left stick and camera/ aiming is on the right as per conventional expectations for a modern title. This transforms the gameplay entirely with a real smoothness and freedom that makes its level designs seem more engaging than ever before.

Camera freedom really lets the environments shine.

Controlling Mickey’s paint and thinner powers is a simple affair of resource management to ensure he has enough “ammo”. This can be recharged by defeating enemies, scouring the environment, fixing or breaking objects to release pickups. The range of the paintbrush is middling so it’s important to traverse the level to get to important interaction points to either remove or add geometry to the stage. In one level it’s possible to use the paint thinner to drop a safe on the head of another character crushing them instead of doing their side quest which, while humorous, does feel rather out of character. However, this does bring attention to all of the little interactions that can be found in the game if the player experiments. The fact that Mickey’s powers can be used to this extent is great as it keeps the gameplay interesting.

There are a few boss fights on display and they each present a unique challenge.

Using paint enemies can be turned into allies, whilst using thinner Mickey can destroy them. It has just enough strategy that even though it doesn’t really evolve as the adventure progresses it still remains fun. Bosses are on whole other level, where each is unique by serving up a different and far more difficult challenge. Each Boss has attack patterns to learn and though it isn’t too much harder than regular combat, they stick out with charm or a refreshing design. The game also has 2D levels to go along with the 3D parts, which feel almost like classic reinventions of games such as Mickey Mousecapade or even the Castle of illusion. These stages tend to be short but hide a number of collectables making them a fun place to explore. Mickeys’ controls and platforming feels great as the fantastic jumping arc to the double jump is smooth and measured with no slipping off at edges. He can also grab ledges which adds another element to the stages, especially in the 2D traversal where this happens a lot more.

2D levels present a much more traditional platforming experience.

There are numerous collectibles to be found as well. Some require a bit of work and others more or less on the mainline path through each stage. The hardest to unlock are costumes. These give Mickey a new cosmetic look and some are really worth going the extra mile. It adds an element of depth that keeps the game ticking over in the somewhat more extensive levels. Outside of specific collectibles there is also a currency, this can be used in the hub town to buy concept art, healing and more, adding some value to the hub town as well once it’s been exhausted of side quests. The collectible tapes also need highlighting as these can be used to revisit the side scrolling segments from the hub Theatre.

The level designs contain a lot of excellent stuff, with jumps spaced out so Mickey has little room for error or small environmental puzzles based around timing and preparation. As the title progresses the difficulty gets pulled up but it’s a gentle difficulty curve that most players will ride out with no problems. Some levels don’t offer super clear direction which can halt progression while players try and work out where to go next, or find what criteria is blocking their route. Not even the quest list in the menu can always solve this issue. It doesn’t happen often but when it does it really kills the game’s pacing and makes that level feel 10 times too long. However, this was also likely an issue in the original version.

Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review – Visuals

This is a point where Rebrushed shines. The opening cutscene has been completely re-done and looks absolutely fantastic. It really shows off how far the rendering has come and yet it loses none of its charm. It’s almost a shame that there isn’t really another vibrant cutscene during the story, most other story scenes is via 2D cutscenes that play out with only small amounts of actual animation. They have a fantastic art style but are not as interesting as the 3D cinematics.

Disney but not quite how we remember.

The game has also been updated with almost no detail left un-brushed. Each world sports updated textures and the 3D models benefit from a few added polygons to keep them looking smooth. Instead of completely reinventing the visual designs they’ve opted to keep it close to the original presenting a version of the game that looks as good as players remember. Honestly, in direct comparison the new level details, lighting and effects all look amazing which really help make the game look “alive”.

Mickey looks over the Mean Street.

Purple Lamp has even managed to retain the “ear effect” where Mickey’s ears actually orbit his head so that his iconic silhouette is always correct. It’s a fun visual detail and bonkers that even the original managed to do this, especially given how difficult it must have been to implement. In fact the Disney iconography on show is great and well woven into the somewhat twisted backdrops. In the hub for example they have the iconic Walt Disney statue where he holds Mickey’s hand, however here it’s Oswald. This also has the Disney castle in the background but just a little bit twisted up and wrong. The whole style is quite reminiscent of the American McGee’s Alice games, though not as dark or as violent.

Even the Eiffel tower is looking a little twisted in this area! It’s all a bit broken up!

It’s genuinely astounding how much they get away with in terms of the dark and twisted parts of the game given the usual context of Mickey’s stories. Presumably by playing with his back catalogue it gave somewhat more liberties. This means the world Mickey explores is all decrepit, people are depressed etc… but there is a certain magic running through the whole atmosphere that keeps it a little more light hearted and charming.

A beaten enemy becomes a pathway?

Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review – Sound

The blaring opening fanfare of the main theme tune just exudes Disney energy like nothing else. Incorporating familiar melodies to existing Disney music serves the soundtrack well and offers something that really completes the atmosphere of the levels. Some areas use darker melodies, though the kazoo in the Mean Street level is quite grating after a few minutes. The overall darker tunes are interesting and incorporate instruments such as bells, which are usually underutilized in other titles. There are also plenty of happy tunes as well after all, the game is a heroic story in many ways, these happier tracks tend to throw back to the cartoons the levels are based on, predominantly being in the 2D levels.

One of the somewhat sadder elements is a lack of voice acting, not that reading the dialogue is bad but the characterisation that voice overs would offer would make quite the difference to the 2D cut scenes. That said, they all make little noises during conversation like a Zelda title, so it retains some charm.

Mickey learns about the existence of the forgotten cartoons.

Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review – Extras

There are some well hidden extras in the game that are worth exploring for as well as a fully fledged New Game + mode that keeps track of the collectibles but resets the story progress. This does offer a decent replay value to Mickey’s adventure which is already a pretty hefty game coming in at about 18 hours to get close to 100%.

On a repeat playthrough it’s possible to take different paths and make different choices!

Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review – Conclusion

Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a great time. It carefully revives Epic Mickey with great quality of life changes to the control scheme and tasteful visual upgrades that preserve the original style. The darker twisted storyline is a delight to experience and feels decidedly taboo given the properties at play so it’s really worth experiencing for Mickey or Disney fans.

There is some light to be found in this remaster.

Why should you play Epic Mickey Rebrushed?

• 3D platforming is smooth.
• A story with Mickey Mouse like no other.
• All of the Disney references and deep cuts.
• Killer twisted fairytale atmosphere.

Why shouldn’t you play Epic Mickey Rebrushed?

• Some of the levels get a bit boring as they go on.
• The lack of voices can make the story awkward to digest.
• 2D cutscenes are not particularly exciting.

A review code was kindly provided by THQ Nordic for the purpose of our Epic Mickey Rebrushed Review.  You can check out our other reviews here and if you haven’t already, be sure to join the Qualbert Discord to find out about the latest game and review updates!