Does Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two deserve a “Rebrush”?

We are only a couple of days away from a remaster of what was honestly one of the most disappointing games of the Nintendo Wii era. Epic Mickey was supposed to be the start of a long-running franchise starring Disney’s top mascot, with a darker edge to boot. But the concept just didn’t come together like it was supposed to.

Still, it sold well enough to merit a sequel, in which you’d think the problems of the original would’ve been addressed. A couple were but then many more problems arguably made the sequel even worse and that was pretty much the end of the franchise (aside from a 2D platforming offshoot on the 3DS that might be considered the best game in the series but still pretty dull).

Somehow, 14 years later, we are getting a remaster of the first Epic Mickey game. I haven’t given deep thoughts on it or anything but I have played the demo for Epic Mickey Rebrushed and as someone who was severely disappointed with the original I came away very impressed with what the demo offered. It looks to do what I considered virtually unimaginable and fix almost everything wrong with the game right off the bat.

We’ll see if that opinion holds when Epic Mickey Rebrushed hits in a couple days. In the meantime, especially if Epic Mickey Rebrushed is a success, is its even more beleaguered sequel, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, worthy of the same treatment? Is fixing it even possible?

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two set to not make the mistakes of the first game. However, as I alluded to earlier, it introduced a whole host of new problems that would need to be addressed in such a remaster. To its credit, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two does several things that improve on the first game including much better graphics, full voice acting, and giving Oswald a much more proactive role as a full-on partner to Mickey and doing away with incredibly dodgy motion controls that would only work on the Nintendo Wii.

But the sequel had many problems of its own. The camera, a problem in the first game, was still incredibly bad. Hit detection and collision detection in general was a mess. Jumping, a key part of virtually any platformer, was spotty. And finally, while giving Oswald a big co-starring, co-op role seems like a great idea. It only was if you were playing with another human player. AI partner Oswald, who was extremely necessary for not only completing puzzles but also defeating many types of enemies and bosses was notoriously unreliable. In such a remaster, all these problems would need to be addressed and it seems like a much bigger undertaking than fixing the problems of the original Epic Mickey.

Could it be done? Could an Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Rebrushed salvage not just the sequel itself but the Epic Mickey franchise? It’s not an impossibility. But as I stated it’s a lot of work, arguably far more than is required for Epic Mickey Rebrushed and even if that is a success, I’m not sure the go-to move would be to remake the sequel, it might be better to continue the franchise. Possibly make that Epic Donald game that was at least planned to happen and never came to fruition. What is the better use of resources here assuming Epic Mickey Rebrushed is enough of a success to warrant such a decision in the first place? I’m honestly not sure.

That’s all for today, I am looking forward to the release of Epic Mickey Rebrushed (which honestly is something I did not think I would be saying when it was announced) and there might even be some news from the Tokyo Game Show in a few days so see ya real soon!