3/5 ★ – PenguinKiddo's review of Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion – The Power of Pacing Conversations regarding Epic Mickey tend to only ever include both the first game and Power of Two. But how many times have you heard anybody bring up Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the 3DS? Did you even know it existed? There might be a chance you haven’t, since it was overshadowed by its big brother Epic Mickey 2 on release, and nowadays the game has become a bit harder to find since it was later removed from the 3DS Eshop. But Power of Illusion isn’t what I would call a forgettable title, as it’s pretty unique from the big two. I used to have the demo for this game back then and I enjoyed it enough to want to get the full game. But I couldn’t find it at any Gamestops, which was my go-to place as a child for games. Even when struck with the opportunity, my eye was more on the bigger titles rather than this little side game. Although, thanks to the wise decision to close the 3DS Eshop forever, I made sure to get this game before it became a hard-to-find 3DS exclusive. And like the last game I reviewed, all those years of curiosity had me wondering if the full journey could live up to the good times I had with the old demo. From the start, Power of Illusion carries over a lot of the unique gameplay mechanics and core ideas of Epic Mickey (Using paint and thinner to affect the levels, visiting familiar worlds and characters, etc.), but wonders, “How can we make this all fit the style of a 2D platformer?” Pretty good for a first try I’d say! You'll explore about 12 levels based on three Disney classics (Peter Pan, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid) with some iconography from other old Disney films sprinkled about as well. Your goal is to explore these stages and rescue famous Disney characters from the clutches of Maleficent. After each stage, you'll be sent to what is essentially your main hub where you can talk to Oswald and others to build up a Toon-power meter that will allow you to progress, unlock upgrades, and reach the final boss! The levels themselves are mostly focused on exploration, and Mickey has plenty of abilities to get around. You can use his paint and thinner to defeat various enemies or draw on the touchscreen to create platforms or tools to help you throughout the level. You can also bounce on some enemies as well, and with some proper timing, you can gain some serious high to reach different areas while simultaneously dealing extra damage! There's also a melee attack for stunning, along with some special moves you can unlock to help you when you're in a pickle. By first hour went, my hopes were feeling a bit fulfilled as everything the game had introduced up to that point showed a lot of promise. It felt powerful when timing my jumps onto baddies to reach higher ground, thanks to some strong sound effects (although I’d appreciate it if Mickey could chill with the WOO HOO’s every time this happened). The game also consistently rewards you for going out of your way to check every nook and cranny, whether that be through E-Tickets (This game's currency), health pick-ups, side-quest items or those Disney characters I mentioned earlier. Even some of the boss fights, while a bit too easy, were fun to go up against. Unfortunately, by the second world, the game started to lose me. All because of one of my biggest issues in any form of entertainment reared its ugly head. THE PACING! Using the 3D touch screen to draw objects, while a perfect fit for a series about using paint, loses its novelty early on. For every time you do, the game pauses everything happening on screen and takes an additional five seconds for the drawing to come to life after you’re done sketching. Granted, the better your sketches turn out, the more you build a can temporary meter that boosts both Mickey’s attack and mobility stats. But to be frank, it doesn't make up for all the times I have to watch Mickey draw the same platform over, and over, AND OVER again! The meter drains too quickly as well, making it feel superfluous in trying to keep the meter going. You’re better off going about at Mickey’s base speed, which is already slow but better than a complete stop. Add to that, the time waiting for dialogue and event text boxes to go away after saving each character further adds to the feeling that “This is starting to overstay its welcome…” Worst of all, when you die in a stage, all those characters you saved, dialogue you sat through, and collectables you found aren’t saved individually. Each stage has two 3-5 minute sections, meaning that you'll need to redo all the progress that was undone and endure all those previous pacing issues again. By the third/final world, I was almost ready to put the pen back in the bottle after dealing with a bunch of spongy enemies that quickly ate at my health bar. I had to repeat segments multiple times, and the repetition almost became too much to put up with. Fortunately, I was too close to the end to quit and pulled through it all. Was it worth it? I don’t know, I mean I guess the final boss was kinda fun? While I can commend the efforts made to get the main mechanics to work in a 2D plane, the use of the touch screen leaves a lot to be desired. Had there been a way to draw in real time to avoid the stop-and-go nature of the game we have now, I think it could’ve elevated this game to being a real hidden gem. The rest of the pacing issues could've easily been solved with decreasing the waiting time for events and making your collectables save permanently once picked up. It would’ve really cut the fat off my four-hour playthrough into a sweet 2-3 hour experience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don’t get me wrong, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is much more fun than watching paint dry. I think for what the developers went for, as far as trying to make Epic Mickey’s gameplay fit a 2D platformer, they truly did the best they could. There’s a ton of love and care representing all these classic characters, with how the wonderful the game’s sprite work looks and the way the characters are written. The music is great and fits all the levels like a mouse’s glove, even if some songs are pulled from previous OSTs. And while the gameplay leaves a bit to be desired and leaves you in your chair waiting for things to move on, the platforming and action were never the reasons I wanted to quit. For better or worse, the game is pretty short. But if you ask me, that probably worked in it's favor for my playthrough. Still, I wouldn’t throw this one in the forgotten places of Wasteland. It’s a solid platformer that does all it can to bring an epic take on the go. Finished: 3/22/23