Disney characters help me break our of my art block

Hello friends, in the previous blog I talked about how I’ve been working through summer of 2026 to break out of my mental block regarding drawing. I like to draw but am very hard on myself. To help get me out of the cycle of avoidance I forced myself to do sketches, the ink them. The ideas that I could draw no matter how I felt were skateboarding skeletons. Growing up in the 1980’s these were subjects burned into my brain. The best skeletons came from the pen of Vernon Courtlandt Johnson. After four days, and four drawings in a row my friend Ralph asked for a skater doing an Indy Nosebone. Rather than another skeleton I did one featuring Mickey Mouse.

I played Disney Sports Skateboarding but it wasn’t really that good. With that said I still unlocked everything in the game for the GameCube. I didn’t enjoy it near as much as I play Grind Session, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 on the Playstation. With that said the Disney characters in a skate game was a great idea. The levels were memorable, and special moves truly unique. The control wasn’t there, but the character models were amazing. I used Mickey’s costume when creating my piece.

As long as I was at it I did another Disney drawing. This time featuring Chip and Dale. The chipmunks actually appeared in Disney Sports Snowboarding for the Game Boy Advance. The duo were capable of performing all sorts of tricks on the snowboard. They were spaced apart as if they were the boots on a snowboard. It was a clever mechanic. I wondered how they would have appeared if they were in the GameCube game instead. I’m sure they would have been a blast to play. I was in a full Disney mood at this point, so I decided to draw a very rare character just vibing. Ferdinand the Bull was an Academy Award winning movie from 1938. It was a lovely story about self acceptance. There are some days where I just want to sit under the shade of a cork tree and smell the flowers too.

With a few days of drawing under my belt I decided to go for a color illustration. Still in a Disney mood I did a piece in time for the 4th of July. The 250th anniversary of the USA was a bit of a let down, but that didn’t stop me from putting forward something patriotic. I don’t draw Oswald nearly enough, but this one with Ortensia came out kind of cute. If you are a regular on the blog then you know that I am the co-host on the Pink Monorail podcast. The missus is a theme park historian, and she was doing a write up on The Mine Train through Nature’s Wonderland. This was an attraction at Disneyland that was eventually turned into Big Thunder Mountain, and the remaining land became Star War’s Galaxy’s Edge many years later.

Over the past few years some unscrupulous people have been suing the various Disney Fan sites claiming that the photographs they were using were their property. So unless you could prove you took the picture, or used a photo from the Disney press people then it was hard to get any story posted. Especially for retro attractions. So the missus asked me to create illustrations that she could run that wouldn’t step on any toes. I did a few for her write up. One of which was based on the original attraction poster.

I’m actually in the process of creating other illustrations for future articles. It’s a great exercise to create art for her that keeps me engaged. I’d like to know if you had ever drawn anything from a favorite game, or in this case Disney attraction. Tell me about it in the comments section. If you enjoy this blog there are several ways you can support me. You can sponsor me directly on Patreon. Or like and subscribe to my videos on YouTube. You can even subscribe to the Pink Monorail Podcast featuring my wife, and myself. 

 

Lightning strikes twice, a second rare Oswald item turns up on bidding sites!

Hello friends, had you heard the saying that “lightning seldom strikes twice?” Well I’m happy to say that lightning struck twice for me. As you might know I’m a huge fan of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I had an extensive collection of plush figures, and rare items from Japan, and the USA. Just a week ago, on February 11, 2026 to be exact I posted a blog about a rare Oswald watch that turned up on bidding sites. I talked about how the seller was very greedy, and was asking for hundreds of dollars for a watch that you could have won at Japanese arcades. Its original retail value would have been closer to $20-$30. Well because of that post I decided to jump on the same Japanese bidding site where the watch first turned up to see what was new. Would you believe that the second of the three watches was available for a “buy it now” price?! Even better the price for this watch (after I used a coupon) was $58. I did have to pay for shipping, and a stupid tariff, but given how rare it was I was happy to pick it up.

I now owned two of the three watches from the short time that Universal Studios Osaka was promoting the character in Japan. If I could land the one with the Mickey Mouse hand movement then I would own the whole set. I doubted that it would ever turn up, but if lightning did strike twice for me, then maybe the third time was the charm? Have you ever lucked out when collecting anything? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

When a rare Oswald the Lucky Rabbit item turned up on bidding sites

If you are a collector of anything; comics, music, toys, cars, clothing, etc. then you probably have a wish list. These might be things you are on the hunt for, things that are super rare, or even super expensive. On that list you might even have a handful of “holy grail” or “white whale” items. These are things that are so rare / expensive that they might never come up in your lifetime. For those that don’t know I am a huge fan of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. I have a large collection of Oswald items, some going back to the origins of the character.

Oswald was the cartoon star that Walt Disney created before Mickey Mouse. Walt lost the rights to Universal Studios back in 1928, and the Disney company didn’t get the rights back until 2006. One of my favorite eras of the character were just before Disney got him back. Universal made a big push to reintroduce the character as part of the Woody Woodpecker cartoon reboot circa 1998. The Universal Studios Park in Osaka Japan released merchandise featuring a blue-colored version of Oswald. As a fan of the “rubber hose” style of classic cartoons I fell in love with this look. My goal was to acquire as many items that were produced during that era. Arcade developer Taito actually created many of these for the parks, but also as claw machine prizes in the arcade. They came up with some wristwatches for the prize machines.

Interestingly enough when Disney got the rights back most of their first collaborations debuted in Japan as well. The studio partnered with Citizen, and the designers at Hirob to release a watch. It featured Oswald with his arms as the minutes, and hours hands. This was a nod to the original Mickey Mouse watch by Ingersoll. More than 20 years ago I spent every day on the Japanese bidding sites tracking down Oswald items. Much to my surprise I eventually scored both the dark background, and light background versions of the Disney / Hirob watch. Unfortunately the ones from Taito never showed up. So I put them on my grail list, especially the one with “Mickey Mouse” movement.

When the Disney company in the US started releasing Oswald watches I wasn’t really impressed with their offerings. Almost all of the merchandise in the USA, from stickers, to pins, shirts, and hats featured Oswald in one of a handful of poses. Master animator Eric Goldberg made him black, and white, and changed his style from Universal. As cute as the art was, it lost its charm when it was stamped on everything. The variety of art, and products featuring the rabbit at Universal was much more diverse. To make collecting harder some of the first US Oswald items were limited to the parks. Imagine spending over $150 just to get into Disneyland, and then being told that the Oswald pocket watch would run you an additional $500. Like I said I was a huge Oswald fan, but I also wasn’t made of money. I had to pass on a lot of Disney’s official merchandise because it was priced out of my budget. Less expensive wristwatches would eventually show up at the US and Japan Disney parks. I was able to get my hands on a few of these over the years, but not all of them. Some watches I didn’t think were worth it.

In early fall 2025 a grail watch popped up. While checking for items on eBay I noticed a Japanese seller had posted a Taito watch, complete in the box! It wasn’t the Mickey Mouse movement that I wanted, but it was still on my list. After 25 years of searching I never thought that it would turn up, let alone include the box. Unfortunately the seller wanted over $250 USD for it. The item may have been rare, but it did not warrant that price. There were only a handful of people that I could think of that would even be interested in collecting it. I was hopeful that the seller might budge on the price because the item was listed “Or Best Offer.” So I started with what I thought was a generous offer of $125. It was declined right away.

If you don’t know how the bidding works on eBay you only get five “best offers.” If the seller does not accept your offers then you have to pay the “Buy it Now” price if you still want the item. I’m on a strict budget. There was no way that I would spend over $200. I doubted that anyone else would either. As the weeks went on I would offer a little bit more, at the same time the seller would begin dropping the price. From $250, to $245, to $240… The seller stopped at $200, and I budgeted myself for $175 including taxes, and shipping. So there was still a gap in my maximum price, and the seller's minimum. Then one day the seller sent a private message. He said that he noticed I had made multiple offers. He then said he would be willing to extend to me a special offer of $180. I asked my family if I could tap into our holiday budget a little for this and they said of course. They knew how much the rare Oswald items meant to me.

I waited, and waited. Sadly the offer never came, and the seller never responded to my follow-up messages. He eventually put the watch on “sale” where he dropped the price to $193. This was still too rich for my blood. I used my final offer for $180, and that was also declined. I had to step away from this grail item. The seller was simply asking for too much. Fast forward to the end of 2025. I was surfing various Japanese bidding sites looking for Sonic Team, Namco, and Oswald items. I discovered that the eBay seller had listed the same watch on Japanese auction pages, except he was asking for ¥10,000 Japanese Yen which was about $65 USD. This was probably double how much he actually paid for the item to begin with.

I was shocked that it hadn’t been snatched up at that price. With taxes, shipping, and handling from Japan the total would be just over $80. Oswald's luck must have rubbed off on me. Needless to say I bought it right away. I was willing to pay almost three times that price when it was on eBay, but the seller’s greed cost him in the end. As far as collections went 2025 had been extremely kind to me, and to my family. I’d like to know if you ever lucked out when chasing a grail item. Tell me about it in the comments section! If you want to find out more about Oswald then click the links below.

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 1...

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 2…

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 3…

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 4…

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 5…

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, part 6…

The evolution of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, final part…

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a list of Taito products featuring the rabbit!

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit turns 98!

Oswald & Homer, two rare cartoon characters reunited!

When was the blue Oswald the Lucky Rabbit created?

The many almost returns of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

Oswald finds a new home, at his old home? 

As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

When Disney made the best ghost stories!

It’s that time of the year where ghouls and ghosts take over our streets. Since I had been on a Disney kick I was thinking fondly about the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I had talked about the attraction in the past and compared it to the God of War series. Specifically how the attraction, and game had richly themed environments. With that in mind I was wondering about how it was presented in game form.

I discovered an old Disney game that had a dedicated Haunted Mansion stage. Mickey no Tokyo Disneyland Daibōken was a game published by Tomy for the Super Famicom (SFC) in 1994. The game featured Mickey and his friends at Tokyo Disneyland. Mickey was trying to get his friends together to practice for a concert. Each friend just so happened to be located in a different area of the park.

There were bad guy weasels trying to keep Mickey from his duties as he traveled around. Of course Mickey had to be able to fight against bad guys, but in a Disney game you couldn’t really be too violent. So Mickey was given two types of balloons that he could use on his adventure. The water balloon he could bounce off of, as well as throw at his enemies. Then there was a helium balloon that allowed him to float to higher platforms, of breeze over gaps. Parents wouldn’t be able to object to Mickey defending himself with balloons after all.

The big attraction at each land was the basis for each stage. It was neat seeing how things like Big Thunder Mountain, and the Pirates of the Caribbean were turned into platforming levels.

The fourth stage was set in the Haunted Mansion. That attraction was arguably the greatest dark ride ever created. It was layered with so much detail that it developed a cult following. Even I was not immune to its importance in theme park history. In fact I wrote about the Hatbox Ghost 10 years ago on this blog. You can read about the history of the Haunted Mansion on the Disney Family Museum page. The fact that the Japanese game was able to turn iconic scenes featured in the attraction into actual stages was mind blowing. The “stretching room” for example was amazing, it took advantage of the SFC’s fabled “Mode 7.”

The attraction did not have a definitive story, but was rather a collection of spooky vignettes. An official album tried to tie together the various scenes. However many things were added, or removed through its history. Each of these changes were embraced by the fans. Fan theories spread among the community, in the ‘80s these were discussed in fanzines, and would eventually make their way online. Even leftovers from a refurbishment got a legend all to themselves.

The game even featured animated suits of armor. This was a brilliant callback. In the early days of the attraction in the late 1960’s they actually had cast members wearing the armor, and pop out to scare riders. This was eventually turned into a stationary animatronic that rattled.

The busts that followed visitors in the foyer, and the head of Madame Leota in a floating crystal ball also appeared in the game. The developers at Tomy had certainly done their homework. The attraction was filled with 999 Happy Haunts. There was plenty to pull from, and many ghosts that people should expect to see in a game.

The deepest cuts in the game were the ghost portraits. Not every painting by Disney Animator / Imagineer Marc Davis was featured in the original attraction, or the follow ups in Florida or Tokyo. The ghostly fisherman was part of a pirate theme that had originally been pitched for the attraction. The mariner with the harpoon had appeared in both Mickey no Tokyo Disneyland Daibōken, as well as Epic Mickey.

At the end of each stage there was a version of “Pegleg” Pete waiting to challenge Mickey. He wore a costume that was appropriate for the particular attraction. In Stage 4 Pete was waiting in the mansion graveyard. He was a pale blue color, and wore a pale victorian suit as many of the ghosts did in the attraction. He floated around the stage, and shot plasma balls at Mickey. As far as I know this was the first and only time this version of Pete had ever appeared in an officially licensed game.

In honor of this eerie version of Pete, and just in time for Halloween I decided to make an illustration of “Phantom Pete.” What do you think? Should Disney revisit platform gaming? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Epic Mickey 2 the Power of Two Review - a 1UP classic from Nov 28, 2012

Hello friends, I have finished my Epic Mickey 2 review for JimHillMedia.com. I'm not certain when it will be posted or how much will be edited but here is the original draft for you to look at.

Epic Mickey 2 the Power of Two (EM2) is out now on multiple consoles including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and Wii U. The game deserves special consideration for readers of JHM because it is layered with several generations worth of material from the Disney Archives, theme parks and film library. The world of Epic Mickey, or "Wasteland" is so saturated with history that it could catch trivia specialists flat-footed. Warren Spector, lifelong Disney fan and creator of the game had said at the San Diego Comic Con that he wanted to create a world with substance. He did not want to have gamers dig underneath the surface and discover that the Wasteland was like other games. His studio Junction Point succeeded in doing just that. In some areas of the game when Mickey Mouse dissolves the walls and floors of the world players can actually see the blueprints. The grey paper of the imagination with penciled out blue lines created by the great architect Yen Sid himself.

The feeling that players come away with is more than a wash of nostalgia, it is almost indescribable. Players may recognize a piece of art hanging on a wall or a radio standing in the corner of Mickey Mouse's home exactly as it appeared from the 1936 film Thru the Mirror. Players are not only visiting the home from the film, they are now interacting with it. They are walking around in his kitchen, jumping on his furniture if they choose to. Players then begin to peel away at the walls and floors only to find there is another world beyond, waiting to be explored. The game is filled with these "a-ha!" moments. In addition to capturing the details and minutiae from the Disney legacy the game gives audiences a fresh perspective on the iconic Mickey Mouse without betraying the character. The amount of work that went into the game is staggering. Disney is trying to make Mickey and his friends relevant again in the new media and are sparing no expense in making that happen.

I've spent the past two weeks with fellow gamer Alice Hill going over the game on multiple consoles. The game has average difficulty for seasoned players but is moderately difficult for younger gamers. The main portion of the game is long but can still be beaten over the course of a weekend by experienced players. In order to get the full experience however a player has to explore every inch of the Wasteland, collect hidden items and accept side-mission that enhance the story and extend the gameplay to dozens of hours. The best way that Alice and I could review this game was by playing it on the different platforms in single and multiplayer modes and trying different options and paths. If you are interested in purchasing the game and do not want to read the spoilers then here is a one sentence review… Epic Mickey 2 is a good game but its faults prevent it from reaching true greatness. For those that want to know how we came to that conclusion please keep reading.

The camera was a major sticking point in the original game, the new camera system is much more user friendly, it follows the action better and can be moved with more precision. The camera and control really shine on the PS3 and Xbox 360 using the regular controllers. It was still a chore to use motion-based controllers in the game, and doubly so when in 2-player mode. The limited screen space and drawbacks of the motion controller were apparent when playing on the Wii and PS Move. We constantly had to keep realigning the camera to line up our targets, not to mention it was harder to perform double team moves on the Wii than the other consoles. Alice and I would recommend getting the sequel on a different console if available. Those that do have the Wii can at least play using the cool new light-up peripherals, a paint brush and remote control available for Mickey and Oswald respectively.

Visually the game was stunning. The lighting, animation, and effects featured in the new game were better than the original. Characters cast shadows, light bounced off of objects and refracted or reflected realistically. Junction Point made good use of the new physics engine as well. Items had weight, paint and thinner flowed convincingly and objects dropped as they would in the real world. These things were put to use on the new levels created for the game. Environments that collapsed remained that way for the rest of the game. Players were warned early on that all decisions they made would have consequences and could ultimately effect the outcome of the game. The level design was as good as the original game, albeit some of the best "Lands" or attractions like Lonesome Manor were featured only in the original title. The scale of the levels was much larger in this game, but like the first game they maintained an incredible amount of planning and detail. Exploration was rewarded with items that could be used in game, pins to collect or even costumes for Mickey and Oswald to wear. There were many details pulled from the parks, movies and even television shows which would appeal to even the most jaded Disney fan. Where else could a fan visit the Rainbow Caverns, fight a robot modeled after V.I.N.CENT from the Black Hole and wear a Tron costume?

Players could travel from land to land using film projectors. The side-scrolling levels used the setting of a classic Disney film and allowed both Oswald and Mickey to explore, interact and even combine resources to get through the stage. The projectors were featured in the original game as well and contained some of the most memorable experiences. Some of the sequences in EM2 include the Old Mill, Night on Bald Mountain, the Skeleton Dance, Music Land and Building a Building. A second side-scrolling component has also been added. Mickey and Oswald can now navigate the Dahl Engineering Corridors or D.E.C., a series of underground tunnels that connect the remote areas of the Wasteland. The tunnels were named after Gremlins creator Roald Dahl but based on the Utilidoors from Walt Disney World. Each D.E.C. is made up of junk from the Wasteland, of course junk to the residents are actual antiques and merchandise from company history. Look carefully for a tape, doll or record that you might have in your collection!

This game also features actual voices for the main and supporting characters instead of the text boxes and generic grumbles used in the original. Veterans Bill Farmer (Goofy), Tony Anselmo (Donald Duck), Tress MacNeille (Daisy) and Jim Cummings (Pete) are joined by Bret Iwan the new voice of Mickey, Dave Wittenberg as the Mad Doctor, Frank Welker as Oswald and Cary Elwes as Gus the Gremlin. The supporting cast made up of Gremlins and forgotten monochromatic characters also have their own unique voices. Most blended well with the main characters. The opponents consisted of Blotlings, Beetleworx and Blotworx. Those original creations were made of animated ink blots, machines or a combination of the two. They did not have any voices per-say, mostly grunts or screams. Three additional classic animated characters appear in game if a player searches high and low for them.

The Three Little Pigs are trapped in Wasteland and have Mickey try to help them. Fifer and Fiddler Pig sing with the exact high pitched voice and even rhyme and meter from the old cartoons. Practical Pig maintains his raspy voice and serious demeanor as well. Whomever voiced the characters was spot-on. Not all of the voice acting was great however. Some of the residents of Mean Street seemed out of place. Listen for the surfer and overdone Caribbean accents. The stand-out character and voice for EM2 goes to Ian the ghost. His gruff but friendly "Hey Boss!" was a welcome addition to the cast.

He was in the first game and originally appeared in the Lonesome Ghosts short. Ian challenges the player to mend the relationships between the citizens of the Wasteland, the Blotlings and Mickey. His was the best developed new personality in the game. A close second would be the robot A.B.E. He is a curator to the diorama museum and can best be summed up as Jimmy Stewart-meets-Tom Morrow. The addition of color characters in the Three Pigs contrasted the black and white citizens of the Wasteland and animatronic representations of Daisy, Donald and Goofy. The addition of cartoon stars other than Mickey is creating precedence for combining the toon and park worlds, these things may be expand upon in the next Epic Mickey title. Hopefully Ian and A.B.E. will be featured more prominently if that happens.

The greatness that Junction Point was going after began to break down when we stopped watching, stopped looking at the details and started playing. Epic Mickey was promoted as the first gaming musical. The plot was all told through song so technically Disney was right. However the Mad Doctor had all of the singing parts with one line reserved for Oswald. The gravely voice did nothing to make the character sympathetic or pull on any nostalgia strings. Imagine seeing the Little Mermaid but only Scuttle the seagull could sing the parts. It was an odd decision considering that the Mad Doctor was used only once by Disney and was allowed to fall into public domain. None of the songs were truly memorable which was odd considering that the music was written by James Dooley. The television and movie composer wrote an amazing score for the first game, X-Play deemed it the best Soundtrack in 2010. Disney never released a physical album of the first game but did make the music available via iTunes. Many players reported crying when they heard the original end credits.

The original soundtrack worked on many levels whereas the new soundtrack felt lacking. It was not all bad though. The audio cues in the game were put to good use. When a player was thinning or painting the Wasteland the music on the level signaled whether a good or bad decision was being made. If players listened carefully to the choices being presented by the other characters in the game they could be prompted to make the right choice. Each level could be passed in multiple ways, some of the cues are obvious while others are well hidden. While playing in two-player mode several set pieces, particularly boss battles, were not triggered properly if at all. Gus the Gremlin would chime in and give us a hint over and over but nothing we tried would trigger the set piece. In other cases either Mickey would get stuck in an object or Oswald would fall through the floor and be unable to rejoin Mickey. This frustrated us to no end. For the minor glitches we would quit the game and then restart it. For the larger issues we had to turn off the system and go back later in the day. When we returned to the game the set piece would load properly and we could finish the stage. In several instances we ended up doing the "wrong" thing to finish the stage because the correct option did not load or would not respond to our attempts.

With two players working independently the majority of the game was very easy. Fighting or befriending enemies was much easier this time around as was compared to the solo battles in the original game. When the set pieces did not load, or when only Player 1 (Mickey Mouse) could trigger an event then it made the game far more difficult. The majority of the game moved quickly for two players, if they were not performing any side missions. The gameplay was smooth and intuitive, as good as most action platformers. The majority of battles were well balanced if not easy as well. Very often however the gameplay would change suddenly into a slow, grating experience. The battles would become extremely difficult and feel very redundant. It would feel like an insult to the players when their progress was suddenly halted. For example Gus the Gremlin would drop the same hint over and over if a puzzle wasn't solved within a set amount of time. He would not offer alternative strategies.

When fighting a boss encounter Gus would offer a clue to defeating it. Even if the player used the proper strategy Gus would continue dropping the same hint again and again. This was particularly annoying when a set piece or boss encounter did not load. There was nothing we as players could do about it unless we turned off the console or deliberately made the wrong choices. In at least one case just wandering around the level, not interacting with characters or the environment triggered a bad outcome. Alice said that it felt like we broke the game, which was alarming since we had only been playing it for a couple of days. Disney boasted that during the development they had near 600 employees working around the world in different countries. The sun never set on the production of EM2. Spreading the talent and workload over several timezones meant that something was destined to fall through the cracks.

Perhaps the QA testers focused the majority of their efforts on the 1-player experience and did not go over the 2-player mode with a fine tooth comb. Or perhaps Junction Point did not consider what elements would have to be changed if gamers wanted to experience 2-player mode the entire way through. Even in the single player attempts that we tried it seemed that the computer-controlled Oswald slowed down the experience and in certain portions made the game more frustrating than it should have been. The encounters and choices we made permanently affected the outcome of the game, as promised by Warren Spector earlier this year.The good or bad sequences would play during the credits. The endings varied depending on the choices made in game. Even though Alice and I had gone out of our way to try to make nothing but good choices we had amassed a melancholy string at the end of our first play through.

In the past two weeks Alice and I have found ourselves more frustrated than pleased with the game. We enjoyed the world that Junction Point created, the details that they filled the game with, the pins, costumes, wonderful personalities and experiences. However there is a difference between looking at the game and playing it. Pulling the experience out of EM2 was a chore. The story felt lacking and disconnected. The fear of Oswald being forgotten again was not fleshed out, why Prescott the Gremlin felt unappreciated and how the Mad Doctor set him up and then brainwashed him was a bit deus ex machina. Despite everything added to the game, including the voices, we did not feel as connected to the story as we did with the original game. Other comparative "epic" experiences like God of War, Shadow of the Colossus and Zelda did not feel broken. The player felt rewarded for exploring those games. They did not have set pieces that failed to load or a hint system that kept interrupting the player or insulting their intelligence. Gamers did not feel like they were being punished for missing an item or making a bad decision.

In EM2 we were frustrated with some puzzles, boss encounters and even backtracking. For example, the studio broke Mean Street, the Wasteland version of Main Street in two, which meant we had to spend more time traveling through the lands for simple tasks. We wanted to enjoy the game, we really did but several times we were so put off by the game that we swore we would never play it again. We calmed down after a day and tried but the experience felt redundant rather than rewarding. We wanted to say that the game was better than the original but we didn't know if that was a completely true statement. Epic Mickey 2 is not for everyone and that is partially why we say it was good but not great. Those that are willing to slow down their gaming experience, carefully consider the needs of Wasteland residents and revisit locations to search for hidden items will be rewarded. Those that just want to play through a game and feel good about it in the end may need to look elsewhere.

Did you play Epic Mickey 2? Were you a huge fan of Disney, or a casual fan? Did this color your perception of the game? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Epic Mickey 2 Preview Details! - A 1UP classic from Oct 11, 2012

Good morning friends, today the press embargo is lifted and we can look at the new elements announced for Epic Mickey 2: the Power of Two. Warren Spector introduced audiences to a new Beetleworx robot which was made up of a barrel, film reels and sported the head of V.I.N.CENT from the film the Black Hole. He was standing next to Prescott the Gremlin (who plays a major part in this game) Gus the Gremlin, Oswald and Hortencia. It looks like Junction Point will now be pulling in more movie and television references into the game than in the previous game.

Two new areas were announced for the game, one based on the desert plateaus of Frontierland, the other inspired by the attraction the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. Those old enough to remember, or are die-hard historians, know about the rainbow caverns, the spinning rocks, people-shaped cacti and all other neat visual treats.

The re-imagined attraction has multiple paths. Players can go through the ominous lower section, with a maze made out of flowing lava curtains or a higher path made up of natural columns. There is an angel statue holding a sword on the higher path. That statue was pulled from a background detail in the Beauty and the Beast film. The designers thought that it would be a perfect addition to the game and they actually figured out a way to make it part of the level design.

Warren made sure to point out that the game screens were not far removed from the concept art. The same colors, layout, textures and themes from the concept pieces were carefully reproduced for the game. Junction Point was hammered pretty hard be reviewers because they claimed that the final version of Epic Mickey did not look enough like the leaked concept art.

This time around Warren made sure to point out to journalists how the actual game models matched the concept art to the letter. He showed one of the puzzles in the cave, featuring the Seven Dwarfs and the rainbow waterfalls.

Then he compared it to the actual game model. The finished level was spot-on and looked brilliant on HD displays.

The next new thing he announced were the additions of Costumes for the main characters. Mickey in his Brave Little Tailor costume was shown as well as Oswald in a Gremlin costume and in a suit of armor. Warren mentioned that the costumes changed the gameplay, how the attacks and defenses worked for the characters and even how they controlled.

On top of costumes there were also two other game changing modes for the characters. On certain levels there were inkwells with a special golden ink or iridescent / "invisible" ink. The player could jump into the inkwell and become soaked in the particular paint. While covered in the paint they had a new ability.

The gold paint made the character impervious to many things, including waterfalls made of thinner.

The iridescent ink made the player invisible to enemies and even motion sensors. The downside to the paint was that players had to move slowly using the analog button or else the paint would fall off. Players couldn't really use the spin attack or jump while covered in the paint but it stayed on for a long time if players moved slowly through a level.

The collectable pins available in the previous game have an expanded role. Now players are rewarded not only for defeating bosses, completing levels and finding hidden pins but also for how they play, what attacks (if any) they use and how they solve certain puzzles. The studio estimates that it could take an average of 20 hours to find all of the secrets and pins hidden in the game, making it a great challenge for the completists among us.

Pins can now be collected and viewed at the Pin Shop. Players can show off their collections to friends online as well. I'm not a big fan of the whole pin trading phenomenon at the Disney parks but I can appreciate the idea more than collecting achievements for XBL or trophies on PSN.

The game is also taking another page from the theme parks and has inserted a Photo Mode as well. Players are now equipped with a camera and can take pictures of their adventure at certain points throughout the game. The player has a limited amount of frames they can capture and post to their album. Players can always revisit the camera shop and get more film to record their adventure and unlock other goodies.

The pictures in the albums can be shared online. No word if the Nintendo Wii U version will allow these items to be shared on the Nintendo Channel or to change the user's account profile. It would be interesting to see future Disney games use the technology and share the images with the theme parks like their current social media campaigns have allowed visitors to.

Warren was happy to finally be allowed to show the asset for Mickey playing on the Wii U control.

Peter Ong from Dreamrift then took the stage and showed some new features for Epic Mickey the Power of Illusion including a new level based on the Little Mermaid.

There are dozens of characters from the feature films and television shows for the players to meet and rescue. Each character rescued goes to a Fortress, the more the player interacts with the rescued character the more their "room" in the fortress becomes decorated. For example, Scrooge McDuck goes from an empty room to his office in the Money Bin by the time the player finishes interacting with the character throughout the game.

At the end of the presentation there was a special animation created just for the press. Mickey visits Club 13, modeled after the famous Club 33. The door is answered by Petetronic who says he was fixing things for the Mad Doctor but he had something special for Mickey and Gus the Gremlin.

He hands over a lithograph and says that there is even one for Mickey's guests. It turns out that Disney Interactive will be sending the press copies of the lithograph. I believe that this might be the artwork included for deluxe versions of the game or even pre-orders at certain retailers.

This wraps up the preview of the game and event, a review will be coming later next month.

Did you play the original Epic Mickey, or Epic Mickey 2? Which platforms did you play it on? What was your impression? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!