Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Review (PS5)

Once upon a time, legendary game director Warren Spector asked Disney to help him make a science fiction game. The house of mouse wasn't interested in his pitch, but it gave him the keys to the forgotten magic kingdom instead. Spector's Junction Point Studios was given unfettered access to archival materials and tasked with spinning a tale focusing on Walt Disney's earliest work.

Epic Mickey was admirable as an attempt to bring those formative IPs back into the public interest. Oswald the Rabbit appeared in his first original story since 1928. His lost landscape of unused ideas was an artistic triumph for Spector's team.

The game debuted to generally positive critical reception but failed to make the financial impact Disney expected. After a weaker and even less successful sequel, Junction Point was closed and the world of Epic Mickey didn't live happily ever after.

Now it's back, in an on-brand Disney reboot dubbed Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. Purple Lamp Games hasn't just given this title a texture polish, it's brought enough mechanical and aesthetic additions to qualify it as a semi-remake. 15 years after its original release, Mickey and Oswald's tale remains a fascinating and flawed adventure.

From the outset, the story almost frames the titular mouse as a villain. While Yen Sid is busy working on a model to commemorate the forgotten members of past fables, his magic mirror decides to open up a portal into Mickey's bedroom. The pre-fame mouse proceeds to invade, cause chaos, and unleash a monster called The Blot. Thinking nothing of his catastrophic clumsiness, Mickey returns home to a flourishing career as a brand icon. Much time passes, but eventually the Blot returns and pulls him into a world called The Wasteland. Mickey must use Yen Sid's magic paintbrush to repair this kingdom, defeat The Blot, and figure out why Oswald, ruler of Wasteland, hates him so much.

This is a 3D collectathon platformer at heart, but Mickey also wields environment manipulation abilities that contribute to some light puzzling. His magic brush can paint objects into the world around him, while his thinner can remove those same objects. Not everything can be created/erased, but the function of this ability is persistent throughout.

As he transitions between areas of the Wasteland, Mickey leaps into projector screens showing his old movies. These 2D sections are the game's highlight, lovingly recreated versions of iconic shorts. Running around in classics like Steamboat Willy, Mickey's Mechanical Man, and Alpine Climbers feels like a precursor to Studio MDHR's Cuphead.

Back in the three-dimensional Wasteland, Mickey's brush also serves as a weapon. It's useful for smacking Blot's army into submission and flipping switches throughout the world. His art skills work on enemies too. Thinner is the only thing that can defeat them, and paint can hypnotise them into fighting by your side. Painting missing aspects of the world also adds to a guardian meter. Once filled, you’ll be joined by little sprites that have different effects on enemies once deployed.

There's a decent amount of variation to Blot's army, though attack patterns and methods to defeat them don't change. Some larger monsters need a combo of thinner and attacks to down. Later in the game, you'll encounter Slobbers, which require some sneaking to avoid waking them up (complete with little orchestral squeaks from Mickey's feet). Other than that, enemies become a repetitive chore to deal with from mid-game onwards.

The combat isn't the only repetitive aspect of Epic Mickey. General exploration and puzzling boils down to the same paint/thin actions throughout your time in Wasteland. Erasing walls to find goodies gets tedious after a while, no matter how pretty the collectible concept art is.

There's a nice freedom of choice offered by rescuing Gremlins (no, not that kind) scattered around levels. These little mechanics will solve puzzles for you instantly if you go out of your way to find them. This flexibility extends to longer chain quests in the semi-open world, which can often be fast-tracked by purchasing key items from shops. These shortcuts serve to partially balance out the volume of fetch quests on your way to the next main story level.

So what about the fresh coat of paint this Rebrushed edition offers? The most surprising additions here are the improved traversal abilities for Mickey. The original game was made painfully slow by having a locked walking speed. That's now gone and Mickey can sprint (well, jog) as well as dash in both 3D and 2D areas. The side-scrolling levels themselves have been much expanded on, treated more like standalone stages with secrets to uncover. In combat, a ground pound has been added, which helps scatter large groups of enemies and smash clusters of breakable objects to get the goodies inside.

Away from the gameplay tweaks, the visual upgrade is nothing short of magical. The work of the design team is pretty much the main selling point of Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and at 4K and 60 frames-per-second, its efforts shine. There's a darker edge to this depiction of Disney's creations that came off as murky in the original release. Here, even the grim detritus of Mickeyjunk Mountain, feels vibrant.

Back in 2010, Epic Mickey felt like a unique, beautifully designed spin on the traditional platformer. In 2024, Rebrushed presents that same enjoyable, IP-driven experience, alongside meaningful gameplay tweaks and a gorgeous visual upgrade. Its general lack of variety means that it won't challenge the likes of Astro Bot, but Disney and platformer fans alike should give this a look.