Welcome to the first 2Player review! Let me give you a rundown of how this will work, the review will be split up in to two sections, the Player 1 experience and the Player 2 experience. Player 1 will be looking at the game from single player view and Player 2 will be commenting on the co-op aspects thus giving you a better perspective of the whole game! So without further ado, let’s have a look at Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two!

Player 1: We really loved the first Epic Mickey game on the Wii, it was a good platformer which controlled fairly well and was visually very appealing to look at.

Player 2: Also we both love Disney so that was a plus, I could watch Player 1 play and really enjoy it!

Player 1: So, obviously we were excited to see that the game was getting a sequel and even more excited to realise that it would be co-op game.

The game looks amazing, it really gets a hold of that Disney magic and slaps it all over the place and is an absolute delight for you to explore. Since the world is essentially made up of old Disney memorabilia and references there are tons of things for you to admire. Not to mention the game now has voice acting and it is such a treat, the first part of the game starts with a musical number which really gets you raring to go and makes you want to explore the magical world around you.

Player 2: But this is where the first problem comes in. When a second player joins the game the screen is split in half vertically. Combining this with and already difficult camera to control (Worse if you are using the Wiimote) means that if you want to try and find things you really have to stay close to the other player which is a shame. A better system would have been for both player to be on the screen and the camera moved up a bit, this may limit the second players movements but it is a CO-OP GAME, the second player shouldn’t be going that far away anyway.

Player 1: The camera does become an issue fast, when trying to aim with Mickey’s brush the camera can really get in the way and becomes infuriating when combined with the stupidity of your A.I. partner who never seems to want to do what you ask him to. The game obviously wants you to play it with two players but suffers with problems that make that experience frustrating.

Player 2: However, while playing the co-op it is nice that both players have lots of things to do. While playing, it was nice to see that the second player’s role was not a minor one; you really have to get involved whether it is stunning robots for player 1 to finish off or helping activate the next set of buttons to continue the game. While working together in some places can get a bit tricky due to a lack of direction and strange A.I, but you always get a little bit of satisfaction when you solve a puzzle or work together particularly well which is nice.

Player 1: Epic Mickey 2 however suffers from a rather large problem; while the developers had obviously tried hard to fix a few of the old problems with the first game they seem to have messed a few things up along the way. Something very disappointing was the lack of integration with the Wii U gamepad; all it does is constantly show you a map of the current area you are in. While it is helpful sometimes, more so in co-op as it allows you to see exactly where your partner is, it is rather negligible over all and could have been put to better use. For example, you get a camera in the game, why the heck can’t I take a picture via the gamepad? That’s a perfectly good use for it right there!

Player 2: Something also strange is that player 2 ALWAYS has to use the Wiimote, this strikes me as odd because both characters do roughly the same moves via the same controls. The point of the first game was meant to make the player feel like they were painting using the Wiimote using Mickeys brush but now the Wiimote controls have been given to Oswald and his electric remote which feels like it would be better suited to a tablet like device anyway!

Player 1: The gameplay as a whole is alright, the inclusion of two new inks, invisible, which does what it says on the tin, and indelible, which makes you effectively invincible, are nice but are not used a whole lot and defiantly are not used as well as they could have been.

Player 2: Something that would have been great would be to split these two powers between both characters, the first player could have used the indelible ink to brute force through problems and the second player could have used to invisible ink to bypass problems, this would have also added to the games inclusion of consequences rather well.

Player 1: This is something else that the game lacks, its consequences are not clear at all. You don’t know if what you are doing is wrong or right unless you are specifically told so. Suppose you thinner away some machinery by accident in order to solve a puzzle, the game treats that as a bad choice and locks you out of an area with a prize. This would seem fair but the whole point of the room you were in was to USE the thinner! It is a very messy system to understand and is made even worse by the fact that it doesn’t really amount to anything. Some characters may end up refusing to help you or you may lose out on some treasures but after a while playing you just will not care.

Player 2: After playing co-op for a while most of the puzzles and gameplay started to repeat itself over and over and while it is disguised by the lavish environments and new characters well in some places they soon wear off and you see what you are doing is something that you have done a hundred times over which is disappointing.

Final Thoughts?

Player 1: Epic Mickey 2 is by no means a terrible game but just has so many annoyances as it becomes more of a chore to play rather than enjoyment. You will have more of a fun time looking at the interesting scenery and characters and enjoying the music and awesome voice acting more than you will actually be playing the game. I would only really suggest getting it if you love Disney games and have someone to play it with.

Player 2: Playing this game co-op is a must, its gameplay is at its best when you are working together to play but playing co-op is not the best way to admire the game as a whole because camera issues combined with weird split screens will take something away from the look of the game while playing it.

Player 1: I can’t help but feel there was a giant missed opportunity here, the Wii U has tons of potential for a game like this and it just wasn’t applied to it. It’s a shame, while trying to make this sequel better they may have just made it a bit worse. Not the best title for the Wii U but by no means a complete mess; let’s just hope the next one learns from its mistakes.