Epic Mickey – Power of Illusion

Epic Mickey – Power of Illusion is a 2012 platform game developed by DreamRift and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a third part of the Epic Mickey series, released alongside Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, and is touted as a tribute to Sega’s Illusion series of Mickey Mouse games, particularly Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse. Some time after the first two games, Mickey is contacted once more by Oswald; he says that a strange castle has appeared in Wasteland and that he saw Minnie trapped inside.

Mickey sneaks into Yen Sid’s study and takes the magic brush once more before jumping into the portal to Wasteland in his television. However, Minnie arrives shortly afterwards, looking for Mickey. Meeting up with Oswald, Mickey examines the castle, remembering it as the Castle of Illusion ruled by the evil witch Mizrabel. They end up trapped inside, deciding to split up. Mickey meets Jiminy Cricket, who acts as his guide through the castle. Mickey comes face to face with Mizrabel, who now looks like Maleficent, taunting him to try saving the characters she trapped.

Mickey reaches a safe haven, which Jiminy calls the Fortress. Oswald arrives and explains that Mizrabel is draining the paint of popular characters, hoping to use their accumulated Heart Power to escape Wasteland. Mickey sets out to save the characters; however, Mizrabel impedes his path with her ghoulish army. When enough Heart Power is accumulated from rescuing characters, it breaks the witch’s illusions, revealing new areas of the castle.

With players taking control of Mickey Mouse, the game mixes side-scrolling gameplay from games such as Castle of Illusion with the paint and thinner mechanics from Epic Mickey. Using the 3DS touch-screen, the player will be able to bring items scattered throughout each stage into existence. How well the player traces these items will affect their performance. For example, tracing a cannon perfectly will ensure that it only harms enemies, but an imperfect cannon could be a danger to everyone in the area, including Mickey himself.