A sensational Mickey Mouse game is being launched next year, and Kids and Media had the honour of attending the presentation, hosted by the designer himself.

“Mickey Mouse has always symbolised Disney, but he’s never shown his full potential in the world of games”, says the well known games designer Warren Spector. Now he’s taken it on himself to correct this and give Mr Mouse what he deserves in the game Epic Mickey, which is being launched for Nintendo Wii next year.

New life for old characters
Disney Interactive Studios bought Spector’s games company, Junction Point Studios, in 2007. His first collaboration with Disney is the Mickey Mouse game, to be launched next year. The games designer, who has many prestigious games titles in his portfolio, declared at a games conference that he was “sick of making games about men in black leather clothes with guns”

Games Manager Odd Arild Olsen in Kids and Media got to meet the legendary games designer himself. Disney Interactive invited Kids and Media to the press conference in London, where the new game was presented.

“The game gives new life to characters who for a long time have been in the shadows, or forgotten through time, amongst them The Phantom Blot, Black Pete and Oswald”, Warren Spector revealed.

Actions get consequences
In Epic Mickey, which is a cross between platform, role-play and the adventure genre, we see Mickey being kidnapped to the Cartoon Wasteland, a place where all the forgotten Disney characters are being held. After a while Mickey discovers that he himself has caused his circumstances. As the game develops, the player must develop Mickey’s character; whether he is going to be selfish, receive greater powers and be disliked by all the other characters, or whether he will help those in need and gain allies who can help him back.

Spector says that all actions carried out by the player have a consequence, and that this is a give and take game. If you help someone, they will help you. And, of course, if you decide to ignore other’s calls for help and only consider your own needs, your character’s personality will develop accordingly.

The landscape can be changed
“Another important aspect of the game is that you can change the landscape around you,” says Spector. This also has consequences. New opportunities arise, and others can disappear. Throughout the game it is possible to erase objects, and that might lead to a new path opening or information being lost. If you regret your actions, you can draw in the objects you just erased.

As an example, Spector describes of the bookshelf where there might be books containing information about a mission. If you remove the bookcase a path opens up behind it.

“Renewed Feel Good Factor”
“In the game we see that Mickey Mouse has developed with the years, but we still meet well-known elements and are reintroduced to old Disney characters," says Odd Arild Olsen.

When it comes to animation, a great effort has been made to recreate the movements Mickey had in the classic Mickey movies. It seems like the designers have achieved this with success.

“They have managed to recreate the atmosphere from the first Mickey Mouse films,” says Olsen.

“The way the characters are drawn and how they move in the game is true to the films.” explains Olsen and mentions “Fun and Fancy Free” as an example of a film he sees elements of in the game.

Fun for Young and Old Alike
Olsen thinks that Epic Mickey will be a game for the whole family, something that Spector confirms.

“The older generation that grew up with Mickey will enjoy seeing Mickey again,” says Spector. “At the same time, the youngsters will enjoy the main guy at least as much, if not more!” 

When asked by Kids and Media if characters from the Oscar nominated film Fantasia will appear in the game, Spector does not wish to comment.