Misplaced Pages

#346653

117-617: Epic Mickey is a 2010 platform game developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios for the Wii . It was released in November 2010 in North America and PAL territories and August 2011 in Japan by Nintendo . The game focuses on Mickey Mouse , who accidentally damages a world created by Yen Sid for forgotten characters and concepts and must save it from

234-608: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

351-452: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

468-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

585-404: A 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure , for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like Super Mario 64 , but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented. Trolley Troubles Trolley Troubles is a 1927 animated short subject film, produced by Charles B. Mintz and George Winkler and directed by Walt Disney . The cartoon is the first appearance of Oswald

702-715: A Wii Remote skin, and Wii console skins. A separate collector's edition was released in Italy, which included the Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit DVD set and Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel. The game was leaked by Warez groups weeks before its official release date. Epic Mickey marks Oswald's second appearance in video games after Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau (released in Brazil only). The music

819-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

936-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

1053-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

1170-409: A bumpy road, tossing the kids out of the trolley. Oswald prays that he will live, takes off his foot, kisses it and rubs it on his head (as per the saying that a rabbit's foot gives a good luck). Eventually, the trolley crashes into a river and becomes a raft. Oswald uses a big stick to row it downstream. The short was released on December 11, 2007, on Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald

1287-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

SECTION 10

#1732773167347

1404-555: A graphic novel adaptation of Epic Mickey , and a prequel digicomic, Disney's Epic Mickey: Tales of Wasteland . Disney also promoted the release of the game with a launch party at the Times Square Disney Store in Manhattan on November 30, 2010, the day the game was released. Present at the party was designer Warren Spector , Peter David, and actors Jennifer Grey and Kyle Massey , who had recently completed

1521-609: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

1638-529: A limited budget, so there was minimal voice acting where most of the characters communicated through gestures and sounds, except for Yen Sid. This was referred to as "bark-talk" by Warren Spector. Marvel Comics released a prequel comic based on Epic Mickey , titled Disney's Epic Mickey: Tales of the Wasteland . It focuses on Mickey's half-brother Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and gives some insight on what

1755-428: A monster. Mickey panics when the monster tries to attack him and throws thinner on it in an attempt to destroy it, but spills more paint and thinner on the model in the process. Upon seeing Yen Sid approaching, Mickey quickly tries to clean up the mess, but in his haste, spills the entire thinner bottle onto the paint spillage as he flees back to his house. The monster, having survived Mickey's attempt to destroy it, enters

1872-631: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

1989-526: A popular character. From then on, a new cartoon was released every two weeks. As for Poor Papa , it was released eventually in theatres, although Universal held it back until 1928. In total, nine Oswald cartoons were released in 1927. The cartoon was reissued on November 23, 1931, after Walter Lantz Productions took over the Oswald series. This re-release was completed with music and sound effects. The copyright for Trolley Troubles expired in 1955. Oswald

2106-441: A quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along

2223-512: A rampage throughout Wasteland, using its Bloticle tendrils to absorb paint and become more powerful before entering Mickey's world. With the Bloticles eliminated, Mickey, Oswald and Gus attempt to use the repaired rocket to reach the Blot, but end up crashing into Dark Beauty Castle after the monster absorbs the rocket's paint. The group make their way to the fireworks control room at the center of

2340-482: A review for GamesRadar, Chris Antista who began the article as an admitted "diehard Disney dork", praised it as a "thoroughly heartwarming salute to Disney" and that he hasn't "fallen so head over heels with the look, feel, and play of a third-person platformer since the original Banjo-Kazooie ". G4TV also named it "Best Wii Game". Giant Bomb gave a negative review with 2/5 stars saying: "Never mind these heightened expectations, though: even on its own merits, Epic Mickey

2457-470: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

SECTION 20

#1732773167347

2574-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

2691-462: A single player, Oswald would be there every second of the game. He's not just a multiplayer character. He's a helper, whether you're playing alone or with a friend or family member". Wasteland itself would feature old areas ruined by earthquakes and other natural disasters, as well as new areas such as one based on Disneyland's Frontierland . It was released on Wii , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation Vita , and Wii U . At

2808-560: A table in a huge laboratory in Dark Beauty Castle by the Mad Doctor, who plans to steal Mickey's heart by using a large mechanical arm while Oswald the Lucky Rabbit spies on them from behind a machine. However, Mickey frees himself before he can succeed and scares off the monster with the brush, which had fallen into Wasteland during Mickey's abduction, forcing the Mad Doctor to flee through a trap door. Oswald attempts using

2925-725: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

3042-473: A template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds a third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding

3159-399: A trade with NBC Universal that would allow Michaels to be released from his contract in exchange for the rights to Oswald and other minor assets. Disney Interactive Studios was unable to secure a developer for the game until 2007 when Disney acquired Junction Point Studios , Warren Spector 's company. Around 130 people from Junction Point worked on the game. Another 150 people contributed to

3276-434: Is a magic paintbrush, which Mickey wields, that has the ability to draw or erase objects using paint and thinner . For example, obstacles can be erased from physical existence with thinner and then restored with paint or enemies can be befriended by revitalizing them with paint or destroyed completely using the thinner. The two fluids have little effect on "Beetleworx" enemies, which require being taken down physically. Mickey

3393-590: Is a platformer that feels about a generation behind, though one with just enough flashes of inspiration to keep you constantly aware of its wasted potential". In its opening weekend, Epic Mickey failed to reach the UK Top 40 and even the Wii Top 10 sales charts after its November 26 UK release. On November 30, 2010, the release date in North America, the game was completely sold out on the Disney Store website by

3510-435: Is also able to materialize objects from sketches, which have various effects. Two of the three sketches, the watch and the television, slow down time and distract enemies, respectively. Both fluids have limited reserves, adding a strategic element to gameplay: players must compromise between making various tasks harder or easier to accomplish. However, the fluids automatically but slowly refill and power-ups that quickly replenish

3627-793: Is based on Main Street, U.S.A. , where Horace Horsecollar and Pete live, though other incarnations of the latter appear throughout the game. The Gremlin Village is inspired by Fantasyland , based primarily around It's A Small World . The attraction's iconic clock tower serves as the game's first boss encounter . Mickeyjunk Mountain is based on the Matterhorn Bobsleds and is covered in discarded Mickey Mouse toys and merchandise. It also contains an abandoned Beetleworx factory that Mickey must pass through on his way to Oswald. Other locations include Bog Easy, based on New Orleans Square , which

Epic Mickey - Misplaced Pages Continue

3744-488: Is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill the player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give

3861-486: Is home to the Lonesome Manor, based on The Haunted Mansion , Ventureland, based on Adventureland , Tomorrow City, based on Tomorrowland , and OsTown, based on Mickey's Toontown , where Clarabelle Cow lives. The game also features animatronic versions of characters, three of which are counterparts of Daisy Duck , Donald Duck and Goofy . After mysteriously waking up one night, Mickey Mouse discovers that

3978-474: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

4095-401: Is preparing a trolley to transport his bunny kids and other animal characters, but there are some obstacles. The first is Clarabelle Cow who walks onto the tracks and refuses to move until Oswald drives the trolley underneath her. Oswald thinks that all is well until the hill gets steep. Oswald uses a goat to get the trolley up the hill, then down the hill. The trolley unexpectedly goes onto

4212-577: Is primarily a platform game and allows players to use their own solutions for getting through the levels. Epic Mickey features a morality system similar to games like Infamous , Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Shadow the Hedgehog . Different alliances, side-quests and power-ups are made available depending on the choices of the player. It is also possible to avoid mini-bosses if specific actions are taken. The in-game currency (E-tickets) are important to these boss fights. The game's key feature

4329-465: Is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in

4446-516: Is widely credited for re-igniting public interest in the Oswald character, as well as other minor Disney characters such as Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow . Successors to the game include Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion . A remake developed by Purple Lamp , titled Epic Mickey: Rebrushed , was released on Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Windows , Xbox One , and Xbox Series X/S by THQ Nordic on September 24, 2024. Epic Mickey

4563-626: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

4680-513: The Blot . The game features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , a character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and originally owned by Universal Pictures ; The Walt Disney Company gained ownership of the character in 2006. The game marks the first time that Mickey and Oswald have appeared together. Epic Mickey was part of an effort by Disney to re-brand Mickey Mouse as a character by placing less emphasis on his pleasant, cheerful side and reintroducing

4797-502: The Gamebryo engine used in the original game. The remake was better received by critics, who felt it was an overall improvement to the original. It received "generally favorable" reviews from critics on all systems, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Platformer The genre started with the 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established

Epic Mickey - Misplaced Pages Continue

4914-683: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

5031-530: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

5148-631: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

5265-573: The eleventh season of the U.S. Dancing with the Stars , which is broadcast on the Disney-owned ABC . Epic Mickey received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic . IGN gave it a score of 8/10, criticizing its camera, control issues and lack of voice acting, but praised its charm, story, art design, and lasting appeal for the players. Australian video game talk show Good Game ' s two presenters gave

5382-422: The mirror in his bedroom is actually a portal to Yen Sid's workshop, where he finds him using a magic paintbrush to finish the creation of a world made for forgotten cartoon characters, represented as a model based on Disneyland. Mickey examines the model after Yen Sid leaves and, not knowing what it actually is, starts fiddling with the brush to make a self-portrait of himself, but inadvertently causes it to become

5499-537: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

5616-459: The Blot away in the bottle many years ago, but Ortensia was blighted by the monster in the process and entered an inert state akin to petrifaction . Oswald decides that he had been too hostile towards Mickey and attempts to start over and become friends with him. Mickey suddenly becomes overwhelmed with guilt and confesses to Oswald that he was the cause of the Blot's existence and Wasteland's crisis, which causes Oswald to lose his temper and jump onto

5733-501: The Blot captures Oswald, Gus, and Ortensia, forcing Mickey to enter the monster's body to save them. Mickey regains his heart before he and Oswald successfully manage to vanquish the Blot with a paint-laden firework display from the castle and are sent flying. Oswald and Ortensia land in Mean Street while Mickey is sent flying through a portal in the sky above the castle that takes him out of Wasteland and back to Yen Sid's workshop. In

5850-468: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

5967-528: The February 2024 Nintendo Partner Direct, publisher THQ Nordic announced that its Austrian-based studio Purple Lamp had been developing a remake of the game titled Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, set for release later that year. It was released on 24 September on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The remake was developed in Unreal Engine 4 , deviating from

SECTION 50

#1732773167347

6084-576: The French media to an "epic project" taking place on March 27, 2012. Nintendo Power magazine also commented on the rumor, stating that their April 2012 issue would include a "top-secret" title preview, with the preview for the issue showing a cropped-down picture of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit. Gametrailers.com also stated that their March 22, 2012 episode would include a "world-exclusive preview of Warren Spector's new epic adventure" and that it would be "notably significant". Warren Spector himself also commented on

6201-424: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

6318-399: The Lucky Rabbit , a character that Disney and Ub Iwerks created for Universal Pictures and Mintz. In the early summer of 1927, Walt Disney finished the first Oswald cartoon, entitled Poor Papa , but Universal was not very satisfied. They had expected a more Charlie Chaplin -like character and thought Oswald was too elderly and too fat. Disney agreed to make some changes and the cartoon

6435-469: The United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

6552-476: The Wasteland was like before Mickey's appearance and the thinner disaster. Initially distributed on Disney's Digicomics platform for iOS products, a print version released in late-August 2011. An art book, The Art of Epic Mickey , was also released in September 2011. A U.S.-exclusive Epic Mickey Collector's Edition was announced that includes special packaging, special behind-the-scenes DVD, Mickey vinyl figure,

6669-412: The Wasteland, Mickey traverses 2D side-scrolling levels based on his cartoon shorts (with three being based on the Oswald shorts Trolley Troubles , Great Guns! , and Oh What a Knight , and two being based on Sleeping Beauty and Fantasia ), such as Steamboat Willie and Clock Cleaners . The game is set in the Wasteland, a pen-and-paper stylized world, created in the game's narrative by

6786-455: The Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became a common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in

6903-529: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

7020-447: The aftermath, Wasteland begins regenerating as Oswald reunites with the restored Ortensia. As Mickey returns home, Yen Sid enchants the mirror to show Mickey the positive or negative outcomes of his major choices in Wasteland and allows him to communicate with Oswald one last time, the duo now bonding as brothers. Afterwards, Yen Sid seals the mirror to prevent Mickey from re-entering his workshop and causing any more mischief. Not long after

7137-401: The afternoon. The game sold 1.3 million copies its first month. As of June 2011, the game had sold 2 million copies in North America and Europe combined. In August 2011, Destructoid posted an article that speculated that a sequel, Epic Mickey 2 , was in development and showed possible box art for the game. These rumors were further encouraged when Disney France and Warren Spector invited

SECTION 60

#1732773167347

7254-622: The attraction's featured song non-stop for years. From there, he arrives at Mean Street, where he learns that Wasteland was heavily damaged many years ago by an event called the Thinner Disaster, followed by the arrival of the Blot. The citizens of Mean Street tell Mickey that Oswald was last seen heading towards Ostown on the way to his sanctuary in Mickeyjunk Mountain. Upon arriving at the sanctuary, Mickey finally comes face to face with Oswald, who believes that Mickey stole

7371-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

7488-450: The camera issues that reviewers criticized in the first game, stating that "they'll be working on it until the day we ship the second game. There have been over 1,000 specific changes made to the camera. Our goal is that you will not have to touch the manual camera controls even once to play through the main story path of this game". Spector also revealed that the game was to include voice acting and musical numbers, both of which were absent in

7605-414: The castle, where Oswald plans to set off fireworks into the Blot, which he believes would destroy it. Mickey makes his way to the top of three towers and readies the fireworks on each one, while battling the Blot in the process. After Mickey and Gus return to Oswald at the control center, Oswald implies that he had planned at one point to steal Mickey's heart for himself and use the rocket to escape. Just then

7722-531: The comic strips created by Floyd Gottfredson , as well as the Mad Doctor , who chose to betray Oswald and join the Blot's side in his thirst for power. Wasteland is split into several locations based on various areas from Disneyland and other Disney theme parks. Dark Beauty Castle, located at the center of Wasteland, is based on the Disneyland Paris version of Sleeping Beauty Castle . Mean Street

7839-468: The complexity and fun of something like Super Mario Sunshine , which I think it borrows some ideas from". Shirley Chase from GameZone complimented the game on its usage of Disney history but added that the game had numerous flaws saying: "For all of its good points, Disney Epic Mickey does have some glaring flaws, which can make the game feel like a chore. The most noticeable problem is the camera, which will lead to more cheap deaths than anything else". In

7956-609: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

8073-418: The cork sealing the bottle shut, challenging Mickey to a fight. In his rage, Oswald accidentally causes the cork to break, allowing the Blot to escape from its imprisonment. The monster, which has since become larger than before, captures Oswald and Gus and threatens to kill them if Mickey does not allow it to take his heart. Mickey yields his heart to the Blot, who then spares Oswald and Gus and proceeds to go on

8190-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

8307-620: The development of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions completely, and instead releasing it solely on the Wii. Compared to the Kingdom Hearts series, a similar video game franchise created by Japanese video game company Square Enix , which combined modern-day Disney characters with their own Final Fantasy characters, Epic Mickey emphasizes retro-vintage and long-lost Disney characters that were created much earlier, and draws more plot elements from

8424-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

8541-569: The film Fantasia , rather than Final Fantasy ; in Kingdom Hearts II , a location in the game was based on the 1920s Steamboat Willie cartoon, but other than that, the rest of the game took its cast from more recently created characters. Mickey receives a character redesign in this game, which attempts to give him a "retro" look, and the game uses an animation engine to replicate the stretchy athleticism of cartoons. The 2D cinematics were created by Powerhouse Animation Studios , and

8658-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

8775-418: The first game. Spector said: "I'm such a geek about musicals, I love the co-op and next-gen stuff, but for me, when a character breaks into song, which they do on a regular basis in this game, it's magic". Spector also commented on the sequel's co-op features: "It's drop-in, drop-out co-op, you can sit down at any time with a friend who is playing as Mickey, and you can take control of Oswald. If you're playing as

8892-442: The fluids are available in certain areas. Mickey can also find collectable pins in Wasteland. Most are bronze, silver or gold, but some are special, like the "Art Appreciator" or "Mean Street" pin. Another thing that is useful in the game is a type of currency called E-tickets. These can be given or discovered. They are used to buy quest items, concept art, pins, health refills or paint or thinner refills. To travel between sections of

9009-541: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

9126-418: The game a 6 and 7 out of 10. They compared the paintbrush abilities to that of the water jet pack from Super Mario Sunshine and found it frustrating how the levels reset back to their original state after leaving. On a positive note, they said it "isn't as 'dark' or 'adult' as the hype made it out to be... I guess it is a kid's game after all, but at least it's an intelligent one. It doesn't come anywhere near

9243-470: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

9360-412: The game utilizes Emergent Game Technologies' Gamebryo Engine. Warren Spector has stated that Epic Mickey was planned as a trilogy. An early idea for the game was for Mickey to adopt an angrier look when he was played in the "scrapper" manner; this idea was dropped after Spector decided it changed Mickey too much from people's perceptions of the character. Mickey looks more smudged instead. The game had

9477-481: The game's development, revealing that he had "a team of over 700 people working on the sequel". Following this, on March 20, 2012, the official French Nintendo magazine posted a comment on Twitter, revealing that Disney had plans to create a companion to the main sequel for the 3DS, under the name Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion . Warren Spector officially confirmed the rumors, revealing the sequel's title to be Epic Mickey: Power of Two . Spector also directly addressed

9594-440: The game. Upon becoming CEO, he made it a goal to put Oswald under Disney's ownership. His chance came in 2006 when television sportscaster Al Michaels expressed interest in joining NBC (which had merged with Oswald owner Universal Pictures by this time) to call play-by-play for Sunday Night Football , even though he had just signed a long-term deal with Disney-owned ESPN to continue on Monday Night Football . Iger initiated

9711-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

9828-457: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

9945-413: The genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games"

10062-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

10179-601: The life and popularity that was once his. Despite his resentment, Oswald agrees to help Mickey escape Wasteland since he still has a heart. To do so, they journey to the Moonliner Rocket in Tomorrow City, only to discover that the Mad Doctor had stolen essential parts from it to use for his plot, so Oswald sends Mickey and Gus to collect them. The duo retrieve the first part after defeating the corrupted Petetronic, an incarnation of Pete based on Sark from Tron ,

10296-451: The main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in the genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms,

10413-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

10530-436: The mirror is sealed, Mickey discovers that he still has some of the Blot's substance in him, leaving the possibility that he may still be able to reach Wasteland. The creative development team at Buena Vista Games formed the original concept for Epic Mickey in 2003. When the concept was pitched to Bob Iger , then-president and COO, he lamented that Disney didn't own the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and could not produce

10647-409: The model through a portal created by the paint and thinner spillage, with the bottle of thinner falling in with it. After many decades of fame following the incident, what appears to be the ink monster enters Mickey's bedroom and abducts him, dragging him through Yen Sid's workshop and into the world made for forgotten characters, now known as Wasteland. After waking up, Mickey finds himself strapped to

10764-497: The monster he had just faced, called the Blot, is made of paint and thinner. He also teaches Mickey how to use the magic brush and fight the Blot's spawn, known as Blotlings. After noticing drips coming off of Mickey, Gus assumes that he may have absorbed some of the Blot's substance. After traveling through the World of Gremlins in pursuit of Oswald, Mickey confronts the clock tower of It's a Small World, now driven insane after hearing

10881-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

10998-658: The more mischievous and adventurous sides of his personality, depicting him as an epic hero. It was directed by Warren Spector , who collaborated with Walt Disney Animation Studios on the project, with help from Powerhouse Animation Studios , who made the cutscenes for the game. The game was announced in October 2009, and released in November 2010. The game received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, who praised its visual style, unique gameplay, and meta-commentary narrative, but criticized its camera and lack of true player choice. It has maintained popularity since its release, and

11115-534: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

11232-520: The next after confronting an animatronic version of Captain Hook in Pirates of the Wasteland, and then confront the Mad Doctor in Lonesome Manor. Upon defeating him, it is revealed that the Mad Doctor had transfigured himself into a Beetleworx in order to survive the Blot's revolt and conquer Wasteland, before he is sent flying after Gus removes the last rocket part from his hovercraft. After acquiring all

11349-552: The parts, Oswald has Mickey help repel an attack staged by the Shadow Blot on the summit of Mickeyjunk Mountain. Once the threat is neutralized, Oswald reveals to Mickey that the Blot that he had just battled, along with all of the Blotlings Mickey had encountered, were only drippings of the real Blot leaking out of the giant bottle of thinner atop Mickeyjunk Mountain. Oswald explains that he and Ortensia managed to seal

11466-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

11583-416: The play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of the company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between

11700-561: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

11817-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

11934-1048: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

12051-477: The project from around the world. The game was originally intended to be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and its name was its working title. Development on the Wii started in 2008. When the idea of a Wii port of the game was raised, Spector replied that a straight Wii port would not be viable, remarking that many of the "design ideas just won't work on the Wii, we need to give the Wii its dues". Graham Hopper of Disney Interactive then suggested dropping

12168-545: The sorcerer Yen Sid , as a place for "forgotten things", namely disused or obscure Disney characters and attractions. It is physically inspired by Disneyland and appears as an intricate model in Yen Sid's workshop. However, Mickey Mouse inadvertently causes mass damage to the model, ravaging Wasteland. The world is now tormented by the Blot, a monstrous entity loosely based on the Phantom Blot , an antagonist to Mickey in

12285-489: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

12402-540: The top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of

12519-554: The trap door to escape after being spotted by Mickey but accidentally breaks a lever on the main controls for the mechanical arm, causing it to become hostile and forces Oswald to escape through the castle entrance. Gremlin Gus suddenly arrives and helps Mickey disable the mechanical arm and guides Mickey out of Dark Beauty Castle. Along the way, Gus explains that he is the leader of the Gremlins , who serve as mechanics in Wasteland, and that

12636-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

12753-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

12870-428: The way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping

12987-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

13104-505: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

13221-439: Was composed by American composer James Dooley . In addition to his original works arranged versions of Disney music appear throughout the game, which in turn were recreations of older Disney cartoons. X-Play later named it "Best Soundtrack of 2010". Dooley's score was released digitally via iTunes and Amazon on December 21, 2010. Writer Peter David , who in 2010 was an exclusive writer for Disney-owned Marvel Comics , wrote

13338-532: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

13455-494: Was not released in theatres at the time. It is possible that the film was inspired by The Toonerville Trolley (1920) short film based on the Toonerville Folks newspaper cartoon. Instead, Oswald's second-produced cartoon was submitted for release: Trolley Troubles . Universal was pleased and the short was released by Universal on September 5, 1927. The press loved the new cartoon series Walt made and Oswald became

13572-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

13689-540: Was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite

#346653