A unique, side-scrolling 3DS version of Epic Mickey 2 has been announced!

Twitter link.

"The presentation of Epic Mickey 2 will take place next week. 3DS version, Power of Illusion, more "classic" 2D is also planned."

Sounds like an exclusive new game, and maybe harkening back to the old Genesis 'Illusion' games? I hope so. Those games were pretty awesome. I really dug Castle of Illusion.

Good news, eh?

UPDATE:

Here are some new details from the latest issue of Nintendo Power (April 2012):

Power of Illusion is being put together by DreamRift, the studio behind 2011's Monster Tale for the Nintendo DS. The game, which is its own side-scrolling, platforming title (instead of a mere port of The Power of Two), is a follow-up to Epic Mickey, but more interestingly, it's also a follow-up to Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, a 1990 game for the Sega Genesis!

Power of Illusion will make heavy use of the Nintendo 3DS's stylus. By tapping the item icons exist in every level, you'll be able to "paint" (trace) those items into existence, including cliffs, cannons, and floating platforms. The more precisely you trace, the better for Mickey. A flawlessly-painted canon will only damage Mickey's enemies, for instance, but if you mess up the painting, the canon will be a danger to everyone in the area.

Sometimes you'll need to erase objects, which is done by spreading thinner. Again, the stylus comes into play here.

The hand-drawn sprites in Power of Illusion are extremely compelling, and, thanks to scrolling parallax backgrounds (a heavily-used graphic technique in the days of 16-bit gaming), reportedly look great in sterescopic 3D. Even better, every level in the game is based on an animated Disney adventure, from "Sleeping Beauty" to "Tangled" and lots in between.

As a final declaration of oldschool love, every character that Mickey saves in Power of Illusion will take up residence in the fortress that Mickey uses as his home base, a confirmed nod to the esteemed Suikoden RPG series. Sometimes you find references in the unlikeliest of places, but that's part of what makes video games fun. Right?

There's no release date set for Power of Illusion (Fall 2012 is a general target), but expect lots more information on this game as the weeks march on like Mouseketeers.

Other details:

-The witch from Snow white is the main villain again
-There will be worlds from all eras of Disney, From Peter Pan to Tangled
-Scrooge Mcduck is in the game
-Characters you 'save' will appear in a fort of sort that acts as a HUB when you progress on, like Scrooge McDuck or Peter pan will be in it and decorate the fort.
-Oswald will be in it along with Minnie

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Hmm, I guess it makes sense to make the handheld version its own thing. Although, are we still getting a Wii version? Wii is probably closer in power to 3DS than it is to PS3/360/Wii U. Would it make sense to have the 3DS and Wii versions be the same?

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/20/12, 21:51

I just hope it's not some sidequest that's been farmed out to some c-grade developer.

The 3DS and Mickey are a natural fit - this needs to be good.

Posted by

achhibbar

on: 03/20/12, 21:57

Great news. Those games were really good. Hopefully we see an eshop release of the genesis classics (or are Genesis games off the table for 3DS VC?)

Posted by

vids

on: 03/20/12, 22:02

If this fuckin' series goes handheld only I'm gonna punch a chicken. Fuck is my Wii U version? K I read that wrong, it clearly says 3DS version

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 03/20/12, 23:58

Edited:

03/21/12, 00:01

"Classic" 2D?? Please, please, please!! The Wii version can be set to the backburner so this version can take the spotlight. I thoroughly enjoyed Disney's Magical Quest on SNES and Castle of Illusion on Genesis, and would love the chance to play a new quality 2D Mickey game. This is very good news, indeed.

Posted by

NoName

on: 03/21/12, 02:05

@carlosrox I would have to imagine that if a Mickey title is going to XBox and PS3, then it'd be a no brainer to bring it to Wii. Just don't know why they wouldn't have announced it if that's the case. A Mickey title would obviously do better on a Nintendo console.

Is there any chance the 3DS and Wii versions will be the same, while a WiiU version would be the same as the 360 and PS3 version?

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 03/21/12, 02:41

They're called TRICKS, Michael!

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 03/21/12, 03:23

Sweet! It's pretty hard to fuck up a 2D action game.

Posted by

Anand

on: 03/21/12, 04:26

I still haven't played the first one. It really gives me a Kingdom Hearts vibe. But that might just be the fact that Disney characters appeared in it.

As an aside... I miss that franchise. I played the first title when I was younger. I started playing the second one. I remember I bought it right after I read the 7.6 review from IGN. Although I never finished it, however. I think I ended up trading it and Grand Theft Auto San Andreas for a used GameCube. Good times...

Posted by

Tranquilo

on: 03/21/12, 05:41

God I hope this is more like Castle of Illusion. I never had a Genesis growing up, but I was a bit jelly of my buddy's system when I went over to his house. I don't really have like, a really high opinion of the Genesis, but man that Mickey Mouse game was boss. No joke.

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/21/12, 17:21

Edited:

03/21/12, 17:22

I'm game.

Posted by

-JKR-

on: 03/21/12, 17:39

It's kind of a shame that the bottom 3DS screen isn't bigger. They could put the action on that and have you drawing things with the stylus.

With Okamiden, didn't you press a button which brought everything to the bottom screen, so you could draw on it? Maybe they'd do something like that. I'm not sure if they'd bring back the 'painting' aspect of Epic Mickey though. It could just be a standard 2D sidescroller with regular controls (which would probably be for the better).

Posted by

PogueSquadron

on: 03/21/12, 17:48

I wonder if there will be any connectivity between the 3DS version and the Wii one?

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/22/12, 04:00

So apparently, it's made by Dreamrift, the developer of Henry Hatsworth from what I read in the comments?

Posted by

Guillaume

on: 03/27/12, 16:48

Guillaume said:

So apparently, it's made by Dreamrift, the developer of Henry Hatsworth

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 17:10

Day one.

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 03/27/12, 17:16

Incidentally, this reminds me that I still need to play Monster Tale.

Posted by

Zero

on: 03/27/12, 17:25

I think I'll get this over the console versions. I played about two hours of Epic Mickey and, for some reason, it just didn't stick with me. I'll try it again sometime in the near future.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 03/27/12, 17:34

I'm just glad that Dreamrift still exists. There is actually a lot of potential power in licensed games, and, on handhelds, sometimes they actually get handled by good teams.

Dollars to donuts says that this is more fun and playable than the home console version (if less Epic).

Posted by

Anand

on: 03/27/12, 18:13

@Guillaume
@Zero
Dreamrift was founded by one of the two creators of Henry Hatsworth (the other one is working on a project with 2DBoy, who did World of Goo). Both were former EA employees.

As a developer Dreamrift thus far has only done Monster Tale.

Really looking forward to this game now. Even more so than the console version in fact

Posted by

CPA Wei

on: 03/27/12, 18:13