The original Epic Mickey was a bit underwhelming to me, but the concept behind this 3DS sidescroller is it’s a dual sequel, following up on both Epic Mickey and the old Sega Illusion platformers. This double lineage and a broad acknowledgment of the animated canon doesn’t guarantee a flawless experience, though.

The cameos were the exciting hook for me. Epic Mickey’s targeted references were very old shorts and theme park stuff, neither of which is my wheelhouse. The Illusion games had lots of original content, the outright Disney content mainly being limited to the Mickey cast and Castle’s witch being a take on Snow White’s Evil Queen. Power of Illusion is more a crossover, transitioning the returning castle setting to three sets of levels based on Peter Pan, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid. Beyond that, many characters can be found and rescued to become questgivers in a hub menu, from Pinocchio and Snow White to Simba and Mulan to Tiana and Rapunzel. Interacting with such a range of characters, building up their own rooms, and seeing their wonderfully drawn sprites was my favourite thing about this whole package.

Otherwise it’s a bit of a slog, sorry to say. The platforming is slow and floaty,  interrupted by sub-par combat. Enemies can be damage sponges, even when you upgrade Mickey’s attacks in the shop. The influence of the Epic Mickey brand is honestly minimal, (the Castle popped up in Wasteland, and Oswald is a minor hub NPC) with its main contribution being the paint mechanic. The paintbrush both replaces the projectile attacks from some of the original Sega games, and adds frequent, intrusive drawing/erasing touchscreen tasks.

Having to trace outlines or rub out pictures really only adds tedium, particularly on the frequent replays you’re obliged to do to find more NPCs. These aren’t just for fanservice, they also upgrade your abilities and give you more currency, which become more helpful—especially the health ups—as the game gets more and more punishing. “Sketches” also return from Epic Mickey (although in the sidescrolling format I was reminded more of Wild Woody) as another mechanic on top of everything else, but are mostly a waste of paint. Occasionally they do help you cheat a Kirby-style level design gotcha that gives you one chance at something optional.

Speaking of level design, despite a stage-based structure the devs’ previous Metroid-like game Monster Tale has some influence, as there are frequently multiple paths or branches. Of course this again just adds time to replays… I don’t want to come down too hard in general, as tackling the platforming challenges is actually engaging, and bouncing on enemies as part of traversal is satisfying.

So on balance Power of Illusion is a bit messy, but has a good core and there’s no denying it looks beautiful, with those lovely sprites and lush backdrops. I enjoyed seeing people pop up from movies I love, even if ultimately their presence is a minor factor. I think forcing myself to do all the optional tasks was a detriment, as having to repeat so much content made the experience drag… but without all the health extensions deaths in later stages would surely be even more frequent and frustrating than I already found them. The difficulty curve is  the most surprising thing here; is this a kids’ game or not? Gawrsh.