Few screen stars have adapted to videogames as well as Mickey Mouse. From early platforming efforts like Mickey Mousecapade and The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse to the action role-playing of Kingdom Hearts, he’s jumped across genres with the agility of a field rodent. Yet 2010’s Epic Mickey remains his most remarkable starring role.

Warren Spector and the team at Junction Point gave Disney’s mascot something he rarely receives: a fleshed-out personality. Undoubtedly, the game’s imagination shined through in the 2010 Wii release. But it was hampered by an unruly camera, a dodgy frame rate, and some repetitive gameplay. Purple Lamp’s Rebrushed makes this adventure easier to control, and the Switch 2 release gives Nintendo owners the version they should have received in 2024. Consider the free upgrade a mouse-sized mea culpa.

Rebrushed begins with Mickey stepping through a mirror and into Yen Sid’s mysterious workshop. Here, he finds the old sorcerer’s model of a magical realm intended as a refuge for forgotten creations. Playing with the retired Keyblade Master’s magic brush, he inadvertently creates the Blot and spills thinner across the model while trying to stop the creature. Mickey escapes and forgets about his act of vandalism. But years later, the Blot drags him into the ruined realm, and the mouse learns that his single mistake has led to disaster.

But it’s the inclusion of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit that gives the plotline some pathos. Oswald, of course, was the first major cartoon star created by Walt Disney, debuting in the 1927 short Trolley Troubles. Walt lost control of the character the following year, a setback that led to Mickey’s creation. However, The Walt Disney Company reacquired the rights in 2006. Epic Mickey recasts Oswald as Wasteland’s resentful ruler, forced to watch his replacement inherit everything. Understandably, his relationship with Mickey is complex, with the story tracking his hurt, jealousy, and eventual willingness to cooperate.

Interestingly, Wasteland is a decaying theme park assembled from discarded Disney memories. Mean Street twists Main Street, U.S.A.,Mickeyjunk Mountain turns discarded Mickey merchandise into a Matterhorn-like peak; and Bog Easy and Lonesome Manor remix New Orleans Square and the Haunted Mansion, respectively.

Here, secondary characters like Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow share space with creepy animatronic versions of Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. And with references that reach as far as Disney’s unrealized 1940s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Gremlins, fans should love this encyclopedic dive into Disney history. It’s so elaborate that I wish Rebrushed came with a supplement that cataloged everything included here. I also really like the tone, which shows peril and decay but never gets too dark for younger audiences. I feel like if Epic Mickey were made today, an executive would look at the concept art and ask, “Can we lighten the tone?”

One of the best nods comes from the projector screens that link regions through side-scrolling stages based on Steamboat Willie, Trolley Troubles, and Mickey and the Beanstalk. They’re rarely demanding, but their game-within-a-film-within-a-game intertextuality is really cool. Epic Mickey’s gameplay is competent, but its postmodern twist is hands-down the best part of the game. The approach uses Disney history as building material rather than simply creating hundreds of collectibles for you to amass and never review.

Like de Blob or The Saboteur, color plays a key role in Epic Mickey. Blue paint restores translucent Toon objects and befriends Blotlings, while green thinner removes some scenery and erases enemies. Interestingly, painting a foe turns it into an ally, while erasing one destroys it. Many bosses also offer restorative and destructive solutions, adding some light puzzle-solving. As such, the same brush can rebuild a bridge, uncover a room, or erase the platform beneath Mickey’s feet. Just know that only predetermined surfaces can be changed. While this keeps you from breaking the game, it also limits the feeling that you’re truly reshaping Wasteland.

Beneath the game’s brushstroke behaviors is a fairly conventional 3D platformer. Mickey can run, double-jump, and spin, while Rebrushed adds sprinting, dashing, and a ground pound. Sketches can summon a television to distract enemies, drop an anvil onto switches or heads, or slow time with a watch. E-tickets buy goods, while collectibles like pins, film reels, and concept art reward careful exploration. There’s nothing notably wrong with the action, but the exploration does feel a bit stale when compared with modern genre entries.

Paint and thinner also form a light morality system. Quest decisions can change rewards and dialogue, close off optional tasks, and ultimately influence the game’s ending. Occasionally, kindness can spare Mickey a later confrontation. But this isn’t Deus Ex with a round set of ears. In execution, the main route doesn’t change, and many altered surfaces reset when you leave an area. As such, it never truly feels as if you’re the one transforming Wasteland. Instead, it seems like you’re activating a set of predetermined changes. But hey, it’s enough to support a replay.

The original release used the Wii Remote to aim the brush, while the D-pad stubbornly moved the game’s camera. Playing could be an exercise in patience, with walls hiding Mickey while paint occasionally flew toward the wrong target. Worst of all, the frame rate could falter during busy or effects-heavy scenes.

Rebrushed uses the right stick for camera control alongside lock-on targeting, resulting in more responsive mousecapades. The new dash is useful for correcting a jump or making a quick escape. The rebuilt environments, improved lighting, and busier projector stages show what Epic Mickey might have looked like if Junction Point hadn’t been limited by 2010 hardware. One thing that hasn’t changed is James Dooley’s spirited but faintly sinister score.

The 2024 Switch release suffered from frame-rate drops, pop-in, and load times that could stretch past 30 seconds, sapping much of the fun from Mickey’s antics. Switch 2 paints over those blemishes with some smooth brushwork. Now, the game targets 60 frames per second and largely holds that target in both docked and handheld modes. Coupled with higher-resolution visuals, Rebrushed habitually shines, nearly rivaling the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. Best of all are the accelerated load times, which, in my testing, often hovered around a manageable six or seven seconds.

While Purple Lamp fixes the game’s technical shortcomings, it largely leaves its structure alone. As such, fetch quests still require backtracking. Mickey can still slide off a ledge, and his brush can still target the wrong surface. Unvoiced dialogue and frequent NPC interruptions reveal the game’s age and can break the momentum. Unfortunately, the gameplay didn’t receive the same kind of repair as the camera.

Despite the visual upgrades, Rebrushed still can’t compete with 3D platformers like Super Mario 3D World or Super Mario Odyssey. This is mainly because the game’s errands still dilute the twelve- to fifteen-hour adventure. However, the Switch 2 version allows you to enjoy the game’s imaginative worlds without the performance problems that dogged the Wii original and the 2024 Switch release. Now, the colors are richer, responsiveness is better, and Wasteland finally gets the treatment it deserves. Some of the seams might still be visible, but this is a restoration worth visiting.

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.