First Epic Mickey screenshots released @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on October 29, 2009

News: A first look at Warren Spector's epic take on Disney's iconic mouse.

Now that Game Informer has finished rationing out the initial set of information about Epic Mickey, Disney has come along and officially announced the game. They've also been kind enough to release the first six screenshots, which can be viewed right here.

While none of the screens display the clockwork monstrosities that were on display in concept art for the game that leaked onto the Internet in July, they do look rather "epic". The beginnings of a quality Mickey adventure are on hand here, which is also apparent in the game's backstory...

In the game`s fiction, a sorcerer named Yen Sid creates a beautiful, whimsically-twisted world where Disney`s forgotten and retired creations thrive. Originally, the powerful sorcerer from "The Sorcerer`s Apprentice" in Walt Disney`s 1940 film "Fantasia" was nicknamed "Yen Sid" by Disney animators, although never named as such on screen. In Spector`s game, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - Walt Disney`s first cartoon star created in 1927 - becomes the earliest inhabitant of Yen Sid`s Cartoon Wasteland after Mickey Mouse is created. Oswald makes the Cartoon Wasteland comfortable for other retired characters as they join him in this magical land. Years pass, and as Oswald dwells in the Cartoon Wasteland, he becomes resentful watching Mickey`s popularity swell. When Mickey curiously stumbles upon Yen Sid`s map, he makes an innocent yet terrible mistake and inadvertently devastates Oswald`s comfortable world. Eventually, Mickey`s mistake pulls him deep into the mysterious Cartoon Wasteland to face the destruction he unknowingly created.

The presence of game developer extraordinaire Warren Spector should also ensure the game is suitably epic, as he used the announcement to describe his plans for the title...

"Mickey is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse," said Warren Spector, creative director and vice president, Junction Point. "I want to bring his personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide. Ultimately, each player decides for him- or herself what makes Mickey cool."

We'll have more soon.