Developer: Traveller’s Tales Publisher: Sony Imagesoft Release: 11/01/94 Genre: Platformer
Mickey Mania was billed as the ultimate Mickey adventure to celebrate his 65th anniversary. There were many titles starring the famous mouse during the 16-bit era but this was supposed to be the big one. In certain respects it lives up to the hype with some of the finest art and animation of that period. But gameplay wise it falls short in my opinion. On the Genesis developer Traveller’s Tales crafted one of the best technical showpieces for the platform. Unfortunately it did not make the trip to the SNES 100% intact and is a lesser experience. It still remains a good game however.
Mickey Mania is a celebration of Mickey’s 65th birthday and a trip down memory lane. In the game Mickey visits different eras of his life with the levels themed after one of his films. Starting from his first appearance in Steamboat Willie in 1928 you will come across the set of the Mad Doctor (1933), Moose Hunters (1937), Lonesome Ghosts (1937), Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947), to the most recent for the time the Prince and the Pauper (1990). In each you will also come across his past selves in a nice bit of fan service. But for the most part this is a platformer through and through.
At its heart Mickey Mania is a simple platformer. The mechanics are near identical to Sega’s Illusion series: Mickey can either jump on enemy heads or in this case throw marbles to dispatch foes. Aside from marbles the only other items to collect are extra lives or stars to restore health. While this is a platformer there are occasionally puzzles to break up the pace. These usually involve pushing or pulling objects or interacting with the environment to pass an obstacle. I would have liked to see more of these as the platforming mechanics are not especially strong but what is present is solid.
Thanks to its time traveling theme Mickey Mania offers the player a great deal of variety. With each era comes a unique set of enemies, goals, and puzzles. The Mad Doctor’s House is a hybrid of platforming and auto scrolling obstacle courses. The Moose Hunter’s begins with Mickey using Pluto to avoid an angry moose on the way to the exit. This is followed up by a second person chase a la the Lion King as the moose comes back for revenge. Conversely the Lonesome Ghosts has the most puzzles. Here the ghosts are invincible and so Mickey must use the environment to work around them. Surprisingly there are few boss battles which is for the best as the ones present are annoying. Ironically it is when Mickey Mania focuses on straight platforming that it suffers the most.
For all its technical brilliance the gameplay in Mickey Mania does not reach the same heights. As a platformer Mickey Mania has flaws that bring the experience down. The biggest issue is the hit detection. Mickey has a large hit box that grazes everything even if only slightly. The game is riddled with cheap hits you cannot afford at every turn and even going inch by inch only helps slightly. From invincible enemies to skeletons that explode in a shower of bones that are next to impossible to dodge, the game is frustrating. You can jump on enemy heads or hit them with marbles but their hit box is very particular. You will waste ammo or suffer damage trying to deal with the simplest enemy. The levels that do not focus on platforming action fare better. But they are few and will make you wish the gameplay were tighter.
There are a few reasons SNES Mickey Mania comes up short next to its Sega counterparts. There are special effects and animations missing such as film grain and animated water of the initial level. The animation is better across the board and there is no slowdown. The game is also missing levels too. The 3d spiral staircase in the Mad Doctor stage is gone which is curious; even the NES was able to use this effect in games like Castelian and Kirby’s Adventure. The Band Concert bonus level is also missing as well. If you can actually believe it gets worse. The game has lengthy load times between levels! The only area the Super Nintendo game comes out on top is the moose chase which employs Mode 7 and the polygonal barrels during the spiral ascent in the last level. But that is small benefit in an otherwise technical mess.
In Closing
Mickey Mania is a good game with a few rough spots. While the gameplay does not match the high watermark of the graphics it is still a worthwhile endeavor. But if you have the choice buy it on any other platform, be it the Sega CD or PlayStation. The missing content and load times mean this version is not as good as it could have been which is a shame.
