2024 - The Highlights (Tetris_King)

Although my movie viewing habits have shifted over the last few years, there were more this year that I ended up seeing in a theater. Many of these turned out to be well worth it, including a surprising number of well-made robot movies. That said, my gaming habits were affected by both interest and cost, resulting in a low number of major titles that I ended up playing. This is when I began looking into what was available on Steam, where I found a good amount of high-quality free titles on the platform based on personal interest, as well as some new indie developers to keep an eye on going forward.

Each list is presented in no particular order, with links to reviews where applicable.

Top Movies

Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color

I will admit I haven’t seen that many Godzilla films over the years, one of which was the original Gojira, but the reception to Godzilla Minus One caught my interest, enough to catch a screening of the Minus Color version released towards the end of its US run. Despite my inexperience with the kaiju icon, Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color had me genuinely invested from the onset, thanks to a gripping human story that uses Godzilla in a masterful form of symbolism for the protagonist. Godzilla’s appearances are few, but effective enough that I was actually terrified whenever the monster appeared. Although there were some storytelling quibbles, they ultimately were not enough to stop this film from making it on this list.

Robot Dreams

 

The premise and visual style of Robot Dreams not only got me interested enough to read the book beforehand, it also got me waiting eagerly for a US release, which wouldn’t come until a limited screening this year (hence its inclusion here). This film adaptation, for which an entire animation studio was formed for that specific purpose, takes the source material and elevates it in a number of creative ways, culminating in a very emotional climax, all told entirely visually. However you are able to see it, I would highly recommend it.

Transformers One

 

Although I have included many past Transformers films in this list before, I don’t agree with many of those decisions in hindsight. Transformers One, on the other hand, absolutely deserves a spot on this year’s list, thanks to fantastic and emotional storytelling with a fresh take on an old story, namely how Optimus Prime and Megatron went from friends to bitter enemies, as well as some excellent voice casting and animation. Although the film unfortunately didn’t fare well at the box office, for which poor marketing is likely to blame, I would hope that lessons can be taken from this film for any future Transformers media.

The Wild Robot

 

2024 turned out to be a great year for robot-themed animated films adapted from an existing property, and The Wild Robot is no exception. Similarly to Robot Dreams, the trailers for The Wild Robot compelled me to read the book out of curiosity and I was blown away by what director Chris Sanders was able to do with it. The unique visual style and emotional story made for a truly unforgettable experience and one of DreamWorks Animations’ best films in recent years. With the shift to outsourcing their animation to Sony, I’m grateful this was the studio’s final in-house feature.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

 

Maintaining consistent quality for three films is no easy task, yet somehow Sonic the Hedgehog 3 manages to pull it off in what is easily the best film in the franchise so far. In adapting Sonic Adventure 2 to the big screen, it puts much of the focus on Shadow the Hedgehog while offering a surprisingly emotional story mixed in with some clever shout-outs to the games. The mid- and post-credits scenes alone have me hyped for the next one, especially since this entry seems to prove that the series is in caring and capable hands.

Top Games

Little Kitty, Big City

 

I had not heard about this game until a trailer for it popped up in my YouTube Recommended, but it quickly drew my attention for its visual style and gameplay, enough for me to try out the demo and later buy it on release. While the story and gameplay are simple, the surprisingly clever use of the latter keeps it engaging, in addition to a colorful cast of characters. The game even includes a very subtle environmentalist message by rewarding you for recycling. It also proves to be a nice cat simulator on the side, which makes it perfect for fans of Stray in spite of having the opposite tone of that game.

Sheepy: A Short Adventure

 

The Free section on Steam has proven to have some great hidden gems in there, and this one is quite the diamond in the rough. Though short, Sheepy excels in visual storytelling and atmosphere, with minimal dialogue to help carry the plot, with a surprising amount of variety in its platforming mechanics that keep things fresh while somehow managing to not make any of its mechanics feel wasted. This being developer MrSuicideSheep’s debut game makes its quality especially impressive and leaves me wanting to see more from its world.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

 

As a fan of the original Epic Mickey on the Wii, the announcement of a remake for modern platforms immediately interested me, in part because it was my formal introduction to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who quickly became my favorite Disney character. Thankfully, this remake proved to be faithful to the original while adding in some much-needed updates to its gameplay and content, reminding me why I fell in love with both the game and Oswald in the first place. This not only gives me hope Epic Mickey 2 gets a similar treatment, I also hope this opens the door for more Oswald representation in the future outside of cameos.

Top Disappointments

Kung Fu Panda 4

 

While the original Kung Fu Panda trilogy represent some of the better part of DreamWorks Animations’ output, Kung Fu Panda 4 proves to be a major letdown in comparison. While the animation isn’t bad, the writing certainly is, with weak characters and motivations among other issues, which barely justify the film’s existence in the first place outside of what feels like a cash grab (behind-the-scenes issues explain these issues, but don’t excuse them). Thankfully, The Wild Robot proves the studio still has what it takes to make something exceptional, which is much more than I can say for this highly skippable installment.

IF

 

When I first saw trailers for IF, my brain immediately drew unfavorable comparisons with the Cartoon Network series Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, which I had grown up with as a child. Curiosity got the better of me when this film made its way to streaming through Paramount+, and while it does admittedly execute ideas from Foster’s a little differently with its interpretation of imaginary friends, I still found it to be an ultimately inferior story. IF does actually have some heart in it, albeit at the very end, but until then it sort of meanders its way there and doesn’t really feel earned.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion

Alongside the release of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in 2012, there came the release of a companion game on the 3DS known as Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (Power of Illusion), which takes more inspiration from the long-running Castle of Illusion series of Disney games in terms of gameplay and story. While I was aware of the Epic Mickey console games when they came out, Power of Illusion was one that I wasn’t really aware of until I was looking into actually playing the games, though I was fortunate to not have too much trouble finding a copy at the time. Around the time I first experienced the console duology, I decided to give the 3DS game a try, only to give up close to the end due to a sudden difficulty spike in the third act. Though I had meant to revisit the game someday, the release of Epic Mickey: Rebrushed motivated me to do so sooner than I might have otherwise, this time going in with the intent to be more prepared for the late game. After finally beating the game, I can say that putting in that extra effort on my last playthrough was worth it in the end.

Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (PS5)

After Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and its companion game, Power of Illusion, failed to meets sales expectations in 2012, the Epic Mickey franchise was shelved, cancelling the in-development Epic Donald along with it. This development also led to the character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was reacquired from Universal just for this series and reintroduced to a new generation of fans, to be relegated mostly to cameos in other Disney works, including a cancelled Disney+ series, until the company suddenly started paying more attention to him around his entry into the public domain. 12 years later, both the Epic Mickey franchise and Oswald were given a second chance with the announcement of a remake of the original game for modern platforms, dubbed Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (Rebrushed). As someone who enjoyed the original, this announcement got me excited, and I had faith in Purple Lamp as the developer due to their work on SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. As someone who became an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit fan as a result of the original game, I was further surprised when I noticed that, according to the back of the box, Rebrushed is an official Oswald the Lucky Rabbit product.

 

A small, but interesting bit of branding.

Due to the proximity of its release to my birthday, I received the PS5 version of Rebrushed as a gift, at which point I felt hyped enough to play it as soon as possible, and found it to meet my expectations and more.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Following the success of Epic Mickey, a sequel was developed for release in 2012 called Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, allowing for a second player to join in and control Oswald while the other controls Mickey. The game was released alongside a 3DS companion game titled Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, with a gameplay style closer to the Castle of Illusion series of games. After getting to play Epic Mickey 2 for myself, I found it overall enjoyable, though not without flaws.

Sometime following the events of Epic Mickey, everything is going well in Wasteland until a series of earthquakes cause considerable damage. The Mad Doctor, who claims to have been reformed, uses a horde of Beetleworx to help clean up the mess, which convinces Oswald that he may have actually changed. Distrusting the Mad Doctor, Oswald’s wife Ortensia requires the assistance of Gremlin Gus to contact Mickey for help on sorting things out.

The story, penned by comics legend Marv Wolfman, is pretty straight-forward and can keep you invested. The main driving force of the story, finding out and stopping the cause of the earthquakes, is a bit downplayed compared to the original, however this isn’t inherently bad. Regardless, I did find the big twist on who the villain is to be a tad predictable.

Gameplay is similar to that of the original game, though with some differences. Oswald joins the party with the ability to use electricity via a remote he carries with him. The remote is able to interact with certain objects to accomplish tasks Mickey could not, such as activating or shorting out mechanisms and even stunning the Blotworx enemies throughout each level. This, combined with fewer enemies being present at a time, can make levels significantly easier to get through, especially since Oswald can also revive Mickey with the remote if he’s about to die. Oswald is controlled by the AI if a second player is not in control, meaning he will perform certain actions automatically, though certain things (ex. secret actions, going through projectors) are better off performed in 2-player.

There are also fountains that can momentarily make you either invisible or
immune to thinner depending on whether you've painted or thinned nearby objects.

Sketches make a return, including a new Fairy Sketch that can allow the player to levitate an object temporarily while pushing it with paint and thinner. They also come with an improvement in how they operate, in that unlocking a Sketch once allows for infinite uses, albeit with a cooldown once it wears off before you can use it again. However, the Sketches are almost never required outside of the first time they are introduced, although the Fairy Sketch can really come in handy sometimes.

Another improvement is the major graphical upgrade. The visuals overall look more polished than they did in the previous game, making them much more presentable and better capturing the “toon” aspect of the series.

Unlike the previous game, this one features full-on voice acting, which I found to be a welcome change to allow for increased character interaction and not forcing the player to rely on quick subtitles. It is here that we also finally get to hear what many characters sound like, including Oswald, Ortensia and the Mad Doctor among others, such as the Gremlins. The Mad Doctor, voiced here by Jim Meskimen, primarily speaks in song, something pulled off well by Meskimen’s singing talent. Oswald however, voiced again by Frank Welker, for whatever reason sounds a bit like Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo! (a character Welker has voiced from the get-go); and Gremlin Gus, despite being voiced by Cary Elwes, can get annoying after a while since he will not shut up.

What Oswald the Lucky Rabbit sounds like.

Much like in the first Epic Mickey, there’s two different endings that can be achieved, the exact combination of which depends on certain actions you take during the game (because of the way I was playing, I missed some sidequests). Either way, the game teases a third at the end that will sadly never come to pass, following the closure of developer Junction Point (not to mention the unrelated shutdown of Disney Interactive) after Epic Mickey 2 underperformed.

Despite this unresolved tease and other issues, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is an overall enjoyable game. While not having the same sort of stakes as the first, the story is pretty engaging with its world-building and the gameplay is something of an improvement over the original concept. Though you cannot play as Oswald unless you are player 2, it’s interesting that he’s even playable at all. I would recommend this game to fans of the original Epic Mickey, at least to give it a shot, especially given the short-lived nature of the franchise.

Epic Mickey

In 1928, Walt Disney’s creation Mickey Mouse (designed by Ub Iwerks) made a big splash in his debut short “Steamboat Willie” and has since become arguably the largest media juggernaut the world has ever known. The same could not be said for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney and Iwerks’ 1927 precursor to Mickey that was owned wholesale by Universal following his creation and debut in the short “Trolley Troubles”. With Oswald forgotten and Mickey’s own reputation declining at the time, director Warren Spector sought to fix both with the 2010 game Epic Mickey, which would only be possible once Disney traded sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC/Universal in exchange for ownership of Oswald in 2006. Alongside Oswald making a (sort of) comeback through Disney merch, the game Epic Mickey proved successful, spawning a sequel and spin-off game before the series ended completely. Having only been able to play the game recently after acquiring a Nintendo Wii, I found the game to be enjoyable despite its flaws while also leaving with the impression that Disney hasn’t done Oswald any real justice outside the game series.

Reminiscent of the Mickey short “Thru the Mirror”, a then-unknown Mickey Mouse enters a magical mirror, accidentally spilling paint thinner on a book overseen by the wizard Yen Sid. As Mickey becomes famous, a monster known as the Shadow Blot infects the world held inside the book. Eventually the Shadow Blot drags Mickey into the book through the magic mirror, with Mickey only grabbing a paint brush on Yen Sid’s desk before being completely sucked in.

The story is rather intriguing, particularly in the way it handles the relationship between Mickey and Oswald in a way that also works on a meta level. On his journey, Mickey also interacts with various side characters, some forgotten and some lesser-knowns that are still present in popular media. The interactions these characters have (both with Mickey and each other) can also be interesting, some of which even tell you some actual Mickey Mouse shorts they appeared in. Aside from the Shadow Blot, there’s a running side plot involving the Mad Doctor (from the Mickey short “The Mad Doctor”), who tries to take over Wasteland (the game’s setting) with evil contraptions. Overall the plot was balanced pretty well and may make you want to see more Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

The gameplay is interesting in the way it involves the Wii’s motion controls. Aside from a spin attack that can be performed with the flick of a wrist, you will primarily be using Paint (B on the Wiimote) or Thinner (Z on the Nunchuck) to deal with enemies and explore the environment. Paint can be used to restore parts of the environment and reveal hidden items, while Thinner can reveal hidden areas and alter parts of the environment. These can also be used on various Wasteland enemies and bosses; the way you approach these enemies (as well as some side quests) can alter the experience, including what sort of ending you receive (for the more important moments I tried to follow what was canon to Epic Mickey 2, though in some cases I lucked out when going this route). You can also acquire various Sketches to summon useful items, among them a TV that distracts enemies with “Steamboat Willie” and a Watch that temporarily slows down time. The camera is manipulated with the Nunchuck while aiming is done with the Wiimote, however there were times where the camera seemed to actively work against me and block my view with foreground objects or environments.

Mickey (Bret Iwan) using Paint to restore the environment.
(It is surprisingly difficult to find gameplay screencaps for this game.)

The graphics are good for a 2010 Wii game, though in general they feel a little unfinished; apparently the game was rushed a little to meet its release date, which would explain both this and the camera problems. Despite this, the visuals do a good job of capturing the cartoonish nature of the characters as well as the horrific nature of many Wasteland environments and enemies, essentially twisted versions of many Disneyland attractions. A highlight is Oswald’s post-Blot residence, Mickeyjunk Mountain, a mountain and monument to mockery built entirely out of accumulated (and real) Mickey Mouse memorabilia that fell into Wasteland; the atmosphere is a bit haunting, to say the least, and (along with various hints in some levels) summarizes how Oswald feels about Mickey and his popularity prior to their first interaction. Transitioning between levels is done through film projectors, featuring small platforming stages based largely on numerous Mickey Mouse shorts, displaying that  a lot of clear passion was put into making this game.

I would comment on the voice acting if the dialogue wasn’t basically a series of grunts and other noises, or what Warren Spector calls “bark-talk”. The one character with a full voice, however, is Yen Sid, voiced by Corey Burton and heard in both the opening and ending cutscenes. Though the character originates from the movie Fantasia, he is better known among gamers for his recurring role in the Kingdom Hearts series, where his also voiced by Burton, and his voice acting in Epic Mickey is as good as ever. The music by James Dooley is also good, some tracks being more memorable than others. A stand-out for me is the Clock Tower boss (the first boss of the game), whose theme sounds like a more twisted take on the (in)famous song “It’s a Small World (After All)” from the similarly-named ride, perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the game.

While the game did manage to give Oswald a boost in popularity (myself included), it’s evident that he hasn’t reached the same level of recognition as the already-famous Mickey, as evidenced by the character lacking any major roles in Disney-produced media outside the Epic Mickey universe. While he has made cameos in various media, physical cameos including the 2013 Mickey short “Get a Horse!” and the Mickey Mouse Shorts short “Canned”, the only time he (and his wife Ortensia) had a starring role in a Disney production outside the games was in a Norwegian comic with the English title “Just Like Magic!”, collected in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #726. Many of the surviving Oswald shorts have also been collected as part of Wave Seven of the Walt Disney Treasure collection, although one of them, the 1928 short “Oh, What A Knight”, is unlockable for viewing in-game, as is the 1933 Mickey Mouse short “The Mad Doctor”.

Oswald (Frank Welker) as he appears in the game

As for Mickey, as mentioned earlier, his popularity had been sort of declining around the time of Epic Mickey’s release due to his image becoming increasingly squeaky-clean, contrasting the more mischievous character he started out as in his earlier shorts. Though an attempt was made to bring Mickey back to his roots with the 2005 short “Runaway Brain”, this short was apparently so scary that the Walt Disney Company tried to bury it, only releasing it later on home media after the risk with Epic Mickey proved successful. Mickey has since returned to his original characterization in various media, primarily in the new Mickey Mouse TV series, although his personality in media such as the long-running Kingdom Hearts franchise remains consistent.

Epic Mickey is a game that Disney and Mickey Mouse fans should not miss. Aside from some minor hiccups, the game has actually aged pretty well, thanks to its graphical quality along with the sound design and story flow. The game also makes good use of the Wii’s motion controls, although the camera gets a little frustrating on occasion. As this is the big re-introduction of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, his depiction in this game serves as a good introduction to the character and may even make you a fan yourself. Though this game is exclusive to the Wii, it should also be compatible with the Wii U console for those that didn’t throw theirs out when the new Super Smash Bros. game was announced.