Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (GEN) Review

Received: August 30th, 2018 / Written: October 7th-19th, 2019

Alternate Title: Mickey Mania [ ◯ ]

Year: 1994 | Developed by: Traveller's Tales

Published by: Sony Imagesoft

I think it's high time I covered another cult classic game

Yeah, that's from their video game adaptation of PIXAR's Toy Story, but man do I miss that Rodney Matthews-designed logo of theirs  🙁  Anyway, Happy 30th Anniversary, Traveller's Tales!  😃

developed by Knutsford-based British video game developer Traveller's Tales (at the time they made today's game still known as Travellers Tales), and what better one to review than

Images from GameFAQs

Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, or Mickey Mania as it was simply titled for the European version--which is a bit odd because Europe has shown to have a tendency to augment the length of the title compared to the American and/or Japanese version; with some notable examples being Matrix Software's Alundra becoming The Adventures of Alundra, the MegaDrive version of the Sega 16-bit version of Traveller's Tales' Leander (Galahad) becoming The Legend of Galahad; Raising Hell Software's Wiz 'n' Liz becoming Wiz 'n' Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue, and The Kremlin's Marko becoming Marko's Magic Football, et al.  And speak of the devil:

wow, both games share the same title font, amazing!  😆

Published by Sony Imagesoft (Traveller's Tales' second collaboration with them after their 16-bit video game adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola's underrated Bram Stoker's Dracula), this game was originally intended to be released around Mickey Mouse's 65th birthday in 1993, but got delayed so that the developer would dedicate enough time to make something more compelling.  The MegaDrive/Genesis version (written and designed by Jon Burton and Andy Ingram, programmed by Burton and David Dootson, executive produced by Rich Robinson, senior produced by Mary Ann Norris, and associate produced by David Poe) would be released on November 1994 in Europe and North America, with the Japanese MegaDrive version not coming out until March 31st, 1995 courtesy of Sega,

and was the first designer venue for David Jaffe (alongside Mike Giam, who in later years would go on to start the popular Twisted Metal and God of War video game franchises published by Sony) who prior to Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse served as Sony Imagesoft's tester for Malibu Interactive's 16-bit video game adaptation of Renny Harlin's Cliffhanger and Ukiyotei's Nintendo 16-bit exclusive platformer Skyblazer/Karuraou.  With today's game turning twenty-five this year, I figured I was going give it a special treatment.  😃

If I had a nickel for every time a Mickey Mouse game, platformer or otherwise, had him save his pet dog Pluto in some capacity and/or involved facing Pete at the end...

So let's go!

"You look awfully familiar..." "OH!"  😲

In the 2D sidescrolling platformer Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse you take control of the iconic Disney icon Mickey Mouse as he goes through six (or seven, but more on that later) of his most well-known venues at the time of this game's release.  Mickey can move left and right, look up by holding up, duck by holding down, and his default controls are A or C to make him jump (with how much altitude you gained dependent on how hard you pressed the button)

Ride the hooked on box across the watery gap

and with the B button he throws marbles at his enemies at a long range (provided you've still got some in your arsenal).  In a handful of stages you'll find yourself in a position where you must swing on the rope (from any portion of it) and sometimes you'll have to walk up an incline (or jump your way up bit by bit to make the proceedings quicker) for if you hold nothing while on an incline you'll slide down or you can walk gingerly down by moving in the direction of the downward angle.

Ah, too bad the visual wordplay will fly over the heads of those who don't know English

And finally pressing Start once will bring your progress to a pause.

"You can't lose a life in the first stage,

that's illogical!"  🐟

Throughout each stage you'll stumble upon items that will help Mickey in his journey: with the star replenishing your lost health by one, marbles which you'll start collecting from the second stage onward, and a pair of Mickey Mouse ears to garner a new life.  On the Easy and Normal difficulty modes whenever you reach a rocket you've reached a checkpoint, but when you lose a life after the fact you won't necessarily respawn from that point but you will respawn at the exact spot you died in which is pretty abnormal for the genre but convenient in spots,

Between a pair of wrecking spheres

but on Hard mode you'll have to rough the stage out in one go otherwise if you lose a life you'll have to start it over.  Each stage is littered with a variety of enemies who you can jump on but for the most part the recommended way to do them in is by tossing marbles which are more effective against them, not to mention there are obstacles you must overcome.  With each damage Mickey sustains he'll lose a finger on his glove representing his life count, and should the glove be fingerless that will render Mickey at his most vulnerable point for one more hit will signal a lost life.

Walking on a wavy wire

Each cartoon adventure of Mickey Mouse's--from 1928's Steamboat Willie to 1990's then recent The Prince and the Pauper--is divided into a varied number of stages where the goal is to reach the end of each stage or in a handful of stages culminate in fighting against a boss.  Losing all your lives will bring you to the continue screen where you have nine seconds to decide whether to use one of your limited arsenal of continues or forfeit and go back to the title screen, and should you choose to continue (no matter what portion you lost your life in) you'll be taken back to the beginning stage of the cartoon adventure you lost your last life in.

"Take that!"

Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse is a charmingly colorful and great-looking game thanks to the graphics by Andy Ingram, concert art by Beverley Bush, and the graphic artists Ingram, Bush, David Burton, James Cunliffe, and Linda Smith, for they did a really good job at replicating the visual aesthetic of the classic Mickey Mouse shorts the stages are based on while also creating a visually appealing environment.  😃

Jumping on detachable crates

I love how when you begin the game in the Steamboat Willie segment it starts all black and white honoring the Disney Mouse's roots while the colors would slowly, slowly be introduced in the second stage the further you progress in it, it's a really good way of starting this game plus the water in the backdrop has got a smooth parallax scrolling effect.  The stages taking place in 1933's The Mad Doctor segment have got a good sense of macabre detail when it comes to the interior decoration with the vials and scientific formula equipment at the forefront of a couple of its stages,

Destroy those gears

the elevator has got a sense of atmospheric depth with the foreground bricks and the vertical parallax scrolling in the backdrop as you go up, and when you first get to this part as Mickey is about to enter there's occasional bursts of lightning.  The 1937 Moose Hunters portion is refreshing after what you've just been through with the bright sky and amount of foliage in the forefront, backdrop with the water, and trees above you with some leaves falling down the instant a branch drops down and a perpetual amount of boulders attempting to fall down on you.

"Hey, I remember you!"

Then in the 1937 Lonesome Ghosts portion you begin outside in snowy terrain, followed by the next stage which has got a vignette filter effect making for a near pitch black atmosphere, finally in the next stage there's a haunted setting as the dithering water occasionally fills up the ground then recedes and during the middle are some frames where the bottom half stretches down.  I found the Mickey and the Beanstalk segment from the 1947 movie Fun and Fancy Free to be the most abundant in terms of color and wonder

Activate the rocket

with the beautiful view of the cloud bound castle in the backdrop above a sea of parallax scrolling clouds below you, the vibrant usage of greens of the beanstalk, the blue water, the bug-infested tunnel has got an ominous sense of atmosphere about it, and in the end when you traverse Willie the Giant's table it is filled with a variety of delicacies and condiments along the way.  Finally when you reach the final segment of the game The Prince and the Pauper (which preceded the sadly underrated 1990 Disney animated movie The Rescuers Down Under)

No need to lose your head, now

there is a regal sense of detail within the kingdom with the windows in its first and last portion that let you see the perpetual snow outside, there are suits of knight armor abound within the walls especially with framed pictures of Mighty Pete, the kitchen has got sausages and pans hanging around, there is a wavy effect with 50% opacity as the water starts to slowly fill the beginning of the next stage, there is a prison cell with a skeleton adorning Mickey Mouse ears, and it culminates with the deadly flames rising up and in a later stage staying below you.

Traveller's Tales was a company known for incorporating impressive effects wizardry back in the early to mid '90s, and Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse has got its fair share of effects that still hold up well to this day given the Sega 16-bit console's technical limitations:

the first stage of Lonesome Ghosts with the exterior set up when Mickey is about to enter the house, and whenever you try to step back it just looks mesmerizing for the MegaDrive/Genesis;

there are a couple of tower stages (one in The Mad Doctor and the other in The Prince and the Pauper) where no matter which direction Mickey moves he remains in the center a la Hewson Consultants' innovative Nebulus, but the way the towers rotate here is impressively fluid but even more so are the (collapsible) platforms as they appear seamlessly integrated and appear 3D;

the second and final stage of Moose Hunters entails a run towards the screen chase sequence (might be among the first, if not the first, of its kind), there is a 3D effect that is immersive in execution and when it's seen in motion it just looks incredible;

Shout out to the Pete flag too and the way it animates

but the most endearing inclusion is at the start of the game in Steamboat Willie when it begins with a film reel on both sides of the screen (including some old era film reel strands) until a few seconds later both of them disappear from the screen to make way for a wide resolution with a clearer and crisper image.  There is a cleverly charming quality about it, and watching Jon Burton's behind the scene videos on his YouTube channel GameHut for how he managed to accomplish the rotating tower and 3D ground for when Mickey runs toward the screen are a fascinating insight.  😃

Knives

The animation quality is stellar, fluid, sometimes over the top, and very Disneyesque in nature with reportedly over a thousand frames of animation, which is thanks in large part due to the animation provided by Disney's Feature Animation Florida (with producer Paul Curasi, assistant producer Annette Laguer, production coordinator Cammie Cavallin-Fay, animation consultant Christian Bradley, and project specialist Pamela Darley; this studio also provided the animation for Virgin's video game adaptations of Disney's Aladdin and Pinocchio as well as Westwood Studios' adaptation of The Lion King)

Sticking on a rope like a spider

and Creative Capers (with producer G. Sue Shakespeare, animation directors David Molina and Terry Shakespeare, both of whom also made up a fourth of the team of animators, special effects assistant Kathy Burton, final checking done by Carla Washburn, production coordinator Robert Rose, and production accountant Patrice Monis; their expansive portfolio also comprises of Walt Disney Computer Software's video game adaptation of the TV series Gargoyles, Eurocom's Donald in Maui Mallard/Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow,

Swinging across the flames

Disney Interactive's 101 Dalmations: Escape From DeVil Manor, Creative Capers' and Window Painters' Nightmare Ned, and Eurocom's adaptation for Disney's Hercules) animation studios.  Because of their involvement Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse has got an official Disney feel, charm, and quality to it; not to dismiss the quality Disney licenses that were not involved by them, but it does distinguish itself from the Mickey Mouse licenses that came before on an aesthetic level.  😃

Wonder what's up there

I love Mickey's various animations and the articulate amount of detail and sense of fluidity with each motion, such as his walk cycle (especially when going up on an incline slowly, sliding down an angle, or gingerly walking down said angle) and his swinging motion (varying in speed depending on what position of the rope or chain he's holding on to), I like his expressiveness as he tosses marbles at his foes and jumps (depending on if you did it while holding still or while moving, the latter of which

Riding a trolley through the laboratory

has got a cute flutter kick motion about it), and when he loses a life it cuts to another screen with him falling down and pulling up a lily with exes in his eyes signaling a dead Mickey (the expression in question is funny!  😆); and Pluto has got his own arsenal of animations once you catch up with and rescue him.  In the two Steamboat Willie stages there's the music notes emanating from the goat, the chickens popping their heads from some of the cargo boxes, and a fluidly animated 1928 Pete when he sustains damage and when he's defeated and falls on the ground;

Bonesplosion

in the stages taking place in The Mad Doctor are bats swiftly flapping their wings (who appear in different palettes and also appear in one Lonesome Ghosts stage), skeletons that move or drop down or launch their head which cause their bones to scatter--both of whom have incredulous reactions upon being hit sustaining damage--and when you reach the eponymous Mad Doctor he's got a cool entrance and has got smooth animations for when he walks and proceeds to throw his flask towards you;

Let's check out what time it is

there are a varied amount of Lonesome Ghosts afterward whose designs are faithful to the short they debuted in with their gleeful expressions with a translucent aura about them with some of them appearing from thin air to either attempt to hit you with a plank of wood or try to sneak behind you a few steps until they toss their hat at you; the moose in the two Moose Hunters stages move fluidly as they attempt to trample you at a swift speed (and if you slowed down too much in the run towards the screen chase it'll cut to a black screen and show Mickey being trampled by it);

Going up

in the Mickey and the Beanstalk stages are a few kinds of enemies to pay heed to such as the butterflies (with different palettes), beetles with their eyes half-closed (unless they're jumped on or hit by a marble if they flew in the air in which case they'll spin wildly out of control straight down with an adorably incredulous expression on their faces), dragonflies with a menacing face on them, and a gigantic spider who you must flee from with the help of a ladybug adorning goggles that moves with intense velocity

that it leaves a trail of fire in its wake;

Brace yourself

and finally in the stages taking place within The Prince and the Pauper you'll be contending with two variants of Weasels, one who tosses his unlimited arsenal of knives and another who shoots from his crossbow, and they all have fluid animation when they move and when they take damage from you, and Mighty Pete at the end has got a great set of animations plus the way his animation is slowed down for dramatic effect upon being knocked out is well done.  I also love how before you enter the cartoon adventure in question there is an intermission screen where a big pencil animates the Mickey belonging there followed by a brief glimpse of their animation,

and speaking of the individual Mickey Mouses they all look great, their sense of charm is left intact, they are animated with a good amount of detail and color,

and they all fit well with the time period they hail from (including the eyes they had) and despite meeting 1994 Mickey none of it feels out of place.

Also love how expressive the Weasels are, especially with the smug expression of the knife tossing Weasel before throwing it and their incredulous reactions upon being hit.  😆

"Oh, don't mind us, we're simply here doing bugall."  🐞

You have reached the top (secret) floor

Behind the music for Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse are first-time composers Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra (credited under the combined portmanteau "Blythe Joustra", who would also compose music for Traveller's Tales' video game adaptations of PIXAR's first two Toy Story movies, their take on PIXAR's A Bug's Life, and the original Traveller's Tales property that caused them to sever ties with their publisher Psygnosis, Rascal…  what else would explain the two companies not working together anymore after the fact?)

Mixing a potion

and even veteran composer Matt Furniss (who for Krisalis Software did music for their property Soccer Kid, Core Design's Chuck Rock and its sequel, Raising Hell Software's Wiz 'n' Liz, Activision's Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, and for Traveller's Tales did music for Galahad and Puggsy) joins the fray (though his name is strangely misspelled in this game's credits as "Matt Furness" when in Puggsy it was spelled right, maybe ՂOИ BꓵʁꓕOИ had so much fun typing and checking the credits to notice),

Waiting for the door to be blown away

all on behalf of Psygnosis UK (with Shaun Hollingworth acting as music driver while Philip Morris acts as music manager); there was also additional music provided by Michael Giacchino in his music making debut on behalf of Disney Software (apart from assistant producing Westwood Associates' The Lion King and producing Aspect's Sega 8-bit venue Mickey Mouse: Densetsu no ōkoku/Legend of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse he would also score music for Eurocom's Donald in Maui Mallard and DreamWorks Interactive L.L.C.'s The Lost World: Jurassic Park video game adaptation before becoming a full-fledged movie composer),

though considering he's become versatile in his craft over the years and has developed a long range in regards to his twenty-five year discography it's hard to pinpoint exactly which themes from Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse are his.  🤔

"Oh no!  It's... the mad... MAD doctor!"

Not that it matters, because the soundtrack is really good, and when you take into account that this was Blythe, Joustra, and Giacchino's first time composing that's very impressive.  😃  When you first start the game in Steamboat Willie there is a very pleasant theme backing it up which is an endearing way to start and its wharf theme one stage later is enjoyably bouncy; the theme that plays when you reach the end boss of Steamboat Willie and The Mad Doctor is intensely driven and even abruptly shifts to this theme

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"

the moment you turn the light on to reveal the giant spider in the tunnels of Mickey and the Beanstalk (not quite as intensely jump up from your seat scary like David Wise's spontaneous music shift that would occur the moment you saw and had to run from King Zing Sting in Rare's Super Donkey Kong 2: Dixie & Diddy/Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest a year later, but nevertheless it still catches your attention for you know at that point that you must move immediately);

Watch out for that moose

The Mad Doctor's stages have got very atmospheric and sinister compositions backing up these locations, including the theme for when you ride up the elevator, the theme for when you mix up the potion, and even the theme for its entrance and the theme for when you're inside; the main Moose Hunters theme is refreshingly lighter and adventurous in tone (and even reprises itself in one stage for The Prince and the Pauper) while the theme for when the moose chases Mickey down has got an action-driven and faster tempo;

Congratulations!  Mickey has found Moose Hunter

Mickey, but has also found a moose!

The Lonesome Ghosts has got a spooky theme at the beginning as you have to contend with apparitions before and around you, and the second theme is haunting but with a fun aura about it; I like the theme for when you get to Mickey and the Beanstalk's realm, the theme for when you traverse its tunnel is ominous, the theme for when you climb the beanstalk is relaxing and catchy,

It's a ghost

and the theme for when you venture on Willie the Giant's table has got a fast blood-pumping melody going for it; The Prince and the Pauper's central theme when you get there is rich with elegance with an adventurous wit and it's nice that it plays again during the credits; Mighty Pete's two themes for his two different boss phases perfectly complement the showdown against him; and during the hidden 1935 The Band Concert stage there is a theme that brings to mind Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" interlude.

Stay on the barrel, water hurts you here

The sound effects in Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse are well-chosen and integrated, I like the sounds of the moose charging with its hooves in Moose Hunters and the sound of the growing beanstalk in Mickey and the Beanstalk, to name a couple, and I also appreciate how there are digitized voice samples for Mickey Mouse given certain occasions ("You look awfully familiar", "Sorry", "Wow", "Hmmm", "Ow!", "I made it!", "Here, boy!", et al), Pluto's digitized barking, and there's even one for Mighty Pete in the end ("Ow!").  All music and sound can be listened to in the sound test.

I did mention earlier that there was a seventh realm for Mickey Mouse to explore which is normally inaccessible unless you activate it in the penultimate stage of Mickey and the Beanstalk: simply jump on the beetle right before it flies up in which case if you do it again you'll gain just enough altitude to reach the switch, then hop on the butterflies to the upper left segment until you come across a big question mark--jumping on it will transport you the hidden The Band Concert stage.  🌪

The goal here is to make your way up the whirlwind by carefully jumping from moving box to moving box with exact precision until you reach a composing Band Concert Mickey at its apex to earn a continue for failure to do so (i.e. falling all the way to the bottom) will take you out of here and bring you back to the stage you accessed it from rendering you unable to access it again until you either start the game from the beginning or if you used up a continue during Mickey and the Beanstalk.

Swinging in an abandoned environment

It's not mandatory to play this segment as it doesn't have any bearing on the plot or the game on the whole, according to Jon Burton in his commentary for his playthrough of this game it was included at the very last minute hence why there are no enemies in it, but it's a welcome additional bit of challenge if you feel the need plus reaching the top will take a lot of practice.  1994 was a busy year for Mickey Mouse as far as his video games were concerned, mostly because it was the year that both Sega and Nintendo loyalists got to experience their own interpretation of the same game: first there was the pre-WayForward Technologies edutainment title by Designer Software Mickey's Ultimate Challenge which was well-intentioned and harmless (to a point) as it was aimed towards a much younger audience but ultimately felt unremarkable;

RIP Wayne Allwine (1947-2009) and Russi Taylor (1944-2019)

then several months later in October 1994 came out Capcom's middle chapter to their Mickey's Magical Adventure trilogy, Mickey to Minnie: Magical Adventure 2/The Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie, in America for the SNES which even Sega gamers got to play on their MegaDrive/Genesis;

Where's the bell?  🔔 | Where's the fire??  🔥

concurrently that October 1994 came out the American SNES version of Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse courtesy of Sony Imagesoft which they would release in Europe that December while Capcom would oversee the Super Famicom version on March 31st, 1995.  Playing this version of the game after playing the Sega 16-bit (or any other version for that matter), you can't help but think that something's very... amiss about this one.  🤨  Responsible for the Nintendo 16-bit conversion is Chris Stanforth, who was a utility programmer alongside Jon Burton and David Dootson in the original Sega 16-bit version, and honestly it feels very much like it was based on an earlier build of Burton's program.

Where's the window???  

And I know it seems superfluous to make a big deal about how the square resolution adds a slight bit of difficulty compared to the wider screen resolution of the Sega 16-bit original (since you could see more around you), but I don't care, it needs to be said.  While the gameplay remains pretty much the same, the Nintendo 16-bit version didn't carry over all of Mickey's digitized sound bytes (nor Pete's "Ow!" for that matter), Pluto doesn't make an appearance again after riding the raft with him in Lonesome Ghosts, some props and (sound) effects are missing, the first rotating tower stage in The Mad Doctor is absent,

The Band Concert's hidden stage is nonexistent as there is no switch to activate it, there are three songs that are never heard in-game (lest you listen to them in the sound test), sometimes the rocket and enemy placement is different, and most unusual of all for a cartridge-based game, there are loading times in-between stages and after losing a life pre-rocket activation.  I also couldn't help but notice tiny little differences between both versions (so much so that, if not for the fact that it would be the most StarBlog-related OCD thing I did since playing through as all seven characters one by one in Produce's Elnard in preparation for a proper review, I almost want to make a page highlighting the differences between the Genesis and SNES versions big and small), but all in all Stanforth's version is playable and manageable but it doesn't hold a candle to the superior Sega 16-bit original.

Images from GameFAQs

On November 1994 Sony Imagesoft released Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse on the Sega CD/Mega-CD in America and Europe, making it the only Mickey Mouse game that was made for this format.  This version added more frames of animation, added an additional stage where all the Mickeys you met (apart from Band Concert Mickey) assembled to help you defeat Mighty Pete one by one, gave Mickey an expansion in audio-based dialogue for commentary, and a new soundtrack was composed thanks to the CD format's Redbook Audio "as the score was digitally synthesized with E-mu Proteus 2 Orchestra instruments for composure".  This is the only version of the game I have yet to play, but now that I own a physical Genesis console I have considered investing in a Sega CD add-on... I just have to learn before taking the plunge whether I just need the add-on or if I also need an additional set of A/V cables should the one for the Genesis not be enough.

Image from GameFAQs; the back of the jewel case comprises of nothing but screenshots

In 1995 Traveller's Tales made a conversion of the game for Sony's PlayStation One console called Mickey's Wild Adventure which saw a release in European and Australian markets on March 1996 by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe; it incorporated the additions of the Sega CD/Mega-CD version, gave an updated touch-up to the visuals and animation frames, included a run to the screen chase stage with Willie the Giant in Mickey and the Beanstalk, and gave all rotating tower and chase stages a completely 3D effect.  This was actually the first version of the game I played as a child, long before I played the SNES and Genesis versions later in life, back when I still lived in Italy and whenever I visited relatives once a year.

Image from the Rodney Matthews Studio website

Sadly it was never given a physical American release at the time as Sony's American division was under the sorely misguided "3D or bust" mentality regarding platforming at the dawn of the 3D boom as they figured it would completely replace 2D platforming which was not the case, but on July 10th, 2012 it would finally see an American release in the form of the downloadable PSOne Classics label on the PlayStation 3; had it come out around the same time as the 2D-based Ludimedia's Rayman and Crystal Dynamics' Gex perhaps an American release for Mickey's Wild Adventure would have been guaranteed, but unfortunately it was not meant to be.  This was also the only Traveller's Tales game to feature Rodney Matthews' spacefaring Tales² logo in the copyright screen where Psygnosis' name is infamously misspelled as "Pygnosis", which is hilarious since I looked up that there was a prototyped version that had it spelled right (don't know what happened there).

Screengrabbed while watching Jon "GameHut" Burton's "Cancelled Mickey Mania 2 !!!" and "Mickey 'Doom' Parody Prototype" YouTube videos respectively

After Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse became a success Traveller's Tales began work on the tentatively titled Mickey Mania 2 where only a couple of segments were worked on: a stage based on 1934's Two-Gun Mickey and a parody prototype based on the likes of id Software's Doom showcasing the MegaDrive/Genesis' 3D environment that would lay the template for Toy Story's 3D stage (sans the shooting aspect).  Before they could get any further, they had to cancel it in favor of making a video game adaptation of PIXAR's inaugural feature-length film Toy Story.

This is the game that convinced me to invest in a Genesis console this July once I tried it on the RetroGen peripheral cartridge and it didn't work, and I'm glad I did

I understand Traveller's Tales' decision to take priority in making a video game adaptation of the first 3D animated movie in its entirety--it was a pretty big deal, after all--but I kind of wish they didn't give up on Mickey Mania 2 altogether because based on the Two-Gun Mickey prototype footage I've seen I think it would've been a good game much like its predecessor (the Sega version).

Pushing the table forward

Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse had gotten a mixed reception upon release, and that's also taking into account the other three physical versions of it which all varied, but luckily time has mostly been kind to this game over the years as it has developed something of a cult following.  😃  More importantly it was a huge success in terms of sales, Disney Software's involvement (with Ronald J. Fortier as software production director, Patrick Gilmore as senior producer, assistant producer Craig Annis, production associate Arden Ishimura, and Alexander Schaefer who digitally cleaned up Mickey's model) helped ensure that and with Mickey Mouse in the lead role, this game was pretty much Traveller's Tales first runaway hit plus it began the developer's relation with Disney that would last until 2005.

Traveller's Tales' last game Puggsy was positively received, but it didn't make as much money as its publisher Psygnosis hoped it would, and since the video game market had become oversaturated according to Jon Burton any chance for it and Raising Hell Software's Wiz 'n' Liz to receive a Nintendo 16-bit conversion went up in the air.

Ghostly hat toss  👻

This game would be the last original Mickey Mouse platformer to be released in Western shores, being the last to be released in 1994 (1996 if you count the PAL-only PlayStation One version Mickey's Wild Adventure) while GRC's Super Famicom-exclusive Mickey no Tokyo Disneyland Daibōken, its spiritual Game Boy follow-up Tokyo Disneyland: Mickey no Cinderella Shiro Mystery Tour, and Capcom's Super Famicom-based Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 remained Japan-exclusive (the last of which would see a localized release on the Game Boy Advance nearly a decade later).  There have been other games featuring Mickey Mouse in the years that followed, but none of them were really full-fledged platformers.

Image from GameFAQs

2010 marked the year of the dueling Epic video games on the Nintendo Wii, first came out Good-Feel's heartwarmingly feel-good 2D platforming yarn Kirby's Epic Yarn, but of the two games people looked forward to playing the most and drew a lot of hype upon announcement and first trailer launch was Junction Point's Disney Epic Mickey (this also marked the first time Mickey Mouse and his predecessor Oswald the Lucky Rabbit appeared in the same video game together, giving the 1927 character his newfound popularity since Disney reacquired his rights years prior).  🖌  After nearly a decade and a half of non-platforming Mickey Mouse fare the Disney Mouse would finally appear in his very own 3D action-platformer on November 2010 by Disney Interactive (Nintendo would release it in Japan on August 2011 as Disney Epic Mickey: Mickey Mouse to Mahō no Fude).  But when it finally came out it got heavily polarizing reviews but it ended up making a healthy profit which helped it garner a briefly short-lived franchise, and has since developed a loyal following.  I remember enjoying and being invested in its world when I first got it in Christmas 2010, but there was a point when I got completely stuck and did not know how to progress further which made me stop; with it turning a decade old next year, I owe it to myself to try to play it all the way through to the end one of these days.

Rising and lowering scaffold

I first played Mickey's Wild Adventure on the PlayStation One back when I was very little over two decades ago, and I didn't learn until I was in my teen years that there was also a version (albeit named Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse) on the 16-bit consoles the Genesis and SNES and that it only came after the fact.  I liked the 32-bit version a lot growing up and during family visits, so much so that I was a bit saddened when I found out it never got an American release.

Tossing a marble at a butterfly

Living in America now and playing PlayStation One games on an NTSC PlayStation One, I found out the hard way that PAL game discs won't play on an American unit when my family and I moved here from Italy in 2002.  Years later I would leave Mickey's Wild Adventure (and several other PAL PlayStation One games) in Italy for one of my Italian cousins, and for the longest time it was one of my favorite games in the system and until March 2012 was the only true 2D platformer starring Mickey Mouse that I played

Pushing a big apple

until I bought Capcom's The Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie on the SNES at 3D-Games, the first of several I caught up with.  For years I had an ambivalence with catching up with the original 16-bit version Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse, as I was worried that content-wise it might be lacking compared to the PlayStation One version I grew up with.  So after years of hemming and hawing I decided to play the SNES version on October 2017 before catching up with the superior Genesis original on August 2018.

Grow, flower, grow

Mickey's Wild Adventure is a game I have a fondness for and it was a game I reviewed back in July 2011 (which I have since deleted), and I remember being very glowing about it as I gave it an 8.5--at the time it was the only version of the game I played and keep in mind this was a year before its American digital release on the PlayStation 3.  Last year when I visited Italy, after having played both the SNES and Genesis versions, I was looking forward to playing Mickey's Wild Adventure like I always did during visits.  The moment I found the time to play that version and

Well, would you look at that castle

it got to the point where the game began proper, my enthusiasm had begun to diminish upon starting to control Mickey.  🙁  I think what made me enjoy the PlayStation One version for the longest time was the fact that it was the only version I played, which made it easy to overlook the fact that its game speed ran at 50 Hz; I think what undid it for me this time was because I replayed it after having caught up with the SNES and Genesis versions running at 60 Hz speed.

Blue beetle

When listening to some of the music on YouTube, which still holds up, last year I remember reading some comments saying the Sony version was inferior overall which attributed to the 50 Hz speed which made me a little concerned (because of what I just mentioned) if it held up before playing it.  This was the first version of Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mania that I had played, a game I enjoyed for many years... I wanted so badly for it to still hold up, for it to still be highly enjoyable, to still be good despite running at 16.7% less speed than usual.  ☹  To my disappointment: the 50 Hz speed was keenly felt as I feared it would be (it was still playable but the PlayStation One version's magic was gone), and I didn't look back.  😞

"Ooh, baby spider!"

Now playing through the 16-bit editions of Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse was an interesting experience, going from 32-bit to 16-bit; while I love Nintendo's 16-bit console, I don't think it was the right format for this game as it's lost its sense of scale in the process (at least with both 16-bit versions of Capcom's The Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie the resolution size was more or less the same despite the differences in color palette) and considering the conversion job Chris Stanforth did

Growing some beanstalks on the way up

I couldn't help but feel the Nintendo 16-bit version to be incomplete--it's not bad or unplayable (honestly on its own merits it's okay), but it does feel lacking compared to the Sega 16-bit original which was a breath of fresh air once I got to play it, even more so after playing it directly on my Genesis console after nearly a year of playing it on my RetroGen cartridge (the picture quality is crisp and has got more clarity, plus the screen doesn't fizzle out of control whenever it comes to bodies of white in some or more aspects of the screen;

Eliminate those butterflies

I could actually see the chase sequence and the introductory black and white Steamboat Willie stage with the film reel).  This game has also got the honor of being the first one I beat directly on the console.  😃  I found the original Genesis version to be a lot of fun, I love the concept of Mickey Mouse revisiting some of his old adventures, and I appreciated the good sense of depth and challenge and occasional puzzle-solving it provided; add to the fact that it's got its reliable Disney charm,

Treading up a butter knife

largely thanks to the involvement of Disney Software and Disney's two animation studios, which made the proceedings all the more endearing.  I liked how each stage had their own separate sorts of challenges for Mickey to overcome and how some of it involves paying close attention: among numerous instances are where you must ring the bells to lower the drawbridge in Steamboat Willie while simultaneously jumping on or over parrots, in The Mad Doctor are several moments where you have to

Look, more butterflies  🦋

avoid being hit by the bones emanating from the skeleton's bone explosion as they fly about and/or bounce off the floor, in the first tower stage you must not only descend it but from time to time have to jump over barrels bouncing down and/or tossing marbles at those pesky bats, in another stage you must dispose of skeletons and avoid their flying bones while heading up an elevator, there's a stage where you have to mix all three ingredients in a potion while doing your best to avoid the bats,

Inside a royal castle

in Moose Hunters your goal is to head to the end where you must watching out for falling branches and boulders but more pressingly avoid being trampled on by a moose who'll stampede from behind you (it is the one stage where Pluto becomes very reliable as he'll signal you when it's time to jump), in the run to the screen chase you have to collect apples to gain speed otherwise if you trip on a rock or get slowed down too much (sometimes by running on water) the moose will catch up to you and you do not want that,

Alternate moving yourself to the left and to

the right of the chandelier to make it swing

in Lonesome Ghosts there is more than one instance when you find yourself jumping up the stairs only for them to collapse to form a diagonal slope, later there is a moment when the room floods and increases or decreases height so you must jump from barrel to barrel before the preceding barrel sinks below, and during that same stage you have to push a table all the way to the right to give yourself a boost but must simultaneously be careful of the ghosts who try to sneak up on you

Ah, good ol' foreshadowing

before tossing their hat so you must time you jumps over them properly if not after having jumped from the table, in Mickey and the Beanstalk there'll be a moment where you must push an apple to form a platforming boost while avoiding an onslaught of seeds followed by pushing a vase to a position where there's sprinkling water in order for a flower to grow, in one moment you must dispose of impeding butterflies while scaling up a leg of a table, in The Prince and the Pauper during the early proceedings there is a portion that can only be accessed by

Jumping on a magical book

continuously moving left and right while on the chandelier in order to make it swing which will give you enough propulsion to jump farther if you timed it correctly, in the kitchen stage if you wish to reach the end via the high road then there is one platform that you'll have to push just enough to the left with Mickey's body in order to stay on the upper segment, and for a last example there is a vertically scrolling segment where you must eliminate the Weasels on the way up while in the process of jumping upward to avoid the wrath of the flames which gradually creep up on you.

Walking past some neatly prerendered vases

As simple as the gameplay is it's still enjoyable to play and I like how holding down the jump button will cause Mickey to perpetually jump even when he's landed on the ground which will help a lot as you climb up the tower slowly being consumed by flame, I liked how there were enough secrets to give Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mania a good amount of replay value (the hidden The Band Concert stage might not have any bearing on the plot, but it is a nice bonus nonetheless), the music still continues to play even after losing a life rather than starting over which is always welcome,

Ye Olde Kitchen

playing through Hard mode can be quite a challenge since you must tread through the stage in one go without the rocket-activated checkpoint but it can be done once you've figured out a pattern, and I love how this is the one Mickey Mouse platformer from the '90s aimed at Western audiences that is not played for score (Capcom's Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 also was not played for score, but it initially remained in Japan; I always appreciate any platformer where there is no score present regardless where it's from, since I generally play games for fun and not for score).  😃

Hurray for conveniently placed rubber floaties

With all that said this sidescrolling platformer is not without its blemishes as they do affect its quality to some degree: Mickey's amount of invincibility time for sustaining damage lasts one second meaning if he stays beside an enemy or on water he'll quickly lose a life, the amount of fingers (or lack thereof) in your HUD don't regenerate if you surpassed a stage but rather remain the same at the start of the next one (a similar trope but with stars would reemerge in Traveller's Tales' next platformer Toy Story),

Riding on a matrix platform

the biggest complaint people had with this game is how quickly Mickey runs out of his literal marbles as they are the only means to largely dispose of enemies so it's best to use them conservatively (and yet from the fight with the Mad Doctor to the end of Lonesome Ghosts there's a chunk of the game where you don't rely on them which makes things feel a bit uneven) for if you lose a life then the amount of marbles at your disposal will greatly be reduced, each stage in question when viewed as a whole is actually pretty short in length

PFFT, such a smug look, I love it!  😆

(sometimes to the point where it's over once you get into the swing of things), sometimes in the table pushing/ghost hat tossing portion it's hard to get by without losing damage on account of one ghost coming after another, the boss fights at the end of Steamboat Willie and The Mad Doctor are very easy to get through, and the game is pretty short at roughly forty-something minutes (more if you had trouble) which is a shame since it is a fun game.  On the whole, though, I consider Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse on the Genesis

Poker trap

to be an enjoyably good game while it lasts with a manageable amount of challenge to overcome, and as 2D Traveller's Tales platformers go I think it's one of their better ones next to Puggsy.  😃  While Sega AM7's 1990 classic I Love Mickey Mouse: Fushigi no Oshiro Daibōken/Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse is generally the best Sega 16-bit Mickey Mouse platformer in the system, I actually find myself coming back to this game more since I got it and that's largely because

Uh, oh, who was this mouse?

of its sense of depth and challenge while the aforementioned title is a bit on the easy side.  Watching Jon Burton's behind the scenes videos on his GameHut YouTube channel on how he managed to accomplish the incredible effects that usually were not frequently seen on the Sega 16-bit for the Traveller's Tales games he was involved in are very fascinating, his insight is entertaining and enlightening, and watching him play through his own game while recounting his ideas and/or inspirations for each stage layout

Flames consuming from below

and obstacles and occasionally expressing what he could have done different was a very cool and informative watch (plus he seems like a pretty cool guy).  It's a shame that Mickey Mania 2 never came to be (foregoing it for Toy Story I understand, but it didn't have to be foregone altogether in my opinion) as I think what the people at Traveller's Tales did with Disney's Mickey Mouse property is interesting and remarkable and comes to show that the British video game industry understood how to invest and challenge its audience as their approach is different

*BOOM*

than how American and Japanese video game companies did it at the time.  If you're a Disney fan or a fan of Mickey Mouse then I recommend playing Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse if you own a Genesis (I can't comment on the Sega CD version as I haven't played it yet, the PlayStation One version suffers by comparison because of its 50 Hz speed which hurts since it's the version I grew up with, and unless you have no alternatives I don't recommend the comparatively unfinished SNES version) if you're into platformers that provide a decent amount of challenge as of the two cart versions it is the better take, but if you aren't into platformers that challenge you there are easier Mickey Mouse games to choose from.  Maybe not perfect, but for what it is it's classic Disney platforming fun; thanks for the memories, Traveller's Tales!  😃👍

My Personal Score: 8.0/10

d(^-^)bTO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b

● I remember when I was younger reading the manual for Mickey's Wild Adventure and wondering why the screenshot for the run to the screen chase looked different than it did in 32-bit version as they used the screenshot from the original Genesis version (and each page incorporated Mickey's swinging pose from the 16-bit cover art too), long before I learned of the 16-bit editions.

● Something that's always bothered me about this game, regardless of the version, is how Mickey Mouse doesn't have a tail in-game; especially since it was present in most of the other games he's appeared in during the '90s.

● I'm genuinely curious what Jon Burton's thoughts on the Nintendo 16-bit, Mega-CD/Sega CD, and PlayStation One versions are since he was only directly involved in the Sega 16-bit original.

● If I wind up getting a Sega CD add-on for my physical Genesis console, I don't plan on getting many games for it: I would simply limit my Sega CD collection to the CD version of today's game, the Sega CD version of Puggsy since I wish to explore the CD-exclusive stages and bosses, some Core Design platformers, and perhaps Wolf Team's Sol-Feace just to name some I'm considering.

Happy 25th Anniversary, Mickey Mania!!!  😃

Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW allowed); hope you have a great day, take care!  😃

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Yup, that's what I did, ha ha… haaah...…  what am I doing with my life?  😟