Mickey Mania

Overview

Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (known in Europe as Mickey Mania) is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Traveller's Tales (in conjunction with Psygnosis) and published by Sony Imagesoft for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on October 1994 and for the Genesis and Sega CD on November 1994. The Japanese version was only released for the SNES (by Capcom) and Genesis (by Sega).

Originally developed to celebrate the 65th birthday of Disney mascot Mickey Mouse, the game has the titular mouse adventuring through some of his various short films (from the 1928 Steamboat Willie to the 1990 The Prince and the Pauper) as he must find his past selves, rescue his dog Pluto, and defeat Pete.

Made in collaboration with Disney, the game is one of the few games to feature digitized animations from Disney-affiliated animation studios (from the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida division in collaboration with Creative Capers Entertainment).

Each subsequent version of the game includes new sequences and minor additions. For example, both the Sega console versions add a new hidden bonus sequence (based on the 1935 short film The Band Concert) and a "spiral staircase" sequence in the second level. The Sega CD version features both redbook audio and digitized voice samples of Mickey, as well as an extra sequence before the final boss.

The game was later ported on March 1996 to the PlayStation in Europe (as Mickey's Wild Adventure), featuring enhanced graphics and graphical effects and a new "chase" sequence in the fifth level (where Mickey is pursued by Willie the Giant). This version was later digitally re-released via PlayStation Network on December 13, 2011 (in Europe) for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation Vita.

Gameplay

Mickey Mania is fairly typical of the side-scrolling platform genre. Players guide Mickey from left to right through levels, passing obstacles through jumping or solving puzzles. Enemies can be defeated either by jumping on them or by throwing marbles at them. The game is famously difficult: a lot of this difficulty is because some of the game requires a lot of precise timing and many of the enemies are hard to defeat without taking damage.

At the top left hand corner of the screen is Mickey's Glove. The number under the glove symbolizes the number of lives the player has remaining and the fingers of the glove show how many hits Mickey can take before losing a life.

Items

In Mickey Mania there are three types of items at Mickey's disposal, each with a different purpose:

• Stars: These give you 1 health (finger) back per star. If Mickey has full health and gets the stars, they will disappear and he will NOT get an extra life.
• Marbles: The main tool for getting through most levels in this game. Marbles are everywhere to collect and the serve as a means of hitting enemies and bosses. They are transferable from level to level though Mickey has a holding limit of 99 marbles.
• Mouse Ears: Mickey's Mouse Ears can come in very handy and are in secretive locations throughout the game. They replenish one full life, regardless if you have not previously lost a life.

Cartoons Featured as Levels

There are a total of 7 levels to play through in Mickey Mania.

Steamboat Willie (1928)

The level starts Mickey out on the steamboat from the famous 1928 animated short, and after a short time on the boat the level continues on land. Mickey is faced with challenging platforming elements already on the first stage, and he'll also meet Pete as a mini boss in this stage. At the end of the level Mickey can actually find two branching paths: one that leads to a crane boss battle, and another, which leads Mickey to a secret area with tons of marbles and 1-ups.

In the level Mickey will find small details from the animated short, like the "musical goat" and the iconic boat-horns.

The Mad Doctor (1933)

This level starts up with a little homage to Dragon's Lair by basically copying the start of the game. Mickey continues through The Mad Doctor's castle and is faced with classic enemies like skeletons and bats; Mickey are even meets with a elevator and an on-rail jumping section. At the end Mickey fights The Mad Doctor and saves his dog Pluto before the poor hound is experimented upon.

The Band Concert (1935)

This is a secret bonus level in which players must navigate to the top of a tornado. This is basically one of the tower sections and as such is not featured in the SNES version.

Moose Hunters (1937)

Players follow Pluto (In the cartoon, Goofy and Donald were alongside Mickey, not Pluto) through this level. Enemies including a moose who charges at Mickey and environmental hazards too such as falling branches and boulders.

Lonesome Ghosts (1937)

This level features the titular lonesome ghosts who attempt to halt Mickey's progress with all sorts of tricks and jokes. This level has some tricky sections and a memorable section where water levels rise and fall.

Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947)

This level forces Mickey to "do some gardening" and has him contend with not just a giant (Additionally, an escape section featuring the giant is in CD versions, though not others) but also a giant spider. This level features the only friendly NPC in the game apart from various Mickeys and Pluto - a ladybug who helps Mickey escape the spider.

The Prince and the Pauper (1990)

The game makes a large jump in time (43 years) to feature The Prince and the Pauper. This level features the most difficult combat in the game, including a boss battle against a very powerful Pete which has two forms.