by Pairing Disney’s biggest original iOS hit with the company’s most iconic character, Where’s My Mickey? XL delivers another breezy physics puzzler that tasks you with guiding a stream of liquid to the cartoon mouse. Skillfully utilizing a classic Mickey Mouse aesthetic with animated cut-scenes, the game maintains the winning gameplay formula that propelled Where’s My Water? and licensed follow-up Where’s My Perry?, though a lack of challenge makes it less memorable than expected.
Keeping with the previous entries, Where’s My Mickey? delivers environmental challenges that task you with moving water from one part of the screen to another, though that’s rarely as straightforward as it sounds. Hazards like acid and mechanized barriers might impede the most direct route, and each stage shakes up the layout and variables a bit. Where’s My Mickey? adds weather modifiers to the mix, including clouds you can fill with water and empty as needed, plus wind that can be let loose from sand barriers to push the clouds to other parts of the screen. Otherwise, solving a stage typically requires scrubbing away sand to create pathways to deliver water to Mickey, and hopefully grabbing all three optional stars along the way.
While the weather elements are a new twist, the stages still feel strongly familiar. Even as someone who didn’t obsessively follow the post-release content of Where’s My Water? or spend much time with the sequel, I still felt like I’d played near-identical stages in the past. Furthermore, while the formula entertains and requires a small amount of problem solving, it’s rarely ever a challenge to snag all three stars in any stage. In most games, three-star solutions encourage lasting, repeated play, making even a simple, kid-friendly core game seem more appealing to adults and advanced players. Here, sadly, it’s almost a given that you’ll snag every star with little extraneous effort. As with the previous entries, it’s a great use of a touch screen interface, but here the familiarity and simplicity lead to gameplay that makes a less notable impression than the stellar presentation.
The “XL” in the title of this iPad-specific version refers to a bonus episode of 20 stages, which arrive on top of the three episodes also seen in the cheaper iPhone version. For owners of both devices who don’t have a platform preference, it’s worth the extra buck to play the levels designed for a larger screen. However, much as the retro Mickey design charms, the iPad version has some off-putting visual issues, such as artifacting in the cartoons and even in some still level backdrops. It’s sadly clear why the iPad version doesn’t carry the usual “HD” moniker instead, as it seems like some visual elements were compromised in favor of a smaller download size.
The bottom line. Packed with charm but lacking challenge, Where’s My Mickey? remains an enjoyable and endearing riff on the Disney series’ puzzle formula.
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