Disney and Junction Point are working on a sequel to critically acclaimed Wii outing Epic Mickey for high-definition consoles.
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2 will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii, and finds the iconic Disney hero back in Wasteland, where various disasters have caused familiar locations to change dramatically.
Full voice acting will be featured in the sequel, with characters taking part in musical numbers composed by Jim Dooley and Mike Himelstein, who provided the score for Dorothy of Oz.
"I’m such a geek about musicals," said Junction Point’s Warren Spector. "I love the co-op and next-gen stuff, but for me, when a character breaks into song, which they do on a regular basis in this game, it’s magic."
As previously reported, Epic Mickey 2 will feature Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as a playable character, and forms part of the new drop-in, drop-out co-op mode. Unlike the first game, where Oswald featured in a non-speaking role, this incarnation will be fully voiced by Frank Welker.
"I couldn’t be more pleased," gushed Becky Cline, achieve director for Walk Disney Co. "Once you give a character a voice, it takes it to a whole new level. I can’t wait for the public to see it and embrace Oswald the way that we have over the years in the archive."
"It’s drop-in, drop-out co-op," explained Spector. "You can sit down at any time with a friend who is playing as Mickey, and you can take control of Oswald. If you’re playing as a single player, Oswald will be there every second of the game. He’s not just a multiplayer character. He’s a helper, whether you’re playing alone or with a friend or family member."
Elsewhere, Spector also confirmed that the various camera issues that plagued the original game are being ironed out for the follow-up.
"We’ve had a team working on the camera from literally the day we finished the first game," he said. "They’ll be working on it until the day we ship the second game. (There have been) over 1,000 specific changes made to the camera. Our goal is that you will not have to touch the manual camera controls even once to play through the main story path of this game."
Stay tuned to PSU.com for more details on Epic Mickey 2 as they break.