Playable at Disney's gigantic booth, next to a line of people trying to get their hands on hats sporting Oswald's long ears, was Disney's Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. Three levels were playable, but I decided to skip the tutorial in order to focus on the 2D level and the boss fight.

The 2D level didn't deviate much from the standard formula: jump on platforms, collect shiny things. Some areas did give me the chance to test out some of the co-op features however: with a press of the - button on the Wii remote, a player can propel their second character higher in the air to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Oswald can also get his Tails Power on and let Mickey hang on to him while he's gliding in the air, batting his long ears.

We quickly reached the door leading to the boss, a giant mechanical dragon commandeered by three baddies. While making sure not to fall into lava and avoiding the dragon's fireballs, I painted him all over to make the bad guys pop out, and painted them in turn to finish them off. The boss always stays in the middle of the screen and the camera follows Mickey as he runs around him, so in a way, this stage is 2D as well.

Once you finish off two of the three bad guys, a new path for you to climb opens up. You can find a treasure chest and a hidden pin along the way, and then take on the mecha dragon's last pilot. At this point, the boss' minions come out to pester you, but unfortunately the boss did not really change his strategy, so I did. I used up quite a bit of thinner to erase some columns holding the ceiling. Once that was done, the demo was over.

I have a bias in favor of 2D platformers that allow you to navigate the levels and use the pointer at the same time, as I feel it is one of the best and most interesting innovations the Wii has brought to the genre, but it is hard to deny the vanilla feel of the platforming. I also don't know how I feel about Junction Point giving you less freedom in a 3D space as a way to solve the problems with the camera, instead of making it smarter.

Disney aficionados, kids and fans of the genre will want to check Epic Mickey 2 out, but those looking for more originality are bound to be disappointed.