Mickey Mania

A sequel, Mickey Mania 2, was in development, but was eventually cancelled.

• Title — Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse • Developer — Traveller's Tales Psygnosis (PS) • Publisher — Sony Imagesoft Sony Computer Entertainment (PS) • Designer — Jon Burton Andy Ingram Mike Giam David Jaffe • Composer — Andy Blythe Marten Joustra Matt Furniss Michael Giacchino • Platforms — Super NES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, PlayStation • Released — SNES, Genesis, Sega CD PlayStation1 March 1996 • Genre — Platform • Modes — Single-player

Mickey Mania is a platformer in which players control Mickey Mouse as he visits various locations based on his past cartoons, ranging from his debut in Steamboat Willie to the more recent The Prince and the Pauper. Mickey can attack enemies by either jumping on them or by using a limited supply of marbles, which are collected throughout the level. Mickey can take up to five hits, represented by the fingers he holds up on his hand, which can be replenished by collecting stars, whilst extra lives can be gained by finding Mickey hats. Levels offer a variety of challenges such as puzzles the player must solve, escaping from a rampaging moose and fleeing from a flaming staircase. The levels in the game are based from the following classic Mickey Mouse cartoons: • Steamboat Willie (1928) • The Mad Doctor (1933) • The Band Concert (1935) (not included in the SNES version) • Moose Hunters (1937) • Lonesome Ghosts (1937) • Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947) • The Prince and the Pauper (1990)

Originally, Mickey Mania was planned to be released to coincide with Mickey's 65th birthday in 1993. However, as that would have only allowed for six months to develop the game, this idea was soon scrapped in favor of the more compelling concept of Mickey traveling back in time to his own original classic cartoons and subsequently recreating the events of the aforementioned shorts in the process. The game pays tribute to Mickey's early cartoon career. The game was designer David Jaffe's debut design project. Following the success of Mickey Mania, a sequel was planned and began development with a prototype created in 1994. However, it was later cancelled so that Traveller's Tales could instead focus on developing a game based on the then-upcoming film Toy Story.

The SNES version is missing the hidden Band Concert level, the staircase sequence in the Mad Doctor level, a few special effects, some of Pluto's appearances, and some level-ending sequences. It also adds loading time screens in between each area. The Sega CD and PSX versions extend the ending to the Mad Doctor level, showing that the Mad Doctor had regressed to a baby, and adds a sequence near the end of the Prince and the Pauper level wherein Mickey must find pencils to call upon the other Mickeys from the six main levels to attack Pete, as well as giving Mickey extensive dialogue relevant to situations throughout the game. The Genesis version lacks the hidden area near the end of the first level. The PlayStation version enhances the graphics (all sprites are remade, the staircase sequences are rendered in 3D, and in the Mad Doctor level, crates occasionally come from behind which Mickey has to dodge) and adds a sequence at the end of the Mickey and the Beanstalk level where Mickey must run away from Willie the Giant. Willie makes no appearance in any of the other game versions despite being mentioned in the manuals of all four versions. Both the Sega CD and PlayStation versions utilize a CD-based soundtrack composed by Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra with additional music by Michael Giacchino.