Mickey Mania

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"No Goofy."
"No Minnie."
"No Mercy."

—Ad for the game.

A platform game for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega CD and the PlayStation first released in 1994, Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (known as Mickey's Wild Adventure on the PS1) was originally conceived as a game for Mickey's 65th birthday in 1993. When that release date slipped, Sony Digi Pen dropped that idea for it, but kept the overall theme- a journey through some of Mickey's most memorable cartoons. Throughout the game, you meet up with various Mickeys of the past in order to combat Pete in the final level. Well remembered for its breathtaking animation and challenging difficulty.

The cartoons, in order are:

  • 1: 1928's Steamboat Willie: Mickey's theatrical debut, and one of the earliest synchronized sound cartoons.
  • 2: 1933's The Mad Doctor: One of Mickey's more infamous shorts, due to its macabre subject matter. The Mad Doctor from this short has recently gone on to be in Epic Mickey.
  • 3: 1937's Moose Hunters: Mickey, Donald and Goofy go moose hunting.
  • 4: 1937's Lonesome Ghosts: Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy get called out to a haunted mansion by some ghosts for some fun. One of the more popular Fab Three cartoons.
  • 5: 1947's Mickey and the Beanstalk, from Fun and Fancy Free: Mickey sells a cow for magic beans, and he, Donald and Goofy find themselves face-to-face with Willie the Giant.
  • 5.5: 1935's The Band Concert: The first (publicly available) Mickey short in living color. Considered to be among the best cartoons ever made. The level is a bonus level in the Genesis, Sega CD, and Playstation version.
  • 6: 1990's The Prince and The Pauper: The final cartoon of the game, and at the time, the most recent theatrical short. By far the longest cartoon in the game- both in terms of level length and length of source material.

Not to be confused with Mouse Mania, even if Mickey appears in that, too.

Tropes used in Mickey Mania include:
  • Advancing Wall of Doom: In Mickey and the Beanstalk, you have to get away from a giant spider. Subverted in that you can't actually run away from it-- you have to jump on a ladybug and ride it away. Made difficult thanks to the ladybug looking like an enemy.
    • The last section of Moose Hunters has you running away from the moose in a run-towards-the-screen section. The PS 1 port added a similar section with Willie the Giant.
  • A Winner Is You
  • Big Boo's Haunt: The Lonesome Ghosts manor, 'natch.
  • Breather Level: Moose Hunters is signifigantly easier than the Mad Doctor or Lonesome Ghosts.
  • Dem Bones: Just like its source cartoon, The Mad Doctor has humonoid skeletons and giant spider skeletons.
  • The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: The Japanese version normally doesn't work in a non-Japanese console but if you run it on a emulator and then set the region system to Japan, then the game will say "Oh...This machine has somehow become an NTSC Mega Drive System."
  • Elevator Action Sequence: Once in The Mad Doctor, in an old-timey cage elevator as skeletons explode around you.
  • Escort Mission: Inverted in Moose Hunters, where Pluto follows you. Instead of you protecting him, however, he points out the oncoming moose.
  • Floating Continent: Mickey and the Beanstalk, of course. It's at the top of the Beanstalk, after all.
  • Heavily Armored Mook: The weasels' helmets prevent damage from being jumped on, for the most part.
  • It's All Upstairs From Here: In the final level, you have to race up a burning tower. Leads to Fridge Logic-- if you're racing up a burning tower, isn't the fire going to catch up anyways?
  • Level Ate: Played with in Mickey and the Beanstalk, thanks to the last room taking place on Willie the Giant's dining table. Giant gelatin doubles as trampolines.
  • Macro Zone: Mickey and the Beanstalk, due to it being Willie the Giant's land. Even the beetles and spiders are huge.
  • Meet Your Early Installment Weirdness: Mickey does this throughout the game.
  • Minecart Madness: The gurney section in the Mad Doctor, wherein you ride a gurney while avoiding acid pits and buzz saws.
  • My Future Self and Me: Invoked, in that Mickey can find a Mickey in each cartoon. Some, such as Mad Doctor Mickey and Band Concert Mickey, are hidden.
  • Nintendo Hard: Oh yes, you better believe it.
  • Nostalgia Level: Kinda the whole point of the game, but the first level, Steamboat Willie takes the cake. It's even in black and white at the beginning, with imperfections in the "film reel" (though not in the SNES version), and crackly sound, complete with the sound of an old projector.
  • Port Town: The Steamboat Willie level proceeds from the steamboat onto a port side town.
  • Secret Level: As mentioned previously, The Band Concert. The whole level takes place on flying crates inside a tornado, so it's also unlike any other level in the game.
  • Shout-Out: Obvious, considering the subject matter. Nevertheless, one example stands out. The hidden Mad Doctor Mickey seems to derive not from the Mad Doctor, but an earlier horror themed short, 1929's The Haunted House.
    • Also, in the Lonesome Ghosts level, a few rolling portraits from The Haunted Mansion appear in the background. Doubles as a Mythology Gag since the original concept for the Mansion was a dark ride based on Lonesome Ghosts.
    • While not definite, Mickey has thrown marbles as weapons before.
  • Updated Rerelease: The Playstation and Sega CD ports both add a level where Mickey has collect pencils so that a Mickey from the previous shorts attacks Pete. All versions except the SNES version also feature the bonus stage, The Band Concert. The Mad Doctor had a spiral staircase section that was not on the SNES. The PS 1 port added another running section, this time with Willie the Giant.