Disney Epic Mickey, the upcoming Wii game from Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios, is more than a highly anticipated holiday title. More, in fact, than a clever and engaging stab at bringing one of the most recognized characters of all time back to the realm of video games. Disney Epic Mickey is the "ultimate limit" of Wii's graphical potential.

So says Producer for the game Raul Ramirez. His full quote on the subject reads as follows:

"We do have such a great experienced staff at Junction Point that we were able to, as we feel, push the Wii to it's capability and ultimate limit and provide a beautiful story for the player to jump into."

"We are fortunate enough to have such great staff and we have a lot of years experience in the gaming community that they've just pushed the Wii to its capability, to its absolute max, in order to provide what you're seeing in front of you."

Strong words for a game that initially drew so much criticism for the gulf between its concept art and its on-screen graphics that a new look was deemed necessary. Hopefully, the game's graphics will be as good a Ramirez claims. Time will tell.

Epic Mickey Gremlin Village

In any case, reaching the limit of the Wii's capability for making Disney Epic Mickey look really, really good does not mean that the game could not ultimately look better, particularly if it should appear on a more powerful console. Say, the PS3 or Xbox 360.

Ever since PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect were revealed, there has been a more or less constant buzz that Disney Epic Mickey's paint and thinner gameplay might eventually find a home on the high def systems. With Move available now (and reviewed by Game Rant), and Kinect right around the corner, Rameriz addresses the rumors head on:

"I'm not allowed to comment on that... of course that seems to be what everybody feels now that those controls have come in. There are talks going on, but... I don't know."

Well, that is certainly not a denial, though there are likely factors at work beyond whether or not Disney Epic Mickey's gameplay would translate well to Sony and Microsoft's motion control systems. Nintendo may well have a vested interest in keeping Disney Epic Mickey all to itself, at least for now.

And, at least for now, playing Disney Epic Mickey on the Wii is the only option. I was lucky enough to spend some hands on time with the game at PAX Prime 2010. I enjoyed what I played, and look forward to the finished version. But was it the best looking Wii game I'd ever seen? In a word, no.

It certainly wasn't bad looking, but it simply did not "pop" the way that Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M do. Disney Epic Mickey is also going to face some stiff competition, graphically speaking, from Donkey Kong Country Returns and Kirby's Epic Yarn. Of course, the version I played was still a work in progress, and a lot may change by the time the Mouse takes his place on store shelves this holiday season.

Ranters, what do you think - would having the best graphics on the Wii make you more interested in playing Disney Epic Mickey? Or are you still holding out hope for an Xbox 360 or PS3 version of the game?

Disney Epic Mickey paints the town red November 26, 2010, exclusively on the Nintendo Wii.

Source: CVG, Total Video Games