The best Disney games honor the source material?? and are exciting to play for all ages. From kart racing, to farming, to platforming, there's a surprising amount of variety. Here are the best Disney games you can play i??n 2023.

[Note: I'm including games you can easily access on modern platforms. Unfortunately, it's quite difficult to get a copy of Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure in 2023. Otherwise, I'd put it on the list!]

Cars 3: Driven to Win

Cars 3: Driven to Win takes the Mario Kart approach and makes for a surprisingly good Disney racing game. You're driving throug??h locations from the film, and trying to triumph in the race, items included. There's a wide variety of characters to drive as, including Lightning, Cruz Ramirez, and even the unconventional Mater.

There's also a decent drifting and boosting system in place in the ??game, making it feel ??high-speed.

Disney’s Aladdin

Disney's Aladdin took "one jump ahead" to the platforming genre with fun platforming levels, groundbreaking 2D roto-scoping animation, and a great recreation of the desert city Agrabah in game form. This game's tough, however, so I'd recommend getting the Disney Classic Games Collection.

It has the function to rewind and even does a perfect playthrough for you. Fo??r the latter feature, you can also jump into the game whenever you'd like. The collection can switch between the Genesis and Super? Nintendo versions of the game too.

Disney Dreamlight Valley

Disney Dreamlight Valley is an absolute joy for any fan of the House of Mouse. In this relaxing Animal Crossing-like experience, you're rebuilding a town, as well as bringing back old and new Disney characters to the settlement. It's quite satisfying when the town gets busier and bu??sier.

You'll also ?be cooking a bunch of recipes from the ingredients you grow and collect from around the world. You'll need to have some patience too in this game with the farming elements!

Disney Infinity on Steam

What once was a toys-to-life game (remember those?), Disney Infinity has become a comprehensive package on Steam. You can get all the characters and campaigns through the Gold Collection on Valve's client. You won't need a figure. Within the game are some charming levels, simple Lego-like beat-em-up sections you can play with your family, and great production values all around. For example, in Disney Infinity 1.0, you can explore the Caribbean on a pirate ship.

You can't share your creations online, but there's a pretty awesome toolset for making your own levels? as well.

Disney Speedstorm

Disney Princesses don't have to wait for their "prince to come." Instead, they can race around all manner of landmarks throughout the animation studio's history. From Mulan's Great Walls of China to Aladdin's Agrabah, there are exciting places?? to explore on your kart.

The action's intense, the driving's surprisingly smooth for? a tie-in game like this, and the graphics are top-notch. I personally love that each item you use has a second ability from holding down the corresponding button.

The problem is that it's free-to-play and has a lot of barriers in place to unlock your favorite characters. Still, the game itself is thrilling to play; it's worth the headaches. Read my review for more information.

DuckTales

Available through The Disney Afternoon Collection, you can play this pl?atforming classic in 2023. You're using Scrooge's cane as a pogo stick, bumping enemies. The level design is immaculate.

The music is also phenomenal, especially the Moon level's theme, which cover artists still love to highlight to this day. Like Aladdin's port to modern systems, you can rewind the game as well, making this game more accessible to modern players. It might?? be an NES game, but you might go quackers over it.

"Borrowing a page from Mega Man with its freeing world selection system, the maps themselves are full of twists, turns, alternate paths, and secret areas," Chris Carter says in his Destructoid review for The Disney Afternoon Collection. "Like most of the Afternoon Collection, it stands ?on its own two feet, fr??ee of the shackles of nostalgia."

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX

If you know me, this selection isn't a surprise at all. Kingdom Hearts is near and dear to my heart. The characters are relatable, the storyline is surprisingly deep, and the action RPG combat system keeps me coming back over and over. I've always found it wonderful how the magical worlds of Disney blend with the Final Fantasy-esque storyline and combat.

Mickey flips around like Star Wars' Yoda and uses a golden keyblade, while Final Fantasy X's tough Auron takes on Hercules' Cerberus in the Underworld alongside our heroes Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Kingdom Hearts is bonkers, and I'm here for it. The combat's also top of the line with some stunning abil?ities at Sora's disposal like Sonic Blade and Ragnarok. The bosses, for the most part, are also well-designed and will challenge you.

It's been said many times, but the fusion of Disney and Square Enix properties shouldn't work. And yet, it's a perfect match. Please get on the gummi ship and take a journey into the wacky chaos, which is the Kingdom Hearts series.

The post 7 best Disney games you can easily play in 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

You need every character to unlock it

Although we've heard rumors that Star Wars and Marvel are a go in a current or future iteration of Disney Infinity, it appears as if a group of fans have uncovered a Skywalker-sized Easter egg in the existing game. Found by way of the Disney Infinity Fans community, if you collect every toy in the game and head to ??the Hall of Heroes, you'll unlock the ligh??tsaber weapon for full use with every character.

It's a simple enough unlock, but the reason why it hasn??'t been found until this past week is because the toys Phineas and Perry haven't been released yet -- but by way of a giveaway at Comic-Con, one player was able to uncover it.  It might not sound like much but it's a pretty cool addition to the game as it can be used in every mode, and it's no doubt a taste of what's to come.

Disney Infinity Star Wars Ligh??tsaber Ultimate Pack [Disney Infinity Fans]

The post Lightsaber weapon Easter egg u??ncovered in Disney Infinity appeared first on Destructoid.

Well, at least two of them are worth owning

The first thing that came to mind when Disney Infinity was announced was a Wreck-It Ralph-themed campai??gn. With multiple settings that weren't fully explored in the film, the franchise is a goldmine of locations, and I would have loved to have seen t?hem in some form.

But that dream was not meant to be, as Avalanche Studios currently has no Play Set planned for Ralph and his best friend Vanellope. Even if that day never comes however, the char??acters are still pretty enjoyable in their own right.

Disney Infinity (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 [tested])
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Released: November 22 (Rapunzel), November 24 (Ralph & Vanellope)
MSRP: $12.99 (each character, no Play Set)

Rapunzel (sold separately as her own toy), simply put, is one of the weakest characters so far in the Disney Infinity stable. Not only is she a clone of the Frozen Toy Box Set's Anna, but she also has no real unique features in the slightest. All she does is swing her frying pan as her base attack, and...throw more frying pans for her secondary abi??lity.

It's a missed opportunity to have Rapunzel's lizard Pascal as a companion attack or anything other than something frying pan related, for that matter. In fact, I wouldn't recommend Rapunzel at all unless you have a chil??d who loves her. Instead of releasing this character on her own, Avalanche should have at least crafted a Toy Box Set with Flynn Rider and the appropriate theme discs.

Wreck-It Ralph on the other hand, is just as good as you'd imagine him to be. Since his fictional realm takes place in a freaking videogame, he fits right in with the rest of the?? cast in multiple ways. The model itself looks great, as does the toy, which comes with plastic covers over his giant hands for protection. His a?ttacks are interesting and effective, and he has the ability to (of course) wreck things with his fists, and throw cherry bombs that exhibit 8-bit visual effects. I found myself cycling him in my usual repertoire of Toy Box characters almost immediately.

Vanellope von Schweetz is Ralph's counterpart, and she's almost as impressive. As one of the shortest ?models in the entire game (which sets her apart right off the bat), she has the ability to "glitch" dash and throw her own version of Ralph's cherry bombs, which have a distinct candy-flavored explosion. Her glitch functions as both an attack and a dodge, which isn't a typical attack type -- so she's also effective from a pure gameplay perspective. I don't plan on?? cycling her in as often as Ralph, but I love the idea of playing co-op Toy Boxes with both of them, as they compliment each other perfectly.

It's a shame that both Wreck-It Ralph characters don't have a full story Play Set to run through, but you can run a background and theme filter so long as you have the appropriate Wreck-It Power Discs. I hope that Ralph gets a real?? tribute one day, but until then, you can enjoy a fun co-op experience ?with Vanellope.

Previous Disney Infinity DLC coverage:

• Cars Play Set
• Lone Ranger Play Set
• Jack Skellington
• Toy Story in Space
• Frozen Toy Box Set

The post Impressions: Disney Infinity: Rapunzel, Ralph & Vanellope appeared first on Destructoid.

I'd love to see more of these

As you may have noticed, Disney Infinity has been slowly rolling out some add-on options for the core game, and not ??all of them are created equal. Some involve a full-on story mode unique to a Disney IP, some are character packs, and others are just singular characters.

Although the IPs presented in said add-ons tend to skew towards contemporary films, the Frozen Toy Box Pack is a decent compromise for those of you who want more ??than j?ust a simple character pack.

Disney Infinity: Frozen Toy Box Pack (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 [tested])
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Released: November 26, 2013
MSRP: $34.99 (Two characters, no Play Set)

Anna, the star of Frozen, is one of the two characters included in the set, and although she isn't one of my favorite characters in the game she's interesting enough to warrant the occasional switch. She uses her shovel as her base attack and a grappling hook to get around -- the latter of which basically functions as a hookshot for traversing gaps, Tenchu style. She also sports a neat ninja flip,?? although her regular attacks are very slow and awkward, so you'll most likely want to use a Toy B??ox item to take on enemies.

Elsa the Snow Queen is the highlight of the pack, as she sports a much more interesting design as well as some badass magical attacks. Her ice beams are almost Final Fantasy in nature, as she has both AOE snow flurries and individual icicles that can be aimed from afar, which makes her useful for almost any situation -- not to mention they can also freeze enemies. She doesn't have any real maneuverability advantages, but she also has the ninj??a flip, and she can double jump. Unlike Anna, I use her regularly now in Toy Box.

The best thing about this set however is the fact that it comes with two themed Power Discs that are exclusive to the Frozen pack. They allow you to customize both the background and the entire theme of the set, morphing your creations into a winter wonderland. The discs are easily two of the best themes and backgrounds in the game, and drastically alter the overall look of the Box. I love this concept of a Toy Box set, because it d??oesn't feel like a wasted opportunity like some other releases.

For instance, if the developers released a "Nightmare Before Christmas" Disc with Jack Skellington (it's sold separately), he would have been a much more compelling purchase. The inclusion of the discs here is a great compromise, and one I'd like to see more of going forward. Since Frozen functions as both a co-op set and a full-on theme, I can heartily recommend it for any fan of Disney Infinity.

Previous Disney Infinity DLC coverage:

• Cars Play Set
• Lone Ranger Play Set
• Jack Skellington
• Toy Story in Space

The post Impressions: Disney Infinity Frozen Toy Box Set appeared first on Destructoid.

Rapunzel, Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope, and Frozen ladies

Disney Infinity will see new toys and Power Discs released this month. In fact, a couple are out today as you can get the Wreck-It Ralph figure from Walmart, and the Rapunzel toy from Best Buy. Vanellope will be out on November 24 at Target, and the all three of the toys are going for $12.99. All three of these figures will also be retailer exclusives from November 24 to December 31.  Lastly the ??Frozen To??y Box Pack will include Anna and Elsa for $29.99, and that will be a national release.

There's also 20 new Power Discs! Here's the full break????down:

Circular Discs:

• Ralph’s Power of Destruction - In-game character can increase melee damage.
• Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s Damage-inator! - In-game character weapon can do more wide ranged damage.
• Electro-Charge - In-game character has a chance to gain more health.
• Star Command Shield - In-game character has a chance to receive less damage.
• User Control - In-game character has a chance to gain experience at a faster rate.

Hexagonal Discs:

• Flamingo Croquet Mallet - Spawn a Flamingo croquet mallet from “Alice in Wonderland” inside the Toy Box.
• Victor’s Experiments - Make all of the terrain objects in the Toy Box themed to the "Frankenweenie" film.
• New Holland Skyline - Make the sky in the Toy Box themed to the "Frankenweenie" film.
• Frozen Flourish - Make all of the terrain objects in the Toy Box themed to the "Frozen" film.
• Chill In The Air - Make the sky in the Toy Box themed to the "Frozen" film.
• Headless Horseman's Horse - Ride the Headless Horseman's Horse inside the Toy Box.
• Maximus - Ride Maximus from "Tangled" inside the Toy Box.
• Mike's New Car - Drive Mike Wazowski's vehicle inside the Toy Box.
• Jack’s Scary Decorations - Make all of the terrain objects in the Toy Box themed to the "Nightmare Before Christmas" film.
• Halloweentown Sky - Make the sky in the Toy Box themed to the "Nightmare Before Christmas" film.
• Pizza Planet Delivery Truck - Drive the Pizza Planet Delivery Truck from "Toy Story" inside the Toy Box.
• Hangin’ Ten Stitch with Surfboard - Spawn a hover surfboard with Stitch on the front inside the Toy Box.

Rare Hexagonal Discs:

• Electric Mayhem Bus - Spawn the Electric Mayhem Bus from "The Muppets" inside the Toy Box.
• Condor Wing Glider - Spawn a glider pack that is Wings ala Condor Man inside the Toy Box.
• Hook's Ship from Peter Pan Ride - Spawn a flying airship themed after Captain Hook's ship inside the Toy Box.

The post Five new Disney Infinity toys are out this month appeared first on Destructoid.

It's not a laser! It's a little light bulb that blinks

One criticism that I've seen with Disney Infinity is that it's too contemporary. At launch, we got three Pixar films, a Pirates of the Caribbean world, and a Play Set for the brand new Lone Ranger reboot. Although classic franchises like Aladdin and Little Mermaid are lumped in with th??e free roaming Toy Box mode in the form of co??llectibles, a lot of people were left wanting more than just a Pixar game, which is a fair point.

But that time still hasn't come, as Disney has launched the newest Toy Story-themed world for Disney Infinity, in yet another Pixar-based offering. The good news is that it's actually pretty?????????????????????????? fun, despite retreading familiar territory.

Disney Infinity: Toy Story in Space Play Set (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 [tested])
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Released: October 22nd, 2013
MSRP: $34.99 (Play Set with two characters)

You know the drill by now. Each Play Set includes two new characters, and a new DLC campaign. This time you're getting Buzz and Jesse (sadly, Woody is sold separately, which is a major bummer), and the world itself is based off of Buzz Lightyear's Star Command universe, with a few Toy Story characters stuck in for good measure.

Although one might think this is going to be an epic campaign against the evil Emperor Zurg, that's not really the case, as Zurg's forces are relegated to a "Comb?at Simulator" area within the DLC itself in favor of a more low-key space setting. It's a bit of a disappointment for sure, but Wallace Shawn and John Ratzenberger return to voice Rex and Hamm respectively, and i?t thankfully has a solid amount of charm to it in its own right.

So without Zurg to battle, what are you actually doing? Well, Toy Story in Space is a cute romp through a galactic setting, filled with those loveable (but possibly over-saturated) "eternally grateful" aliens, as you attempt to save the??m from natural ??disasters like a raging space volcano.

I generally find it really hard to dislike anything Toy Story related, so odds are you won't find much to complain about here as you trek across uncharted territory, discovering new forms of life, and solving alien-sized problems. This Play Set has jokes, ladies and gentlemen, and although they usually teeter on the cheesy side, I couldn't help but crack a few ??laughs throughout my time with it (Wallace Shawn is pretty much great in anything).

As you progress through the straightforward campaign you'll unlock new items, like a jetpack that allows you to live out your wildest Buzz Lightyear dreams of flight, and other odds and ends like the iconic yellow and red Pixar ball. Similar to the Cars set, you'll?? also have the ability to engage in a linear city-building ??minigame as you assemble your own version of a Star Command Headquarters. But in order to do that you have to constantly hunt down and open building crates, which can lead to some tedium -- thankfully, you're free to leave the HQ area as often as you want, and explore the fairly large world at hand.

Toy Story in Space's attempt to mix things up lends itself to a "big and small" mechanic, involving mysterious purple and green goo that allows a subject to become tiny or gigantic by taking a dip in the respective goo pit. The only problem with these sections of the world is that they're heavily designed around the mechanic, with very little freedom of exploration and movement. So while it feels cool to go all Alice in Wonderland at first, your options are extre??mely limited in where you can actually go.

Having said that, most of the DLC's content is consistently fun. There are a ton of secrets to find (like eggs that can hatch into creatures), puzzles to solve, and tall platforms to climb. The starting area is also impressive in terms of scale, and the massive draw distance really shows off Disney Infinity's solid game engine.

In the grand scheme of things, the jetpack and rocket packs are great, and are two of the best items in the entire game to carry over to Toy Box mode. Green and purple goo guns are also a go for the Toy Box, but their value wears thin after th??e first few times you shrink and grow your character. Buzz, Jesse, and Woody all translate very well in-game, but the p?hysical Woody figure feels slightly off in quality, and I can't quite put my finger on it -- like it's a knockoff, or something.

Toy Story in Space may not push the IP as far as it should, but it still offers up a solid action-adventure sandbox for gamers of all ages to enjoy. Although I wasn't blown away like I was with The Lone Ranger set, I couldn't help but keep a smile on my face?? as I blasted away robots left and right with Buzz and Woody.

The post Impressions: Disney?? Infinity: Toy Story in ??Space Play Set appeared first on Destructoid.

Neat!

Fresh off of a solid launch, the folks over at Disney have released an iPad app for Disney Infinity. The app itself is Toy Box oriented, as it allows you to? build and create worlds that can be put into ??the console version. You'll start off with a limited amount of items (and just Mr. Incredible), but the real way to use this app is to sync it with your console game, which will allow you to unlock all of the pieces you've encountered in your save file.

You can also use the code that came with each physical toy to unl??ock them on the app. The app is free until October 15th, at which point it'll revert to a mystery price-point.

Disney Infinity [iTunes]

The post Disney Infinity releases iOS Toy Box app appeared first on Destructoid.

Woody from Toy Story > Booker DeWitt

When I reviewed Disney Infinity, one of my favorite aspects of the game was the Toy Box -- a LittleBigPlanet-esque tool that lets you create new 3D worlds for people to explore. To help facilitate the sharing of said creations, Disney curates content wi??th "featured Toy Boxes" that you can download from the main men?u.

This week features a number of different levels (including a Star Wars-themed trench run), but the most notable is probably a replica of the city of Columbia from BioShock Infinite. While it's definitely not a 1:1 re-creation, it does have a number of skyrails among a floating city, and it's neat to see BioShock officially recognized in some?? capacity by Disney.

The post You got BioShock Infinite in my Disney Infinity appeared first on Destructoid.

Rather finite, but fun

With the success of Skylanders and Skylanders Giants, it was inevitable that someone would challenge the concept of marrying toys to videogames on such a large scale. So what better company than the juggernaut that is Disney, who was able to sink $100 million dollars into research and development for the project, titled Disney Infinity.

But Disney Infinity isn't exactly the same as Skylanders ??beyond the concept of toys as DLC. They're fairly different games -- for better, and for wor??se.

Disney Infinity (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Released: August 18, 2013 (NA) August 23, 2013 (EU) [3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360] / October 2013 [PC]
MSRP: $74.99 (Starter Pack) / $39.99 (Play Set with two characters) / $12.99 (Individual characters)

In order to get started with Disney Infinity, straight-up, you're going to need to purchase the Starter Pack just like Skylanders (ouch!). It'll net you an Infinity Base that plugs into your system via USB, three figures in the form of Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Sulley (Monsters University), and Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles), plus a hexagonal Play Set piece that inc?ludes a separate campaign for all three of these IPs -- which I'll? explain in a bit.

The toys themselves are extremely high quality, and a step up from the Skylanders figures as they're taller, generally larger, and made of tougher material that doesn't feel flimsy. They're non-articulated which is a bummer, and the base is rather large, but I don't feel like I could break them by stepping on them or dropping them, and they stand up perfectly on just about any surface. Just like Skylanders, information for each piece is hard-coded in the base itself, and you?? can travel with your characters and keep your level progress. Alternatively, you? can have a friend buy the game for the Play Sets, and just buy a character to use yourself; you can also use them on any platform.

So what can you actually do with these toys? Well, you place them on the Infinity Base to jump into a Play Set, which is a fully-featured world themed after Pirates, Monsters, or The Incredibles. Pirates will take place in a world full of swashbuckling ne'er-do-wells and the high seas, Monsters University is set on the titular university grounds, and The Incredibles world features the GTA-like city of Metroville. All of them ope??rate in the same manner, playing out a narrative similar to the films in non-linear mid-sized sandboxes.

Not all sets are created equal though, as the Monsters and Pirates Play Sets in particular aren't nearly as engaging as The Incredibles. While Metroville is a joy to explore, topping LEGO City Undercover's Lego City in terms of personality and fun-factor, the University and the high seas pale in comparison. The academia-heavy Monsters Play Set feels like a mid-tier Tony Hawk level at times, leading you to mundane tasks like cleaning up toilet paper attacks from rival college Fear Tech. Similarly, getting around by way of ship-travel can be a bit of a bore in Pirates, especially compared to the Helicopter- and Hoverboard-heavy Incredibles Play Set.

With simple one-button attacks and at most a few abilities at your disposal, if I had to compare the gameplay to anything, it would be the LEGO games. You know by now whether you're the target audience, and if you can't seem to "get" them, you'd probably be better off staying away from Disney Infinity. But for the rest of us who don't mind easy-going mechanics from time to time, it's actually quite enjoyable. Each of the starter worlds has a roughly three-hour core campaign, with tons of conte?nt packed in all three like side-missions, story quests, and hidden collectibles that will push you far past the three-hour mark.

For the purposes of this review, I purchased an additional $30 pack to augment the starter edition that came with the following characters: Davy Jones (Pirates), Randy (Monsters University), and Syndrome (Incredibles). You may notice that the IPs of these three characters match up with the starter kit -- that's because in order to play co-op between worlds, you need two characters from the same universe -??- for example, Jack Sparrow and Da??vy Jones.

The concept behind this according to Disney (beyond the obvious monetary reasons, shhh) is that each world is a separate contained experience, and having Mr. Incredible running around in the Pirates world would feel weird. The good news is ?split-screen co-op is a treat, as it allows each player to roam around the world f??reely, doing anything they wish without tethering people together on the same bit of TV real-estate.

To test how far I could take it, my wife and I tried a ton of co-op together and had a pretty great time. There weren't very many limits at all. At one point I was in one area in the Incredibles city doing core missions, and she was in a completely different part looking for collectibles and saving the local Zoo. Whenever we felt like joining up for quests, we just followed the compass to the meet-up spot. It's a bit weird to play as Syndrome (the villain in The Incredibles) and see him causing havoc ?to the town in the story bits, but I'm willing? to put up with it if the alternative is not being able to choose the character I want.

So those three aforementioned worlds I talked about above? That's all you get with the Starter Pack. If you want additional game worlds (there are currently two extras right now -- Cars and The Lone Ranger), you're going to have to purchase a seperate Play Set, which comes with two characters (allowing co-op, inherently), ??and the hexagonal base that comes with the levels.

In other words, think of it as really expensiv??e DLC that nets you approximately another three hours of gameplay. Power Discs are another concern, as they're sold in blind packs, and n??et you additional content and bonuses by placing them under your physical toys on the base. Thankfully, most of these extras are small in nature or cosmetic, and can be ignored -- especially the stat boosts, which you absolutely don't need to beat the game.

Now, this model would really turn me off if it weren't for the Toy Box, which is included in the base game and is extremely well done. Essentially, it's a completely separate mode that allows you to create your own world and setup a number of different objects from various Disney IPs like Scrooge McDuck's Moneybin, ESPN sports-themed equipment (yes, Disney owns ESPN!) and actual rides from Disney parks. If you want, you can queue up a race track and play with Cars characters, or create vehicles and animals to ride for characters ?with legs.

This is where all the good classic IPs like Alice in Wonderland are hiding, and you can set up your town with hundreds of items from just about every major Disney film, from Robin Hood to Beauty and the Beast. Toy Box is really open-ended, and online play with the ability to submit and share levels online is a plus. It's one part Minecraft-lite, one part LittleBigPlanet, and the tools provided are fairly robust, easy to understand, and enjoyable to play with. If you're the kind of gamer who hates creating things t??hough, you'll quickly run out of thing??s to do in the Toy Box.

There are a few extra modes to play around in besides Play Sets and the Toy Box, including other downloadable Box worlds, the Hall of Heroes (that lets you view all of your collected content, and morphs as you level up), and one challenge that's unique to each character. But beyond the game's modes, I can't help but feel like the initial cast of character should have been a lot stronger. For instance, there are a lot of Pixar propertie?s that? are playable, but very few classic Disney movies are represented beyond a few small NPC references.

While I haven't purchased the Lone Ranger Play Set yet to test the actual quality of the sandbox, one has to wonder about the actual appeal of said IP in the grand scheme of things, and why Johnny Depp's likeness had to be in the game not once, but twice. Heavy-hitters like Toy Story, Wreck-It-Ralph and Phineas and Ferb are due to arrive later this year, but not at launch. Coming in with a bang with Star Wars- or Marvel-related properties would have made Infinity a must-buy, but as it stands, you really need to like Disney and Pixar to get into the laun??ch cast.

I can see the potential with Disney Infinity both within its future playset opportunities and the Toy Box, but it's not quite at a "must buy" status just yet. By the same token, I had a ton of fun playing the game, especially with a local co-op partner on-hand. So long as you're willing to put up with some rather elementary action gameplay, Disney Infinity is a solid choice for families, younger gamers, and gamers who are young at heart alike.

The post Review: Disney Infinity appeared first on Destructoid.

Take advantage of it before it gets patched!

Pick up Disney Infinity? Well if you're impatient you can use this neat little trick to level up your Disney Infinity ch??aracters pretty fast. Just set down a fan, get in a car, and then get spun in the air like you just don't care.

YouTube user Craig Su?llivan notes that it took him 45 minutes to gain about eigh??t levels.

Oh, and we'll have our official review for Disney Infinity coming to you soon. Sorry for the delay on that!

@kobunheat [Twitter]

The post An easy way to level up your Disney? Infinity character appeared first on Destructoid.

Oh, they'll make it back, don't worry

Wall Street Journal has a report stating that Disney has spent well over $100 million on the development of Disney Infinity. That's for both the game, and all of the toys that can work for it. Disney has had a very rocky history in the game development world, and if this game fails than things could be pretty disa??strous for the company.

Except, I don't think Disney has anything to worry about here. Look, the Skylanders series has made over $1 billion in the two years that it's?? existed, which is ?impressive considering it was a brand new IP.

Disney is Disney. They have years of history that has created an insane loyal fan base that will buy the toys for Infinity for the collectors value alone. Plus all the methods of promotion at their disposal from movies to the Disney Channel itself. I'd be shocked if they can't pull in $1 billion in half the time it took Activision with Skylanders. Even faster if they ever announce a Marvel and Star Wars crossover for Infinity.

Disney Tries Anew t??o Raise?? Its Score on Digital Games [Wall Street Journal]

The post Disney has spe?nt over $1??00M on Infinity development appeared first on Destructoid.

Make your own mock games

The Toy Box is one of the coolest things about Disney Infinity. That may sound like kids stuff, but you'll turn into a kid yourself when you see how powerful the creation tools are. In Toy Box, you'll have access to all ??the characters, settings, and props you'd ever need, and you can use them to create you??r own games within the game. The logic tools are simple but powerful, and they let you make games like the ones you'll see in this video.

There's everything from football to racing in here. Check out 0:53 in the video and you'll see Infinity's version of Super Mario Bros. world 1-1 in action. It's kind of cheating to reach the top of the flagpole as Buzz Lightyear, though. At 1:15 you'll see something that reminds me of Pilotwings. Runners, top-down racer??s, shooters -- just about anything you can think up.

Does Toy Box seem?? like something you'd like to pla??y with?

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'We had to get out of the way of the player'

The Toy Box mode in Disney Infinity seems to be the real draw. It's an outlet for playing as many different beloved characters, sure, but it's also the place where the sandbox play is fully embraced. I can see this being an absolute blast, and not m??erely for kids who like the featured properties.

In this video, folks from Disney, Pixar, and developer Avalanche Software talk about what they hope to accomplish with Toy Box and why imagination is so crucial. Can't say I'm looking forward to the real-world toy aspect of Infinity, but that shouldn't be too hard to work arou??nd. I'll play as anyone; just let me fly around in this open world.

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Ka-Chow!

Disney has started a steady reveal of the worlds from Disney Infinity. First they showed off Monsters University, and today, it's the Cars world's turn to shine.

For those of you who don't remember, Infinity will feature two modes. One is a mode that restricts chara??cters to their specific worlds, with franchise-centric missions, and the other is a ?sandbox that allows different IPs to interact.

In the Cars world, you'll visit Radiator Springs, racing through the town as Lightning McQueen, Mater, Holley Shiftwell and Francesco Bernoulli. I'm just going to assume no one saw the terrible Cars 2 and don't recognize those last two names, but yeah -- they're from Cars 2.

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"The sky is the limit"

An hour after taking the stage to unveil Disney Infinity, "Disney's most ambitious video game initiative ever" (a press release states), I sat down with Av?alanche Studios chief creative officer John Blackburn to discuss where P?ixar's influence meets his own kids' influence on this massive undertaking.

We discussed the difference between platforms, the d??ifficulties of ma?king a sandbox to play in, and what kids like to do with their toys.

Does watching your kids play affect your work?

When we went out to Pixar the first time -- this was for Toy Story 3 -- they did a short 20-min presentation on what the storyline for Toy Story 3 would be and in that there was a little bit of Andy playing with his toys. When we left, we started lo??oking at how our own kids play. Particularly my kids. They play this game where they have their castle, they have their stuffed animals, and they got these Geoma?gs that they put together The animals come out and attack the castle, and then these Geomags become cages for these animals they got, but they also then bring completely different toys as they play.

It's a type of game they play, but they are creating a new story every time they do it. Our idea behind this -- in watching them -??- was like, most of the gameplay is in the setup of this. They set up this huge thing in their mind, and they are telling each other about the setup as they go, and we are like, if we can get to that, that's what they are actually enjoying. Before they knock everything over, it's that moment when they are creating this new scenario that they get to play.

Did you design this game thinking, "This is what my kids will enjoy?" or, "This is what I would enjoy playing with them?"

It's a little bit of both. When we first started working with [Pixar CCO] John Lasseter, we pitched him an idea, "You know, we are going to put in some more girl-based gameplay in here," and he's like, "No, no, no! ?Go make gameplay that you guys want to play!" So we got into this whole philosophy like the guys at Pixar who are like, "We make movies for ourselves. We don't make movies for a demographic in mind. We make a movie we want to see, and kids happen to enjoy those. The reason it's funny to parents is because it's a movie for us. Now go do the same thing here. That's how you're going to be successful. Go make a game that you want to play that is deep enough that you want to play and make it easy enough for kids to play too."

And so, we feel like we are going out on two different levels here. As a parent, I love making content that I can play with my kid, so that's really what we have in mind. I want to be having fun while they are having fun. We a??re doing two different things, but that's what makes it special.

For multiplayer, do you have any sort of systems that will guide players and tell them "you might get along with this person"?

We don't do matchmaking on the online portion of the game. This is something that is potentially a safety concern. As a parent and a consumer, I want to know when my child goes to play this, they will be safe. We only allow players to play with people already on their friends list that already know you. There will be no generic matc??hmaking.

How are you going to moderate what gets uploaded? Are there any hard rules?

There are absolutely hard rules. There are two different things: There is safety, but we also think about appropriateness in content. That's what we are really concerned about when someone submits something to us. You cannot share something with your friend unless you are in a?? room with a friend, sharing it with them at that point in time. We really can't moderate content in that way. It is cool because it's drop-in, drop-out. You can create something for an hour, invite to a room, and then boom. I'm there and we download the whole thing. It's very easy to share.

But when you are talking about "I saved a file and I'm going to try to share that experience," that will go through a moderating process with Disney and us. We go through and moderate those things. We are looking at this more as a curative content process, where we display?? the best content and give back to the community. So there will be an ever-expanding body of content there, but the idea behind that is appropriate for a Disney audience.

One of the fun things about Halo's Forge mode is that you can kind of break the game, mess with the physics and such. How did you approach limiting or not limiting what players can do in Toy Box?

When we designed it, there was definitely a lot of inspiration that came out of some of those other experiences. I mean, Halo 4 was actually one of the ones where it was amazing that my kids could play it for hours and yet they really don't have anything in mind -- they aren't trying to build a level. They are exploring what you can do. That's really the same kind of mentality you get into with this, so we've gone back and forth in the design p?rocess in how restrictive we want to be. Should we go more toward usability and restrictiveness, or should we go towards free play and let you get yourself in a tough spot that may be harder to get out of -- we've actually gone in?? that direction.

We think it's more fun. In a way, causing that problem is sometimes the objective. My kids would sometimes grab me and say, "Oh dad, watch this. it's really cool that you can do this." A total bug, but it was fun. The goal is to be entertained. At the end of the day, we? want you to play? the way you want to play. So we really want to reduce the number of rules.

A developer demoing Toy Box mode was telling me that he enjoys it because he's good at the game and he can create real difficult levels with it, as opposed to the more elementary story missions.

It's funny because we both watch kids play and then we play ourselves. We go through and as adults, nine times out of ten, we have these conflicts that get going between people, but you lose track of your objective really quickly. If we go in and tell kids go build a castle together, some kids that are rule-followers will go build it, but then there will be some other kid that is like, "Look at all this crap you can pull out of the Toy Box!" and [they] start bringing those things out and experimenting with them, and that's part of th?e fun too. That's part of why you are building a big toy collection: How many things can you bring, and how many experiences can you have playing with them? I really feel like it's a kind of new gameplay pattern I haven't seen at this level before. Forge had it a little bit, but that wasn't the intention behind Forge. This actually is the intention. ?The sky is the limit. Let's see how many things we can do.

Can you detail how the mobile and handheld versions will differ?

The 3DS is a very different experience. They memory can't handle all that stuff, so technologically we couldn't do the same thing there. It's more of a game you expect on a 3DS: You ??build teams with characters and they each have a mini-game that comes along with them. You can go and build out? the different play fields that you'll go through with your team, so there is a strategy component when you play with someone else. The mobile versions are actually more attuned to touch controls. We aren't ready to share that yet, but it will be tied to the economy and the experience with all the characters you have. We'll leave that it at that.

PC version will be the same, but? you use web codes to unlock.

With Lucas and Marvel, is there anything down the line and will there ever be a non-Disney collaboration?

This is my favorite question as a developer [laughs]. I hope so! Th?ere have been discussions about that, but it's above my level in the company. Everyone looks at this and says, "Wow, you can add a whole bunch of cool stuff in here," but we need to make sure it's right for the brands, right for the players, and right for everyone that loves those properties too.

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