Disney’s Tsum Tsum brand seems to have fizzled away lately. Gone are the days of monthly Disney Store plush releases and even Jakks Pacific has seemingly discontinued their vinyl figure line. On a recent trip to Japan, I was surprised to see how small the Tsum Tsum section of multiple Disney Store’s were, considering it’s where the craze began. The one staple of the brand still going strong is the mobile game from Line and in that spirit comes the first Tsum Tsum video game for Nintendo Switch, Tsum Tsum Festival. Bandai Namco sent us a copy for review in a themed box that included pins, temporary tattoos, a Daisy Tsum Tsum plush, and an art print of WALL-E and EVE collecting Tsum Tsums.
When you first open the game, you are given some coins to expand your Tsum Tsum collection. Just like in the mobile game, there are many Tsum Tsums to collect. For $10,000 coins, you can visit the Present Balloons section of the gallery to get a present delivered. There are Tsum Tsum Festival versions of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Stitch, and Winnie the Pooh in bright colors and festive attire. Because the game is from Japan, you will also find bears from Disney UniBEARsity (another Japanese plush craze) and some characters more obscure in the states like Clarice. I was surprised to get a Tsum Tsum of Pac-Man, included because of his cameo in Wreck-It Ralph and also because he is a Namco character.
Collecting Tsum Tsums through Present Balloons is random and you can get the same Tsum Tsum multiple times until it reaches its highest level. But my preferred method of adding Tsum Tsums to your collection is through a game called Lost Treasure. It’s more luck than skill, a coin pusher with a slot machine component. A Tsum Tsum is featured in the center and if you can unlock the red, blue, and yellow capsules, a compartment will open up and you can add them to your collection. This is also a great way to earn coins as you get to keep the ones that fall off. To spin the wheels, coins must fall into a sliding cup at the edge of the platform and you can sometimes win some serious coinage during heavy payouts. You use the Joy-Con to aim and shoot coins onto the sliding platform. Some jackpots come with extra features, my favorite of which clears the deck, pushing all of the coins off. This entire game is very addicting and I found myself killing an hour without realizing that much time had passed.
As you would expect, the classic Tsum Tsum puzzle game is part of Tsum Tsum Festival. It’s the only game that has to be played with the Nintendo Switch in your hands because you use your finger on the touch screen, just like you would on a mobile device. I found the game play to be identical to that of the Line mobile game, including the ability to complete Bingo cards for extra prizes. Using the online feature, you can also play against others in real time around the world. Unlike the Line game, you don’t need to regenerate hearts to play, but you can still spend coins to help increase your score.
If that’s all there was to the game, it would be pretty disappointing. But there are so many mini-games with multiple ways to play that it would take you a very long time to experience all the game has to offer. It somewhat reminds me of Mario Party without the board game aspect, allowing you to select the mini-games you like best. First up is Ice Cream Stacker where you hold a Joy-Con sideways and tilt it to angle your ice cream cone as Tsum Tsum ice cream scoops fall. You have to stack ten successfully and hold them still to proceed to the next round and beat your opponents. It gets harder as you progress to the final round, where multiple Tsum Tsum scoops can drop at the same time!
Tsum Curling takes the Canadian Olympic sport and gives it a kawaii spin. You face off against another Tsum Tsum in a variety of rule options to try and get your stone in the center of the ring by the end of the round (and knock your opponents stone out of it). Each player gets to randomly select a special stone for each round that can aid you or hinder the other player.
Bubble Hockey is an air hockey match that can be played the traditional way with two players on each side of the table trying to make the most goals, or by shooting into a field of bubbles and trying to pop as many as you can in the time limit. Both games are a lot of fun and have the added element of activating features that temporarily knock players off their puck.
Tsum Chase is very much like Pac-Man and knowing that it’s a Namco game, it makes sense. Up to four players navigate through a maze while villainous Tsum Tsum ghosts chase after you. When you find candy, you become powerful enough to knock the ghosts out of the game, earning more points.
Round n’ Round Run is an obstacle course game where players race to collect more jewels than their opponents and get across the finish line first. Obstacles get in your way, including moving platforms and cannons. You can jump, dash, and move around the game, but beward of special objects that can make you or other players larger than the rest, which make the game even more challenging.
Egg Pack Coaster sounds simple, where your Tsum Tsum rides in an egg crate on two rails through a high-speed rail coaster. But the trick is you have to move your Joy-Con along with the track to stay on the coaster. You get points for successfully turning or twisting on time, but lose points each time you miss and fly off the coaster.
Tsum Tsum Mania is a shooting game similar to Galaga (another classic Namco game) where you aim your Joy-Con at the screen and shoot Tsum Tsums at moving targets in space for points.
Spinner Battle is a pirate-themed game where each Tsum Tsum is on a spinning top in a circular ring. In the Pirate Battle mode, you want to steal the smaller Tsum Tsums from other players by the end of the round. In Jewel Battle jems drop into the ring and you want to collect more than the other players.
Tsum Rhythm is a dance game with six J-pop tracks, one of which is “The Mickey Mouse Club March.” You only need to move one hand to play, shaking it on the beat as they enter the target. Each song has a difficulty rating and it gets challenging to get a long combination on those tracks.
Can’t decide what to play? Tsum Festival Tour allows you to randomize your experience with estimated length of play. This is great when playing with friends, allowing the game to decide what happens next.
With ten different games to play, Tsum Tsum Festival has a little something for everyone. I find it hard to stick with an RPG due to the amount of time needed to play, but games like Tsum Tsum Festival are the kind you can play in short bursts when you need a bit of fun in your life. Best of all, it’s so stinkin’ cute!
