Disney Speedstorm is speeding to release this week, arriving on April 18th. I was fortunate enough to get in on the early access. In short, it’s fun, it’s fast, it’s got a lot of Disney characters — so let’s get into it.
Disney Speedstorm is a new racing game from Gameloft the publisher behind Disney’s Starlight Valley. It’s a battle race game like Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing, putting all your favorite Disney characters behind the wheel. The levels are amazing and the gameplay is pretty straight forward. Drive, attack, win. Sounds easy enough? Well there’s a catch.
I mentioned the gameplay being easy but it seems that Gameloft (previously a mobile game publisher) has had trouble escaping their mobile publishing past. You see, Disney's Speedstorm is chock full of upgrades, in game purchases, and other features you’d only really see in a mobile game. While this isn’t a huge degradation of the game and doesn’t take away from enjoying it, all of these “extras” become distracting and make navigating the game difficult. Speaking of navigation, there are so many menu screens that it’s hard to determine which screen is which. At one point, I found myself jumping between screens because I didn't know how I got there and I didn't know how to get back. Lastly, it just feels like there are so many unlockables and upgrades it becomes hard to keep track of what I got and how I got them and where to find them.
As for the gameplay, it’s simple. Grab an item icon and fire your bomb or use your power up or special to give you the winning edge. However, keep in mind the racers don’t mess around! Elizabeth Swan and Belle are absolutely my biggest enemies in this game so far. Moving on the character roster is pretty good for now. As the game grows there will be more characters added but your main roster includes Hercules, Meg, Elizabeth Swan, Jack Sparrow, Belle, Beast, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and more. What I’m most excited for is Figment will be an unlockable character and I can't wait to see what his special is. The levels are so much fun, and there are multiple routes you can take in each level. The best part is each level has its own music, which are remixes of classic Disney tunes. My personal favorite is the Hercules stage.
Overall, I think this game is a lot of fun and I’m enjoying the time I’ve put into it. There's a lot more to explore and I can’t wait to discover more. It absolutely reminded me of the Disney classic Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour, which I put hours and hours into playing!
I absolutely recommend grabbing this game especially if you like combat racing games. Disney Speedstorm comes out on April 18th on all major platforms and PC!