Nerd Mentality

PS3 REVIEW — Disney Universe

Posted November 4th 2011 by Frankie Aguilar.

When I first started seeing ads pop up for Disney Universe on Youtube I thought to myself, "Of course Disney would be the company to try to rip off Little Big Planet." Don't get me wrong, as a native Floridian, all praise to the Rat, but I just couldn't understand where they got off thinking Sackboys in Monsters, Inc. costumes would fly. So I waded into the cutesy world of Disney Universe with trepidation usually held for chick flicks and anything on Nick Jr. not named Yo Gabba Gabba. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an overstatement, but none-the-less, this game isn't half bad.

For starters, besides having adorable little characters in a platforming setting, the comparisons to LBP stop right at the door; comparisons to the LEGO game franchise are more accurate. DU actually has a story, and it's not what you'd assume. Don't expect the brooding, villain Pantheon Illuminati stories that back-ended the Kingdom Hearts series but despite that, DU has a the tiniest bit of an edge. In the game, "Disney Universe" is a universe that was created so fans could experience all of their favorite Disney locales. But for all its good intentions, the computerized play lands have been infected by a virus that generates various stage-themed villains and hazards. So this is where you and your friends come in.

You take on the role of little gremlin looking characters and pick your favorite bobble head–inspired Disney costume to gallivant around in. From the outset, in the Pirates of the Caribbean stage, the formula for the games becomes quickly clear. You're going to run, jump and button mash your way through stages, puzzles and boss fights, collecting Mickey Mouse dollars as you go in order to buy more costumes and stages. The stage-based puzzles are straightforward—hit this switch or move that box situations that really vary in difficulty—and work well within the faux side-scrolling 3D world. Mix all that in with some shallow beat-em-up combat and you've got Disney Universe. It's not an entirely un-fun concept, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

For starters, it seems like there's a focus on the co-op nature of this game, but a limit to the amount of fun you can have with it. Playing with your friends is really what makes this game enjoyable, but the "full effect" of four players on screen at once is annoying. When you've got that many people onscreen, especially if they're not cooperating, people are gonna start chucking controllers. The game tailors its levels and baddies to the size of your crew, so the more people you play with, the emphasis on cooperation increases. But things just tend to get too jumbled and chaotic. Four comically large health bars clogging up your screen at once isn't fun at all, and hearing the same combat-initiated battle sounds coming at you from four different characters is enough to make you want to punch puppies. And if you have a griefer friend that always feels the need to run in the opposite direction of everyone, forget about it.

Earlier on, I mentioned Kingdom Hearts, and where I can draw a comparison to that brooding RPG spectacle is that while KH embraced the intellectual property, DU seems to have just utilized it as skin for a mediocre platformer. While I can appreciate the time and dedication put in to recreating the worlds of WALL-E and Finding Nemo, that quality Disney feel doesn't quite seem to be there. What I can say is that this game does attempt to make up for a lack of quality with quantity.

If the lack of true Disney appeal drags this game down a bit, it's not for lack of trying. There's a ton of Disney goodness packed into this game drawing on over 20 Disney titles to populate this computerized platforming world. And really, in all honesty this is a game for kids and families and it plays well to that audience. Running around dressed up as Mike Wazowski or Captain Jack Sparrow, thwarting bad guys with you pals in the DU is a fun button mashing experience. At times the puzzles are clever, if not frustrating and within the controlling bashing melee attacks is indeed a bare bones counter attack system. It's just that these bright spots are few and far between.

At the end of the day you have to call a game like Disney Universe as you see it: a kid friendly platformer that borrows from more successful games. But at least it chose great games to emulate and honestly, the appeal of the Disney brand really makes this game enjoyable. It's tough not to play Disney Universe without a smile on your face, at least most of the time. The hardcore will scoff at this game, but I'd recommend it to anyone with kids, or an undying love for Disney.

Website

Tags: disney universe, ps3, disney, LittleBigPlanet, kingdom hearts

Posted in: Gaming, Reviews

Comments (1) | Permalink | Digg | Reddit