I love a kart racing game, it's the only type of racing game I have ever really liked. And that's because they are a lot simpler and more fun than your average motor racing simulator. If I'm playing a racing game I just want to pick up a controller and just play with a smile on my face. That's not to mean that I don't like a challenge or that I don't appreciate the likes of Forza Horizon or Gran Turismo, but I prefer a racer with a bit of novelty to it.
Disney Speedstorm only came to my attention a few months back when I was playing through Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2 & 3, and it looked decent. I really enjoyed the Nickelodeon racers, so the game caught my eye more than it otherwise would have. I followed its development right up until I bought it on first day of release. And having spent a solid four to five hours on it, I've just given up, it's one of the most disappointing games I've played in quite some time. Not that I was expecting it to be amazing, but I wish I could get my money back.
As the title suggests, Disney Speedstorm is a kart racer that's based on Disney IP, the slim roster of racers include favourites such as Mickey, Mulan, Goofy and Jack Sparrow amongst others. The racers will also have their own Disney themed racetrack, for example you have a Pirates of the Caribbean track and another based on Olympus from the Hercules movie. The game is visually decent, nothing pops out as jaw dropping but the character models are okay and the track locales are easily recognisable. The game's particle effects are pretty impressive, these light up the screen when you use a power up or a boost.
The core gameplay reminded me of a cross between the simple drifting of Team Sonic Racing and the customisation of the Nickeloden Kart Racers. There is a boost metre in the game that is activated by performing a drift or hitting opponents with a power up, it works because it gives the player the incentive to at least think about the way they use their resources during a race. The power ups are your standard boost, projectile launchers and shields, rather unimaginative to be honest. But each racer does have their own unique skill, for example Mickey Mouse has a skill that lets out a music melody that gives him a prolonged speed boost.
Outside of the local and online multiplayer modes, the meat of the single player experience is in the Starter Circuit and Season Tour modes. This is where you will race to win awards and unlock racers, both of these modes are near identical. Here you will be able to compete in races and missions as you progress from one side of the screen to the other. Each race will have their own objectives, these will usually involve finishing in the top 3 at a bare minimum to pick up medals. There are different versions of the racetracks but there is still not enough of them, there is fun to be had but it won't be long before you get incredibly bored, I find it shocking that in a kart racing game there is no grand prix mode. For me it is the best part of the single player experience in a game like this, nothing beats the satisfaction of seeing yourself gradually improve as you beat each grand prix on a higher difficulty through learned experience.
Most modes have to be unlocked if you have the standard edition of the beta, to be honest it doesn't take long to unlock most of what's on offer but it brings me to the one thing that makes the game go from being painfully average to just bad. And that's the cluster mess of the game's progression.
There are three kinds of currency in the game, you have racer shards, tokens and multiplayer tokens, I think those are the three. It's such a mess that I genuinely forget which is which. These can all be used in the game's shop to buy cosmetics, racers, or random loot boxes. There's even upgrade flags that are used to upgrade the handling and speed of your kart. The entire progression is a numbers game, and it's so boring and uninteresting. You can cosmetically change your kart and what your racer wears, but again none of it is interesting.
In short spurts the racing can be a real joy, the online mode is still pretty busy but the race tracks just aren't interesting enough or deviate in a way that makes anything feel unique. It does not have the eloquent designs of the tracks in a Mario Kart, none of the colourful chaos of a Nickelodeon Kart Racer, or the scale of the Sonic racing games.
I would not pay for the early access to this game, wait until it comes out as free to play, it might be worth checking out for a few hours. The online might still be busy by then and there might be more content in terms of racetracks, but as it is I cannot recommend the game. What little quality the game has, is unfortunately buried by a bad user experience.
Verdict: 4.5/10
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