Developer: Gameloft
Publisher: Gameloft
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
Tested on: PC
Disney Speedstorm – Preview
We are always a bit wary when a developer announces a new Mario Kart clone, as these are often weak derivatives of the original. Nonetheless, Disney Speedstorm piqued our interest, not because it was a Disney-oriented Mario Kart clone, but simply because the trailer looked absolutely badass. It was clear that this wouldn’t be a calm game for young children, but a proper racing game with a lot of action. We were lucky enough to be able to partake in the Closed Beta for this upcoming free-to-play title, and we were very impressed. We only hope the finished product will not be littered with microtransactions.
As a story isn’t relevant for a game such as this, we were basically just very curious about what this game had to offer. Immediately, when booting up the game we were bombarded with heavy drum and bass tunes, with a few hints of original Disney jingles and songs within those heavy beats. The music had us immediately pumped, and we were surprised by the variety of songs, and how often we could also recognize the original Disney song when trying to aim for that coveted first place.
Outside of the game’s superb soundtrack, you’ll also get a visual spectacle. You’ll easily recognize the cast of Disney and Pixar characters, and we were very surprised to see a few original choices on the roster. For example, it was great to see Elizabeth Swann as an actual playable character from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. When actually driving on the track, you’ll get treated to high-quality graphics, cool-looking karts, and a lot of obstacles and effects on the track itself. If we would state the game is hectic, that would actually be an understatement. There is a lot going on at all times, ranging from the many twists and turns of the tracks to your opponents trying to knock you out. The actual explosion effects also look impressive, and we were very curious to see what the different tracks had in store for us. We were absolutely not disappointed.
The actual gameplay is also of top-notch quality. The racing feels sublime, and the mechanics work properly. We did notice a lot of rubberbanding, that even when driving perfectly, your opponents will only be a fraction of a second behind you. The game has the typical Mario Kart-like format, where you pick up power-ups, and these can grant you boosts or give you weapons to take out your opponents. Other than that, drifting recharges your boost meter, and you can jump to take shortcuts and other passages. Fairly unique here is the ability to sideswipe your opponents, bashing them into walls. This mechanic feels a lot more aggressive, and combined with the hectic onscreen action, it made us think of older racing games such as Burnout or Split/Second.
Then, onto the part that might raise a few eyebrows. The game is basically shaped the same way as many mobile games. You have different modes, but many of these are only temporary and will change every few weeks. When playing through the stages, you will gain different types of currency, and some allow you to buy premium items, others allow you to unlock characters, and so on. It is clear that, even though this is going to be a free-to-play game, Gameloft wants to earn a pretty penny on this game. So far, we were able to unlock many items by just playing the game. This is a huge plus, and we were currently not under the impression the game felt unfair for ‘free’ players. The only thing we didn’t like that much was that we had to have certain items to level up our racers, otherwise we would get destroyed on the track. The game then often limited us to certain drivers, as we would be unable to easily upgrade all of our characters equally. We reckon this will be one of the choking points for free players, as they would undoubtedly have to spend some cash if they want to upgrade multiple characters.
Conclusion
Disney Speedstorm is a very amusing and interesting Mario Kart-like game. We wouldn’t dare call it a clone anymore, as Gameloft ensured that this game has its own identity and the action-packed gameplay also give the game a different feeling than the party game antics of Nintendo’s number one plumber. As a whole, we loved blasting through the different tracks with the soundtrack getting us pumped to take out the opposition, and we can’t wait to see what the finished product will look like. That being said, we do hope the game has enough free-to-play content and that paying players will never get an unfair advantage. If Gameloft can ensure this, this racing game might become the next best thing for the genre.
Disney Speedstorm - Preview,
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