Like the toys themselves, Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is a mutated mess that is both adorable and yet utterly bewildering. On the face of it, this is a collection of mini-games populated by stylised versions of your favourite Disney characters, yet it doesn’t quite live up to that promise.
This is in part down to its roots as a mobile game, which are very much apparent here. Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is derived from a free-to-play match-three title that first launched in Japan, which sits at the core of this package. Every character you unlock has a special ability specifically for the match-three sessions, and coins you earn are either spent on power-ups for the puzzle game or to unlock more characters.
Of course, you can’t sell a full-price Switch game that’s solely a port of a free-to-play mobile puzzler so this package has been expanded with ten other mini-games – plus a Festival Tour mode that plays through them in random order.
Tsum Tsum Festival has clearly been developed with family nights in mind; Switch Lite and handheld players will only be able to access the match-three puzzler, played with the console held vertically. And it’s not exactly suited to millennial roof parties either – many of the games (and even the main menu) are far too chaotic to follow on the Switch’s small, kickstand-supported screen.
Herein lies the core problem: most of the games are a bit too frantic and unforgiving for the young children this game is targeting. Take Spinner Battle, for example, which harks back to the old spinning top toys and challenges you to knock each other out of the arena to steal your opponent’s Tsums. The characters are so small, the action is so fast and the match is so short (just one minute) that it can be hard to keep track of what’s happening – even on a big screen.
Similarly, Round ‘n’ Round Run – which is a procedurally-generated assault course in which you have to collect the most jewels – features a moving camera that moves that little bit too fast to give you adequate time for most things you want to accomplish. Throw in a few CPU players – who are naturally talented at all games and cannot have their difficulty reduced – and kids will be ending with a fraction of the score they would want.
It doesn’t help that controls in some of the games feel a little imprecise. The Egg Pack Coaster, which should be one of the most enjoyable games, is particularly bad for this and as a result, can be unforgiving. You don’t simply tilt around the bends; you have to tilt in time with the eight or so arrows on the side of the rails. Trouble is, when you’re hurtling along at a minimum speed of 100km/h, you inevitably resort to Wii-style waggling and have to hope your motions are registered. For younger players, they might not be, and after five misses, it’s game over.
Tsum Rhythm is another prime example. A self-explanatory rhythm action game, the Joy-cons just don’t seem to register your movements as accurately as you’d like, and for some songs available, the symbols you’re trying to match don’t even seem to be in time with the beat. It’s also odd that, given Disney’s world-famous repertoire of songs, only one of the six tracks is actually a recognisable tune: a techno version of the Mickey Mouse Club March you will have stuck in your head for days.
What makes all of this so disappointing is that the range of games on offer is actually pretty good, and each of them comes in a few different flavours. Most have both versus and cooperative options, plus challenges and daily missions (another hallmark of mobile games that made its way into this Switch title).
Some of the minigames can actually be good fun. Bubble Hockey, for example, is a little less frenetic than the others and opens itself to a little strategy. Tsum Chase, meanwhile, is a fun Pac-Man clone (a little nod to publisher Bandai Namco), but these two games alone aren’t enough to shake the frustrations of the whole collection.
One odd inclusion is Lost Treasure, which serves as more of a mechanic to unlock the 100-plus characters than an enjoyable game in its own right. If players don’t want to spend the 10,000 coins required for a Present Balloon, which unlocks a random character, they can instead play this coin pusher mini-game to win whichever Tsum is available for a limited time.
The problem is this mode is confusing and gives you little control over the outcome – much like real coin pushers. In fact, you will be literally throwing away the money earned in other games and get little-to-nothing back for it. The air of gambling that hangs over this game feels like another free-to-play trapping somehow snuck into a full-price title (although it’s worth pointing out there are no real-money transactions here).
Disney Tsum Tsum Festival may well still appeal to kids. The visuals are adorable, and it can be exciting to spot a stylised version of your favourite character in the background. It’s not that the overall game is terrible; it’s just not as fun as it should be, especially with better party games on the Switch.
Conclusion
An inoffensive mini-game collection that tries to deliver a little of that Disney charm, but it feels like the type of lacklustre Wii title that was abundant during that console’s golden era. With the availability of Super Mario Party or even Carnival Games, it’s hard to recommend this – unless you’re a really big fan of Tsum Tsums. Not Disney, just the Tsum Tsums.
Comments 27
Are these tsum tsum thingys popular? I have seen them in shops and to me they look like a Disney character crossed with a cockroach.
The one thing I hate about video games are companies that make cheesy, stupid bug-ridden quick cash grabs. Also, the companies on PC that are early access and they make some money off the game then the developers abandon the game. Not saying this game is in those categories, it just reminded me of all the negative side of video games.
This game is way less than 1 GB. It cannot be a worthy third party AA/AAA title.
It's not aimed at me but it's still a shame that companies ask full price for what looks like a mobile game.
And it cannot even be played in handheld mode?
Is this a joke?!
Why would you guys review this game and not the touryst? Come on NL...
I can think of one person who might be all over this one... @Anti-Matter
So what i mostly took away from this review is that there appears to be a PAC-MAN Tsum Tsum and I very much need it.
@Ooccoo_Jr Super popular. I they're a huge hit in East Asian countries, but they're starting to win over kids and moms in the US.
@Ooccoo_Jr i don't know if their popular, but i personally want to burn them.
i guess their disney & marvel's half-assed attempt at mimicking funko's.
@Shadowmoon522
Which are already soulless dead eyes monstrosities to begin with.
@Racthet916 I was expecting to see him in the comments, where's he at? lol
@TDRsuperstar2 Codes went out late for The Tourist, that's probably why no reviews are up yet.
@DAHstroy
Playing his games ?
Looks dreadful and plays even worse? Nightmare fuel, too.
@GhostGenAgain Ahhh okay okay
No surprise disney flopped, they really only sell their product on brand alone.
Why am I not surprised? Say what you will about Nickelodeon games, but at least they never stooped this low to add freemium features to a 39.99 game.
@TDRsuperstar2 my short review: Totally enjoying it. Hard to put down. Buy it.
I'm a fan of Bandai Namco, they've been one of Switch's best third party supporters. But I can't justify spending $50 on this. $15-20 a year from now...maybe. Probably not even then.
@Aslanmagic I’ve read nothing but amazing things... I will def be buying thx for your recommendation 👍🏽
@TDRsuperstar2 you’re welcome, I’ve heard great things too. Knowing what the developer has done in the past I was sure this would be good. Glad to say it is! Hope you enjoy!
They look terrifying!
i played the game, and i had fun with it q-q..how is it bad -like this bad?? i had an early download copy, and checked it out
I bought it anyways because I'm a huge Disney fan. Although I haven't even played it yet, LOL! Here's hoping better Disney games can come to Switch in the future. (I'm looking at you, Square Enix! We need Kingdom Hearts on Switch!)
We get this Disney game on the Switch whilst the other consoles get “Kingdom Hearts” and “The Disney Afternoon Collection” [games that were originally on the NES].... To top it off, this game costs $79.95 on the eShop in Australia (😮). Sad times indeed. 😔
@Ooccoo_Jr yeah I liked the marvel comic book. I got giant man and a buncha others. Fun idea for these fat toys. But yeah game on switch lite is apparently tsumthing terrible surprised not in the review lol too easy.
More Disney garbage.
@Ooccoo_Jr they were. I don’t think they’re being made anymore. My wife’s family are Disney freaks.
My wife has 40 of them, another sister has 300, and another has I think over 500.
I think they’re more popular in Japan, but I know they used to sell them at Disney parks, but I haven’t seen them when we go to Disney World.
They’re pretty cheap I think at $3 each.
Tap here to load 27 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...