It’s hard to review a game when it has something that doesn’t bother some players but is considered a dealbreaker for others. Disney Speedstorm is a particularly tricky course to navigate, then, because it has two of them.
Let’s get this out of the way first, then, so as to not waste some people’s time. If you’re the sort of person who won’t accept a karting game if it doesn’t run at 60fps, you should probably move on at this point, because you will not be happy with what you find here.
Likewise, if the thought of a live service game breaks you out in hives, we’d recommend pretending this review doesn’t exist and heading straight to the next article on this site, because if you can’t get along with seasons and grinding and all that malarkey you’re going to be left at the starting line with this one.
Still here? Still interested? Then let’s proceed. Disney Speedstorm is Gameloft’s attempt at entering the karting genre, and we mean a proper attempt (its long-dead mobile games Rayman Kart and Shrek Kart were pretty throwaway). The publisher is no stranger to racing games thanks to its long-running Asphalt series, but anyone who doesn’t get along with those games should rest assured this isn’t just Asphalt with a pair of Mickey Mouse ears slapped onto the hood.
The game’s handling is solid: a touch sensitive at times, but responsive with a brilliantly satisfying drifting system. If we were to compare it to another karting game we’d say it feels closest to the Sonic & Sega All-Stars / Team Sonic Racing series developed by Sega and Sumo Digital: certainly no bad thing, since some players (including this writer) would put that particular series second only to Mario Kart in the genre.
At launch there are 18 characters to choose from, covering eight different IPs. These range from the obvious (Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are of course in there) to the somewhat unexpected (such as Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean, Li Shang from Mulan, and Mowgli from The Jungle Book).
It’s an eclectic mix and one that bodes well for future updates, since it seems Gameloft isn’t willing to just play it safe and churn out the usual favourites: instead, it doesn’t seem afraid to go for some deep dives to keep Disney die-hards happy. Case in point: the most obscure launch character by far is Figment, the purple dragon who’s one of the mascots at Disney World’s Epcot Center.
The series represented most on day one is Monsters, Inc., of which there are four characters to choose from: Mike, Sulley, Randall, and Mike’s snake-haired girlfriend Celia. This isn’t down to any bizarre favouritism on the team’s part, it’s because the first of the game’s live service seasons is dedicated to Monsters, Inc. and presumably this means Randall and Celia are introduced as part of this. We expect future seasons, then, to focus on different IPs and add new characters (and hopefully tracks) for each one, in much the same way as Disney Dreamlight Valley adds a new bunch of characters every couple of months.
What makes us most excited about this potential isn’t just the promise of more familiar (and forgotten) faces, but the fact that Speedstorm ensures each character plays differently with the introduction of character classes and unique moves. Each character fits into one of four groups – Speedster, Brawler, Trickster, and Defender – each of which tweaks the racer’s stats according to that racing style, but also affects the way the game is played.
A Brawler racer, for example, will stun another racer if they dash into them, and can increase their boost bar quicker by attacking opponents. Meanwhile, a Defender will instead gain a shield if they dash into someone else, and can increase their boost bar quicker by racing in an opponent’s slipstream.
Add to this the fact that every character has their own selection of four power-ups taken from the eight available, as well as their own unique, individual power-up which they earn after they level up a bit, and it’s not an exaggeration to say each racer really does have a different feel, with each player almost certainly having their own favourite to suit their playing style.
The roster is interesting then, and the tracks are similarly fun, even though the number of environments at launch is a little on the limited side. Whether you’re racing through the Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast, ploughing through a Pirates of the Caribbean island, or entering a cinema screen and drifting along a Steamboat Willie-inspired track, it’s clear a lot of imagination has gone into making sure each course reflects its source material well. There are, alas, only nine environments on day one, though most of these have multiple circuits. The Hercules track, for example, has eight different course layouts.
Special mention must also go to the soundtrack: it will definitely be divisive but we absolutely adore how fearless it is. It’s a heavy dose of dance and electronic remixes of classic Disney themes and had us alternating between nodding our head to the beat and laughing out loud at how ridiculous the whole thing is. You haven’t heard anything until you’ve heard its heavy dubstep remix of The Bare Necessities. Yes, really.
So, it plays well, sounds brilliant and there’s clearly been a great deal of care and attention put into the characters and tracks. What’s the catch? This is where we go back to the start of the review and those two potential sticking points. First and foremost, at launch Disney Speedstorm runs pretty rough on Switch. Whereas other console versions hit a fairly solid 60fps, the Switch port aims for 30 and really struggles to maintain that at times, especially at the start of races when there are a lot of characters on-screen, power-ups going off, that sort of thing.
It’s not unplayable as a result in docked, but it’s certainly noticeable, and anyone used to the practically flawless 60fps of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe may initially struggle to adapt to a game that feels like it’s constantly straining. These performance woes extend to the main menus, which are sometimes quite clunky as they try to keep up, and the local split-screen multiplayer, which is limited to two players on Switch as opposed to four players on other consoles.
The racing is particularly bad in handheld, where the erratic frame rate is accompanied by a level of blurring that makes DOOM Eternal look like an eye test. As you can see by the handheld screens on this page, it really doesn't look great at all and we'd go so far as to say that if you have a Switch Lite or otherwise plan on playing mainly in handheld mode, the whole thing is so badly optimised that you should probably hold fire and see if updates improve things. Consider this a strictly docked experience when it comes to what's acceptable.
The other main issue – and one which is more a case of taste than tolerance – is the game’s heavy insistence on its live service model. Every element of the game is built around levelling up your characters with various collectibles and currencies gained by racing. There’s a basic Starter Circuit where players take on a series of races and unlock goodies along the way (and takes an hour or two to beat), and this is supported with more time-limited Season Tour events where you get a new series of single-player races each week the season is running.
Once these are ticked off, though, the only thing left to play at launch is the numerous Events that pop up each day and last a short while. These keep things varied each day, but they too serve mainly to help the player earn more upgrade items and currency so they can improve their existing characters and try to unlock new ones. Character unlocks, incidentally, use the Shard system so many free-to-play mobile games use, in which you have to collect a number of character ‘shards’ before you can earn them or increase their star ranking.
This is a game that could really do with a standard Mario Kart-style Grand Prix mode for people who just want to do some racing and can’t be bothered with the constant grinding and collecting. There is a Local Freeplay mode, which lets you do single races on any track with any character (even those you haven’t unlocked, which is a godsend for two-player split-screen), but there’s no incentive to do this because there’s no sense of progression there.
The other major area where Disney Speedstorm’s longevity may live or die depending on your tastes is its online multiplayer. The game offers both Ranked Multiplayer (which feels like it may become worryingly pay-to-win over time) and ‘Regulated Multiplayer’ (where everyone apparently has the same level of kart), each of which has its own progression system with more things to unlock. Ranked in particular has separate unlock paths for every character, meaning a large chunk of the game’s playtime could be found there if you're into that sort of thing.
Since the game launched we've been able to find online races pretty quickly in both the Ranked and Regulated modes, mainly thanks to the fact Speedstorm is cross-play meaning players from other consoles are involved too. Naturally, though, the performance issues and handheld blurriness mean you're still going to be at a disadvantage when playing against some others (we've also played the Xbox Series X version and it runs at a solid 60fps, making handling more responsive).
That said, fair play to Gameloft for at least ensuring full feature parity (the split-screen multiplayer aside), meaning that while the Switch may struggle to get things running smoothly at times – and it's a real mess in handheld – the development team didn't just ditch some modes and give Nintendo players a lesser experience in terms of options.
Conclusion
Disney Speedstorm delivers solid karting action with fantastic handling and clearly spends a lot of care and attention on its characters and courses. Its performance on Switch lets it down, though, especially on handheld where it's a blurry, stuttery mess, and those not interested in the live service setup will struggle to get along with it.
Comments (64)
Fantastic sub header
It's no Caledonian Thistle v Celtic, but it's not bad 🤓
I wonder where Disney sees its target audience for this.
People bullied Chocobo out of business because of some light live mechanics, let's see how things play out for this contender
How does the review talk about "live service" so much yet never mention this "free-to-start" game costs between $30-$70, yes same price as Zelda TotK, to start? 🤑
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/disney-speedstorm-standard-founders-pack-switch/
I'll probably give it a try on my PS5 when it's actually free-to-start, but if I wanted to pay $70 for a game it would be a complete game, not this.
Disney is such a dead company lol. Creatively bankrupt even to the projects they license out. If they don't change course soon, they are toast.
@rjejr As you note, there's a $30 pack, so it's not quite the same price as Tears of the Kingdom. Regardless, it will go free-to-play eventually, and the review will still be valid then.
@ComfyAko "Chocobo"
Kind of amazing that Chocobo had all of that bad press and Disney was like, ok let's charge between $30-$70 for our free to start live service game that we've been marketing as free-to-play for the past 18 months when we told people it would release a year ago in summer 2022. smh
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/07/disney-wants-its-new-kart-racer-to-provide-a-fair-free-to-play-experience
Mah frames. Mah frames! 😢
Who am I kidding? I wasn't buying this, anyway. May give it a shot when it's free but never before then.
New switch will release in 2026. 😂
Pretty much what I expected. I was waiting for this review because judging how DDV runs on Switch I didn't hold much hope on it performing well and unlike that game, it matters here. I'll wait till it's F2P I think.
Also I just visited your tired old hack site I only just saw it there, I didn't expect it to be so.. sweary xD that surprised me so you might wanna put a little warning there, I don't care but the kiddos might It did make me smile though. Do kids even visit this site or is it just us aging folk?
@scully1888 "it will go free-to-play eventually"
Got a date on that? Are we talking a few days, weeks, months? Is it going to be like Multiversus where they take the entire game offline and people who paid have no game they paid money for for 6+ months? 🤷♂️
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/03/multiversus-fans-annoyed-they-paid-for-a-ps5-ps4-game-thats-going-offline-for-months
Basically, how much of a head start do players get who paid for this "it's not pay to win trust us" game to git gud before the FTP noobs show up as canon fodder? 🤷♂️
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/07/disney-wants-its-new-kart-racer-to-provide-a-fair-free-to-play-experience
You are right about the $30 option not being the same as $70 Zelda, but payment is still required. That wasn't mentioned at all in your review of this free-to-play game.
$30 > 30FPS
@rjejr I'm still getting bent out of shape when I think about what they did to my poor little yellow friend. I'm guessing Disney will remain pretty much unscathed, as everyone expects it to do horrible things so nobody is even mad anymore.
Worst thing is, I recently bought Chocobo because of Chocobo Racing on PS1 and I gotta say, I got everything I wanted and didn't even think about spending any additional money
I’ll check it out once it is free to play. First time I have been excited for a racer in a while but at the same same time not sold on the live service model.
@rjejr Gameloft is the company making the game and doing the business. They are doing the exact same thing with Disney Dreamlight Valley, and it gave them record profits in 2022.
You sold me on the game when I saw Figment in a screenshot, and you made it better by mentioning him. I have seen a bunch of characters I think don't fit in a car, but man is Figment exactly the type of obscure Disney character I like!
@IronMan30
to be fair even on a game which would require very little action sub 30fps can be a big issue. though 30fps can work fine on racers if its consistent, though it depends just how fast the game is, F zero X on n64 for example had very simple visuals but was one of the cases of an n64 game running at 60fps iirc and imo ends up making it one of the n64 games which has aged the best.
@ComfyAko
I had a good time with Chocobo as well critics be damned, I also didn't spend anything on it, I only stopped playing because I sucked so bad xD
Chef's kiss on that sub heading.
@ComfyAko Disney will do fine, the game will probably do fine, maybe not on Switch, maybe it will be free by the time Switch 2 launches, and chocobo will be fine b/c FFXVI is looking pretty good. I'd rather spend $70 on that than this.
@ketrac "Dreamlight Valley"
Yeah, I've been watching Dreamlight Valley not b/c I have any interest at all in it but b/c I was afraid Speedstorm may do the same.
For the record I have nothing against FTP or FTS games, I spent $8 on Fortnite once and probably a million hours wasted on Candy Crush back in the day, but I don't like this whole "founders pack" thing forcing people to either pay now, or wait until the free starts, whenever that is, and a lot of players will be way better than them at that point. Should be illegal to call it free to play when it categorically isn't. But I'm not opposed to those games that are actually FTP or free to start or whatever, just be honest upfront.
Releasing about 9 months after it was supposed to, announced in a Nintendo Direct, only to run worse on Switch, isn't helping my mood any.
Remember when alex Hirch said he would make a gravity falls video game? If Disney’s gonna make games at least give us what we actually want
Super karting, quite artistic, FPS atrocious.
Legend.
The few screenshots I've seen from this game looked like a tad ambitious for the Switch.
Now, looking at the screenshots particularly the handheld ones... it really took a hit, huh?
@Eagly what about Gravity Falls: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets on 3DS?
So, it's nothing but a cashgrab. SKIP.
I still just can’t get over the whole making them look kinda serious and mean and sticking them in realistic cars. Why isn’t Mickey in a car shaped like Steamboat Willie? Why isn’t Mike racing in a car shaped like one of the scream canisters, or y’know, his monster car? Maybe being a live service game they will add them over time, but I doubt it.
I’ll give it a go…maybe on another console though. But it just feels like there’s a lack of charm here that Mario Kart has effortless buckets of. Which is weird as these are characters and worlds I have similar levels of nostalgia for.
I feel like the whole team was in a meeting for 8 hours straight working on that sub-heading. And it was worth it.
@Eagly You mean when he said “his dream” was to make a Gravity Falls game? He never said he would, just that the idea interested him.
1 @Sambuc that was just a licensed game. Alex was talking about essentially a 3rd season delivers as a licensed game. I mean there is say a difference between the Arkham trilogy and dc super league
@BabyYoda7 I know but one can hope
So it’s fun on any console but switch? I will definitely give it a shot.
@Eagly Your @ broke, you forgot the 1, or it’s in the wrong spot next to the start of the sentence.
@Snatcher thanks
@BabyYoda71 I know but one can hope
@Eagly No problem, I would have sucked if you thought it went out but didn’t know.
strange, I thought the idea was to be free early on to build up an online user base, and start charging later.
@shake_zula oh wow, I could not figure it out by myself. Some guessing + googling and I found it. Smart NL, smart.
WTF it's not free-to-play but it's also not a full game either? Also 2-player split screen only, is this the Super NES era? There's no reason go-kart games should be 2-players split screen anymore, 4-players split-screens should always be the standard now. Even Virtua Racing had 8 players split screen and that was an ambitious title.
I'm a mario kart purist and never grew up on Disney so I couldn't possibly care less about the game itself, although this is the newest example showing that we DESPERATELY need a more powerful switch.
@Serpenterror It could have been to be an Standard back in the N64 and GC days because back then there was no internet to speak of in the majority of the houses so it was or going to your friend's house or they going to yours.
But honestly how many people do that nowadays? Specially when people can play on their own Switch or Mobile device and thus have a screen of their own. So usually it's you and your younger sibling most of the time.
4 Player Coop might be something that is nice to have, but no one uses now
Some games are so perfect that I don't feel compelled to even try the competition - until something major changes.
Mario Kart 8 is that perfect game. It is flawless and I know this will never reach a fraction of it's greatness - so why bother really? Not for Epcot's mascot that's for sure.
@Arkantos2990 Where I'm from everyone still plays local co-op split screens and stuff. Not sure where you get the who plays it like this anymore crap from, once the server close 4-players split screen is what would save the game for most people.
In the words of Miyamoto, "NO REFUNDS!"
If other Kart games perform and look good or decent on the Switch, why didn't this?
I like Kart games that are actually good like MK, the Rayman Kart games and Sonic ASRT.
I actually liked Gameloft's Asphalt 9 despite it's mircro-transactional flaws when played with the standard pack and the thinking it was "just that game". This is a tad disappointing therefore.
Still tempted to give the entry pack if ever discounted.
@shake_zula I came into this article to say that, and only that.
Hmmmmm...
I'm not sure this game will be able to turn a profit screwing over Disney kids with aloof parents, but God bless em for trying!
@Cashews Some of the characters, kart options, and the rubberbanding kinda made Mariokart 8 not for me. It's been a while, so I'll give er another go someday. I liked Racing Transformed much more, and I loathe modern/talking Sonic
…There was a Rayman Kart? 🤨
a 6 means bad game
Will wait and see how it is once it's free. Paying $30+ for early access to a game that may very well be shut down in under a year is just silly.
Between my regular playing of Fortnite and Overwatch I'm not sure my Switch really needs a third live service game though.
Just copy Mario Kart. That's literally all Square Enix, SEGA and Disney have to do. I want the quality Kart experience of Mario Kart as the default, and then you overlay the unique elements from your franchises.
Is that difficult?
Perhaps someone at Disney or Square Enix could tell us where they saw Mario Kart selling microtransactions? Where they saw Mario Kart launching with a single digit amount of circuits?
Yes. Mario Kart had released DLC. They released DLC after THIRTY TWO circuits at launch, with zero microtransactions and almost double the characters to boot.
Why am I going to engage with your half baked, rip off product when you are blissfully ignoring the perfect blue print staring you in the face?
How is anyone associated with the development and release of this game anything but embarrassed by it compared to Mario Kart? Why even bother? Release it when it is good - what's the rush anyway?! Mario Kart has been without a new entry for a decade.
How are they getting this so wrong?! It's so easy.
I've said it before in a comment on NL ages ago, but Disney's approach to videogames is completely and utterly wrong. They need to stop outsourcing and take a, low risk in my opinion given the strength of their IP, bringing it in house and building from the ground up.
Fact is their games lack the love, polish and AAA quality that more often than not is only achieved when it is YOU creating it yourself.
If a game doesn't run well handheld, then what is the point in bringing it out in the Switch?
It will also be interesting to see if TotK gets points knocked off for looking blurry and playing at 30fps or will that get the inevitable 9 or 10 just became its a Nintendo IP?
Great standfirst
I will get it as I am a fan of the Sonic Racing games (mentioned in the review) which I have happily on a lot of systems which I can imagine played at below 30fps at times, I also have faith that Gameloft will patch it up
Remember when early access games were cheaper than their full release? This has strong pay to beta test vibes.
Judging by Dreamlight Valley by the time this becomes free to play the Switch's successor will most certainly have come out so hopefully the will release it also on that to fix the issues mentioned in this review apart from it being heavy on live service (which definitely isn't my cup of tea, but still won't prevent me from at least trying the game)!
@Nanami_Ataraxia sucking at it is the first step towards being good at it. I was pretty good at it so I can give you some pointers
@rjejr not gonna lie, FF XVI doesn't interest me, the series stopped with XIII. XV is a trainwreck and I probably won't be touching XVI
@ComfyAko
Nah that ship has sailed, traded it in a while ago now, thanks though!
@Nanami_Ataraxia I hope you got something good for it Love the pfp btw
@ComfyAko
Probably not xD I never replay games so I always swap them for £ or credit.
Thanks xD
Scarvi deserve every bit of bashing they got but I'll be darned if they weren't the most iconic new leaders since the early days, I remember them all, and haven't been able to say that since gen 2.
@ComfyAko A lot of games don't interest me either, but at least looking at FFXVI I can be like - "Wow, that looks like a $70 game" and w/ this I'm like - "Oh, it's a free to play game that costs at least $30 to play it but as much as $70, same as Zelda. plus season passes, oh joy".
Companies shouldn't be allowed to market a game as free-to-play but require $ to play it. At least most games are straight up "pay us".
FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT FIGMENT
A don't recall a single third-party kart game on Switch that runs at 60fps. For god's sake Nintendo, bring out a Switch Pro already.
Not that I want to give money to that foul entity Disney though.
Inflation is so bad that $30 is now "free"...
I was not interested in this game as kart games that aren't Mario Kart never feel right... But I figured a "free-to-play" clone was a good idea for those who don't know better. But it turns out that it is $30-$70 and you still need to grind to unlock stuff and will need to pay more later. I hope this fails.
As fun as this looks, I have a bad feeling it won’t last very long. Shame they didn’t just make a full Disney racing game for 30-60 bucks instead. Sigh.
Yuck... I'm definitely pass on this.
Tap here to load 64 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...