Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition

Genre: 3D Platformer / Action-RPG / Content Creation Application

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Note: Are you confused by all this “Toys to Life” stuff? Check out eShopperReviews’ helpful guide here!

Disney Infinity is a family-friendly 3D Platformer with Action-RPG elements and a Content Creation Application mode. This game was released in 2014 on PC, mobile devices, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U, with a PlayStation Vita version released in 2015. This game takes the “Toys to Life” concept and adds to it Disney, Pixar, and Marvel franchises, along with a custom world-creation tool similar to what you might see in games like the LittleBigPlanet series, Mario Maker, and more recently in Game Builder Garage. As for the “Toys to Life” content, much like Amiibos, Disney Infinity figurines have NFC chips in them, which can be read by a “Infinity Base” portal device that connects to your Wii U via a USB port.

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Getting Started

For those wondering about what additional toys/gadgets/doodads you’ll need to get to enjoy this game, know that in order to play this game, you need to have a Wii U-compatible Infinity Base. This includes versions of this device made for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Wii platforms (not the 3DS, Xbox 360, or Xbox One platforms though – those won’t work. Not sure about PC, mobile, or PlayStation Vita platforms). It doesn’t matter which Edition number in the series the base comes from – all edition numbers work the same.

You will also need at least one compatible Disney Infinity character figurine (this game only works with figurines created for the first two games – 3.0 Edition figurines won’t cut it). Each figurine has different abilities, but no specific figurine is required to play the game.

That is all you need to play the game – one compatible Infinity base and one compatible character figurine. However, if you want to fully enjoy the game, you may have to consider getting more…

If you want to play a significant portion of this game’s content, you will also want to get a compatible Play Set figurine (this game only works with play set figurines created for the second game – 1.0 Edition and 3.0 Edition figurines won’t cut it). Each Play Set figurine contains worlds with activities to do, and these worlds can only be played if you use the corresponding character. For example, to play the world of the Avengers, you need to also use a figurine of Iron Man, Hulk, or Black Widow.

In addition, players can opt to use additional round and hexagonal Power Discs (only 1.0 and 2.0 discs – 3.0 Edition discs won’t cut it) to add more content into the game and give characters additional upgrades.

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Infinitely Better, or Only Infinitesimal?

As with the first game, Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition is basically split into two sections. There’s Toy Box mode and there are the Play Sets. By default, without using a Play Set figurine, players will only have access to the Toy Box mode. This is a world creation tool that allows players to create their own small worlds, even make small levels to complete via various means. The game includes a handful of tutorials for crafting these worlds, but beyond these demonstrations there’s not much in the way of gameplay this time. I also didn’t see the small character-specific levels that were in the first game.

While this may seem like a step down from the first game, Disney Infinity 2.0 makes up for it by making the menus and construction elements of the game much more user-friendly and easier to understand this time around. The creation tools are far more accessible, and the game even has an online network where you can share these levels with others! Or… it had an online network. Sadly, as I write this in 2022, this network has since been shut down, cutting off a huge wealth of content that players of this game could access. Lacking this, the game overall seems extremely bare on its own.

Because of this, to feel like you’re really getting a decent amount of gameplay out of Disney Infinity, you’ll really want to make use of the Play Set figurines, but I’m not sure just how I should rate this game when so much of the content of the game is locked behind these additional purchases. If you manage to track down a new copy or bought the game when it first game out, it will have come with a starter Play Set, but those buying the game now may be getting it used, which means they won’t necessarily have access to this, or may pick it up with a completely different Play Set figurine.

I can say that, as with the first Disney Infinity, generally speaking these Play Sets offer a larger area to explore with multiple Platforming and Action-Platforming-style tasks to accomplish, complete with their own story. It’s nothing truly extraordinary, but this is definitely where the meat of the game will be. Unfortunately, it’s also where a part of this game’s core appeal crumbles away, because players can only take characters into these worlds that were originally from these worlds, dulling the thrill of the crossover potential this game seems to be built on.

There are a few noteworthy gameplay additions in this game this time around as well. To name a few, in Toy Box mode, this game adds interior areas that players can decorate and make their own. And for general gameplay, some characters now have the ability to fly. These were nice additions that helped to keep this game from being just “more of the same”.

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A Whole New World?

Another area where Disney Infinity 2.0 shows a noticeable improvement over the first game, but also clearly still has a ways to go, is the presentation. You still have some nice-looking 3D worlds with 3D characters that look like a somewhat exaggerated version of their cartoon counterparts (or in the case of the live-action characters, they look like cartoon caricatures), complete with voice acting that’s often (but not always) provided by the original voice actors for these characters. The characters do seem a bit “off”, but there’s still a good general feeling of that old “Disney Magic” here.

This time around, there’s still quite a lot of slowdown, but it’s not quite as severe and game-breaking as what was seen in the first game. It’s definitely still a problem, and still affects the gameplay, but it’s not a constant drag on the game like it was in Edition 1.0. Likewise, there’s still some extensive load times throughout the game that will have you waiting an excruciating amount of time for levels to load, but thankfully these load times are at least not as frequent as they were in the first game.

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Assembled?

Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition feels like a step in the right direction, but not enough of a step. The Content Creation elements are much better here, the gameplay has more variety and options, and the game is much more user-friendly. On the other hand, there are still performance issues that drag down the game (though thankfully not as much as 1.0 Edition), and while the online content presumably gave players a lot to play with while this game was supported, that part of the game is long dead now, and what remains here is even less content than was in the first game, unless you buy the Play Set figurines to gain access to that gated off content. As a result, I think Edition 2.0 is absolutely a better game than the first Disney Infinity title, but even more so than the first game, you really need to buy into the “Toys to Life” stuff to get the most out of this game.

tl;dr – Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition is a family-friendly 3D Platformer with Action-RPG elements and a Content Creation Application mode where players are enticed with the promise of an epic crossover featuring all their favorite Disney, Pixar, and Marvel characters, and being able to build their own adventure for those characters. This time around, the game is much-improved, being both more user-friendly and offering more gameplay variety… but the fact that the game’s online features have been shut off means that the majority of this game’s content is no longer available, and players still wanting to enjoy the game will only truly get the most out of it buy buying into the “Toys to Life” stuff. Overall, this is still an improvement, but it still ends up being limited compared to the likes of Skylanders.

Grade: C+

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