Disney Speedstorm review - "Kool karting with classic characters"

• A racing game centred around the Disney universe
• Chances to race familiar racers around colourfully familiar tracks
• Jump into races fast and wrestle with the touchscreen controls

Disney has been a huge part of moulding generations of children with beautifully animated and iconic films. With such popularity, it's no surprise that the characters they created have found roles on other platforms and media, which means games.

It would take forever to list all the different Disney games, but today we will focus on one of their newest titles, Disney Speedstorm. This is a 3D mobile racing game where all the Disney characters throw their hats onto the various tracks to become the fastest. The need for speed can come for anyone and it's taken over the Disney universe while pulling us in for a ride.

What is Disney Speedstorm?

Not all Disney films have been flawless in storytelling, and that's the case for many of their games. However, Disney Speedstorm doesn't need to worry about a story and it's not entirely clear if it has one. If the opening scenes are to be interpreted, then here's what happened.

Some sort of multi-dimensional storm has ripped through all of the Disney realms and swept up many of the most recognizable and popular characters. The storm is then generous enough to drop them off in an alternate version of their universe where everything has been turned into a racetrack. Luckily, each character has been given their racing uniform and kart to boot…And now they've gotta use that boot to put the pedal to the metal.

High-octane Disney Speedstorm

Whenever properties are adapted to an unfamiliar territory, it becomes a challenge to adapt them effectively. With Disney Speedstorm, effort has gone into capturing as much of the visuals and styles of their different IPs. There's a wide range of characters that are easily recognizable from their character models and animations. The tracks are crafted out of the different Disney worlds for some literal drives down memory lane. Even some of the most memorable songs have been remixed to match the fast pace of this racing experience.

Forgive the obvious statement, but for all intents and purposes, this game is quite fast-paced. And it's not because of the racing, but because the downtime between races is very short. You can play multiple races inside of a half-hour and though you may not win all of them, you'll get plenty of chances with no punishments for losing. The characters get to stand apart by being sorted into different racing classes which affects their stats and field effects. Then there's the fact that each character has a unique ability that makes them stand apart as a racer giving you reason to unlock and try them all.

Hope you have Disney+, because there's a large chance you'll be tempted to binge all of your childhood movies after racing for a few minutes.

Disney Speedstorm collateral damage

When you're trying to make a fun and fair racing game, you need to worry about two things: skill and balance. Disney Speedstorm struggles with both of these. Though it's not as complex as other racing games, it's very unforgiving. If you crash even once, that can destroy your chances. Crash more than once and you'll be hoping that all the other racers suddenly get disconnected so that you can enjoy a nice drive to the finish line. There's no reliable or consistent way to recover if you fall too far behind.

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• Disney Speedstorm tier list

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And the reason you'll fall too far behind is quite obvious if you're playing on a tablet. To minimize input complications, your racer will automatically accelerate once the race starts and you simply need to worry about turning using taps and holds. The problem is that the turn inputs are located so close together that fast turning or quick adjustments are too difficult. You'll come out of a drift hoping to adjust smoothly only for the controls to read your finger as still pressing the same thing and crashing right into the wall.

Then there's the lack of variety. You have access to a lot of tracks and characters (they need to be unlocked, but still), but most races can't be controlled. Certain events have themes and established events, but others will just randomize everything. As a result, you may end up racing the same track multiple times against multiple copies of yourself.

Chasing the Disney Speedstorm

Disney Speedstorm is a kart-racing game based on the Disney universe, featuring many of their characters and locations. They've worked to maintain the colour, flair, and feeling of their properties while adjusting them for this particular medium that is fast and accessible.

Even so, it's extremely punishing with touch-control issues and a desire to guarantee more variety in the races that take on. As far as racing games go, this one is not as stressful and gives you plenty of chances to practice, improve, and find the best racer for you to weather the Speedstorm.