Hey there gamers and Disney Infinity fans alike, it’s time to check back in with all the new Disney Infinity products that have come out since the Star Wars: The Force Awakens release last holiday season. Zootopia is already a huge hit, The Jungle Book is right around the corner, and it’s only one month till Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. So many geek things happening! Lets dive in shall we?
First up are the Zootopia products. Infinity decided not to do a play set for the movie, instead they gave us two new figures: Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, and 4 new Power Discs: Nick as Officer Wilde, Meter Maid Judy and two discs of the Zooptopia landscapes, one of the prettier landscapes you can add to your personal toy box.
Nick and Judy both have some excellent power sets and really kick butt. They’re great, both as an addition to the product line and as Disney characters. Nick carries a giant elephant icy treat to thump and thwack his way to adventure. Judy has her tranquilizer pistol and quick feet attack. Both are very fun to use and they look and sound great. These are two characters that really needed their own play set, it’s a real shame that there wasn’t one made.
Also being released for The Jungle Book was Baloo. It’s a really good figure and has some fun attack moves. Using him in the Raceway game is very fun, just to see a big bear riding on the small motorcycles. But his is the only Jungle Book release slated at this time. Without a play set or anything else to use with Baloo it just seems like a quick tie-in without a real purpose.
The big release was Marvel’s Battleground: it’s super heroes fighting against each other in an all-out brawl! Loki and Ultron have teamed-up and created evil robots of our favorite heroes, so all the Marvel heroes band together: Avengers, The Guardians, and Spider-Man. You can engage in 4-player combat and battle in 12 levels across 8 epic new arenas, and it includes a new Power Disc 4-Pack: Cosmic Cube Blast, Darkhawk’s Blast, a Nova Corps Strike and Ghost Rider’s Motorcycle.
The new disc pack is impressive and the best part of the Battleground release. The Nova Corps Strike is really powerful as it takes out multiple opponents at one time. The Comic Cube is just as powerful. The really notable disc is the Ghost Rider Motorcycle. Any Marvel or Disney character can use it in a toy box: it’s fast and looks cool. Yes, you can have Mickey ride the cycle from hell. The weak link is the Darkhawk Blast. Not only weak in power when used, but also: who’s Darkhawk? No one knows who this is, other than hardcore Marvel fans that enjoy C-listers. This could have been any other character power set or a new costume for an already established character.
The Marvel Battleground Play Set comes with a new figure: Captain America without his helmet. This play set should have had another figure with it. Most people already have Captain America, so to now have a double is ridiculous. Granted, the figure comes with a whole new power set and moves, but most fans would have rather gotten a new figure rather than a double.
With the Battleground release you do get some new characters that have been missing: the long overdue Ant-Man, who was teased over a year ago when his own movie came out; the Vision; The Black Panther, who should have come with the Battlepack instead of a double of Cap; and the other double: Spider-Man in his black outfit, which was previously a power disc you could use with the other regular costumed Spider-Man figure. So really, three new characters and two doubles. Kind of crappy, and fans have expressed their online disappointment. Especially when we’re still waiting for a Wasp and Scarlett Witch figures.
The overall Battleground game is….meh. It’s fun to use these characters and just fight. But you can do that anywhere. I mean it, like literally anywhere. The whole purpose of Disney Infinity is that you can create your own worlds, so most people have already been brawling with these characters on their own. To just make a play set with new areas to fight in seems weak. Disney Infinity has already said this is not a Civil War tie-in, which is odd, because it clearly is. Civil War is about heroes fighting each other. Marvel’s Battleground is a game about heroes fighting each other. Not a straight up tie-in, but it is, and you know it. This whole play set feels like an afterthought and is just a misstep. After making so many good decisions, to drop the ball with this release is just a letdown.
In Disney Infinity’s recent “what’s coming this year video” they alluded that there could be some characters from the new Alice Though The Looking Glass movie coming out this summer. And they keep promising new and old characters from other Disney products and of course whatever new Star Wars play set that comes out this holiday season. So there many new things on the horizon, but presently, the Marvel Battleground isn’t great. It’s too short, repetitive, and not enough to do, especially when most fans have already made bigger and better battleground in their own toy boxes. It feels like a waste, compared to all the other great play sets and add-on games Infinity has already released. The Marvel Battleground is just not good enough.
When it comes to the Disney Infinity line the company gets so many things right, but the very few things they don’t are so big and glaring, it’s all people online will talk about: how there aren’t enough female superheroes to play with or that the play set could have been longer. With every game there will always be criticism, but some of these complaints have been made since they every beginning. So it raises the question, are they listening? Yes and no. Infinity keeps saying they’re working on new figures: more females, more villains, and longer play sets. But every time we get a new release it lacks the very things fans have asked for. I’m not saying everything fans ask for has to be met, but when fans all ask for one thing, when does a company just give the fans what they want? Food for thought I guess.
In closing the Zootopia line is fantastic, even though it has no play set; the fun use of Nick and Judy is worth it nevertheless. Baloo is also worth picking up for the fun of having a classic Disney character, and getting the three new Avengers is great. But with two doubles and only one play set, this recent wave is too random and lackluster compared to past releases.