GRcade

Title Disney Illusion Island
Publisher Disney Interactive
Developer Dlala Studios
Format Switch
Release 28 July 2023

Background

Disney wrote:Join Mickey & Friends on a quest to explore the mysterious island of Monoth and recover three mystical books to save the world from disaster in Disney Illusion Island for Nintendo Switch!

Play as Mickey & Friends
Choose your favorite character and unlock special abilities as you perform high-flying platforming feats, solve fun puzzles, and take on epic boss battles.

Reveal the mysteries of Disney Illusion Island
Run, swim, swing, and jump your way through a beautiful yet mysterious island and discover rich biomes, intriguing characters, and hidden secrets.

Fun with friends in 4-player co-op
Play solo or grab up to three friends to save the island of Monoth in 4-player couch co-op. Team up with friends and utilize unique skills such as Rope Drop, Leap Frog, and a heart gifting Hug.

Be a part of an authentic Mickey cartoon
Experience a brand-new Mickey & Friends adventure with hand-drawn animation, an orchestrated original score and authentic voice talents..

Video

Premiere trailer (09-Sep-2022)


Nintendo Direct (08-Feb-2023)


IGN preview (06-Apr-2023)



Screens








Links

> Official game website (Nintendo UK) - click
> Official Twitter channel (Dlala Studios) - click

This looks like it could be pretty good; co-op / four-player action reminds me of stuff like Rayman Legends and Kirby Adventure Wii. The graphics look basic but are super-sharp and the animation is great. I'm keen to see more!

Couch co-op makes this infinitely more appealing, might be something I could play with my kids. Graphically it does look pretty basic but it does mirror the recent(ish) cartoon series that's on Disney+ so probably an intentional decision.

Preezy wrote:Couch co-op makes this infinitely more appealing, might be something I could play with my kids...

Yeah, I really enjoyed playing co-op Rayman and Kirby Adventure with my nephews; platformers can be great fun with kids!

Preezy wrote:...Graphically it does look pretty basic but it does mirror the recent(ish) cartoon series that's on Disney+ so probably an intentional decision.

I just watched that IGN preview vid in the opening post and it looks pretty lush; the animation is so slick.

Eurogamer had a chat with the development team, Dlala, and it's worth a read.

What does make each character unique are their buoyant animations. Take the glide for instance: the chirpy Mickey rides a little cycle through the air, while Minnie floats cooly with an umbrella and Donald uses a rocket before wildly flapping his wings in a panic. The characters are perhaps a little small, even on the big screen, but they're bursting with personality and lend the game a 'playable cartoon' feel. That extends to the animated cutscenes too, which really highlight the differing personalities of the characters, along with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour adults will appreciate as much as children.

I think this looks better than speedstorm

Nintendo Live has gone hands-on with the game and they liked what they saw.

Nintendo Life wrote:It's clear that Disney Illusion Island has been crafted with immense care, then. The team at Dlala has gone to extreme lengths to make sure that the game feels authentically 'Disney' while also making sure that it can appeal to platforming fans of all skill levels. There's no shortage of great co-op games on Switch, but for anyone who first played Sega's Castle of Illusion or World of Illusion back on the Mega Drive — and perhaps now has small gamers of their own — this new Mickey platformer could be a particular platforming heartwarmer.

This looks like a lot of fun. Got it on my radar now.

The reviews are out and they're generally very positive; the Metacritic is currently 73 after 48 reviews.

Assessments vary considerably, though - the scores range from 40 through to 95!

I kind of want this having been a big fan of World of Illusion and the other Illusion titles but as I am into Pikmin and other things at present its probably relegated to an in a sale sort of deal.

kerr9000 wrote:I kind of want this having been a big fan of World of Illusion and the other Illusion titles but as I am into Pikmin and other things at present its probably relegated to an in a sale sort of deal.

Yeah, I'd like to get it, too - but I'm also gonna wait for (hopefully!) a cheaper price point somewhere down the line. Looks great, though!

I really wish that Switch had digital gifting, I'd like to buy this for my other half.

I got her the physical copy from the Nintendo store with the notebook and it's been a good time. Like a simpler Super Metroid with no shooting.

Winckle wrote:I got her the physical copy from the Nintendo store with the notebook and it's been a good time. Like a simpler Super Metroid with no shooting.

It's cool that you're enjoying the action, Winckle - it does look to be fun.

This was wonderful!

jawa_ wrote:

Winckle wrote:I got her the physical copy from the Nintendo store with the notebook and it's been a good time. Like a simpler Super Metroid with no shooting.

It's cool that you're enjoying the action, Winckle - it does look to be fun.

Jawa - did you play this? You have to play some you start threads about

I 100%-ed this. I loved this, probably my second favourite 2023 game after Zelda TotK I've played.

It's not quite a Rayman Legend style platformer which [to me] the trailer implied it would be. It's more of a quite basic Metroidvania - which turns out I enjoyed this more than a straight platformer. One slightly puzzling gameplay choice is you can't kill enemies you just have to avoid them you - minor gripe but not sure what they were going for here (it isn't like you are super vulnerable and not being able to kill enemies is an integral part of the game (jump over them not on them))? The core game certainly isn't the most challenging, but for a chilled out experience (also it's great for multiplayer) I'd strongly recommend

Barnsy! wrote:Jawa - did you play this? You have to play some you start threads about

I 100%-ed this. I loved this, probably my second favourite 2023 game after Zelda TotK...

Nah, Barnsy, pal - I didn't pick this up - I am buying very few new games at the moment!

This does sound to be fun, though, and it was good to hear your thoughts. For me, maybe in a sale!

jawa_ wrote:...For me, maybe in a sale!

I'm getting a new Switch game .

I was given a ten quid Amazon voucher and I've put it towards Disney Illusion Island, which is currently on sale at twenty wraps. It's gonna be cool trying out a new Illusion game!

I started playing this a while ago but I haven't gone back to it for a few weeks (I've got two of the books, but I don't know how far through that means I am). Gameplay-wise, it's great (like Barnsy I wasn't expecting it to be quite such a Metroidvania-lite, but I was a bit disappointed by how static it all is outside of the fantastic opening cutscene - Every other conversation the squad has is just the four of them standing in an equally-spaced line while you click through speech bubbles. So much of the charm and the humour of the mickey mouse shorts is in the animation, not the quips, so it loses a lot of the character because of that.

I should go back and finish it off at some point. Thought it was quite fun that a lot of the collectibles you can find are references to old mickey mouse stories - It's obviously been made by Disney fans, I just wish it didn't raise your expectations so much in the first few minutes

jawa_ wrote:

jawa_ wrote:...For me, maybe in a sale!

I'm getting a new Switch game .

I was given a ten quid Amazon voucher and I've put it towards Disney Illusion Island, which is currently on sale at twenty wraps. It's gonna be cool trying out a new Illusion game!

I hope you're enjoying it Jawa, my wife and I finished it in co-op shortly after launch.

Delighted you picked this up Jawa. You have to actually play it though . Hopefully you will report back how you find it.

I loved it. If it was released any year other than 2023 it would have been game of the year for me.

Frank wrote:l but I was a bit disappointed by how static it all is outside of the fantastic opening cutscene - Every other conversation the squad has is just the four of them standing in an equally-spaced line while you click through speech bubbles. So much of the charm and the humour of the mickey mouse shorts is in the animation, not the quips, so it loses a lot of the character because of that.
:

That is a really good point especially about conversations just being the four of them standing and clicking through the dialogue (always following the same pattern, Donald getting pissed about his item after the other 3 get cool power ups etc).

Still great but non gameplay bits didn't hit it's potential after dat opening scene