REVIEW: Disney Illusion Island brings references and intelligent humor in cartoon game

The new game for Nintendo Switch, Disney Illusion It was released recently and has been very popular with the public. The game pays homage to animation history and classic platform games. Check out our review!

Simple and captivating story

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy believe they have been invited to a fun picnic in the forest, but discover they have been tricked by Toku, the king of the magical world of Monoth, who needs the quartet's help to find three mystical books and save your mysterious island. The group will face dangerous enemies and tortuous paths to complete the mission, in the greatest platform game style, which even reminds a little of the old Mickey Mouse games for MegadriveSuch as Castle of Illusion, but with a more cartoony look.

the plot of Disney Illusion it's pretty simple, but still manages to be fun and deliver good humor with a dash of sarcasm and smart jokes. It is a story that captivates both adults and children.

The essence of each character was masterfully maintained, we have a mega optimistic Mickey and Minnie, an extremely complaining Donald Duck and a Goofy... goofy; fans of rodent stories have nothing to complain about.

The annoying and annoying part is the lack of dubbing and subtitles in Portuguese, something expected when it comes to Nintendo, but that doesn't make the slightest sense when we remember that there is official dubbing of the characters in Portuguese — and there has been a long time including — and that the game was not developed by the Japanese company, but by Play Studios in partnership with Disney, I hesitate too much.

Even choosing to play in English and sometimes in Spanish, my understanding was compromised not only by the lack of fluency in the languages, but also by the dubbing of Donald Duck, being a challenge even in Portuguese. Also remembering that we don't have subtitles 100% of the time, so it's very easy to get lost if you don't have a good idea of ​​the chosen language.

Gameplay

Disney Illusion is a classic platform game where you jump, duck and dodge enemies to reach a specific objective. The map is quite large and that surprised me a lot, mainly because it is a “simplistic” looking game that, at first glance, does not seem to offer many challenges.

Unlike other games of the same style as the classic Mega Man, or recent ones Hollow Knight e Cuphead, Mickey and his friends' adventure doesn't consist of fighting powerful monsters, you just dodge and adapt to the mechanics and scenarios of the game, find allies, challenges and improve your skills to explore more and more.

The difficulty level is balanced as we progress through the adventure: every time I thought the game would get repetitive, a new area of ​​the map was unlocked with totally different mechanics. The game can be played with 1 to 4 players and unfortunately does not have online multiplayer.

infinite exploration

In fact, one of the funniest things about gameplay is precisely to explore the map, collect resources and find easter eggs. Another interesting point about the map is that it works with free exploration, there is no phase with a beginning, middle and end, the idea is to unlock doors along the way to expand the map more and more and complete the main mission: find the three lost books from Monoth's magical library.

Flawless art direction

What for some was a negative point, for me it was a pleasant surprise: the cartoonish look of the environments and animations are very reminiscent of the first drawings of Mickey from the 30s, in fact, Disney has been following this style in the new drawings of the rodent for a long time now. some time, but some fans prefer that classic look with giant eyes from the 90s.

It makes perfect sense that they chose to follow this more classic line of animation, as the game's visuals and movements were handcrafted by artists. Cool huh?!

It's all in colorful Disney Illusion, which particularly matches the language of the Nintendo Switch, which has a more relaxed and colorful proposal in its game library.

Not only is the game's visuals very beautiful and fun, but also the interactions between the characters and the soundscape, which always refer to pranks and references to cartoons from the 30s.

Speaking of the soundscape, congratulations to the sonography team, who delivered a nostalgic soundtrack that mixes homages to the history of animation and animation itself. Disney World classic score, “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

Switch performance and modes

The game can be played both in portable mode and in table or TV modes of the Nintendo Switch, without problems or compromised graphic quality.

The only thing that bothered me is that at times the characters are very small — so that the map can be shown in more detail — and it is difficult to strain your eyes to understand what is happening on the screen, I think they could have a little scale bigger to be more comfortable.

This issue is even more evident when we go to TV mode to play with friends and family, and you notice everyone squinting or leaning their torso to see better.

Price and availability

The game has been available since July 28th and can be purchased for R$ 199 at the official Nintendo store.

Conclusion

Disney Illusion I liked it more than I thought it would, at first glance it is a silly game for children, but it manages to entertain anyone well, the cultural references, the style and the jokes are very well constructed, and when you notice it, you are already addicted.

It's really a shame that the developer wasn't interested in bringing the game to Portuguese, mainly because it's a free indicative rating game. The suggestion is disney electronic content, don't forget the Brazilian players, please.

Otherwise, I had a lot of fun and spent a few — many — hours exploring the map and learning new skills and mechanics, which are really the heart of the game.

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Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (16 / 08 / 23)