As many people know, since the inception of console gaming, kart racing has been a popular genre in gaming. From competition gaming to casual play at home, kart racing is a fun way to kill time with your friends.
While Disney has had some Kart-racing games over the years like Mickey’s Speedway USA, Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour, and other movie-based racing games, none of those have stood out to me personally until the announcement in 2022 of Disney Speedstorm!
Announcement Teaser:
Disney has teamed with Gameloft to develop this game, and it seems like it might be a good choice since they are not new to the racing genre or to Disney, developing titles like the hit racing game “Asphalt” as well as other Disney-based mobile games. Also to be noted is that last week, Gameloft announced another Disney-themed Animal Crossing-like game: Dreamlight Valley. EFNcool’s Zach L. wrote his breakdown of that announcement, and you can read it here.
From what little Gameloft has shown of “Disney Speedstorm” it looks very polished, intense, and fun to sit down and play. Another good aspect of this game they have announced is that it is cross-platform and available across a lot of systems – PC, PS4, PS5, X-Box One, X-Box Series X/S, Switch, Steam, and Epic Games Store.
They mentioned in the press release that the game is Free-2-Play. Now, this is the factor that makes me feel uneasy. Will this game be a pay-2-win model, or will it be more of the Fortnite model where players can jump in without spending a dime and enjoy the game so much that it makes the player want to purchase the season passes for extra characters and in-game content? I’m personally hoping for the latter, and it does seem like they are taking that approach.
Characters
Disney is pulling characters from their newer and older properties with the announcement of Belle, Baloo, Mowgli, Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, Mulan, Donald Duck, James P. Sullivan, and more! And of course, they’re not going to leave out the face of the franchise himself: Mickey Mouse!
Another aspect of the game is that there will be character types. For instance, as you can see in the image gallery below, Mickey will be of type Speedster, while fittingly Jack Sparrow will be of type Trickster. We’re not sure how many different types there will be, but this sounds like it will make the game more interesting than the average Kart-Racer.
Tracks and Environments
While we don’t know too much about the different tracks in the game, they have shown off a few environments like Hercules, Jungle Book, and Pirates of the Caribbean-themed tracks. I have to say once again, the tracks look really polished and unique to each universe, leaving any Disney fan wanting to see what else they are going to come up with.
Conclusion
All in all, from what we have seen, this game looks like it could become a big competitor in the Kart-racing genre. It looks like it will appeal to gamers of all ages as well as casual to diehard Disney fans and more. I will definitely be keeping track of the progress and announcements of the game leading up to release. Since the game is so accessible on many platforms, you can bet we’ll be having a game night and playing this on stream here at EFNcool.
The game is now available to preregister here and you can also keep up to date with all the latest announcements by following them on Twitter @disneyspeedstorm!
Disney Speedstorm races into the gaming world later this year!
