Disney Speedstorm

Disney Speedstorm is a free-to-play kart racing game developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Gameloft.[3][4] It features various Disney and Pixar characters racing vehicles on tracks themed after the worlds of their films and franchises.[5][6][7][8] The game was released in a pay-for early access on 18 April 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.[1][2]

Disney Speedstorm
Developer(s)Gameloft Barcelona
Publisher(s)Gameloft
Platform(s)
Release2023[lower-alpha 1]
Genre(s)Kart racing
Mode(s)Single-player and multiplayer

Gameplay

Disney Speedstorm is a free-to-play kart racing game with a roster composed of characters from various Disney properties, such as the Mickey Mouse & Friends, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters, Inc. (the sole Pixar film in the game) and Beauty and the Beast franchises, among others.[9][10][11][12][13][14] Orange Bird appears as a Crew Member for Figment in the game.[15] The gameplay is similar to Mario Kart.[16] The game included a new mode called "regulated multiplayer".[17][18] The game employs the online multiplayer split-screen technique.[19][20]

Playable characters

The roster of the game has currently added or announced a total of 18 characters from 8 Disney franchises.[11][12][13][14]

Franchise Character
Beauty and the Beast Beast[9]
Belle[9]
Disney Parks[lower-alpha 2] Figment[8]
Hercules Hercules
Megara
The Jungle Book Baloo
Mowgli
Mickey Mouse & Friends Donald Duck
Goofy
Mickey Mouse
Steamboat Mickey
Monsters, Inc. Celia Mae
Mike Wazowski
Randall Boggs
Sulley
Mulan Fa Mulan
Li Shang
Pirates of the Caribbean Elizabeth Swann[10]
Jack Sparrow

Development and release

Disney Speedstorm was developed by Gameloft Barcelona to recreate a free-to-play racing game. Alexandru “Sasha” Adam, VP & Studio Manager, Gameloft Barcelona explained, "To work on a dream project like Disney Speedstorm, we are driven to create a game that feels like home for Disney and Pixar fans but is also unique to the arcade-racing genre. The gameplay mechanics, the racer abilities and the location design were all tailored to serve our vision of a fast and gripping competitive experience.” and continued, "We can’t wait to share this vision with players around the globe.”[21]

Announced in March 2023, the game was released in early access for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 18 April 2023.[22][23] A trailer for the game was released on 9 September 2022 at the D23 Expo.[24]

On 19 April 2023, Gameloft Barcelona apologised to players who couldn't download the game and explained, "We are aware of the issue where some players that pre-ordered the title are unable to download the game and we apologize for it. We are in contact with our partners to have it fixed ASAP, but unfortunately the solution seems to require more time. Solving this is our top priority at the moment - as soon as we have updates, we will let you know. Once again, our apologies for the inconvenience and we're looking forward to all of you being able to play the game."[25]

Audio

The game features the voice acting of Bret Iwan, Tony Anselmo, Tate Donovan, Ming-Na Wen, and Robby Benson reprising their roles from various Disney films, while A. J. LoCascio voiced Figment.[26][27][28]

Downloadable content

On 27 March 2023, Gameloft released a trailer announcing three "Founder's Packs" that would be available during the game's early access period.[29][30][31] The Founder's Packs, which are required for early access, all contain Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as unlocked racers (with the Deluxe Founder's Pack adding Mulan and the Ultimate Founder's Pack adding her, Hercules, and Jack Sparrow), plus a choice to immediately unlock Baloo, Belle, Beast, Elizabeth Swann, Li Shang, or Mowgli; Tokens (the game's premium currency; 4,000 Tokens for Standard, 7,000 for Deluxe, and 12,000 for Ultimate), two (or three for Ultimate) Golden Pass Credits (unlocking the Golden Pass, the game's battle pass system), exclusive racing suits and kart liveries for each of the immediately unlocked racers (depending on the player's chosen tier), exclusive Donald Duck kart wheels and wing (Ultimate only), and an exclusive player avatar and profile motto.[31]

Reception

Although Speedstorm has only been released in early access so far, Metacritic gave the PlayStation 5 version an aggregate review score 69 out of 100 based on five reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews",[32] while the Xbox Series version was given a 75 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[33]

Early access

Chris Scullion for Nintendo Life gave the game a six out of ten stars rating and commented, "Disney Speedstorm delivers solid karting action with fantastic handling and clearly spends a lot of care and attention on its characters and courses. Its performance on Switch lets it down, though, especially on handheld where it's a blurry, stuttery mess, and those not interested in the live service setup will struggle to get along with it."[35]

John Hansen of Push Square gave the game a 7/10 for PlayStation 5 version and stated, "Disney Speedstorm is a fun game that we're glad to see has quite a bit of quality to it. There are some reservations about how well the free-to-play monetisation will work as we move forward, but looking just at the game itself, it’s not a bad time. There is room for this title to become very popular, especially if the right additions are made. At the very least, this can become a fun game for friends. If you're a Disney fan, it's a good way to mash together some of your favorite old movies and battle it out on the racetrack."[36]

Luke Reilly of IGN gave the game a 5/10 and stated, "Disney Speedstorm in Early Access is a fundamentally good kart racer that’s currently too light on tracks and too repetitive to warrant the required investment. Worse still, it’s buried beneath a veritable Splash Mountain of gacha garbage and so many discrete currencies that do different things that it almost seems like a parody of the entire free-to-play genre. Nothing sucks like gacha, plucks your bucks like gacha, makes you jump through hoops for Donald Duck like gacha."[34]

Notes
  1. The game was released in early access on 18 April 2023.[1][2]
  2. Currently depicted in-game as Walt Disney World.

References
  1. Romano, Sal (November 30, 2022). "Disney Speedstorm delayed to 2023". Gematsu. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  2. "Disney Speedstorm early access races onto Nintendo Switch in April". Pocket Tactics. 12 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. "Disney Speedstorm Preview: High-Octane Gameplay In A Troublesome Package". Screen Rant. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  4. "Disney Speedstorm confirms Xbox & PlayStation versions coming later this year". VideoGamer. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  5. "Disney Speedstorm Preview: A Charming Kart Racer That Has Some Baggage". IGN. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  6. "Disney's version of Mario Kart speeds into early access next month". Polygon. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  7. "Game Review: "Disney Speedstorm"". Laughing Place.com. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  8. "Epcot mascot Figment joins Disney Speedstorm roster". Flickering Myth. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  9. "Disney Racing Game Reveals Magical Beauty & The Beast-Inspired Track". Screen Rant. 17 May 2022.
  10. "Pirates of the Caribbean's Elizabeth Swann Joins Disney Speedstorm". Screen Rant. 16 March 2022.
  11. "Disney Speedstorm Shows A Disney Mash-up Racer". GameSpot. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  12. "Disney Speedstorm characters". Pocket Tactics. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  13. "Disney Speedstorm Characters - Every Racer Revealed So Far". Nintendo Life. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  14. "Disney Speedstorm Character List - How To Unlock All Characters". GameSpot. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  15. Roseboom, Quinn (April 18, 2023). "Five things in 'Disney Speedstorm' theme park fans will love". Attractions Magazine. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  16. "Disney meets Mario Kart in Disney Speedstorm coming Summer 2022". GameSpot. 10 February 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  17. "Disney Speedstorm Reveals New Competitive Mode "Regulated Multiplayer"". Nintendo Life. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  18. "Disney Speedstorm Reveals New Competitive Mode "Regulated Multiplayer"". Nintendo Everything. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  19. Bailey, Kat (10 February 2022). "Disney and Pixar Getting Their Own Mario Kart On Nintendo Switch". IGN. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  20. "Disney Speedstorm Is A Great Kart Racer Mired In Confusing Progression Hooks". GameSpot. 7 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  21. "Gameloft Announces Disney Speedstorm, a High-Octane Disney and Pixar Racing Game Launching 2022". Gameloft. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  22. "Disney Speedstorm Is A New Free-To-Play Kart-Style Racing". Game Informer. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  23. "Hero racer Disney Speedstorm launches in paid Early Access next month". Eurogamer. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  24. "New Racing Title Disney Speedstorm Revealed During D23 Expo". Bleeding Cool. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  25. Doolan, Liam (19 April 2023). "Disney Speedstorm Dev Apologises To Users Who Can't Download The Game". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  26. "Disney Speedstorm devs talk Monetization, Returning Voice Actors, and Marvel/Star Wars characters in latest interview". GoNintendo. 25 July 2022.
  27. "Disney Speedstorm voice actors: Are there any original voice actors?". Racing Games. 20 April 2023.
  28. LoCascio, AJ [@AJLoCascio] (2023-04-20). "✨The purple dragon is out of the idea-bag! Honored to be voicing Figment in @disneyspeedstorm ! If you know me you know I'm LOSING MY MIND!!!! So excited to carry the baton for this 80s EPCOT Center icon!!! I genuinely can't believe it!!! Thank you to everyone at @disney ! ✨" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-04-21 – via Twitter.
  29. "Disney Speedstorm reveals new Founder's Packs and tracks in latest trailer". Try Hard. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  30. "PS5, PS4's Best Chance at a Mario Kart Rival Disney Speedstorm Flaunts Its Founders Packs". Push Square. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  31. "Disney Speedstorm: Standard, Ultimate & Deluxe Founder's Pack Differences". Screen Rant. 12 April 2023.
  32. "Disney Speedstorm for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  33. "Disney Speedstorm for Xbox Series X Reviews". Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  34. Reilly, Luke (21 April 2023). "Disney Speedstorm Early Access Review". IGN. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  35. Scullion, Chris (19 April 2023). "Disney Speedstorm Review". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  36. Hansen, John (21 April 2023). "Disney Speedstorm Review". Push Square. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
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