{"id":62495,"date":"2023-07-28T19:42:05","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/?p=62495"},"modified":"2023-07-28T19:42:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:42:05","slug":"review-disney-illusion-island-nintendo-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/2023\/07\/review-disney-illusion-island-nintendo-switch.html","title":{"rendered":"Review: Disney Illusion Island (Nintendo Switch)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like most people, I grew up with Disney being a real part of my childhood. So, while I find the content<\/em> of modern Disney to be little more than a corporation demanding money, the classic hijinks of Mickey and Donald and co will always<\/span> tap into deep nostalgia. Case-in-point: Next year I\u2019ve got a cabin room booked for the Disney cruise (I so much need<\/span> that holiday).<\/p>\n

Disney Illusion Island\u2019s greatest quality is that it successfully captures classic Disney’s whimsical, playful, and happy side. You get to play as one of four characters \u2013 Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald (Donald!) as you explore a non-linear 2D platforming world. It\u2019s like a Metroidvania,<\/span> but pitched at an all-ages audience.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to<\/span> get the most out of this if you play with your kids, grandkids or younger siblings (depending on which of those applies to you). You can play with up to four people, and in<\/span> a co-op context, the simple platforming and exploration takes on an additional dynamic, and the simple characterisation will fill the room with giggles. Progression means less, too, so you can enjoy jumping around and working together to overcome obstacles.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

When you play by yourself, the shallowness of what\u2019s actually going<\/span> on becomes more apparent. Illusion Island never becomes more complex than a pretty standard platformer, and as a Metroidvania it\u2019s let down a little<\/span> by how overly consistent the environments are. You’ll need to refer back to the map pretty regularly because relying purely on identifying landmarks as you go<\/span> back and forth is a recipe for getting very lost.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more,<\/span> you’ll scream through the game, and it’s a problem, ironically, because it controls so nicely. It\u2019s so easy to get into a flow and mastering the various platforming techniques that the<\/span> game provides will take next to no time. I\u2019ve not played too many mainstream platformers that feel as responsive and dynamic as Illusion Island. The downside to that is that levels fly by without you ever really<\/span> taking<\/span> them in. You’re also encouraged to take risks and be unconcerned by the consequences,<\/span> because even if you should run<\/span> out of hearts and \u201cdie\u201d, the checkpointing<\/span> is very generous. The ability to be a daredevil<\/span> about leaps and falls helps speed progress up,<\/span> too.<\/p>\n

It’s too much, given that one of Illusion Island\u2019s greatest achievements is the quality of the art and animation, and the<\/span> goal should have been to get people to immerse themselves in it more. Backgrounds are colourful and filled with subtle little<\/span> details that help the overall experience pop. A character might not have much to say, but their little quips and vintage Disney stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Illusion Island is also, for the most part, non-violent. There are enemies, but the goal is to navigate around them rather than defeat them. The reason for that is pretty obvious \u2013 this really is an all-ages entertainment deal \u2013 but at the same time, it\u2019s refreshing.<\/span> So often video games rely on violence to provide that visceral loop and to engage<\/span> players, that when<\/span> something deliberately aims to resist that impulse, it comes across as quite creative. Navigating through much of Illusion<\/span> Island feels like a light puzzle game experience. I would have liked to see something slightly more complex to really allow this concept to take flight and<\/span> more clearly distinguish this from other 2D Metroidvania platformers, but the effort is appreciated, nonetheless.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem the game has is that it\u2019s too long for what it offers. It\u2019ll take most people somewhere between 10 and 12 hours to clear the game, and while<\/span> that might sound like a relatively brief experience, for what Illusion Island does, it\u2019s spreading too little<\/span> butter over too much bread (thanks Bilbo Baggins for that quote). Neither of Illusion Island’s two greatest strengths benefit from length.\u00a0Firstly, co-op games generally do better when they\u2019re sit-down time fillers, rather than a commitment over lengthy<\/span> gaming sessions. Because Illusion Island features a large and continuous world, it’s not broken down in a way that works well for co-op.<\/p>\n

But even looking beyond that abstract issue, the other quality that really holds Illusion Island together is<\/span> its humour. The first time the four heroes bump into an alligator character that gives them special items to help them make their way around<\/span> the levels, it\u2019s hilarious. It\u2019s an item that allows you to double-jump, and Mickey and Minnie get pretty decent items that they\u2019re chuffed about. Donald, meanwhile, ever the brunt of classic Disney humour, gets an item that looks\u2026 distinctly<\/span> unsafe. It’s very funny to see Donald so disappointed (and concerned) in true Donald Duck style. I grew up watching and re-watching entire seasons of Donald Duck cartoons where this was pretty much the entire premise. The problem is that this humour is great<\/span> for a short TV show. It doesn\u2019t work when it\u2019s repeated several times over the course of a much longer<\/span> game.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Disney Illusion Island is both enjoyable and e<\/span>ntertaining, but<\/span> just as the action in the game zips by with slick efficiency, so too is your memory of the time with it going to be breezy.<\/span> If you\u2019re able to<\/span> use it as a way to bond with family or friends, then it\u2019s going to<\/span> have much more value than as a<\/span> single-player experience. For those playing solo, expect plenty of charm, but<\/span> given that it has been developed so that the youngest of children can enjoy it, there just isn\u2019t<\/span> much substance to it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Support<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like most people, I grew up with Disney being a real part of my childhood. So, while I find the content of modern Disney to be little more than a corporation demanding money, the classic hijinks of Mickey and Donald and co will always tap into deep nostalgia. Case-in-point: Next year I\u2019ve got a cabin room booked for the Disney cruise (I so much need that holiday). Disney Illusion Island\u2019s greatest quality is that it successfully captures classic Disney’s whimsical, playful, and happy side. You get to play as one of four characters \u2013 Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald (Donald!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":62499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1738,28,104,17],"tags":[13680,13874,13878,12763,14995,12764,12799],"coauthors":[12758],"class_list":["post-62495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disney","category-nintendo-switch","category-platformer","category-reviews","tag-2d-platformer","tag-disney","tag-disney-illusion-island","tag-nintendo-switch","tag-platfomer","tag-reviews","tag-switch-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62500,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62495\/revisions\/62500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62495"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.digitallydownloaded.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=62495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}