Review | Kinect Disneyland Adventures

Most people will never get to go to Disneyland. Statistically. I freely admit I’ve never been, and I will likely never go. It’s very far away, you see, and I’m too poor. Luckily there are videogames filled with just as much colour and adventure, and as many lovable characters. But if someone could bring the magic of Disney’s park to a game, surely that would be amazing.

I will do my best to avoid being cynical, speaking as a fully-grown adult, well aware that I’m not the intended audience for Kinect Disneyland Adventures. It shouldn’t be too hard, as Frontier Games have done a particularly wonderful job of recreating the theme park in digital form. There are a few control problems and the gameplay itself is repetitive, but for kids and bigger kids this is actually a very charming and fun way to spend the afternoon.

You begin your visit to the park by designing your child avatar, which was oddly discomfiting for me and fellow players. I was impressed by the range of options at least, and managed to fashion a rather dapper looking boy who dressed like The Fonz. After you make yourself, the game lets you loose in the park. The bulk of play is open world, with your avatar wandering around the different sections to reach the various attractions and chat to various familiar characters.

There are over 40 different Disney characters hanging around waiting to meet you, including Pluto, Snow White, Beast and Captain Hook. Each of these characters can be talked to, but the true fan will also want to use Kinect to high five Donald Duck, hug Goofy, or take pictures with their camera phone. The little actions are a nice touch kids will love, especially since each character has their own unique reactions.

Mickey Mouse is the first face to cross your path, and he’s also the one who will set you on your way through the surprisingly long quest line. The overall story and quest selection isn’t exactly filled with Shakespeare or mind-benders, but it is entertaining – moreso if you’re an eight year-old. The quests are really just motivation to explore the park and interact with the residents. And honestly, the game provides the best tour of the park possible without actually going there. Frontier have recreated almost every inch of the place, right down to small details like fences and garbage cans. It’s actually quite a shock to see so much effort poured into a licensed kid’s game. Plenty of families wander the streets, moving to and fro, but thankfully you’ll never have to line up for a ride.

Instead, another enemy appears to hinder your progress: movement. It’s both common knowledge and common sense tat Kinect titles don’t handle freedom of movement very well. The majority are either on-rails like Gunstringer or require no movement at all like Dance Central. Moving around Disneyland requires you to point to move forward, and either tilt your body or move your arm in front of you to head in that direction. The system works well enough – especially if you are a boisterous child – but at all points during free-roaming I wished I had a simple analog stick.

Luckily the attractions avoid such problems. There are 20 famous rides included in the game (aside from a few quick references to old favourites like the teacups) each with several stages to complete inside. All are lovingly replicated and contain various mini-games to complete for points. You can play croquet with Alice in Wonderland (as the ball), explore Winnie the Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood or slide down the Matterhorn. While the settings are varied, the gameplay is most certainly not, generally boiling down to using Kinect to move left and right while jumping obstacles. There are other types of sequences, such as matching the poses of dancers on the Small World ride or swordfighting with pirates, but all repeat themselves many times over before the end. Again, this is something that most likely won’t bother kids, but the game is probably suited to short bursts of play because of it.

For those that do keep coming back, there is a ridiculous amount of content to discover. There are autographs to collect, characters to meet, coins to grab, unlockable clothing items and hidden Mickeys. It feels like there’s more to do at virtual Disneyland than at the real deal. There’s plenty of opportunity for young players to make the most of it as well, since there is no way to fail challenges as such. Scores are the only way skills are measured, meaning kids can have fun oblivious or try to beat their previous runs.

But beyond being just a videogame, Disneyland Adventures stands as a kind of historical artifact. The game preserves a copy of Disneyland as it exists in the present, providing something future generations can look back on when the park as it exists may be only a memory.

The game is repetitive and often controls like a battleship in quicksand, but it’s hard not to be won over by the charm of it all. I know my adult friends had more fun than they might care to admit flailing about in front of the TV and giving hugs to pieces of their childhood. The term “family game” is often thrown out as a way of deriding something as shallow and unworthy of a serious gamer’s time, but in this case it’s a true reflection of the title’s appeal. Get the family together and explore, there’s sure to be a little magic in it for you.  [7]