Here I am again, despite my best efforts, caught up in some new toy / video game combo. I’m quite happy to say, however, that there is indeed something special about this one. While Disney Infinity may seem like a Skylanders rip-off from the outside it is anything but  that. Really the only similarities you can draw between the two would be the use of physical figures placed on a portal. I’m not going to declare that it’s better or worse than Skylanders because I still really love those. It’s just different.

Anyway, Keen and I have spent several hours with the game and I would love to share some of my thoughts.

The Starter Pack and the start of something magical.

The majority of Keen’s and my experience with Disney Infinity has been with the basic starter pack. With it you are able to play the game’s remarkably well done toybox mode along with 3 play set adventures: Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters U, and Incredibles.

We first started the game up, and as soon as the flashy intro/tutorial started we were immediately thrown back to being little kids. We both really love almost all things Disney so everything they presented was right up our alley. As various Disney properties sprung up and familiar characters graced the screen we were shouting, clapping, and squealing with delight like a couple of idiots. As soon as the tutorial ended we were dropped into one of the game’s toybox worlds featuring sprawling fantasy terrain and a rather lovely Disney castle. I placed a Davy Jones, Pirate (not Monkee), figure on the portal and Keen opted for Barbossa. Our characters came to life in game and we spent several minutes just running around, smacking each other, and just generally exploring. The toybox offers some pretty robust play options but we opted first to try out the Pirates of the Caribbean play set. (more…)