‘Disney Speedstorm’ Review: When You Wish Upon a Kart
Gameloft’s free-to-play “Mario Kart” competitor is a widely improved take on the kart-racing genre steeped in the pixie dust of Disney canon.
Have you ever been playing Mario Kart and thought, wow — I wish we could get this but with Disney/Pixar IP and better?
Enter Disney Speedstorm, which went free-to-play in September 2023.
The main draw here, is, of course, the ability to race as Elsa through Beast’s Castle, chase Mickey Mouse through Mount Olympus, or narrowly beat Jack Sparrow in a race across Andy’s bedroom from Toy Story. With 46 characters and 13 maps currently available (and many more of both on the way), the possibilities are endless for in-universe crossovers. There are options that go as far back as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and even as obscure as Figment, the purple dragon that serves as a mascot to Walt Disney World’s EPCOT. (Not to mention the absolute banger soundtrack, which consists of EDM remixes of famous Disney tracks.)
While that was enough to pull me initially, what has kept me coming back to this game for nearly 100 hours over the past two months has been the gameplay. After all, cosmetics are nothing if the game isn’t, you know…fun. It’s hard to discuss this game without comparing it to the biggest kart racing franchise in the world, Mario Kart; but the racing in Speedstorm feels extremely smooth and a little more grounded than the latter. Similarly, there are items (called “Skills” here) to snag along the track that you can use to your advantage (and your opponent’s disadvantage) and drifting controls that let you glide around corners with ease. While each character has differing stats like in Mario Kart, there is an entire system of leveling up that deepens the game. Most significantly, each racer has a Class here — Speedster, Trickster, Defender, or Brawler. This Class designates what they’re good (and not so good) at. In an even bigger departure from Mario Kart, each racer also has abilities which designate which Skills will appear for them to use on the course — it’s not every item for everyone as you might be used to, and it makes the races exponentially more interesting.
Being a free-to-play game as it is, Speedstorm adheres to the typical structure of seasonal programming. Every two months, a new campaign (based on a Disney property — it’s currently The Little Mermaid) begins for you to play through, unlocking new characters from that film or series and adding a new location/map to the mix. While you are able to unlock most items without paying anything, it is slow going. In my experience, it has even been impossible in some instances to complete all of the objectives without purchasing in-game currency for upgrades or unlocks. While this is occassionally frustrating, I understand that it is a business model, and the game can’t simply be completely free. This model is also what keeps me coming back day after day — new challenges and races are opened on a near daily basis to allow you move along and get new characters, cosmetics, and upgrades. It’s addicting, though occasionally boring if you get stuck in a grind. For example, the seasonal challenges this week required a Level 22 Minnie Mouse. Mine was stuck at Level 15 — so I was reduced to racing through standard race after standard race for hours until I had enough materials to upgrade her accordingly.
There really is a lot to see and play with here — and being a cosmetics-driven gamer as I am, the reward system is right up my alley. Of course I’ll grind to unlock Aladdin’s “Prince Ali” outfit. Of course I’ll spend hours unlocking a spaceship-based skin for Stitch’s kart. And of course I’ll race against strangers online just to get a cute new taillight for Bo Peep.
It’s silly, but it’s fun; and after all, isn’t that what games are made for?
