Though each ride’s art style is unique and commendable, the controls are universally maddening.Wandering the Magic Kingdom is an awe-inspiring experience for millions, young and old. Unfortunately, a slew of control issues make your virtual Kinect Disneyland visit a lot like touring the real-life park in a body cast: the rides aren’t fun and it’s a pain in the neck to get anywhere.
While half of Disneyland’s gameplay involves exploring the meticulously re-created park for secrets or running errands for Mickey and Co., the other 50% comes from Kinect Adventures–esque minigames done in the theme of 20 of Disneyland’s most famous attractions. You’ll ride a log down a river in Splash Mountain and pelt yeti with snowballs on Matterhorn, but the controls are almost always downright woeful — mostly being either way too sensitive or barely responsive at all.
Sure, you can’t fail, but said controls make you feel like you can’t succeed either. And the on-foot movements in the park aren’t much better. You’ll point to where you want to go, which not only gets tiring, but feels awkward in tight spots, as you can’t back up. Plenty of games control well with Kinect, but this experience would’ve been far more enjoyable with a controller, and we can’t see kids tolerating these shortcomings for long.
Meanwhile, numerous omissions disappoint. Star Tours and Indiana Jones are likely casualties of licensing deals, but why can’t we ride the Monorail or train? Other touches, like a day/night cycle and seasonal decorations, seem like obvious missed opportunities to add Disneyland ambiance. So much potential...maybe Tomorrow(land)?
Publisher: Microsoft • Developer: Frontier • ESRB: Everyone • Multiplayer:2 on same screen • Achievements: Stupidly time-consuming • Cost: $50
+ Detailed Disneyland re-creation is a treat to wander.
- Choppy framerate; Pointer controls are irksome…
- …and the attraction minigame controls are worse; not much variety to them either.
? What kind of message does it send that you play as a kid wandering around Disneyland alone?
The_Editor
November 21, 2011 at 3:37am
Havn't had any issues with controls. Have read a few reviews about this game and havn't read anything about controls being such an issue for others. Perhaps you need to look at how you've got your kinect set up and try this again. I've really enjoyed it!
Maillon
November 18, 2011 at 6:51pm
My kids and I really enjoyed it. It's true, there are a couple of weird things with the controls here and there but the voice commands make those easy to get around. And there were a lot of things to do in this game. We've been playing it for hours and have only seen a small part of the attractions. Why rate the game so low because of what it didn't have?
gkicker2
November 18, 2011 at 1:19pm
As a Disney fan with a daughter, this is really disappointing... Makes the decision between this and the Sesame Street game easy tho!
Dave OXM
November 18, 2011 at 2:15pm
FYI, Mr. Kicker - Once Upon A Monster is on sale today!
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sesame+Street%3A+Once+Upon+a+Monster+-+Xbox+360/2842757.p?id=1218355789491&skuId=2842757&st=once
gkicker2
November 18, 2011 at 7:30pm
saw the post and followed the link... what greeted me?? Sold out.. wah wuh... Oh well. Thanks for the heads up, tho! Good games go fast!... Edit: found on amazon.com for the price. Does this mean permanant price cut?
