What if Disney Infinity was a pure platforming game?
You can almost hear the developers at Avalanche Software thinking that when they sat down to design the Inside Out play set for Disney Infinity 3.0. The game is half platformer, half side-scroller, with an even split of levels devoted to each. The side-scrollers show some genuine devotion and love for Super Mario and his ilk, while the platforming levels' 3D jumping and puzzling should satisfy purists.
Disney was smart to skip doing an official Inside Out tie-in video game in favor of a Disney Infinity play set, and it's a gamble that pays off. Addictive and challenging, the Inside Out play set tells a different story than the movie, but it complements the film beautifully. Its greatest strength is its variety of play, with every level presenting a new challenge to figure out.
Gameplay
From the emotions' HQ, as seen in Inside Out the movie, you select which level you want to play and head out. The game does a fine job of making sure that you want to collect all five figures, so that you can play as them all. There are areas in almost every level that require the unique abilities of each character, smartly putting them all to good use. You'll never feel like the game favors one character over another, and there's more than enough opportunities to level-up all five of them.
But with so much gameplay based on the individual abilities of the five characters, what happens if you don't own all five figures? What happens — particularly if you're playing solo — when you encounter an obstacle that can only be overcome by a character you don't have? Nobody wants gameplay to grind to a sudden halt while you run out to the store to buy a needed figure.
Avalanche found a clever way around this by inserting "makeover stations" at key points in the game's levels. For a brief period of time — a minute, or maybe two — any character can receive a makeover that allows them to look like a different character. So if Disgust is needed but you only have Joy, Joy enters a makeover station, comes out looking like Disgust, clears whatever obstacle is in the way, and then reverts back to Joy. It adds some extra steps to the process that can be solved by owning all five characters, but you're able to complete the level no matter what.
Since it's set in Imagination Land, anything and everything can happen. So you'll come across all sorts of random objects, from flying cream pies to an entire level that's basically an enormous pinball machine. Avalanche's designers really let their own imaginations run wild, and it shows in these enormously creative levels.
On the other hand, the Inside Out play set gets considerably harder as you progress, as the developers let loose ever-bigger and crazier ideas. Case in point: a late game mechanic adds upside-down areas into the side-scroller levels. It's quite a trip getting your head around the notion of jumping or climbing down, not to mention how weird it is when you switch from one orientation to the other. One level even includes some head-spinning twists where multiple switches are required in a single jump.
One constant in each level is a point bonus you'll receive for completing it quickly. The problem is, these are deep, involved levels, and the game wants you to finish most of them in seven minutes or less. Even running flat-out, you have to stop frequently to switch characters or get past some kind of obstacle, so only the best of the best players will ever be able to achieve that time limit bonus. You'll also get bonus points for popping a certain number of balloons, and finding a super-secret light bulb.
Graphics
As with all Disney Infinity content, the Inside Out play set maintains the common "plastic toy" aesthetic that players have become accustomed to. Critics may find that it detracts from the stakes when you know you're playing with toys instead of something more realistic, I find that it adds to the game's charm.
Inside Out translates extremely well into the Infinity universe, as the world of imagination is everything this franchise is all about. The images are vivid, popping off the screen in primary and pastel colors, and your eyes are always being fed new candy to savor. The figures and their onscreen counterparts are some of the very best from the Infinity 3.0 roster. The figures in particular, each with a signature color and expressions that make them look alive, are fantastic.
All in all, it's not the most technically impressive visuals you've ever seen, but it has no need to be.
Story
The story, which is admittedly light, begins when young Riley stays up late to watch a scary movie. As she sleeps, her imagination goes into overdrive, threatening to alter her permanent memories. So it's up to her five core emotions to venture into Imagination Land and set things right.
One of the game's best aspects is hearing these five characters running commentary on the circumstances they find themselves in, in Imagination Land. (And it helps that most of the movie's voice actors returned for the game.) Joy is relentlessly upbeat, Anger is often furious and impatient, Disgust is hilariously annoyed, and so on. Avalanche's team members have done several play sets based on Pixar properties now, and their confidence glows brightest in the solid handling of the characters.
Another major bummer is that the game takes complete control over the camera. You can't rotate your view or move the camera at all. This proves particularly frustrating when you know there's something just out of view but you can't easily reach it or see what it is.
Overall
You certainly get your money's worth at a whopping 25 levels, though it's hard to compare that number side-by-side with other Playsets, since most of them consist of free-roam areas with numerous missions to complete. But it feels like a very full game, and took this reviewer a good eight hours to complete. And there's still tons of collectibles and achievements left to go back and finish. Since nailing those achievements and finding hidden items unlocks new goodies for your Toy Box, there's every reason to take it to 100 percent.
Inside Out is such a natural fit for Disney Infinity, and Avalanche Software exploits that fact to its fullest potential. If you're a platforming fan, there's some great stuff in here that you shouldn't miss. If you're not a fan or you've never played a platformer in your life ... the Inside Out play set will usher you into the fold.
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