Disney had tons to show me, unfortunately I was only able to check out three of their titles including Epic Mickey and Tron.
With what time I had with my Disney Interactive Studios appointment, I used mostly on TRON and Epic Mickey. Party Hits came into play at the very end when I remembered that my favorite band, OneRepublic had a song available in the game.
TRON Evolution – Battle Grids
Let me start off by saying I am a huge TRON fan. I may not know all the terminology from the original film, but I still love it nonetheless. The original film debuted just five days before I was born, but when I was little I remember the movie being on TV and being enthralled by what I saw. Now there’s a sequel that’s coming to the big screen and with that a new game. Battle Grids attempts to put the Light Cycle game that TRON has become famous for into your hands and let you experience the updated version. Updated for the new TRON Legacy film, the games visuals are slick, moody and match the feel of the trailers so far released. When I was able to play I noticed a bit of a learning curve with the controls. To control the bike, you’ll hold the controller sideways and turn by moving the Wii Remote up or down, similar to how Excite Truck plays. Performing sharp 90 degree turns is easy as pressing 1 or 2. I was told you’re also able to drift, but I don’t think I managed to pull that off while playing. After becoming acclimated to the controls, I still managed to be beat by the computer player, but not as bad as I had originally thought I would.
Another mode was shown to me, which unlike the Light Cycle battle royal where all you’re attempting to do is to get the other players to run into your light walls created by the path you pick, employs battle tanks for fast projectile action. The controls were pretty similar, though I found the tank didn’t quite have the on rails steering as the Light Cycles. Random power ups are strewn about the playing field for everyone to pick up. Each power up is a different type of weapon, usually a projectile of some sort with a variation of power. Although the power ups are the quick way to dispatch the opposition, you’re also able to ram the enemy and take them down in that fashion after a series of hits.
This version didn’t seem to touch on it that much, but I was told you’ll be able to fully customize your character so you’re not just stuck with a generic looking player. If you enjoyed playing various free fan versions of the Light Cycle games that are available, you’ll definitely want to at least check this title out for the fast pace action it offers those seeking nostalgia in huge quantities.
Epic Mickey
I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get as much hands-on time as I’d like with this game. Mostly because the demonstrator was too busy explaining the game, pretty closely to what had been shown at the Nintendo media briefing a day before. The only part that I got to play for myself with the Steamboat Willie level which was a side-scrolling level in black and white. Controlling Mickey seemed simple and it surprised me when a double-jump was possible as I had glossed over that particular feat. It seemed as soon as I got the controller in my hands to play, it was yanked away to show me a level with a boat which went back to a 3D world. It was neat to see that there will be puzzles to solve to make certain parts of the environment move to Mickey’s advantage.
Aside from that, not much can be said about my time with Epic Mickey considering I was simply watching someone else play. Most of what I had to say can be summed up by simply watching the trailer for yourself and forming your own opinions. Though I will say, up close and in motion the game looks quite nice.
Disney Sing It: Party Hits
I fully admit this was a title that was a bit of an indulgence on my part. Instead of seeing Guilty Party which I had seen and written about since it was at the Nintendo Media Summit, I instead elected to do a fun game. Enter Party Hits and cringe or smile, depending on if you ever hear me sing. Previously I hadn’t given the karaoke games much thought due to not knowing many of the artists. Luckily Disney seems to have recognized not everyone knows the teeny-bopper songs and has branched out to more mainstream singers. The menu looks just as slick as it had previously and features a vocal coach to help you out, though it makes me wonder if they’ll be able to help my nails on chalkboard voice.
The demonstrator asked me which song I’d like to sing and I enthusiastically picked “All the Right Moves” by OneRepublic, which was probably the 3rd most popular choice out of folks coming over to sing it. Relieved washed over the person who was going to sing it with me since Justin Bieber seemed to be the big hit during E3. When I sang the song, I noticed certain verses were given to my fellow singer and I was handed others, but with the main chorus being given to both players. A great touch to get two players involved instead of seeing who can sing louder or more accurately, depending on the skill level. At the end of the song, as an aside and goofy fun thing, you’ll be able to play back what you sang and change the voice. If you sound wonderful, this is a great feature, but if you can’t stand the way you sing then you may want to skip this feature before you turn too red.
I had a bunch of fun singing “All the Right Moves” especially considering a few others came over to join in the singing. It’s shaping up to be great and with mainstream artists in the mix, Disney Sing It: Party Hits can be just that.
