Disney Infinity 3.0 Toy Box App Review

Disney Infinity 3.0 has been released on a number of different platforms including mobile devices such as Android, IOS and Amazon. Over the past week, I’ve been testing out the mobile app on my iPad mini 2, trying out Toy Box Takeover plus playing and building within the Toy Box

The mobile version is slightly different to console versions in that play sets such as Star Wars Twilight of the Republic can’t be played, however all the toy box toys can be unlocked in a few different ways. However this doesn’t differ from previous mobile versions for 2.0 and the original, so it was expected.

But setting aside that the play sets are missing, almost everything from the toy box side of Disney Infinity 3.0 is included on the mobile version. Players have access to the new Toy Box Hub and Toy Box Takeover areas plus the main Toy Box itself, which includes all of the free community content, offering continuous new content for free.

The game itself looks very impressive for a mobile version of a console game, however there is slight issues with the game often feeling sluggish because it’s struggling to keep up with the action. But newer devices might not struggle as much, I was using an iPad mini 2, unfortunately I didn’t have space on my iPhone to test it, but honestly the idea of trying to control is game on a tiny touchscreen didn’t seem pleasant.

One of the things I loved about the new 3.0 app is that all the toys I had unlocked on my PS4 version had been unlocked, thanks for my Disney ID. Toys can also be unlocked by using webcodes that come with the physical play sets and also through sparks, which can be earned through play and also from actual payments.

Characters can be unlocked through webcodes from physical toy purchases or buying digitally, so if you already have the game on a console, the app adds more value to these purchases. All previous purchases from the two previous versions are automatically activated, so upgrading to the newer account is worthwhile.

I do find it annoying that character levels don’t transfer via my Disney ID, having a level 20 character suddenly drop to level 0 does feel disheartening and its hopefully something Disney will fix in later versions. Hours of work goes into leveling up characters on different versions and having one account host all this information would be very welcome.

I found the Toy Box Takeover extremely enjoyable to play, the style of play suits this version of Infinity, with plenty of fighting and requiring less control that might be required with a racing or platforming game. I spent many hours playing through the different levels, battling characters from Disney, Marvel and Star Wars in one experience.

The app comes in at around 3.5GB, so while it’s a pretty big download, it’s much less space hungry than I found with 2.0, which swallowed up almost all my iPad free space at almost 7GB. There is a second download required to do many aspects of the game, which isn’t included in the initial download from the App Store.

Building within the Toy Box can be slightly difficult due to the controls (a MFI controller might fix this issue), trying to control the character and camera with touchscreen controls doesn’t feel as natural as a controller but with practice, it becomes easier with time but still frustrating.

Due to the restraints of the mobile device, Toy Boxes can’t be build with the same scale as on larger consoles but basic building is fully possible, trying to create a weekly Top 5 toy box on my iPad feels almost impossible due to the side meters almost at max within a short time of building.

For me, I view the app as a perfect building companion, starting a new toy box, placing some terrain and starting the basics such as a little logic and design before transferring the Toy Box to the cloud to later refine on my PS4. The reason is, it’s just too fiddly to try to do everything within the app that takes seconds with a controller, making it rather frustrating. However spending a hour or so, while away from my console to make a start on a toy box is very rewarding to me personally. It also acts as a great way of testing my own toy boxes before submitting them to Disney, testing on a lower ranged device.

 

Another issue I have with the concept of this app, is that it’s free to play game, while characters are restricted without purchases, the Toy Box Hub, intro and community content are all available for free, whereas it has to be brought on console versions. Which I feel is unfair, obviously there are different financial systems in place with mobile and console gaming, while console owners purchase physical figures and play sets, it does feel like what is available within the app should be free on all platforms.

And while Disney give physical owners webcodes for playsets and figures, power discs aren’t included, so while I have over a hundred power discs, none of them are available within the app without repurchasing them. Again, not a major issue as power discs aren’t vital, but this issue doesn’t seem fair for physical owners, but this could also be flipped over with digital app owners feeling frustrated that app purchases don’t work on the console version.

Disney have priced figures and power discs much lower in their digital form, just a few dollars each for characters compared to the more expensive physical figures.

As a console owner, the app adds additional value for purchases and offers a light version of the game, but can feel frustrating due to restraints. I would also love to see this version of the game available on a proper handheld console like the PS Vita which has better controls.

For players, who only play on this version, (and the app is the most played version, but with a free version, it’s hardly surprising), this app is a lot of fun, there is plenty to do and it offers a almost console experience.

While the app offers so much potential, it feels like it is trying to be something these devices just can’t offer. These mobile devices aren’t consoles, they don’t have the power nor the control system to deliver the experience players should be getting.

It’s a real shame that Disney’s vision of this game being on all platforms isn’t as easy to achieve. Unfortunately the game is too large to be playable on every device and there are aspects of the app that seem to work very well but maybe these app versions need to be toned down to suit the devices. Tablets and other devices are a vital part of gaming today and Disney have embraced it, but sometimes less might be more. While the playsets aren’t part of the app experience, as Infinity continues to grow, I can’t help be feel the toy box app has to separate itself more from the console version, offering a lighter and enjoyable version of the game.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Toy Box App feels a much better version than its predecessors, it’s been tweaked to be much more playable and fun to play, but it’s still very frustrating when compared to its console version. On its own, compared to other Disney mobile games like Free Fall, Commander or Thought Bubbles, this game is without doubt a much bigger game and well worth experimenting with. It can be a lot of fun and works well as a companion to the console version.

Here is some gameplay footage of the iPad version in action: