Late last week we had the opportunity to speak with Disney Infinity Executive Producer, John Vignocchi about the second wave of Disney Infinity 2.0 (Disney Originals) released on November 4, 2015. John discussed the upcoming slate of characters (along with some unreleased characters), power discs, additional platforms in which to play Disney Infinity, as well as some great ways to build your own Toy Box. In addition to the release details, we also have provided our review of the eight Disney/Pixar characters available at launch below.
RELEASE DETAILS
So, how can you get started with Disney Infinity 2.0 Toy Box Starter Pack and Disney Originals characters? If you already purchased the Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel Starter Pack you won’t need to purchase the Toy Box Starter Pack – you can buy the individual Disney Originals characters to continue creating in your toy boxes. (Click here to read our complete review of the Disney Infinity 2.0 Marvel starter pack.)
The Toy Box Starter Pack includes:
- (1) Disney Infinity (2.0 Edition) video game – (Note: The Disney Infinity: Toy Box Starter Pack and Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes Starter Pack both include the same video game disc)
- (1) Disney Infinity (2.0 Edition) base (same base as Marvel and 1.0 base)
- (2) Disney Originals Figures – Stitch and Merida
- (2) Disney Originals Toy Box Game Discs – “Stitch’s Tropical Rescue” and “Brave Forest Siege”
- (1) Web code card
- (1) Poster
Brave Forest Siege – Includes 8 replayable levels with endless adventures each time you play! Dodge the witch’s enchanted wooden carvings and help Merida find her mischievous brothers in the forest.
Stitch’s Tropical Rescue – Over 10 replayable levels with endless adventures each time you play! Galactic Federation robots are on a duck-snatching spree, and only you and Pleakley can save the little quackers.
The only downfall for those that didn’t need to purchase the Toy Box Starter Pack is that you’ll have to wait until January 13, 2015, in order to purchase the additional Stitch and Brave-based Toy Box missions. John mentioned that “Stitch’s Tropical Rescue” is a Tower Defense series of missions (similar to the “Assault on Asgard” Marvel Toy Box disc) and “Brave Forest Siege” will be a dungeon crawler series of missions (similar to the “Escape From the Kyln”Marvel Toy Box disc) with a light story element.
As an additional way to get started playing Disney Infinity 2.0, you can also purchase the complete digital download of the Toy Box Starter Pack through your console’s online store (must own an existing base). If you download the digital version of the game, you can receive the two Disney Originals Toy Box Games Discs for free (for a limited time) through the official Disney Infinity site (UPDATED – the link has been removed since the Disney Infinity site is no longer active).
CHARACTER DETAILS
The initial eight characters released are Merida, Donald Duck, Stitch, Maleficent, Hiro, Baymax, Tinker Bell, and Aladdin. The image we compiled below also contains Jasmine, so what about her release date? She’ll be released individually on February 3, 2015, but (as a tip) if you’re a big power disc collector, we’d recommend holding off purchasing Aladdin until February 3 because Aladdin and Jasmine will also be available in a 2-pack with the exclusive Agrabah terrain and sky power discs.
Since we’ve had a good chance to level up our Disney Original characters quite a bit, our favorite figure is Merida(sure, we’re biased). Her ability to target enemies with her fast-paced archery is invaluable (although it is essential to build out her skill tree as her arrows become more speedy and powerful as you advance her skill level). Maleficent was our next favorite figure to play with (this was a complete surprise to us as we thought we may not have been as interested in her initially). Maleficent’s fighting ability is insanely powerful right out of the box and she can dispatch large swaths of enemies with her spells (green flames). We highly recommend her character for large battles and you can even enable her ability to fly as you build out her skill tree.
Next up, we enjoyed playing with Stitch‘s figure – his blaster and ability to wall crawl make him a blast to play with. He’s similar to Donald in the sense that his character motions are extremely cute, but nothing can compare to Donald’s weapons (vase, watermelon, boot, and even a kitchen sink as you upgrade his skill tree) and wild temper tantrums! The stars of Big Hero 6, Hiro, and Baymax are also a blast to play with, but we preferred Baymax for his flight ability, healing powers, and rockets.
Aladdin is also a great figure to play with and when you combine him with his Magic Carpet Power Disc, you really start to long for Jasmine to join him in the game. Aladdin’s scimitar is a fantastic weapon to fight with – we especially loved the fact that after a few swings of his sword he looks over his shoulder (as if looking at you) and shows you his signature shrug. The fact that the game developers included these little character traits really shows the level of passion and dedication they put into the game.
During a discussion regarding the characters, John revealed that there are still two unreleased Disney Originals figures – although he wasn’t able to mention which characters those were (but stay tuned as they’ll be revealed in 2015). Additionally, we also now have release dates for a few additional characters we were already privy to:
- December 5, 2014 – Crystal Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey
- January 13, 2015 – In addition to Toy Box Game Discs being released, Ronan, Yondu and Green Goblin will also be released that day.
- March 23, 2015 – Lokiand Falcon
POWER DISCS
The release of the Disney Originals series on November 4 also saw the release of 40 new Disney-themed power discs.
ADDITIONAL WAYS TO PLAY & LEARN
We were also happy to learn from our discussion with John that the PSVita and iOS (iPad) version of Disney Infinity 2.0 will be released soon (the iOS version releasing in November 2014 and PSVita version releasing in 2015). Although you may have been playing the PC version of the game already, you’ll now have another reason to play as your favorite characters (just enter the digital codes that come with your figures).
Some of the most experienced Toy Box artists have mentioned that their preferred method to build the base for their toy boxes in 1.0 was to utilize the iOS version for its versatility. The console building tools have dramatically been improved in 2.0, but we’re sure that the Toy Box veterans are excited to get their hands on this version and have an additional tool to keep creating.
Speaking of the Toy Box, if you haven’t downloaded some of the pre-built adventures you absolutely need to dig in and play these levels. After you play with a few toy boxes, you’ll soon find yourself wanting to create your own worlds as well. John mentioned that there are more than 20 Toy Box building tutorial videos that will be uploaded to the Disney Infinity YouTube channel soon. (To give you an idea for these instructional videos, we embedded one of the training videos below.)
FINAL TEASER
During the call, John also mentioned that one character (either from 1.0 or 2.0) would receive a costume change figure. That means that one figure we’ve already seen will receive a re-release in stores with a new look. The timing of this release must be further off in the year as John’s comment was, “it will be released during the Disney Infinity 2.0 life cycle.” Any thoughts on which character this would be?
