Disney Magical World 2 (3DS) Review

On first glance, it would be easy to dismiss Disney Magical World 2 (DMW2) as a cheap game designed to cash-in on its extremely well-known licence. However, in doing so, you would be missing out on the best Animal Crossing game since New Leaf.

It is difficult to avoid comparisons to the beloved Nintendo franchise starring everyone’s favourite sadistic capitalist, Tom Nook, but this cannot be helped due to a number of shared game mechanics. DMW2 allows you to create a character or import a Mii to play as, where you can then meet a huge range of Disney characters en route to furnishing your home, managing a café, designing clothes, and even engaging in some dungeon crawling-lite combat.

As is to be expected with any creation under the Disney banner, DMW2 is full of rich, vibrant colour. It is difficult not to get swept up in Walt’s whimsical world of cute characters, which not only features the classic cast of Mickey Mouse and friends, but also more recent Disney friends such as Wreck-It Ralph, and the sisters from Frozen.

Designed with a young audience in mind, the game takes its time introducing each of the various mechanics and activities via mini-quests, which reward the player with Happy Stickers. It is only after the first couple of hours of playing that the game starts to open up and you can decide what you would like to do and when.

This is also the point where your character is entrusted with refurbishing and managing the abandoned café. Here you can set the menu, the café décor, and even what uniform the staff will wear. The money earned through the café can be spent on a plethora of other items, including improving the café itself. Similar to Animal Crossing, DMW2 operates in real-time using the 3DS system clock, which allows you to earn money from the café even when you are not playing. This is a fantastic feature, as it allows for short bursts of play and there will always be something to come back to. The only caveat being you will need to restock the café with foraged ingredients in order to keep generating an income.

This Disney adventure is not without a small handful of shortcomings, however. I occasionally experienced minor frame rate drops on my New 3DS XL during cut-scenes, which made some of the character animations look tacky. Most of the game ran smoothly, but it was these moments that dulled some of the otherwise fantastic Disney charm.

The dungeon-crawling sections are a touch on the shallow side; the combat involved requires little strategy and can quickly turn into a button-mashing affair. However, the dungeon-crawling is only brief, and is perfectly fine for a younger audience. Do not expect the same level of depth and difficulty offered by other games. Not that you were expecting Mickey Mouse to mercilessly send you to a grisly fate while he gleefully enjoys a tea party with his famous friends.

The other main gripe with DMW2 is the boring and pointless dream sequences where all you do is take photos of scripted interactions with various Disney characters. Even the younger players might find their attention wandering during these barely-interactive segments. I would recommend just booting up one of the movies if your young’un wants to passively enjoy their favourite Disney moments.

Although Disney Magical World 2 does not quite achieve the same level of depth and sheer unadulterated fun that the Animal Crossing series does, it is definitely a worthy placeholder while we wait for what is hopefully a worthwhile Animal Crossing mobile game.