E3 2019: Hands-on with Disney Tsum Tsum Festival

When Bandai Namco first announced a console release of the popular Tsum Tsum mobile game, I was at a loss as to why, however when I saw it was playable at their booth at E3, I thought I would jump on and see what it was all about.

The demo that they had set up provided a few different lengths, but the content seemed to be the same, as time is always a premium thing at these events, went for the 10-minute option and then it was time to begin. The best way that I can describe the game is Mario Party, but with Tsum Tsum instead of the crew we know, there is a little more to this one, but that is the quickest way I can think to get the point across on what it is. With the option that I had selected, I was given a few mini-games to play, and of course a version of the original mobile game later on, but enough delay, time to talk about the games.

The first game that I played was basically Pac-Man, myself and 3 AI Tsum Tsum were dropped onto a map, complete with turns and dots to eat, while 4 Tsum Tsum baddies were turned into ghosts, though with lollipops sticking out of their head. It was then a matter of who could score the most points, while avoiding the ghosts the longest, the more dots you ate consecutively the more points you got, but there were also power-ups to deal with. With those, some would just double your point count, while there was one, which acted like the Power Pellet, made the ghosts flee from you, as well as make you larger than the rest. This meant that if you had it going, you could launch the other Tsum Tsum in the air and delay them from eating for a little bit, it is an effective move and so satisfying when you managed to land that attack.

With the round over and the points awarded, it was time for the next game, which was Air Hockey, in that two teams, each with two Tsum Tsum in them, would try to score goals. The match was chaotic and fun, with lots happening, though I lost in overall score, I did rack up enough points to stay in the running for the grand win. At one point and I am not sure how, multiple discs appeared on the table, causing even more chaos than before, which was fun, and the result was that each move could work or be hindered by the other member of your team, I liked it.

The final mini game was quite the challenge and required you to not only bump players out of a curved bowl, but somehow manage to stay in it yourself, it was really hard. What it required you to do, was avoid going near the edge, however if you did, there were some safety rails around it, that would stop you from falling in. The catch though, was that the slightest touch of them and you would straight away remove it from the board, making a gap large enough to bounce through, should you be hit. The challenge came from trying to bounce your enemies out of the gaps, whilst trying to stay on the board yourself, while I was playing with only 3 AI players, I can see this one becoming very loud when played with multiple people. With that game over though, I again lost, the results had me coming in second and I was ok with that, but now it was time for the other mode, the original Tsum Tsum.

This mode is just like the mobile game, you even turn the Switch to the side to play it, if you have played that, then you will know what to expect here. You have to connect three or more Tsum Tsum characters in a row to clear them and the more you clear at once, the more points you earn, clear enough and you can engage a special ability. There really was nothing special or different from the mode on the Switch, than there was on the mobile game, but I am ok with that, as it just gives you a larger screen to play on.

Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is a game that you will either like or not, given how much you enjoy games like Mario Party, the games that I was able to play were fun and simple, but seem to offer a little more tactical choice than your average mini-game does, but if you ignore that and just have fun, that is still rewarding. I am holding off on more judgement on it until I see a more complete list of the available games, but so far, this one is looking interesting.