A Whole New World: Disney’s 5 Best Mobile Games
Written by @Kef
Edited by @cheddar
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Disney is just about the biggest brand name in all of media. Maybe you grew up on the classics, like Cinderella and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Maybe, like me, you’re a ‘90s kid with formative memories made up of songs from Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Or maybe you’re more into the new school of Disney, with all of Pixar’s instant classics and more recent hits like Frozen and Zootopia.
Among other things, that sort of generation-spanning longevity probably has a lot to do with Disney’s sustained success and cultural relevance. Whatever age range you fall in, there was probably a Disney movie (or a dozen of them) that spoke to you as a kid, and if you’ve managed to hold on to your inner child at all, they’re probably still speaking to you with newer releases. And that’s before you even consider the recent acquisition feeding frenzy that has seen the Magical Kingdom become home to Star Wars, Marvel, The Simpsons, and more.
We’re not here to talk about all those other brands though. No, with this week’s release of Disney Mirrorverse, we’re fully immersed in appreciation for the Disney classics, the stars of which are also the stars of Mirrorverse. And not just Mirrorverse!
This week, we’ve put together a collection of five of the best Disney mobile games, each of which offers its own twist on some beloved characters, settings, and stories. If you think you’re too old for Disney, it’s time to “Let It Go” and step into “A Whole New World”—and there’s no need to “Wish Upon a Star,” because “You’ve Got a Friend in” TapTap.
I’m being told we’ve hit our terrible pun quota for the month in just one article, so on to the list!
We’re starting with what may be the least exciting, most by-the-books entry on the list, but rather than holding that against Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, you should take that as a sign to look forward to what’s coming on the list. Because even at the “bottom” of the pack, Disney Heroes is a very solid, polished, and fun game—just of a style that we’ve seen plenty of before.
91069Battle Mode is a gacha-based hero collector RPG with all the now-expected idle game elements. The titular battles are played out automatically, but you can help turn the tide by using your heroes’ special abilities as they power up throughout combat. Between battles, you’ll open loot boxes to unlock more characters, level up and gear up said characters, and enjoy a light but fun story with cameos from plenty of Disney greats.
Speaking of Disney greats, the biggest strength of Disney Heroes: Battle Mode is the sheer size of its cast. The game has been live for over four years now, and the list of playable characters is quickly approaching a whopping two hundred, with a handful of new entries added every month. We’re talking everyone from one-off The Incredibles villain The Underminer to obscure DuckTales baddie Magica De Spell to basically the whole cast of the underrated 2014 CG effort Big Hero 6. Obviously all the big names are here too. Heck, even Bette Midler’s character from Hocus Pocus shows up!
The limited gameplay in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode probably isn’t going to blow anyone away. But for true Disney fanatics, this is an incredible title for enjoying some nostalgia and trying to collect all of your favorite heroes and villains, including some you probably forgot about.
Did I just say almost two hundred characters was a lot? Well, Disney Magic Kingdoms has that beat, with well over two hundred and counting characters from across Disney’s history who you can convince to come live in your magical world. Even better, as you’re building a theme park, you also get to put down recognizable Disney World attractions such as Space Mountain and the Jungle Cruise.
3876With its supremely relaxed gameplay and the ability to slowly chip away at progress over the course of days, weeks, and months of play, Disney Magic Kingdoms may be the most child-friendly game on this list. Players of all ages will be able to enjoy building the Disney theme park of their dreams, and it doesn’t require much in the way of strategic planning, nor tossing down money.
There’s a whole sub-genre of this style of extremely chill city builders based around popular franchises, such as Smurfs’ Village and The Simpsons: Tapped Out. These are the kind of games that are easy to play when you want to wind down or tap away at while you’re watching a movie. Just don’t get too pulled into the limited-time events, which often have harsh deadlines meant to encourage spending money.
This is the game we’ve played the least of on this list, given that it just came out. However, what we can say already is that Disney Mirrorverse appears to be a fresh, much more visually modern take on the similar collect-em-all RPG gameplay of Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
188238Given its new release status, Mirrorverse only features a comparatively meager roster of forty-four characters, with a large bias towards heavy-hitters like Captain Hook, Maleficent, Hercules, and Buzz Lightyear. However, it makes up for that shortcoming with a much more complex story—a tale of slightly darker versions of Disney heroes and villains joining forces to fight off some strange otherworldy force that seems set on destroying the universe. Or, uh, all universes! All mirrorverses? Whatever.
Disney Mirrorverse also features a more engaging battle system that isn’t played out automatically and feels a little more action-packed than that of Disney Heroes. We’ll still need a little more time with Mirrorverse before we can judge whether it’s truly great—watch out for a full review on TapTap in the near future—but at the very least it provides a bold new take on the design and attitude of these classic characters. That alone makes it worth checking out for a while.
You may not guess it from a glance, but Disney Twisted Wonderland may be the secret best game on this list. It’s certainly the most unexpected and different. See, Twisted Wonderland is basically a visual novel that features classic villains from Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, and other Disney movies reimagined via gorgeous drawings created by manga artist Yana Toboso.
229113And yes, we said “villains” only—no heroes here! These redesigned bad guys have been placed into the devious dorms of Night Raven College, where they’re learning all of the dark magicks they’ll need to become major menaces down the road. In addition to interacting with these characters in increasingly sweat-inducing scenarios, you’ll also need to play through turn-based battles and even some rhythm game segments.
Disney Twisted Wonderland earns big points for how unique it is on almost every level, from the character designs to the music-based gameplay to the sharply written, almost dating-sim-esque story. And though it has some gacha elements, this one is probably the most player-friendly of all of these choices, with microtransactions being easily avoidable with a little patience.
Besides, you haven’t lived until you’ve fallen for the reimagining of Scar from The Lion King as an extremely attractive college guy with long hair, lion ears, and a leather jacket. Is it getting hot in here for anyone else?
We’re cheating a little with this one, since it’s not strictly Disney characters, but really the joke’s on us. After all, now we need to type out Kingdom Hearts Uχ Dark Road a bunch of times. Uggggh.
5180This mobile spin-off of Square Enix’s popular Kingdom Hearts series is something of a rarity: a mobile spin-off of a major franchise that is, itself, actually a fairly essential piece of storytelling for said franchise. Specifically, Dark Road serves as a prequel and an origin story of sorts for many of the historical events that become important in the lore of the mainline Kingdom Hearts titles. And you get to dig into that while teaming up with various Disney stars, as in all Kingdom Hearts games.
The one downside is that Uχ Dark Road is actually a replacement for Kingdom Hearts Unionχ, a mobile title that felt a bit more traditional to the Kingdom Hearts style but which has since been shut down and is no longer playable. Dark Road is, at least in theory, supposed to carry over the core story content from Unionχ. Regardless, if you love Kingdom Hearts at all or want to enjoy some classic Square Enix JRPG storytelling that also folds in Disney characters, this is worth checking out!
💬 That’s our list, but we’d love to know what Disney movies and games you love! Leave a comment telling us your favorite Disney character!
Also, we have a surprise for you 😏 Join our screenshot challenge and let us know which Disney character did you get!
Mentioned games
View all
