Disney Melee Mania
By Marc Saltzman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Disney-themed fighting game fun for tweens, teens.
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Disney Melee Mania
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What’s It About?
Disney has thrown its hat into the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) space with DISNEY MELEE MANIA, playable on the Apple Arcade service for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac. Players get to build a three-person team based on iconic Disney and Pixar characters, each with their own abilities. The roster includes Moana, Wreck It-Ralph, Elsa, Frozone (The Incredibles), Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story), Mickey Mouse (Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Jasmine (Aladdin), EVE (WALL-E), The Manticore (Onward), Mulan, Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), and more. For example, Elsa from Frozen can throw ice shards to damage an opponent, while the secondary (and more powerful attack) extends a sheet of ice, too, which can temporarily immobilize an opponent, and a third special attack is the ability to summon a Yeti, of sorts, to helpf you fight against the rival team. Additional playable characters will be accessible over time. Like many other MOBA games, players will have five minutes on a map (in the main mode) to compete against another team of three to see who can rack up the most points by the end of the round. There are obstacles to hide behind (or in tall grass), which gives you time to heal, primary and secondary weapons (range or melee) and a special attack, too. Players can upgrade their characters, unlock new costumes, and tackle additional modes, events and missions to partake in. Along with a mandatory tutorial, players can also compete against the game's artificial intelligence (lifelike bots) to sharpen skills before going online against other human players.
Is It Any Good?
As the first Disney-themed MOBA, this is a highly enjoyable and accessible multiplayer brawler that gets it mostly right. Disney and Pixar fans will no doubt enjoy playing around with each of these familiar characters in Disney Melee Mania, each with their unique powers, and the more you play, the more you unlock. For example, the more matches you win, the more XP (experience points) and stars you'll earn, which can then be used to unlock rewards, like bumping up your characters' abilities, earning new outfits, and gaining bonus fighters, too (that weren't previously available to you).
There are a few things that could be improved, though, such as the graphics, which look out of date. In fact, the visuals are reminiscent of the Disney Infinity games from 2013, and feel muddy and unsharp. Also, there's some lag here, when you're playing against others (and there seems to be a lot happening on the screen at the same time), and you may experience some hiccups -- which could affect your performance -- but no freezes or crashes, at least. Maybe this can be fixed with future patching updates. Another potential issue is there are no consequences for exiting out of a match you're not doing well in. Many other MOBA games penalize you for doing this (which is also unfair to your teammates). As part of the impressive Apple Arcade service, for only $4.99/month, it's well worth it -- not to mention this is a "play to play" game opposed to a "pay to play" MOBA, so the value is evident. While not a perfect 10, Disney Melee Mania is a fun and frantic offering that will likely get better over time when new characters are added and performance issues are hopefully ironed out. But it's a great way to introduce tweens and teens to the popular MOBA universe, with characters they likely already know and love.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in video games. Is the impact of the violence in Disney Melee Mania affected by the cartoonish violence and the fact that no one gets hurt? Is the action of attacking another characters with melee or ranged attacks seem inappropriate for young kids to partake in? Does this desensitize kids to violence, or do they know the action isn't real?
Would this game be as fun without the Disney and Pixar characters? If you strip away the familiar faces from your team, would people still play this? Is Disney publishing this game because it fuels other Disney media, or is this super entertaining on its own and not meant to promote other Disney properties?
Game Details
- Platform: Apple Arcade
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Disney Interactive
- Release date: December 21, 2021
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More , Cats, Dogs, and Mice , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires , Space and Aliens
- ESRB rating: NR for No descriptions
- Last updated: January 9, 2022
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