Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Not a nosedive, but this game still stalls over mediocrity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Disney Planes
What's It About?
Based on the movie of the same name, DISNEY PLANES -- the video game -- also stars a number of planes with personality from around the world, who compete for aerial supremacy. This occurs especially in the Story campaign, which mirror's the film's "around the world" race to the finish line. This Nintendo exclusive lets you play as the lovable crop duster Dusty (voiced by Dane Cook), as well as Echo (Antony Edwards), Bravo (Val Kilmer), Ishani (Priyanka Chopra), and six others, as you take on various missions and soar through 10 locations inspired by the film.
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Is It Any Good?
It's OK but nothing worth racing to the store to buy -- as with most other video games based on movie licenses. Although it may be a tad tricky for young kids to grasp at first, the flight mechanics are pretty good and streamlined for mainstream gamers. Animations are smooth, voice talent is impressive, and there's a lot of variety in locations and characters. Still, the missions per characters are almost the same, resulting in repetition and redundancy, such as one character flying through colored sand (Ishani) and another character (Dusty) who must fly through snow. Hmmm. Players will want to complete missions to rack up points, be it flying through checkpoints perfectly, reaching the finishing line first, or popping balloons. Once you finish the game, which might take you five or six hours, there's also an open-ended Free Flight option to explore the environments in the console versions. With the Nintendo DS and 3DS, on the other hand, the end unlocks an objective-achieving Challenge mode. Not a huge disappointment, but nothing special, either, Disney Planes is a decent but underwhelming flying game for kids.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Creating a video game based on flying planes sounds like a good idea, but why the Nintendo exclusive? Perhaps Nintendo paid for the exclusivity. Is this a good move for Disney Interactive?
Did you want to play this game because you saw the movie? If you haven't seen the movie yet, does this game make you want to? Families can talk about selling to kids.
Game Details
- Platforms : Nintendo 3DS , Nintendo DS , Nintendo Wii , Nintendo Wii U
- Subjects : Language & Reading : following directions , reading , Social Studies : global awareness , Arts : movement , Science : gravity , momentum , physics
- Skills : Collaboration : cooperation , Thinking & Reasoning : applying information , decision-making , strategy , Responsibility & Ethics : following codes of conduct , respect for others , Self-Direction : set objectives , time management
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Disney Interactive
- Release date : August 6, 2013
- Genre : Simulation
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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