Disney is probably one of the most popular brands out there that automatically evokes a positive response from their loyal fans.  I have friends who visit the theme parks weekly and others who spend their paychecks on Disney memorabilia.  Not long ago we spent the weekend at the Disney D23 Expo living up the experience and also swash-buckled our way through LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean.

Disney Universe is the latest video game from the company – we played it on the Xbox 360 but it is also available for the PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and Windows PC.  The game offers four player local co-op action and is set in 45 classic and contemporary Disney and Pixar worlds.  The majority of the game is whacking and smashing your way through bad guys, solving puzzles to open up the level, collecting goodies and mini games with their own twist on the universe.  There is plenty of fan service for the Disney supporter both young and old and much care has been devoted to capturing the essence of the properties explored in the game.

As far as video gaming goes – two areas that concerned us the most was that there was no drop-in/drop-out option on the co-op play.  Sitting around with your friends and family and wanna join in the fun?  Too bad, in Disney Universe you have to wait til the level is over or start from the beginning.  The bulk of modern games offer this type of support now and to not have that as an option is a big disappointment in the ‘fun factor’.  The second issue we had was that Disney Universe (much like Kinect Disneyland Adventures) was too difficult.  Disney Universe is fast paced and enemies spawn all around you the entire time attacking while trying to solve puzzles.  Don’t get me wrong, I like a good challenge but fear that the target audience in which Disney Universe is geared towards will become easily frustrated and put down the controller.

We’ve provided video gameplay with guest commentary from Andre Meadows aka Black Nerd Comedy – you’ll see that Disney Universe is visually a treat and has done a fantastic job of expanding the Disney licenses used in the video game.