Disney Illusion Island: A Co-op Game Worth Anticipating
Sonic the Hedgehog and friends are headed to Disney Illusion Island, and anticipation is high. The Co-op game has caught our attention with its approach to co-op. We’ve seen some concerns, but the current gameplay footage and developer interviews have addressed some common issues in other games, like Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
We’ve seen a lot of great co-op games, but there’s always a bit of a letdown when one player is relegated to an underpowered sidekick or NPC. Illusion Island addresses this head on, showcasing all four characters throughout the world and avoiding underpowered underlings.
“I get it,” you might be thinking. “So they’re showing all four at once. Big deal.” Well, it is a big deal, because many games like Kirby and Sackboy: A Big Adventure limit your abilities in co-op, meaning one player is doing significantly less than the other. This can be especially frustrating when it’s the second player who’s actually doing the purchasing.
Beyond this, Illusion Island handles the issue of screen real estate. Some games, like Jurassic World Alive, simply don’t bother with split-screen support because of the potential for people to walk off the screen. While this may not be an issue for people with large gaming setups, it’s a frustration for anyone with a smaller setup or a living room that isn’t dedicated to gaming.
The simplicity of Illusion Island’s gameplay is also a plus in my book. Each area features basic enemies and obstacles, but the abilities you unlock throughout the game allow for a gradual difficulty gradient. Each unlockable moves the gameplay into more complex scenarios, but you’re able to ease into them as you unlock them. This means you can use the game for playing with younger children, unlike games that become too difficult too quickly.
All in all, I’m convinced – I’m going to buy Illusion Island. I’m hoping it will be good practice before my son gets his hands on Sonic Superstars, the other major upcoming co-op game we’re anticipating in our house. (Given my son’s interest in the Blue Blur, I’m always going to consider myself a “Sonic household”.)
That said, I do have reservations. There’s nothing like a co-op game to highlight the limitations of the Nintendo Switch, and I’m hoping Illusion Island handles screen real estate better than Jurassic World Alive. I’m also a little concerned about the simplicity of the gameplay. I’m a little worried it will feel like a slower Kingdom Hearts with fewer enemies and more dialogue.
