Video Game Review: Disney Infinity

LOVED IT: Eye-catching visuals and toys, easy parent-child fun, solid gameplay teaching tools, Toy Box can be fun, solid support

HATED IT: Toy Box gadgets take too long to unlock, shaky main story and side stories, some bugs

GRAB IT IF: You enjoyed Skylanders or would love a real-life version of Pokemon

My niece likes it. And on some level, that's all that matters.

There are plenty of things not to like about Disney Infinity. Disney Interactive Entertainment's latest offering is hardly original, borrowing heavily from Activision's Skylanders template. You'll have to spend money on the game, then spend even more money on real-life toys for the game. Oh, and for all you hardcore gamers out there, you'll find a game that doesn't reinvent anything, essentially sticking with tried-and-true action/platformer mechanics.

Infinity may not reinvent, but it does present an adequate game that can take advantage of all that Disney pedigree. There are hundreds of dollars to be spent here by every gamer, from the game itself to an ever-growing array of figures, each of which children will demand. None of these figures should be necessary for the game to work, but, much like Skylanders,

The goal here, much like Skylanders, is to create a family-friendly experience, and that's done by blending action figures with a pretty standard game. The Infinity bundle includes three such action figures (but your children will be pestering for more pretty quickly), the game, and a Portal of Power-like dock that plugs into your console and makes the magic happen.

It's an attractive setup, and Disney instantly grabs a quick edge with its all-star lineup. My niece was yelling "Wreck-It Ralph!" when he popped onto the screen, and she quickly had a lineup of characters she wanted in action once we started playing. The dock lights up when you place toys onto it, too, adding just a little bit of extra "movie magic" to the proceedings.

From there, things will seem dull to adults. Each toy unlocks a new world filled with rather simple quests, and, by and large, most of your options will control in rather similar fashion. Each character's level has a different style, though; you may be bashing your way through baddies with Violet from the Incredibles, while a Monsters University level opens with far more fetch quests.

Either way, Infinity works hard to teach first-time gamers the ropes, sometimes in such excess that older kids will be slightly annoyed. Either way, gamers get a solid grasp of what's going on, and on the rare occasions where the going gets tough, adults can step in and easily get the job done.