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An Expanded Version Of Switch Exclusive Disney Illusion Island Jumps To New Platforms This May
Disney Illusion Island launched exclusively to Switch in 2023 to positive reviews, and now other platform owners can indulge in Mickey & Co.’s platforming adventure this May. An expanded version of the title is coming to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
This new version is dubbed Disney Illusion Island Starring Mickey & Friends. Like the original version, one to four players team up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy to traverse three biomes in Monoth, an original world created for this adventure. The non-violent platformer challenges players to topple bosses using their heads in puzzle-like encounters, and exploration can unearth plenty of collectibles.
New to this version is Cave Adventuring Scavenger Hunt, which lets players hunt for permanent upgrades with help from Scrooge McDuck and a new ability called Dig! C.A.S.H. The game also includes previously released post-launch updates such as Mystery in Monoth, a detective-style side story with new levels, and the time-trial mode Keeper Up.
We scored the original Disney Ilusion Island an 8.5 out of 10, with editor Wesley LeBlanc writing in his review, “I would have liked more challenge; this is a simple adventure that might not capture the interest of platformer enthusiasts with little to no preoccupation with Disney. But when met on its own terms, it’s hard to deny Illusion Island is a jubilant love letter to these characters and platforming.”
Disney Illusion Island Starring Mickey & Friends launches on May 30 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Xbox Games Showcase And The Outer Worlds 2 Direct Set For June 8
Microsoft’s annual summer Xbox Showcase has been set for June 8. As in previous years, it will be a double feature with a presentation dedicated to The Outer Worlds 2 airing immediately afterward.
The Xbox Showcase occurs during the week of Summer Game Fest and begins at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. Like previous years, the event is a digital-only showcase, meaning it's pre-taped instead of being a live event.
As with the Starfield and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Directs the last two years, The Outer Worlds 2 Direct promises to reveal new gameplay and details about the upcoming RPG with an inside look at Obsidian Games and insights from its developers. The Outer Worlds 2 was announced in 2021 but got its first gameplay reveal during The Game Awards last December and is scheduled to release this year.
The Outer Worlds 2
The 2024 Xbox Showcase revealed new titles like Gears of War: E-Day and Mixtape, provided updates and gameplay reveals for long-in-development titles like Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, and Fable (which was recently delayed to 2026), and showcased third-party titles like Metal Gear Solid: Delta Snake Eater and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers.
There’s a good chance we could see some, if not most, of these titles make another appearance. Other titles that could appear include Ninja Gaiden 4 (which is being published by Xbox Game Studios), the noir action stealth deck-builder Sleight of Hand (an Xbox console exclusive), or the cozy survival game Winter Burrow. We’ll have to tune in on June 8 to find out.
What game(s) do you hope to see at the Xbox Showcase? Let us know in the comments.
Blizzard Reveals Diablo IV 2025 Content Roadmap, Next Expansion Launches Next Year
Blizzard has unveiled its 2025 content roadmap for Diablo IV, detailing all of the planned changes and additions coming to the 2023 title. The studio also confirmed the game’s next expansion will arrive in 2026.
As for this year, though, the game will continue building off last year’s Vessel of Hatred expansion, with seasonal themes and quests building toward the next expansion. One of the most eyebrow-raising updates coming is two mysterious collaborations with IPs. Blizzard isn’t revealing what they are, only stating in a blog post, "...we’re extremely excited to meld the Diablo universe with universes that complement its dark themes.” Another noteworthy update is the addition of keyboard and mouse support for consoles, which arrives this summer.
Here’s the full rundown of the roadmap:
Click to enlarge
January - April: Witchcraft
- Witchcraft Powers - Quests & Reputation Board
- Headhunt’s Activity
- Occult Gems
- Earnable Raven Pet
- New Armor (Permanent Addition)
- Whispers QoL Update (Permanent Addition)
April - July: Belial’s Return
- Boss Powers - Quests & Reputation Board
- Apparition Incursion Activity
- Earnable Feline Pet
- New IP Collab
- 2 Year Anniversary
- New Lair Bosses - Belial/Urivar/Harbinger (Permanent Addition)
- Lair Bosses QoL (Permanent Addition)
- Reliquaries (Permanent Addtion)
- Season Journey Update
July - September: Sins of the Horadrim
- Horadric Powers - Quests & Reputation Board
- Dungeon Escalation
- Earnable Pet
- New Nighttime Dungeon Activities (Permanent Addition)
- Console Keyboard & Mouse Support (Permanent Addition)
- Unannounced permanent content
September - December: Infernal Chaos
- Chaos Powers - Quests & Reputation Board
- Infernal Hordes Update
- Earnable Pet
- New IP Collab
2026
- New Expansion
- New Ranking System
- Leaderboards
You can read our review of Diablo IV here.
Ranking Every Game In The Mario Kart Series
Whenever a Mario Kart entry arrives, it immediately becomes a must-have on its respective platform, thanks to its universal appeal to gamers of all experience and ability levels. That widespread appeal has translated to sales, as nearly every Mario Kart game ranks near the top of its platform's sales chart. But it goes beyond mainstream success; Mario Kart is fun whether you're spending the evening alone perfecting a drift around a corner or gathering your closest friends for a marathon session.
Sure, the rubberband A.I. and the randomization elements are enough to make us want to jump up and down in frustration, but it's never quite enough to deter us from driving up to the next starting line. Check out our ranking of the entire Mario Kart series below, and let us know how you would rank the series in the comments section!
11
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
A novel idea from Velan Studios, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is far from a conventional Mario Kart title. Using a real-life remote-controlled go-kart and a track players must set up in their own physical space, Home Circuit requires a bit more creativity and time than your standard Mario Kart entry. Unfortunately, repetitive gameplay, stiff controls, and limitations involving surfaces and space requirements can't be overcome by the unique gimmick.
10
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
The notion of having a Mario Kart game on the go in 2001 was enticing, and while Super Circuit is far from a bad game, it didn't quite deliver the thrills we had grown accustomed to with the pre-existing console entries. The technical limitations of the Game Boy Advance didn't allow for as grand of an experience as, say, the Nintendo 64, and the controls are less precise than its console brethren. Still, this early handheld entry delivered plenty of thrills, particularly when you consider it's the first time Mario Kart was able to be played on the go.
9
Mario Kart Tour
The sole mobile Mario Kart game, Mario Kart Tour had an uphill battle thanks to its unconventional structure, unsavory monetization methods, and imprecise touchscreen controls. However, thanks to the four years of live-service updates, Mario Kart Tour includes several nods to Mario and Mario Kart's past, plus an absolutely massive roster of racers and courses. Some of the courses in Mario Kart Tour are among the best the series has ever seen. Thankfully, for those turned away by Tour's mobile structure, several of the best race tracks from Tour eventually made their way to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe through the Booster Course Pass.
8
Super Mario Kart
Borne out of a desire for Nintendo to create a racing game where two characters could appear on the same screen simultaneously, Super Mario Kart began as a go-kart game without the Mario brand attached; it was only once someone suggested seeing what the racers looked like as Mario characters that the Mario Kart franchise was born. This initial entry laid the groundwork for the series, but by today's standards, it's rather barebones. But to this day, the soundtrack is still spectacular, the Battle Mode is a thrill, and some of the tracks remain essential classics in the franchise.
7
Mario Kart 64
While Mario Kart 64 falls short in many categories when compared to the rest of this list, it nails it in a few select areas. The tracks of Mario Kart 64 stand toe-to-toe with most other games in the series, and the series' first transition to full 3D graphics has aged better than many Nintendo 64 titles. But the place for which Mario Kart 64 is most important is in its innovation of doubling the number of players who can sit down and battle it out, thanks to the N64's four controller ports. To this day, Mario Kart 64's Versus and Battle Modes are a blast to play, even if your screen is relegated to a tiny quadrant of the TV, leading the N64 Mario Kart title to be considered one of the most nostalgic entries of the franchise.
6
Mario Kart Wii
While the accomplishments of the Wii entry of the Mario Kart series will always be overshadowed by the passable motion controls and the bundled plastic wheel that still lay dormant in many households to this day, Mario Kart Wii is a strong entry that introduced many gimmicks and conventions still going strong in the franchise to this day. Along with the introduction of bikes and stunts, plus a vastly improved online suite, Mario Kart Wii was a mainstay in millions upon millions of Wii libraries for good reason.
5
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart DS surprisingly goes down in history as the first title in the franchise to include online multiplayer. That's right; a handheld title featured online functionality before a console game. While it definitely faced its fair share of bumps in the road (and has since been discontinued), the influential second handheld title in the Mario Kart series laid the groundwork for future entries to improve upon the feature set. Add to that terrific single-player content, including the new Mission Mode, as well as the standard suite of multiplayer offerings, and Mario Kart DS lived up to the series pedigree in many ways.
4
Mario Kart 7
The final dedicated handheld Mario Kart title played it safe in a lot of ways. The formula of the franchise has always been its strong suit, but Mario Kart 7 perhaps relied too heavily on that, with the biggest innovations to the series coming in the forms of underutilized glider and underwater sections. Still, Mario Kart 7 improves on nearly every core element of the series, particularly with the multiplayer elements, where customizable rulesets allow for players to curate their own fun in this solid entry in the franchise.
3
Mario Kart 8
The original form of Mario Kart 8 felt like the ultimate realization of the Mario Kart formula when it arrived in 2014 thanks to its eye-popping visuals, tight controls, excellent collection of courses, wide-ranging items library, and, of course, the terrific cast of characters. Add to that the gravity-defying mechanics and excellent online play, and it's a shoo-in for one of the best games in the beloved racing series. However, one major sticking point – the lackluster Battle Mode – prevents it from being the best of the best.
2
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Mario Kart: Double Dash is noteworthy for many reasons, but the one that sticks out the most is right there in the name: two characters ride on the kart instead of the series-standard one. This mechanic, which lets you swap between characters mid-race, allows for incredible cooperative play where one drives and the other manages items, but the convention extends to the traditional Mario Kart modes as well. No matter the mode you play, the addition of character-specific special moves and some of the greatest tracks the series has ever seen make Double Dash one of the best GameCube games and easily one of the best entries in the storied Mario Kart franchise.
1
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
What started as a mere port of the Wii U title with a slightly bigger roster of racers and vastly improved Battle Mode exploded in the subsequent years to become something far greater. While the inclusion of a proper Battle Mode and additional characters at launch made for a drastically more well-rounded experience than the already-stellar base game, the Booster Course Pass, which doubled the number of selectable courses across 2022 and 2023, and included even more characters from the Mushroom Kingdom, make Mario Kart 8 Deluxe easily the greatest game in the history of Nintendo's illustrious kart-racing franchise.
For more on the Mario Kart series, check out this episode of the All Things Nintendo podcast, where we run down the history of the franchise. For our ranking of the entire Super Mario series, head here.
Battle Royale Party Game Sonic Rumble Arrives This May
Sonic Rumble, the multiplayer platformer that pits over two dozen players against each other, will be released on May 8. The title was first announced last summer and was slated for release that winter before a delay pushed it into 2025.
Up to 32 players take on the roles of different Sonic characters, taking the form of toy figurines, in a frantic race to the finish line. Players must collect rings and use power-ups to maintain an advantage while hindering opponents, with players gradually eliminated throughout the round. Each character can utilize skills to engender strategic play, and the launch will introduce crews allowing small groups of players to overcome obstacles as a team. Collected rings can then be spent unlocking new cosmetic items to customize characters.
Check out the game’s latest trailer below.
Sonic Rumble is a free-to-play title and will be available for PC, iOS, and Android. You can pre-register for the game now, and Sega has a pre-registration campaign that will reward players with free in-game goodies for every registration milestone reached.
You can check out our review of Sega’s most recent Sonic title, Sonic X Shadow Generations, here.