DISNEY INFINITY and STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT are two upcoming games from Disney Interactive that will hardly have any trouble moving off store shelves but to help promote the games as they release the D23 EXPO offerered hands-on opportunities for both games.

Disney Infinity and the Speedway Expansion!

Not surprisingly, DISNEY INFINITY had a considerably larger footprint including massive displays featuring the new figures and a gigantic curtain of power discs. A small collection of maquettes, concept art, and other pieces were on display in addition to gaming consoles where you could get hands on to play the new 3.0 version of the game.

We got to spend some time playing the new Toy Box Speedway expansion pack which will be launching August 30 for about $20. I cannot think of a more worthwhile expansion pack to invest in. Truly, the experience within Speedyway is enough to create hours and hours and hours of gameplay. The competitive nature of these types of games lend themselves well to parties and group play.

We found ourselves completely entranced in the classic style “kart-style” gaming engine. There’s several racetracks designed here that you can play in including SUGAR RUSH! You can now officially find yourself driving in the sweet world from Wreck- It-Ralph and if you have them you can use your Vanellope or Ralph figures and drive in Vanellope’s candy car or one of several other awesome cars already included in the game.

Other worlds we got to race in were Halloween Town Highway, Dunes of Tatooine, Arendelle Racing Rink, San Fransokyo Circuit, and Road to Knowwhere. Each one beautifully created and there’s a definite polish to these games, they don’t feel hokey or disconnected. These are faithfully re-created worlds from the respective movies and it’s a joy to explore them as you drive through.

There’s three different game modes you can play including the beat-your-best Time Trial mode, multiplayer Race mode or the more fun “Mario Kart Style” Combat mode which lets players put their driving skills to the test as they attack opponents with gadgets and weapons and earn trophies across three challenge cups.

Toy Box type games can tend to feel a bit unpolished and buggy but everything about the Toy Box Speedway feels fully realized, deliberate and carefully crafted. Sumo Digital, who worked on Sonic & All-Stars Racing, was brought in to customize the racing world for Toy Box Speedway and it’s with impressive result.

It truly feels like an adequate standalone game feature and definitely worth the separate $20 to add on if you like these types of games.

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Star Wars Battlefront

For STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT, there was also an awesome photo-op with a speeder bike that you could hop aboard for a photo that was then combined with some snow graphics to really make it feel like you were on the planet of Hoth speeding through the snow banks.