When the Disney Infinity team first announced Marvel Battlegrounds, I wasn’t too excited. All their previous play sets always kept the same core game formula. A fighting game didn’t make sense as a play set to me. It seemed it would be more like one of their toy box expansions rather than a full blown play set. But after seeing footage at the Disney Infinity Next announcement, I felt much different and after playing it, it is safe to say this set is a play set.

In the past, the play set always included two figures and the play set piece for $35. For this, you get the play set and Captain America: The First Avenger for $20. Now, you might think at that price it isn’t much of a game. While the set does lack a deep story (less than an hour and half of that is the tutorial) it’s not meant to be that. This game is a straight up 4 player fighting game, in the vein of Power Stone for the Dreamcast. It has a tiered level design, destructible environments and power ups.

You can use any of the 2.0/3.0 (28 total) Marvel figures. All have specific move sets just for Battlegrounds, complete with blocks, throws, combos and even special moves. Your move sets are available from the pause menu and this makes the characters feel new and fresh. Level of the figure makes no difference because everything is unlocked from the start. You do earn xp and blue sparks in the story mode, but the xp is held in a bank and can be spent on any figure you have simply by placing it on the base.

I know what you are thinking; I did say this is a four player fighter, but the base only has a spot for two figures. In Battlegrounds, you have to unlock each character by placing the physical figure on the base. This will unlock them on the selection screen and you never have to use the figures again in the play set (other than in story mode). If you don’t have the figure you want, you can use coins you earn in challenge mode to rent characters for a match. In the story mode, Marvel power discs will randomly spawn but in the versus mode you can use up to six power disks that you own. This will allow for some interesting matches because you have the choice on what power discs are in the match.

With the new play set comes a new round of figures and power discs. The new figures include Ant-Man, Black Panther, Vision and Black Suit Spider-Man (previously only available in the 2.0 set for Vita). It seems with each new figure release, the quality and detail continue to get better and better. The red see-through lenses of Ant-Man’s helmet, the lines on Vision’s cape and the detail of Black Panther’s suit are amazing. There is also a new power disc pack available that includes Cosmic Cube Blast, Darkhawk’s Blast, Nova Corps Strike and Ghost Rider’s Motorcycle.

Marvel Battlegrounds play set is a great addition to Disney Infinity 3.0. It is light on story but with 12 levels in eight dynamic areas and 3 game modes there are hours of crazy fun with friends or go solo against the computer. With so many heroes, it is so much fun to have Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hawkeye or any of 28 characters fighting it out to see who is the best hero. The one thing that would have been nice to have in the game is online multiplayer. Over all, if you are a Marvel fan and own 3.0 it is worth a purchase. Whether you play with friends or with your kids you will have a great time with this play set.

Score 4 out of 5

Thanks to Disney Interactive for supplying the game and figures for review.

Do you own Disney Infinity 3.0? Do you have newly released Boba Fett figure? If not, we have one to give away! Leave a post in the comments below telling us your ultimate Marvel Super Hero fight. Is it Hulk vs Wolverine? Spider-Man vs The Punisher? Let us know and we will randomly pick one winner April 2nd.

Disney Infinity's Marvel Battlegrounds Review