Happy Funland is the perfect blend of adult cartoon humor and magic, which creates one of the most perfect VR experiences yet.
Many games have taken the “evil mouse” road which turns Disney into a dark cryptic world, with most of them falling flat. Some, like Bendy, do things extremely well. Happy Funland, thankfully, falls into this category. While not necessarily sending you into the cartoon adventures of a mouse, it instead takes you on a twisted journey into a Florida theme park inspired by Disney World.
Happy Funland
Developer: Spectral Illusions
Platform: PSVR2, Steam (VR)
Release Date: March 21, 2024
The game does a fantastic job of separating itself to not be a total clone of the magical theme park, and instead creates some fantastic transitions/alterations to make it more adult themed. If you listen closely to not only the characters, but the warnings and instructions for the rides, you will catch some very adult humor which will make any Disney fanatic laugh their asses off.
They even have nods for different aspects of the park too, such as rides breaking down, exit doors, and ceiling designs all throughout. Every ride feels authentic in a sense of being totally original, while also having very memorable moments from real life rides (e.g. the Haunted Mansion introduction or the Space Mountain entrance).
The visual spectacle doesn’t end there either as they created some of the best visuals for the park itself. There’s a big hotel in the distance and a theme park entrance similar to that of real life Epcot, all with a spooky adult twist to it. It’s honestly done so well that if this park really did exist for adults, I’d be there at rope drop every day…Well, barring the cryptic backstory and abundance of cigarettes.
Another 4th wall breaking moment was also when some warnings came on about a certain ride making people nauseous. Typically when playing VR I’m ultimately fine, but this ride for sure made me feel sick midway through. It got to a point where I was looking down and closing my eyes, hoping the ride would end. Oddly it made the experience feel even more authentic.
Gameplay-wise the game takes a few twists beyond just throwing you on iconic rides. In most areas you will come across a mini golf course, which is oddly satisfying to play. The game tracks how many times you hit the ball, but I didn’t really notice any real reason for this other than some bragging rights. Ultimately it was a fun little twist to add some depth to the gameplay, and the courses were not overly complex by any means, but were enough of a challenge to be rewarding if you could hit under par.
Elsewhere the gameplay consists of basically exploring the park, and fighting off random animatronics that come to life. I was not a fan of the combat in the game at all. It adds no real value to anything, no fear, and is honestly tiresome when it happens.
Randomly in each area a few bad guys will attack and as long as you have your golf club—or any long stick basically—you can fend them off by swinging. The problem is they don’t react to physics at all. You can’t take out their legs, or hard swing at their heads, and make them immobile. Instead you’re stuck just swinging away until they ultimately explode. The further along you get in the game the more that show up.
As for horror, there really isn’t much beyond jumpscares on the rides and throughout the park. Some of them worked really well and had me ducking for cover. But this is where I think the animatronics could have gone. A quick jump scare and run away, or just one hit them like you do with several dolls on a ride. Sitting there and fending them off for minutes at a time was tiring.
The game has some other random VR moments that work extremely well too. Such as multiple rides that have you ducking and dodging objects as they fall, or entire rooms that morph around you. I never entered an area that required a flashlight, but using it was still very satisfying to say the least. As a VR title the game functions damn near perfectly.
The only technical issue, that wasn’t a game mechanic decision, I had with the game was the audio. While the park itself has a really good environmental sound, any time someone spoke it was a whole different story. I tried changing audio channels and headphones, but the audio for vocals was absolutely horrible. I could barely hear instructions being given to me, and oftentimes multiple people were talking at once, which just led to a jumbled mess. Which is slightly disappointing considering the jokes and adult humor you’re potentially missing.
Well… for the most part. One character in particular is a guide of sorts who keeps talking almost the entire game. While he has a few one liners, he is ultimately annoying to listen to and never shuts up. I was more interested in listening to what the rides were saying, and I had to sit there forever till he shut up, so I could hear them. Every time he came back I was literally annoyed.
Overall, besides a few minor flaws, this is a VR experience I highly recommend. If you’ve ever enjoyed DisneyLand (or World) like I have, then you will have an incredible experience and be laughing your butt off with the adult twists they added. The way they bridge multiple rides into one experience, or bring things to life, is incredible. It’s a magical yet dark experience.
