Disney Interactive recently announced that Disney Infinity 3.0 will continue to be expanded this Fall with three new Play Sets that have yet to be announced. But on March 15th, the final component of the initial announcement was released, Marvel Battlegrounds. Labeled as a Play Set, this new game comes with a single figure, Captain America - The First Avenger.

The first thing you need to know about Marvel Battlegrounds is that Disney is using the term "Play Set" loosely here. Play Sets usually contain a full story with hours of game play. The story mode of Marvel Battlegrounds takes barely an hour to complete. To avoid confusion, I wish they had considered this a Toy Box Expansion Game, ala Toy Box Takeover and Toy Box Speedway as it has way more in common with those two than it does with any previous Play Set.

Taking a queue from Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the short story finds Loki and Ultron teaming up to collect all of the infinity stones (how fitting for Disney Infinity). Their evil plan includes making robotic clones of Marvel superheroes that need to be destroyed along the way. Maria Hill guides you through levels from Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Black Panther and Thor as you make your way through robotic clones to the final battle against Ultron and Loki.

The short story is a lot of fun and manages to incorporate every Marvel Infinity property from the past, plus some new ones. And there is a surprise character at the end of the story that should tie in to Phase Three. However, story mode is not the real reason to play Marvel Battlegrounds.

The real reason you should get Marvel Battlegrounds (and the reason why this plays more like a Toy Box Expansion) is that it's really a 4-player fighting game akin to Nintendo's Super Smash Brothers series. Versus mode allows you to select any figures you own to play as and you can select your opponents as well. If you don't have four players, you can chose from a mix of figures in your arsenal or from a selection of demo characters, which Disney will change regularly to keep things new for fans who don't own all 28 figures.

Speaking of the 28 Marvel Infinity figures, each of them needs to be used in the Challenge mode to unlock items in your Toy Box. Playing this mode also unlocks playable levels in Versus mode. And some of the characters even unlock alternate costumes, which can be selected in Versus mode. Highlights of these new looks include grey Hulk, Captain America's World War II suit, and Iron Man's Mark 42 armor. It's a cool way to make these characters feel different in Versus mode, although it's a bummer that these costumes can't carry over into the Toy Box.

The other thing that's completely different from any other Play Set that came before it is that Marvel Battlegrounds does not automatically gain your figures experience points. Instead, you rack up a bank of points that you can then manually assign to figures. It also ignores any Skill Tree upgrades you've made before to level all figures. They each have their special moves automatically unlocked in the game and rather than vital statistics in the top corners, a circle above their heads lets you know where they stand. You also are unable to use Power Discs during the game, but Marvel Power Discs drop into battles at random. The first player to touch it gets to use it, so you gotta be fast!

To get more information on the Captain America - The First Avenger figure plus the four brand-new Marvel figures released alongside Marvel Battlegrounds, go to the next page.

Five new Marvel figures were released alongside Marvel Battlegrounds, bringing the total number of 3.0 Marvel figures to seven (for more information on Hulkbuster and Ultron, check out our review). This review will cover all five new figures, starting with the one that comes with Marvel Battlegrounds.

Captain America - The First Avenger

Steve Rogers ditches the cowl and stands with his shield resting on the floor in this new figure. The packaging advertises that his costume is based on the upcoming film, Captain America: Civl War, and his face bears some resemblance to actor Chris Evans. One of my favorite features of the figure itself is the Avengers patch on his shoulders.

In terms of game play, this version of Cap is different enough from the 2.0 version. He still throws his shield for a long-range attack, but his close combat moves are much tougher, including a shield upper-cut and a spinning finishing move. For his special move, he holds the shield above his head as a blast of energy pours down from the sky, bouncing off his shield at enemies all around him. This figure is exclusively available with Marvel Battlegrounds.

Vision

Your Ultron figure has met his match with Vision, his creation from Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is the tallest of the newly released figures and he features some cool details. His bendable cape makes his action pose look realistic and his boots add to the power of his stance. The only aspect of the figure that I don't care for are his eyes, which look off in the actual figure (they look fine in the professional photograph shown). This is likely due to the pink plastic that is behind them making the colors feel muted.

In hand-to-hand combat, Vision delivers a series of strong blows with his fists. For a long range attack, he fires beams from the crystal on his forehead. Vision's special attack is "Super Dense Mode," which allows him to deliver more powerful blows and also makes him less susceptible to attacks from enemies.

Ant-Man

Ant-Man is possibly the smallest figure ever made for Disney Infinity. In his crouching pose, he looks like he's about to grow back to normal size. His base is similar to the other character's in the Avengers series, but he has a phillips-head screw between his legs that makes it clear he is about as small as he can be without going subatomic. My favorite detail on this figure are the transparent lenses on his eyes.

For short-range attacks, Ant-Man is pretty basic with a series of blows with his fists. His long-range attack makes him tiny so he can charge at a long distance. He gets super powerful with his special skill, which allows him to become gigantic, causing him to dish out more powerful blows and be less susceptible to attacks. His Skill Tree can also be customized to send out a swarm of ants as a finishing move.

Black Panther

The king of Wakanda makes his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut next month in Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther also has his own movie in development. This figure features some great grey accents all over his costume. Textured pieces help make this figure stand out.

In hand-to-hand combat, Black Panther uses his hands, knees and feet to take out opponents. For a long-range attack, he knocks enemies back with a mighty roar. His special attack is called "Cat-Like Reflexes," which allows him to quickly dive between enemies and deliver powerful scratches. Among Black Panther's other Skill Tree upgrades, he can gain the ability to climb up walls.

Black Suit Spider-Man

It looks like Peter Parker has been messing with some symbiotic ooze with this Black Suit Spider-Man variant figure, the last of this wave's new Marvel releases. He is in the exact same pose as the 2.0 Spider-Man figure, the only difference other than the paint job being the removal of the embossed web design on his suit. It is now a solid black with white accents.

In terms of combat, he's an exact clone of 2.0 Spider-Man, however his Skill Tree has some upgrades that differentiate him from his red-suited version. His special attack is called "Web Bombs," which allows him to shoot explodable web balls at enemies.

Marvel Battlegrounds Power Disc Pack

Four new Marvel Power Discs were added to the game with a collection of Power Discs themed to Marvel Battlegrounds. Cosmic Cube Blast allows you to unleash blue energy at enemies. Nova Corps Strike unleashes a blast of energy from above when activated. Darkhawk's Blast creates an energy beam from your figure's chest which hits opponents hard. And lastly is Ghost Rider's Motorcycle, the only Toy Box piece in this release.

I'm not a big Ghost Rider fan, but I have to admit that his motorcycle is cool. Any Infinity figure can become hell on wheels with this vehicle, whose wheels are ablaze while riding. Certain figures heads catch fire while riding as well, so long as it makes sense for their abilities. This short list includes Jack Skellington and Anger.

That completes this review of the new Marvel figures that were released alongside Marvel Battlegrounds, but Disney Infinity had one other recent special release from the Disney Universe. For more information, go to the last page.

Timed with the release of Disney's live action version of The Jungle Book, the lovable animated version of Baloo is now available in the game. His carefree nature is easy to see with this figure's pose. He looks as if he's about to reach up and grab a prickly pear for a mid-afternoon snack.

Baloo uses his claws to crush his enemies in hand-to-hand combat, using his belly to bounce them away as a finishing move. For a long-range attack, he throws fruit at his enemies including bunches of bananas, coconuts, pineapples and watermelons. His special attack is called "Jungle Boogie," which causes him to put on his grass skirt and dance like he does in the film during "I Wanna Be Like You," injuring enemies standing nearby.

Disney Infinity did a great job with the Baloo figure. I secretly hope that a Disney themed Power Disc pack is in the future with alternate costumes for some of the characters. If that manifests, I hope there's one for Baloo that gives him his Tale Spin costume. More Disney Infinity 3.0 releases are coming in the Fall, but until then Disney has provided me with endless possibilities for creativity in the Toy Box.