Toy Story
Sega Genesis
Nostalgia Factor:
I have been dreading playing Toy Story. I remember renting this game from Blockbuster Video when I was a kid. I had the game for three days. Three long, brutal days. I played this game nonstop the entire weekend. I remember the game being incredibly challenging. You have a limited amount of lives, and once you run out of lives you have to start the whole game over from the very beginning. This game is tough, and I ended up dying and having to restart the whole thing quite often. Quite often.
I did end up beating the game, but it took a LOT of hard work and dedication from yours truly. After that three day weekend, I never played Toy Story again. This game came out in late 1995. Let's say I didn't play it until 1996. That means that 23 years have passed since I last played Toy Story.
I don't remember much about the game, other than it being extremely challenging. Aside from that, I couldn't even remember if the game was any fun or not. So, was it? Let's find out.
Story:
This game closely follows the plot of the Toy Story movie. If you have seen that movie, absolutely nothing here will surprise you. If you have never seen Toy Story, what the heck are you doing here? Go watch Toy Story!
All jokes aside, I am actually very impressed by how well they captured the spirit of the movie in this game. Toy Story rarely veers from the plot of the film. As far as movie-to-game video game adaptations go, this is easily one of the most faithful I have ever seen.
Gameplay:
For the most part, this is a 2D side-scrolling platform game. I say for the most part because there are a few exceptions to this rule. We’ll get to those later. But first, the basics.
Taking control of Woody, you must navigate your character through 18 different stages. Woody moves left and right. He jumps, he ducks, he uses a whip to tie up his enemies. You begin the game with three lives, however in the options menu you can adjust the amount of lives to anywhere between one and five. Just move it up to five and do yourself a favor. The difficulty of the game stays the same, you just get more attempts this way. And you are going to need every one of them.
Most of the platforming stages, the goal is very simple. Just make it to the end of the stage and you’ll move on to the next one. Some stages, you will have “goals” to accomplish before you can move on. For example, in the second stage Andy is returning to his room, and you have to guide all of your fellow toys back to their original positions (where Andy left them) before he arrives. There are a few boss stages where you have to square off against Buzz Lightyear. There is a “stealth” stage where you have to sneak through the arcade while avoiding getting trampled by paper airplane throwing kids. In my most hated stage of the game, you are trapped in the claw machine while Sid is attempting to fish Buzz Lightyear out from a sea of squeaky alien toys. You have to use your whip to launch these alien toys into the claw, knocking Buzz from its grip. Sounds simple enough, but the thing moves so fast and there is almost no margin for error here. This stage wrecked many a playthrough for me. I’d come into it with full lives and the extra continue that I’d earned, and I’d end up burning through all these lives and having to start the game over again. Definitely a frustrating stage.
The rest of the game isn’t that difficult, but it is still pretty tough. Just keep at it and you’ll be a pro in no time. A little trial and error goes a long way.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a few stages that are not 2D platform stages. One of them takes place from the first person perspective. You have to rescue eight alien toys that have gotten caught in the inner workings of the claw machine. I had no idea the Genesis could handle a 3D environment like this, but it does a fantastic job. I am sure I was awed by this stage when I played it as a kid. There are a few “chase” stages where you zip through the level while riding on the back of fellow toys. You just have to move around and avoid getting hit, which is easier said than done. The other variant stages take place from an overhead perspective where you control an RC car. Basically all you have to do is make it to the end of each “track” while on a timer. You can replenish this timer by picking up fuel containers that are intermittently strewn throughout the stage. I found these stages to be a bit frustrating, but they aren’t that bad when you get the hang of how the RC car handles.
Graphics:
This game’s color palette is a lot darker than I remember, but it still looks pretty good, especially when you consider the game’s age. I can’t believe it is 24 years old! All the characters are accurate representations of their film counterparts. The animations are a bit rigid, but oh well. It is not like this ruins the game or anything. The level design is solid. Andy’s room looks like Andy’s room. The arcade looks like the arcade. So does Sid’s house. The 3D first-person stage looks awesome, as I already mentioned above. I don’t think this is the best looking Disney game out there (Lion King, Aladdin, and The Jungle Book all look better in my opinion) but it still looks pretty darn good.
Sound:
Everything sounds exactly as I expected it to coming from a mid-90s Sega Genesis movie-to-game adaptation. Canned, tinny character voices when you make a menu selection. Remixed tunes from the movie. I particularly like the “You Got a Friend In Me” rendition that the game uses. Thank god I do, because they use it a LOT in this game. Other than that, nothing about the game’s audio really stood out to me. I guess that is a good thing because if it sucked I would definitely remember!
Overall:
Turns out I didn’t have much of a reason to dread playing this game. It is difficult, there is no denying that. But despite its difficulty the game is actually quite fun. Right from the get-go I became invested in Toy Story, and I ended up having a pretty darn good time with it. In fact, even after beating the game I still get urges to go back and play it again. To me that is the mark of a truly great game. Well, I don’t know about “truly great” but this is certainly one of the better 2D platformers I have played in recent years.
Not only is the game fun, but it also stays true to the spirit of the Toy Story film. I played this game the same day I finished watching the movie, and I have to say that I was impressed by how closely the game stayed to its source material. Of course, playing this game will never substitute for the experience of actually watching the movie, but all of the major points of the film are covered by the game. If you have never seen the movie, but have played this game – and then someone asks you to recap the movie for them you would be able to do so just from playing the game.
All in all, this was a surprisingly fun title. Not to say you don’t hit a few ugly spots along the way (I’m looking at you, claw machine!) but it is still pretty entertaining. I’d recommend this to not only Toy Story fans but fans of 2D platforming games in general. It is one of the best movie adaptations the Genesis has to offer.
Final Score:
A
If you liked my Toy Story review, please check out some of my other game reviews:
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