Toy Story

Toy Story
a game by Traveller's Tales, and Psygnosis
Genres: Action, Educational/Kids, Platformer
Platforms: PC (1995), Sega GenesisGenesis, SNESSNES, GameBoy
Editor Rating: 7.3/10, based on 6 reviews, 8 reviews are shown
User Rating: 7.6/10 - 19 votes
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See also: 2D Platformer Games, Side Scroller Games, Toy Story Games
Toy Story
Toy Story
Toy Story

Some of you may be snickering at the fact we are talking about the 16-bit version of Toy Story, but let me tell you that is not cool! Toy Story is a fantastic series of movies and the majority of the games based on it (especially Toy Story 3) are great. This is the first game that was released for the franchise and it was released to go along with the first movie.

You Got A Friend In Me

The plot of the game follows the movie very well, I would say it is fair to assume that by this point you know what the deal is with the plot of the first Toy Story movie! The game tells the story through still pictures and text that look like they are taken from the movie. Even with the Genesis rather limited color palette compared to the SNES, they look fantastic.

So Close To The Real Thing

At the time the game and the movie were released people flipped out over how good they looked. For a 16-bit game, they managed to capture the high-tech look of the movie very well. I am not tech whizz, but the graphics have a kind of “Donkey Kong Country” look about them where they are 3D models, but they are in this 2D game. The main characters like Woody and Buzz look great, but so does the supporting cast along with the levels. The soundtrack is decent enough with some tunes from the movie and some original songs as well. I do wish that there was more clear speech though as that would really have put the presentation over the edge in my opinion.

Howdy Partner!

You may think that Toy Story is a game that is just trying to get by on its looks and its license, but that is not the case at all. This is a fun video game to play and there is a ton of variety to what the game asks of you. There are many different levels and at its core, I guess you would have to call it an action platformer. You play as Woody and he can use his drawstring to whip enemies and as a grappling hook to swing around.

You need to get through the levels, but most levels have some kind of “gimmick” that makes them special. Be it having to release a bunch of Army Men, riding on the back of Rex, or trying to sneak through the arcade while a soda cup is on your head. The variety makes playing the game so much more fun and no level ever overstays its welcome.

That right there would be enough, but the game keeps you on your toes by having a level where you drive RC, actually, there are multiple levels with RC. One lets you race from a top down perspective, another side on and then one from behind. There is even a kind of first-person level in the game too!

It would be so easy to look past this game as just another licensed game, but it is so much more than that. I feel the fact it came out rather late in the 16-bit era may have a bit of an effect on why not more people are fond of this game. It is a fantastic platformer, with tons of variety and it even captures the spirit of the movie it is based on very well. If you like the Toy Story franchise you have to give this game a try.

8.5

Final Score

Pros:

  • It captures the heart of the movie perfectly
  • Using Woody’s drawstring as a whip is a very clever idea
  • The game looks fantastic
  • I liked how there was a ton of variety to the game
  • It has a great sense of humor

Cons:

  • The game is a tad on the short side
  • I wish we could play as Buzz as well as Woody

Download Toy Story

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Genesis

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Game modes: Single game mode

Player controls:

  • Up, Down, Left, Right - Arrow keys
  • Start - Enter (Pause, Menu select, Skip intro, Inventory)
  • "A" Gamepad button - Ctrl (usually Jump or Change weapon)
  • "B" button - Space (Jump, Fire, Menu select)
  • "C" button - Left Shift (Item select)

Use the F12 key to toggle mouse capture / release when using the mouse as a controller.

SNES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed
Gameboy

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Wahey - Well If It Isn't That Hardy perennial, the movie licence platform game. Since the movie under question is the highly enjoyable Toy Story, Disney Interactive can be forgiven for assuming the subject matter would lend itself nicely to a bit of arcade fun, but unfortunately the end result is downright toothless. The graphics and animation are as eye-pleasing as you'd expect, yet the entire project is scuppered by tepid, uninspiring levels loosely based upon scenes from the movie.

It's one of those platform games where it's hard to actually jump over or onto anything without faffing around for ages; completing each level becomes a chore rather than a challenge. Even the most gullible of young children - clearly its target audience - should see through this lacklustre tie-in in a thrice. Woody and Buzz are undeniably wonderful creations but, on this evidence, they've got a long way to go to achieve success in the real digitised world. If you see what I mean.

How ironic is this? Toy Story (the movie) was the most sophisticated example of computer animation ever, but now it's made a de-evolutionary slide and popped up as a game for Game Boy.

To be fair, the animation in the game is quite good for the Nintendo portable, even though the gameplay suffers incredibly. Woody moves so agonizingly slowly that you'll start yelling at him to lay off the wood glue and get his butt in gear. Toy Story is a port of the 16-bit game of the same name and, as with the Pocahontas game reviewed below, it just doesn't cut the mustard in comparison.

Graphics - 7

Sound/FX - 5

Gameplay - 4

Rating - 5

Though there's not much that feels new here, Toy Story is a decent game. As Woody, you lope through a bedroom helping your pals from last year's flick. But too much of the game-play is plodding and repetitive-how much slow running and jumping can one cowpoke take? Slight variations, like a timed level and a Rexriding level, help a little, but they're only mild fun.

Woody's weapon is his drawstring, and it isn't very accurate when you use it to swing across gaps. The graphics are simpie and the sounds basic: This game feels more like a low-tech throwback than the high-tech triumph the movie and 16-bit games were.

ProTips:

  • In That Old Army Game, you'll find the baby monitor next to the teddy bear on top of the last toy shelf.
  • In Ego Chock, use your drawstring to swing across large open spaces.

The problem with many movie- to-game adaptations is a lack of good original gameplay. Sadly, Toy Story fulfills that legacy.

Woody, the cowboy hero of the movie, runs, jumps and whips through 19 levels, most of them platform hoppers.

The rendered sprites are large but grainy, and the colorful backgrounds create a toy-world feel. Voices from the film pop up often, but the music will have you scrambling for the volume control.

ProTip: Be wary of the throttle on the RC car levels. Too much speed leaves you spinning.

The levels pose little challenge, so success depends mostly on trial and error. Kids may enjoy the simple gameplay, but experienced players will find this Story suffers on the small screen.

To get all the stars, climb obstacles before whipping them.

Based on Disney's latest animated extravaganza, Toy Story will bewitch you with eye-popping graphics. But its beauty is only surface deep: The dull gameplay will please only diehard fans of the flick.

Beautiful Story

Following the film's plot, Woody, a pull-string cowboy, suddenly faces competition from new arrival Buzz. When his jealous plan to regain the top spot backfires and endangers Buzz, Woody must rescue his foe or be outcast by the other toys.

Equipped with only a whip and jump, you explore bedrooms, a pizza parlor, and the neighbor's house from the perspective of a small toy. Renegade toys and other evils stalk you as you uncover routes past looming book shelves and other towering obstacles.

Using a proprietary new graphics technology, Disney nearly transforms your Genesis into a Saturn with graphics that are astonishingly similar to Clockwork Knight's. Everything's rendered in striking 3D detail and moves with fluid realism. The plain one-color backgrounds, however, detract from the 3D feel.

The sounds aren't as sharp. Scratchy voice samples chime in now and then, but not often enough. The bouncy tunes and effects maintain the toy-ish atmosphere, though.

To Infinity...

Unfortunately, Toy Story doesn't support its innovative graphics with equally innovative gameplay, as recent stars like Vectorman do. Although the action runs the gamut from hop-n-bop to racing to Doom-style shooting, the actual gameplay often involves laborious tasks like putting away Woody's toy friends or steering a temperamental car through an obstacle course.

The lack of passwords or saves adds to the tedium because delving deeper into the game means replaying these rote scenarios over and over again. To make things worse, the finicky controls burden you with mushy jumps and a whip that connects unpredictably.

...And Beyond

For those who can overcome the plodding pace, Toy Story's fun comes from its engaging graphics and impressive variety. Veteran gamers won't face many challenges, but younger kids who were captured by the movie's charm will find the going tough. This Story's worth a quick read to see where you fall, but Vector- man's a much better tale.

ProTips

  • In Level 2-1, release the gas before you move the steering wheel, or you'll lose control.
  • Whip aside choppers to collect the stars and other goodies they guard.
  • To beat the first boss, whip aside the balls that float around him, then dodge the laser blasts and hit him only when he's checking his watch.
  • You always lose the race in Level 1-3, so take the time to pass carefully by the hairy obstacles.
  • In Level 1-1, head up and to the left from the second tennis ball to obtain a 1-up that's back at the beginning of the stage.
  • In Level 1-2, first collect all the stars while releasing your friends along the way. Then bounce your friends back into the toy box and climb onto the bed.
  • When riding Rex, time your jumps over the trains so that you don't collide with the planes overhead.

Toy Story is an action platform game based on the animated movie with the same name. It, as well as the movie, was followed by a sequel.

The story closely follows the one in the movie, with a few minor differences. Put shortly, Sheriff Woody, a cowboy action figure, fights to keep the attention of his owner who, on his birthday, receives a brand new toy, Buzz Lightyear. After a lengthy struggle, the two rivals finally go over their differences and make amends. There are cuts between levels when the game tells the story but, although much appreciated, these can seem a bit too long.

The gameplay of Toy Story is very varied. Most of the levels you are in control of Woody as he tries to fulfill the goal mentioned at the beginning of the level. You must dodge obstacles and incapacitate enemies with your whip while making your way to the end. Meanwhile, you can collect stars which, if you have enough, grant you extra lives at the end of the level. Oddly, you cannot see the number of stars you have already collected so, unless you count them, you should probably try to get as many as you can.

Other levels are much more different. One of them puts you inside a claw machine through which you must navigate, find and retrieve toys within a given time. In another level, you are placed inside a toy car and you must race through the room, collecting stars and batteries. Lastly, there is also a boss battle where you must repeatedly hit a tire in order to trap your rival.

The graphics of Toy Story are mostly sprites which look deceptively 3D and, although now they may seem a bit on the squarish side, upon release, the game was praised for the quality of its visuals. The addition of voice overs in certain situations was a nice touch, but it can quickly become annoying to hear characters saying the same thing over and over again. Moreover, the sound is a bit muffled, so they probably went with quantity over quality.

Finally, Toy Story is a high quality game with gameplay that greatly varies from level to level, making sure you never fall into a routine. Fans of the movie or the genre (or both!) should definitely give it a try.

Toy Story features:

  • 17 levels with different gameplay
  • Great graphics that look 3D
  • Closely follows the story of the movie, but also explains what happens for those who haven’t seen it

When is a toy not just a toy? When it's alive, that's when.That's the premise behind Toy Story, the new animated feature film from Disney Studios and new video game from Disney Interactive. Last issue we took a first look at Dl's Gargoyles, their adaptation of the Disney syndicated cartoon. We were amazed by Gargoyles' fluid animation and beautiful sprites and wondered if Disney Interactive could ever top that amazing cart. Imagine our surprise a few weeks later when we got a peek at Toy Story! Travellers Tales, the development house behind last year's incredible Mickey Mania has joined forces with Psygnosis to create another eye-popper. It looks so hot, everybody will think you're playing a next generation machine when you're only using a humble 16-bit platform. When we told you that 16-bit gaming wasn't dead we meant it--Toy Story uses just about every trick in the book to redefine what you thought was possible graphically on the Genesis (the game will also be released on the SNES, in case you were curious.)

Toy Story is the tale of two dolls: Woody is a drawstring cowboy, an old veteran of children's rooms, and Buzz Lightyear is a jazzy new spaceman toy who doesn't realize that he isn't a real person. Woody and Buzz begin the game as rivals, but must band together and become friends once they venture into the "outside world" and encounter its many dangers, including hostile toys, an evil Claw Machine, and Sid, the sadly misguided neighbor boy who makes a habit out of torturing toys. He's a cruel lad and he has a hankering to do some damage to Woody and Buzz, but he's only one of many adversaries that you, as Woody, must face.

Toy Story begins as a platform adventure that's remarkably similar in concept to Clockwork Knight. Woody must make his way through a child's room in order to activate a baby monitor so that he and the other toys can tune in to their owner's birthday party and find out what new toys he's received.The old toys soon meet Buzz, a shiny new Space Ranger toy who doesn't realize what he truly is. Woody competes against Buzz in a fast-paced race across the room in which Woody uses his drawstring as a lasso to swing from hooks, and the game unfolds from there as Woody and Buzz go to the outside world. But don't think it's your average platform game; the play mechanics shift occasionally from the standard platform mold. At certain points,Woody must drive a wildly careening radio controlled car, ride a rampaging Tyrannosaurus and even navigate through a 3-D maze on a quest to free Buzz from the evil Claw of the, er, evil Claw Machine.

The laundry list of features packed into this 32-megabyte monster should make any gamer salivate.The sprites in Toy Story are made up of 96 pixels.Translated, that means they're double-sized, which means the characters are ultra-detailed, right down to their goofy grins. Woody and Buzz, along with the rest of their toy crew, look just as impressive as the rendered characters from the 3-D milestone Donkey Kong Country.They should look great--the animators at Pixar (the computer animation house that helped develop the film) contributed to the game's animation.

Snapshots and Media

PC Screenshots

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Screenshots

SNES/Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Screenshots

GameBoy Screenshots

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