This game is painfully middle of the road. It's by no means horrible but there's a lot wrong here like how your health doesn't replenish upon level completion, or how the screen is cropped in a way that makes it hard to see what's coming, or how insane some difficulty spikes get later on. At its core the actual platforming and stuff is fine and functions well but the issues I mentioned hold back the good stuff from being great at all. It's just a passible middle-of-the-road platformer that is easily skipped.

6/10

Cleared on March 14th, 2024 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 55/160)

Developed by Traveler's Tale, the game takes on the ambitious task of translating the 1995 CGi phenomenon onto the 16 bit consoles, and it really managed to deliver. Not so much that it's that amazing of a game. In fact, it's got a lot of problems that I have with it, but when you look at the game from a presentation perspective, it's not a game like any other on the system. The graphics are really well-detailed to the point where it practically looks reminiscent of the actual movie. It's still 16 bit and pixelated, sure enough, but if you were to put it on a 32 bit system and say that the game can only run on that system, I would've believed you. And I have to give the game props for having absolutely no slowdown in the process. And on top of that, the music in this game sounds really good that it practically defies what the system is capable of delivering a "four channel PCM music". If you want more details on how they did it, here's a video from Gamehut, who is involved in the game's development.

As for everything else, the plot follows the movie although it has some odd skips and even a weird addition where there's an entire level dedicated to helping Rex across the room because he's afraid of conflict and then decides to help you leave the room. It's been a long time since I've watched this movie and before yesterday, I haven't watched it in 10 years or so, but even I would know that never happened. The plot skips make it feel weirdly paced, but whatever, it's a retro licensed game from the 90s, I shouldn't expect much.

The gameplay is interesting as it takes on different styles. The game's core is that it is a 2D platformer where you play as Woody. You can jump around and whip your enemies which does not kill them, but it merely stuns them for a few seconds allowing you to pass them. You can also swing at hooks using the whip to cross larger gaps. One thing that I don't like about the mechanics is that the game has a delay before you can duck and whip which makes hitting smaller enemies difficult. And the game as a whole is really hard especially when you get to Sid's room. Side note: Props to him for putting out explosives that shoot fireballs. Surely that won't set his house on fire.

The game also shifts between different gameplay styles often across different levels, and this could be seen as bothersome to some people, but I'm usually adaptive enough that I don't really mind. You have an auto-scroller 2D racer, an over-head racer, a 3D racer at one point, a level where sneak around Pizza Planet with a cup, and even a first person search level. There are also a few boss battles in the game which are rather difficult. The claw was really annoying because you have to fling those squeaky aliens onto the claw as it is picking up Buzz. If you do it too late, it will miss. If you do it too early, it will hit the claw but it won't drop Buzz. You also have to do it 5 consecutive times without fail.

But the thing that really makes this game brutal in its difficulty is that you do not heal in-between levels. If you have 1 health left when you complete one level, you will still have 1 health left when you go to the next level, and you have a limited amount of lives. It's already a difficult enough game as is in classic Sega Genesis fashion, but talk about overkill.

The game does capture the movie's ambition and it ended up being alright, but the movie is still a lot better.