Toy Story 3 is a surprisingly well platformer that feels like a lot of care went into its development, something that is not usually associated with film tie-in games.
The game is made of two halves; the first half of the game is a “story mode” where you go through levels based from the Toy Story 3 film, with the second half, called “Toy Box”, is an open-hub area that gives the player the ability to take on bite-sized quests, earn gold, and customise their own little western town.
The story takes starts off in Bonnie’s bedroom, with Andy’s toys tell Bonnie’s toys the events of Toy Story 3 that had already occurred. This is an interesting framing device as this gives the level designers freedom on the design of the levels, while explaining away any inconsistencies, with the events seen in the film, as Ham taking creative liberties with his storytelling.
You take control of Woody, Buzz, and Jessie, switching between the three of them at the press of the button. All three characters act very similar to one another (jump, double jump, charge attack, etc.) while each having their own unique ability that allows them to traverse specific environmental obstacles; Buzz can throw Jessie or Woody long distances, Woody can use his pull-string to lasso across large gaps, and Jessie can balance on very small platforms.
The platforming may not be the most polished compared to a Nintendo platformer but the levels feel like they’ve been designed with the limitations of the jumping in mind, so I always felt that I had good control over my jumps. However, there were a few times when Woody wouldn’t register that I wanted to grab onto a ledge, leading him to fall to his doom. Fortunately, the game is kind enough to respawn you back to where you were with no penalty, so my frustration was kept to a minimum.
No two levels are the same. One level will have you exploring around Andy’s room and then the following level will be a full realisation of the Buzz Lightyear game that Rex is seen playing in Toy Story 2. The levels that I enjoyed the most were the ones from Bonnie’s imagination, as she’s narrating what’s going on in the level as she’s playing. A few of the levels go on a little too long for my liking but many of the levels are less than 20 minutes to reach the end.
The Toy Box mode is probably where I spent the majority of my four to six hour gameplay time on. Most of the fun comes from building your little town, customising the look and placements of the buildings, while doing little mission for the townsfolk. There’s a bit of variety of tasks that can be done in this mode, from taking photos for Wheezy to helping Slinky take care of his animal farm. Some of the tasks in the Toy Box mode get a bit tedious after a while, mainly the ones that had you changing the look of the townsfolk to specific outfits, required by many of the pictogram missions.
In conclusion, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed myself with Toy Story 3. It was well put together and with a lot of creative ideas put into the levels. It’s a shame that Toy Story 3 is only playable on the console hardware that it came out on, as I can imagine that this game would be something that young fans of the Toy Story films would enjoy today and in the future. The game is clearly built with young audiences in mind but the simplicity and ease of the game doesn’t compromise the fun.
The game is made of two halves; the first half of the game is a “story mode” where you go through levels based from the Toy Story 3 film, with the second half, called “Toy Box”, is an open-hub area that gives the player the ability to take on bite-sized quests, earn gold, and customise their own little western town.
The story takes starts off in Bonnie’s bedroom, with Andy’s toys tell Bonnie’s toys the events of Toy Story 3 that had already occurred. This is an interesting framing device as this gives the level designers freedom on the design of the levels, while explaining away any inconsistencies, with the events seen in the film, as Ham taking creative liberties with his storytelling.
You take control of Woody, Buzz, and Jessie, switching between the three of them at the press of the button. All three characters act very similar to one another (jump, double jump, charge attack, etc.) while each having their own unique ability that allows them to traverse specific environmental obstacles; Buzz can throw Jessie or Woody long distances, Woody can use his pull-string to lasso across large gaps, and Jessie can balance on very small platforms.
The platforming may not be the most polished compared to a Nintendo platformer but the levels feel like they’ve been designed with the limitations of the jumping in mind, so I always felt that I had good control over my jumps. However, there were a few times when Woody wouldn’t register that I wanted to grab onto a ledge, leading him to fall to his doom. Fortunately, the game is kind enough to respawn you back to where you were with no penalty, so my frustration was kept to a minimum.
No two levels are the same. One level will have you exploring around Andy’s room and then the following level will be a full realisation of the Buzz Lightyear game that Rex is seen playing in Toy Story 2. The levels that I enjoyed the most were the ones from Bonnie’s imagination, as she’s narrating what’s going on in the level as she’s playing. A few of the levels go on a little too long for my liking but many of the levels are less than 20 minutes to reach the end.
The Toy Box mode is probably where I spent the majority of my four to six hour gameplay time on. Most of the fun comes from building your little town, customising the look and placements of the buildings, while doing little mission for the townsfolk. There’s a bit of variety of tasks that can be done in this mode, from taking photos for Wheezy to helping Slinky take care of his animal farm. Some of the tasks in the Toy Box mode get a bit tedious after a while, mainly the ones that had you changing the look of the townsfolk to specific outfits, required by many of the pictogram missions.
In conclusion, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed myself with Toy Story 3. It was well put together and with a lot of creative ideas put into the levels. It’s a shame that Toy Story 3 is only playable on the console hardware that it came out on, as I can imagine that this game would be something that young fans of the Toy Story films would enjoy today and in the future. The game is clearly built with young audiences in mind but the simplicity and ease of the game doesn’t compromise the fun.