Toy Story is a franchise that made history. In 1996, Pixar made a groundbreaking step in the entertainment industry by creating the first ever CGI Animation film. The film was instant hit for both it's story and for the CGI creation. It was a matter of time before
Pixar went and created it's sequel Toy Story 2. In the films we follow Andy's toys who seemed to be comming to life everytime Andy and all other humans leave the toys alone. The first film acted as an origin story for the universe and to introduce us to the main cast, the cowboy Woody who
was Andy's favorite toy and Buzz Lightyear, a space ranger that was given to Andy as a gift and was considered Andy's new favorite toy. The sequel focused more on a collector who came across Woody and tried to steal him in order to place him in the museum. The third film which was released in 2010,
focused on a story where Andy is leaving for university and by mistake his toys re found themselves in a charity shop.
In the world of video games, the series is no stranger. Pixar was able to recognise the success of the series and they tried to make profit by selling multiple marchedise and ofcourse video games. Toy story had a couple of games following the main movie plot and ofcourse a lot of side games. Despite having multiple
games they were mostly mediocre with alot of dissapointing results. That is not to say that all the games were bad as a few were considered gems of their time. Games like Toy story racing ( which was a Mario Kart clone) and the two spin-offs of Buzz Lightyear. One of the two focused on the Buzz the toy in Andy's Neighborhood and
the other focussed on Buzz the space ranger from the spin off cartoon. After the release of the third film it was a matter of time before Pixar made another game. The game was made by a couple of developers depending on the platform and was published by Disney Interactive. At the time three games were made, one for the Playstation 3,
Xbox 360, Wii and Windows which were the main consoles of the generation, a version for the Playstation Portable(PSP) and Psp (developed by Asobo and is the version we will be reviewing) and a third one developed by Nintendo Ds. Aside from the main console verion, the rest were limited and cut content duo to the limitations of the hardware.
In 2024, Toy story 3 was released in the Ps Plus as part of their classic collection. Unfortunatelly the release of the game was the PSP version.
Story of the Game
The plot of the game is simple and very straight forward. Since the game is based on the third movie the plot follows the movie's. Andy is about to leave for college and leaves his toys(except Woody) in a box with the aim of placing them into the attic. His mom who had mistaken his box for the charity box she requested took it with her and gave it away.
Woody who witnessed everything tried his best to make his way into the charity box and warn the toys. The box ends up in a school. The toys and Woody part ways as noone believed Woody and they felt better playing with the kids here than staying in the attic. At the school they met with the local toys who filled their minds with multiple stories of how thats
the perfect place. Woody learn the hard way that the so called heaven is a lie and that not all toys make it out of there alive. Shocked to this reveal Woody tries to make it back to the school to see what happened to his friends.
Thoughts on the story
Theres not much things to say about the story as it is literally a retelling of the third film. The game doesnt add or change anything form the story although it does give an abridge version of the story.
Gameplay
The game is a 3D platformer that takes place in multiple areas. It begins with Ham narrating the story whilst looking at his sketch book with pictures of all the events that took place during the film. Each level has its own character between Woody and Buzz and very rarely Jessie. It alternates between who was the main character of the act. For example, Woody is the one who escaped
the school first, Buzz was the one who tried to save his friends the first day of the school and Jessie was the one who tried to resist the brainwashed version of Buzz. By default the game is a 3D platformer where the players try to reach the end of their level. The goal in each level should be clear at all times, but in case you didnt pay attention you can always move towards the right or
trace the line of collectable stars scattered around the world. Each hero has similar abilities such as moving around, grapping items and hitting enemies. Each hero has their own unique attack pattern. For example Woody will use his back robe whilst Buzz will do Karate. The melle attacks are mostly use to break collectables such as blocks.
There are some small changes such as the fact that Woody can use his robe to reach greater areas and also use it to swing himself around. On the other hand Buzz can use his wings in order to help him double jump and also hover longer in order to cover longer distance. He even glows during the dark levels.
Thoughts on the gameplay
Surprisingly enough, the gameplay of Toy story 3 is still fun. Its a standard 3D platformer with the beloved Pixar characters. It may lack in originality but keep in mind this is a 2010 game and not a 2024. The characters move smoothly and the level design is inspired by the movie. There are a few moments where the colisions are not perfect but they get a pass. Its gameplay mechanics are very simple and because of
the stars you can always know where you re heading.
Post Game Content
The game has a decent ammount of post content activities. The first and most obvious is the collectables found around the levels. Each level has the standard star that you mostly follow to reach the end of the level. Most of the levels also have their unique type of collectables such as plane origiamis, water color, barrels etc. Collecting them will
reward the player with trophies. Completing the levels at 100% rewards you with extra bonus awards. Completing most of the games collectables will reward the player with points to spent on the Gallery/Museum. The museum has things like songs, pictures of production behind the scenes, pictures of development and hero profiles. It's a nice collection
that Toy story fans will enjoy. It might be a bit grindy but its always up to the player to unlock them.
Another game mode available is Woody's Roundup mode. During this mode, the game changes from 3D to 2D and the art style resemples the old black and white marionette style first introduced in the second movie. During this mode, the player controls Woody who is riding Bullseye with the goal of reaching the end of the level. The player can only jump, double jump
and slide in order to avoid obstacles. Think of it as Google's Dinosaur Game when theres no internet. Around the middle of the level, theres a quick time event where Woody shoots some bandits. This is done through quick time event.
The second available game mode is Buzz Adventures. This represents the game Ham was playing at the start of the second film and plays similar to Toy story 2. The players control Buzz who goes through alot of space missions in order to stop Zurg. The player can jump, glide for a short time and shoot his enemies with his lazer. Its a very straight forward game.
Around the middle of the game turns into Tunnel rush where the player will have to dodge obstacles and shoot down the windows in order to go through them.
Sound and Graphics
There is not much things to say regarding the audio and the graficks. The game does represent the era of the early 2010. The characters are polygony and the backrounds re very pixelish. Not to say that is bad, as the game is fully playable but when it comes down to its presentation, other games of the time looked much better. The audio department on the other hand is
pretty decent as most of the tracks are directly taken from the movie with small alternations. There are occasionally some audio glitches that keep playing the sound over and over but its something that the game fixes itself when going through a loading zone or when the player respawns back from dying.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion Toy story 3 is a fun experience that made its return after such a long time. It is a shame we got Asobo's version as the Avalanche studio's version looks much better and theres more to do in the gameplay than just manuvering in a 3D environment. Despite that, the gameplay we get in Asobo's version is still fun and very simple for everyone to enjoy. It can
be consider a safe game option for kids to start playing. The story as mentioned follows that of the movie in an abridged version of the events. The graficks do look polygony but this is a 2010 game brought back in 2024. The audio on the other hand is very good with iconic OSTs. There re some small glitches but its something the game fixes itself the more you progress. I doubt it will be fixed but
atleast is not a game breaker. Moreover, there re some alternative game modes that differ the gameplay and re quite nice and fresh. Both of them differ as they represent the 2 main characters at their prime, Woody and Buzz. Last but not least, gathering all the collectibles does not only reward you with trophies but also rewards you with different arts found in Gallery that every hard core fan of Toy story will appreciate.
Gameplay of the Game
This is a video showcasing some of my time with the the Game
