The 1995 Pixar hit film Toy Story captivated audiences young and old with its computer-generated animation, bright colors, fun characters, and great writing. It makes sense that a blockbuster film like this one would have a game based off it, and sure enough, Disney Interactive released the Toy Story video game in 1995 for two different consoles: the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. I have only played the SNES version, so this review will be only for that version, since I've seen game play for the Genesis one, and it does have some differences in game play and graphics. The Toy Story video game may not be groundbreaking, like the movie, but it is a decent game, and I would say it's worth picking up. The graphics are good, though not the best the SNES has to offer, the game play is pretty smooth, the stages are all uniquely designed, and the soundtrack is catchy.

The game basically follows the same plot as the movie: a cowboy doll named Woody is the leader of a group of toys that all belong to a kid named Andy, and Woody is Andy's favorite, up until Andy's birthday party, when he receives a new Buzz Lightyear action figure. Buzz becomes Andy's new favorite, and Woody, in an effort to reclaim his spot as Andy's favorite, accidentally sends Buzz flying out of Andy's bedroom window. Andy comes in to take Woody to Pizza Planet with him, but as Andy's mom drives off, Buzz hitches a ride and confronts Woody when Andy's mom stops for gas. The two fight and fall out of the car, and when Andy's mom drives off, Woody and Buzz try to find a way back home, which they have to do quickly, because Andy will be moving soon.

There are 17 stages in the game, and for most of them you will be controlling Woody. Woody can jump, duck, and swing his pullstring like a whip to not only stun enemies, but also to swing across certain gaps (like Simon Belmont in Super Castlevania IV). The controls aren't hard to get the hang of, and you can decide what buttons will make Woody jump or use his pullstring. Woody will have a health meter, which is shown by a star with a number on it. That number will always start off at 5, and goes down each time you get hit. If that number hits 0, you lose a life, and start off at the last checkpoint. You can also choose how many lives you have at the start of the game (from 2 to 6), and you can choose if you want to see the story cutscenes in between stages.

Sadly, the cutscenes in the game are pretty bland. I mean, when I was playing for the first time, I wasn't expecting ground-breaking cutscenes like in the NES game Ninja Gaiden, but this game's cutscenes are very weak for a game that came out 6 years after Ninja Gaiden. Basically, you see blue text that explains what's going on before each stage, and you get some pictures. For the intro cutscene, you get a 16-bit remix of the song "Strange Things" from the movie, which is catchy, but after that none of the other cutscenes have music. You just look at text and pictures on a dark background. And sometimes there are no pictures, it's just a dark background with blue text. Come on, Disney Interactive, you could have done better than that on the SNES.

Now, the stage design is pretty good, and the variation in game play is nice. In stage 5, you control the RC car, and have to drive around and try to knock Buzz under Andy's bed while trying not to crash into things (and make sure to collect batteries! If your fuel runs out, you start over!). In stage 8, Woody and Buzz face off in the gas station, and you have to literally "tire out" Buzz by whipping a tire with the pullstring so it will fall on Buzz, who will run at you and spin around like a maniac. And in stage 15, you ride on a Roller Bob skateboard toy and try to escape Sid's house while dodging missiles, soda cans, bombs, and Sid's dog, Scud. So yes, you will definitely have fun as you find yourself in many crazy situations.

The graphics in this game, like I said before, are good, even though they are not the best the SNES has to offer. It's just that, compared to Donkey Kong Country 2 and Yoshi's Island, which both came out in 1995, Toy Story's graphics seem a bit weak. Sometimes in the backgrounds you'll see the same stuff pass by over and over, like the bookshelves in Andy's room, or the posters in Sid's room. The backgrounds are good, but they aren't the best, and some of the sprites are a bit choppy as well, like Woody and Buzz's sprites. But the sprites for characters like Rex, Hamm, Mr. Potato Head, and Scud all look really good, so it's a mixed bag.

And the soundtrack for this game is pretty good, not the best, but still pretty good. The music for the fight with Buzz in stage 8 is catchy and really fits a fight between two rivals, the music when you escape Sid's house sounds fast-paced and frantic, and the music on the final stage, where you and Buzz fly on a rocket and try to catch Andy's mom's car while dodging traffic, is tense and gives you a feeling like "this is the last hurdle of the game".

There are some voices in this movie, like Woody yelling "ow!" when he gets hurt, or the Army men in stage 1 shouting "CODE RED! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!". These voices are actually pretty good for their time, I have to admit. But what isn't good at all about this game, the biggest flaw if you ask me, is the ending. I mean, it's hard to expect a groundbreaking ending for a movie-based game, but the developers were clearly being lazy with the ending. You get some text and pictures (with no music), and then you get a message that says "WELL DONE YOU HAVE COMPLETED TOY STORY HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT THANKS FOR PLAYING". And then you get the credits.. with no music! Certainly the developers could have at least gave the game an ending theme, like the Genesis version, which also showed the cast of characters in the ending.

Well, all in all, Toy story is what any good game should be: fun. The game play is unique and enjoyable, the stage design is great, the challenge level is extremely high (trust me, this game is one tough cookie), and even a lame ending won't stop you from feeling satisfaction when you unite Woody and Buzz with Andy. If you love Toy Story and video games, then you should try this game out. It's not perfect, but it's still a lot of fun to play.

This review is wonderful! It has amazing detail. I really want to try this game now, If I didn't dislike Toy Story so much. xD

Oh, thank you very much! You dislike Toy Story? Well, to each their own. ^^
I feel like the game is worth playing even if you don't like the movies, especially if you enjoy a good challenge, because Toy Story is actually pretty tough. There's no passwords or anything, and continues are hard to come across.

TheScarletSaiyan : This review isn't half bad. It has 1,177 words, it's not just a big word wall, and I can tell you put a lot of work into it! (I hope you didn't just copy and paste this from Wikipedia or some other site. That can ban you)

Oh thank you! And no no no, I don't do that kind of thing. I actually like writing (I'm going for an English major in college), so hand-typing this review was fun for me.