Toy Story 3: The Video Game

Traditionally the mere mention of a movie tie-in is enough to send a shiver down the spine of even the most open minded gamer, bringing forth visions of the countless classic movies which have been butchered and stuffed into a video game mould just to cash in on the popularity of the film. With this as a starting point, you can imagine my surprise when Toy Story 3 showed up and was not only one of the better film licensed titles we've seen in a while, but also one of the most endearing platformer adventure titles out there for the younger crowd.

Toy Story 3: The Video Game Screenshot

Toy Story 3: The Video Game is based on the latest iteration in the long running animated film franchise, Toy Story, which follows Woody, Buzz and Jessie and a supporting cast of charming toys as they try to get the attention of their owner Andy who has packed them up in preparation for heading off to college. In honesty, the story itself isn't at the forefront of the action, but instead acts as a glue to bind the various game styles on offer here into a relatively coherent narrative. Starting off with a frantic platforming mission on a runaway train, which serves to give gamers a chance to familiarise themselves with some of the game's controls, things soon move over to the strangely addictive Toy Box mode, which is essentially a sort of sandbox toy world to explore. Mixing elements of very basic town building, open world adventure style missions, and a whole lot of collectable treasure hunting, the Toy Box mode can suck up way too much of your time before you know it.

After having spent a ridiculous amount of time decorating my own little western toy town, painting the buildings, playing dress-up with the inhabitants, and exploring the canyons and vast environments in search of lost sheep and other silly things, I had almost forgotten that this was actually just a distraction from the main game. The actual meat and potatoes of Toy Story 3 is to be found in the story mode, which sticks close enough to the plot of the film and is driven forward via a cute and colourful 'board game' interface. While the different levels do fit together in the grand scheme of things, each plays almost like an individual mini-game in its own right, something which brings both positives and negatives to the equation.

As a positive, the wildly varied mission types mean that younger gamers are kept intrigued. There is no time for the attention span to waver, because just as you're coming to grips with the lunacy of a platform jumping mission through a bedroom slowly filling with coffee, you're whisked away to a simple but explosive flight combat scenario which sees Buzz soaring though a space canyon, blasting asteroids and dodging falling rocks. It all moves at a dizzy pace, with some missions requiring Jedi-like focus to time a series of jumps perfectly, while others require nothing more than a heavy trigger finger and a general disregard for the laws of physics. The negative aspect of these varied gameplay styles is that there is sometimes a lack of flow between the different levels, and because the plot itself isn't very clearly narrated (as tends to happen with movie tie-ins), you're sometimes left feeling a bit bewildered.

Toy Story 3: The Video Game Screenshot

The times when things are frantic and outlandish are the moments when Toy Story 3 shines, such as Woody's almost psychedelic ride though a vivid dreamlike world, line-riding along a series of fluorescent tubes, bouncing across pulsating orbs and giant rainbows. It's all very linear, but it's such a feast for the senses. Similarly, Buzz Lightyear's mission on some sort of asteroid-pocked planet is like blasting your way through a dream, with rock platforms breaking up underfoot, spinning robot meanies blasting away in your direction, and stunning vistas stretching out beyond the action. You can trust Disney and Pixar to deliver some stunning game worlds, and they do not disappoint. In fact, the quality of the visuals is probably one of the true stars of the show. There is a cheerful vibrancy to everything, and it's obvious that this game was put together by people who know a thing or two about creating exciting and fantastical worlds. Each level is lush and inviting, bright and colourful. Luckily for the most part, the gameplay itself is simple enough that you can get away with gawping at the scenery once in a while without too much trouble.

While the gameplay is for the most part simple enough for anyone to have a go, there are elements which can, and will, frustrate all but the most patient gamers. Having precision platforming sections in a game like this is fine, it slows the pace down a little and gives the gamer a moment to catch his or her Oros-tainted breath, but when the controls aren't up to the task it can become tedious. For example, the camera angle doesn't always go where you need it and the jump controls feel just a little too lose, leaving your character flailing wildly for that ledge which seems just millimeters out of reach. For the fifteenth time. A gamer usually knows when repeated failure is due to operator trouble (ie. you're doing it wrong, idiot!), as apposed to sloppy controls. And in Toy Story 3, too much of the frustration comes from either a control system which requires some tweaking, or a bad camera angle not giving you the optimal view of the proceedings.

Toy Story 3: The Video Game Screenshot

While I've made a big noise about the varied nature of the gameplay on offer here, it must also be mentioned that there aren't all that many different missions to keep you occupied. The levels for the most part are a lot bigger and longer than you imagine them to be, and younger gamers will hardly rush through the main story in one sitting, but I was really just getting into the swing of things when I realised I was heading towards the final stages already.

Coming from the house of Disney, you are pretty much assured of top quality music, sound and voicework to go with the high quality of the visuals and the fun, family-orientated nature of the gameplay, and Toy Story 3 duly delivers. The happy tunes which accompany your intrepid adventurers on their quest are perfectly suited to the game and never become overbearing or grating. It's classic Disney 'happy music', and for the most part it just adds to the cheerful nature of the game. As far as I can tell, the voices are straight out of the film, which adds credibility to proceedings. There are times when the voicework can get to you, but it's only when you are struggling with a particularly dodgy section where you keep dying and the character repeats the same line each time. This may lead to non-family friendly language from the player, and the possibility of a game control through the TV screen, but in general, the audio aspect of the Toy Story 3 universe adds a lot more to the experience than it takes away.

Having already mentioned that the control system has its weak points, it's important to add that the developers have done well to at least explain the various controls to the player clearly, with both on-screen cues as well as little 'ghost' demonstrations showing any new moves added to the arsenal. This is especially handy in the earlier missions where you switch between Woody, Jessie and Buzz to complete tasks, because you need to understand each of their special abilities to get the job done. Along with the demonstrations and on-screen cues, there is also a useful 'help' widget which pops up in particular sections, giving you the option to choose either a somewhat vague hint, or an exact demonstration of what to do to solve the puzzle, meaning that even less experienced gamers shouldn't be stuck for too long on some of the games more complicated sections.

Toy Story 3: The Video Game Screenshot

Also making things easier for the young folk is the option to play the story mode in co-operative mode, meaning that you can help each other out when things get confusing, and have a lot of fun along the way. Considering that some of the puzzles and action sequences are trickier than you would imagine in a game like this it's certainly a welcomed feature, and makes for a far more enjoyable father and son play session. It's implemented in a similar way to Disney's Up, and it definitely scores Toy Story 3 more points as a family game.

It's no secret that Toy Story 3 is aimed at younger gamers, but just in the same way that many of Disney / Pixar's animated films are aimed at the kids, they still give the accompanying adults a couple of laughs along the way, and this game has enough in it to keep most fans of platform adventures happy, at least for a couple of hours. I'm not going to recommend that you rush out and buy this if you usually spend your free time tearing the Locust Horde asunder with a chainsaw, but if you perhaps have a younger sibling, or you have a penchant for creative, engrossing and light-hearted platform gaming, Toy Story 3 does not disappoint.

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