Toy Story

Crab Your Pull String and Get to work

Toy Story is a unique video game based on the upcoming holiday release of Disney's first-ever fully computer-animated feature film of the same name. In the game, you play the part of the pull string cowboy, Woody, as you fight through 19 action-packed levels of nonstop play. Your mission is to return Buzz and yourself home safely from the dangers of the outside world.

Woody has only two buttons to control his actions. One of these is used to make him jump and the other uses his whip-like pull string to stun enemies and knock down objects. The controls are surprisingly precise, and it's easy to maneuver Woody around in the toy-filled world. The levels are filled with horizontal ropes, trampolines, air pumpers and countless other obstacles that are used as a means of maneuvering yourself and others to unreachable areas.

The graphics and animation are rendered with close-to-movie accuracy. They contain all the qualities normally expected to be seen only on next-generation systems. The main character, enemies and the background all intertwine forming a good balance of superb visuals and smooth play.

Toy Story's claim to fame lies in its multiple viewpoints, which exploit the many game engines programmed into the title. The different situations surprise the player by submerging them in a new and different adventure in every stage.

From start to finish, Toy Story challenges the player with levels that always increase in difficulty. The first two is relatively simple to beat and fill their required space as an introduction to the general control of the game. Thereafter, the levels are difficult, with no continues or any way to save your progress. Your best solution to play longer is not to get hurt in the first place. Extra lives can be earned by locating the cowboy hats hidden in the level. Some 1-Ups can also be earned by grabbing all the 50 existing stars in any level or by reaching a total of 300. Any way you look at it, Toy Story is tougher than expected for its target audience.

Psygnosis really did their research in new programming techniques during the development of the game. It pushes the capabilities of the Genesis further than anyone would have expected a 16-Bit system to reach.

Multiple Game Engines

Besides the standard side-scrolling view, Toy Story features two other game perspectives that make it more than just a stagnate side-view game. In the remote control car stage, you must drive through an obstacle-ridden path while collecting batteries and hitting Buzz. While a racing stage that looks and controls like Mario Cart, your driving talent will be tested through the twists and turns of a racetrack. A first-person Doom-style maze also awaits your cunning as you search for your quota of little green characters. The changing perspectives and story line objectives wake up the game by adding a touch of originality to the cart. These engines were not just thrown in haphazardly to be used for advertisement but are well planned out. Each of them could easily bear the burden of having an entire game built off them. These multiple perspective stages are far more enjoyable and diverse than normally expected from a 16-Bit system.

Simultaneous Launch

Toy Story the video game is scheduled to be launched simultaneously with Disney's first-ever fully computer-animated feature film. The voice of Woody the draw-string cowboy hero is provided by Tom Hanks, while Tim Allen is the voice of Buzz Ughtyear, the latest spaceman action figure. The two form an alliance to survive in a dangerous outside world. The graphic artists and animation specialists that worked on the development of the movie lend their talents to the development of the graphics in the game. Keep an eye out for the holiday movie release date.

You play as Woody, a toy cowboy, who can run, jump, climb, and swing through the levels of Toy Story. Woody uses his pull string as a lasso to grasp onto hooks, defeat enemies, knock away blocks, and other various things. The game combines a few genres of game play, something I think is quite innovative, and at the same time well done. For the most part though, the game is a platformer, spanning eighteen levels, with each level having a different objective or objectives. For example, in one level, you must use your pull string to knock off the lid to a bucket of toy green army men, and then knock down a baby monitor from a shelf so that the green army men can transmit data to you while they spy on Andy’s birthday. After the presents have been opened, though, Andy and his friends start to head upstairs! The toys can’t be caught moving or out-of-place, so Woody must help the toys get back to their spots by knocking away the blocks that have them imprisoned on top of a desk, or on a shelf so that they can get back in time. When you need to use your pull string to get across a gap, it is hard to get it attached, and takes much practice to get used to. The jumping, however, is quite responsive and easy to control. Some of the other areas of the game, such as the part where you must take control of a remote control car, can be very difficult due to the bad controls, and the fact that if you hit a wall, at any speed, you spin around like crazy. Woody has five hit points to start out with, and if you get hit five times, then you lose one life. Gameplay isn’t too difficult, but you can adjust the amount of lives you start with, to make it a little more challenging.

Toy Story is a game with a lot of mixed elements. Each level is unique and different in the fact that the gameplay changes a lot. Some levels you can drive and others are all out 3-D. All these different styles rolled up in this game make for fun, different, and challenging gameplay. The game gets harder as you progress through the story and never gets dull. The controls are easy to get used to but a little bit challenging when it comes to the driving levels. Nothing to serious to complain about and does not interfere with the gameplay. It make take a bit of practice but you will be fine. You will have lots of fun with this classic game.

The visuals in Toy Story are quite well done. The characters look like their movie counterparts, and the details, textures, and colours all go well together. The backgrounds accurately depict the setting of the level, and there are even some 3D elements to the game. All of Woody’s movements are very smooth, and same with all of the other characters.

The music in Toy Story is cheerful at first, but as the story moves to gloomier and sadder places, the music changes with it. The sound effects are quite good; such as Woody’s pull string, toy trains, toy planes, and the sound of you knocking things away (such as blocks). There are even voice clips taken from the movie that sound nice.