Retro Review 1: Toy Story

I think it's time to finally dial the reviews back...back to a simpler age in video games and time...time to go to cartridges and ye olde consoles! Starting with the SEGA Genesis we're going to go right into Toy Story which I think is a pretty solid platfo-...uh...raci-...er....movie game. :S




I remember getting Toy Story long ago on the SEGA Genesis and loving every bit of it...but one thing my memories didn't play nice to was the absolute schizophrenic and devilish difficulty this game provides. Of course, that was the thing with video games (especially movie tie-in games) on the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Genesis, etc. Developers made those games last for kids in the 80s and 90s NOT through DLC or extra modes perchance...it was through difficulty.

..but hey the game isn't too bad either!

For the most part of the game you control Woody via typical left-and-right movement, A (or C) to jump and B to attack with his pullstring. You have to avoid a large variety of enemy toys and strange creatures such as wooden trains, mechanical spiders...and kids walking through Pizza Planet. Scattered throughout the levels are 50 cowboy stars to obtain and those go into a single pool/collection at the end of each level. What do you get for it? If you get between 40-49 stars in the level you get an extra hit point (IE: your life which is indicated by the top left star, not the actual LIFE COUNT which is indicated by the cowboy hat on the top right). Get all 50 stars however and you can get an extra life!

Trust me though you're going to need them.

For the most part the game follows the story of the movie to a T and with it, you will quickly see how many different ways there are to play. From merely getting to the end of the level, to controlling RC in a top-down section (with slippery controls. Anyone who has played R.C. AM on the NES or Game Boy knows how the controls should feel), to going through a first person view in a tiny 'claw' machine...the game has a lot of variety to push through the story of Toy Story. At most the liberties taken with the game is more or less "what was happening when Woody was asleep on the first night when Buzz appeared?" or other arbitrary things like "what does the inside of a claw machine look like?".

...and you know what else? This game has a far better soundtrack than it has any business being. From a typical cheery tune of the first few levels, to a softer techno feel midway in the game, to the rumbling finale with Genesis beats in the last level...there's a great variety of music. It's pretty nuts!

It's really interesting seeing a "Doom"-esque kind of arena in a video game on the SEGA Genesis. I didn't know the console had these capabilities!

But while the game is fun and has a simple way of going about "hey player 1, you gotta do this to beat the level" the difficulty ramps up HIGH once you reach the boss fight where players must save Buzz from being taken by Sid. From that point onward the game is a constant intense focus fest of "oh god how many projectiles are onscreen right now and what patterns of enemies must I memorize to avoid being hit". There is a certain, uneven and nervous mindset that comes when you are going through levels longer than 3 minutes (that are auto-scrolling) and you have to dodge projectiles on the ground, from the air, and from the left side of the screen. It's brutal. 

MIND YOU ONCE AGAIN you have five hit points AT MOST and they do -not- replenish between levels. That means if you went into the first Sid level with < 2 hit points you will start with those 2 hit points.

FUCK THIS LEVEL

...which is saying a lot because these levels are LONG and extra lives is as scarce as Sonic Lost World without the update. I unfortunately got a Game Over in the middle of replaying this game for this very review and had to get back to my previous state through a level skip cheat code just to beat the game so I could overlook it properly. I don't pride myself in doing it, I just didn't have the patience to trial myself through the game again to get to that point.

But all of this shouldn't scare you away from buying the game. If you see it in a pawn shop or any other store that sells retro video games you should check this out, definitely.