Toy Story was one of the last couple of Super Nintendo games I’ve ever bought brand new at a store. Along with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, it shares the same hardware-pushing effort put by its developers when that system was just about out the door, delivering an experience that awed little kid me as much as the movie did. And if you know me, you’re aware how much of an effect Pixar’s first feature-length production had on me, so much so it shaped the path I wanted to take professionally as an adult.
Fast-forward to today, pretty much 30 years and plenty of games later, not to mention console generations, successes and failures in the job market, a tightly twisted relationship between gaming and an actual career. Time to think back about not only the aforementioned technical marvel of a game that I hold so dear in my heart, but what came after it in Digital Eclipse’s awkwardly named Disney/Pixar Toy Story: Retro Roundup!, a collection that includes all games of the franchise released up to the first PlayStation.
It includes not only the two versions of the 16-bit game for Genesis and Super Nintendo, but the surprisingly competent if limited Game Boy port, as well as its 32-bit sequel and other spin-offs based on a cartoon series, and heck, why not get A Bug’s Life in for good measure. The latter might feel like a random addition, but it does play a role in Toy Story’s path in videogames, so it makes sense, as Digital Eclipse’s editorial director Chris Kohler and CEO Mike Mika, make sure to point out in the collection’s video features.
Oh, the video content. It’s what I tend to jump into first with these Digital Eclipse retro packages, and the ones included in Retro Roundup! albeit quick to get through don’t disappoint. It’s an hour or so of interviews with some key figures within Traveller’s Tales, the development studio who headed most of the games at that time, with Jon Burton, its founder, the main figure behind the technical wizardry required to make most of them go, sharing stories of the absolute insanity that was programming a licensed game with Toy Story in such a tiny amount of time. It’s also amusing to catch up to Jim Hanks, brother of Tom, who fills in whenever the voice of Woody is needed outside of the films, games included.
It’s nothing short of a miracle how well that turned out and how well the team performed with later projects, the aforementioned influence of A Bug’s Life experimental polygonal semi open-world design that opened the way to Toy Story 2, and how it all spiraled into other projects such as Buzz Lightyear’s Starship Command and even Toy Story Racer. They’re all huge technical achievements each in their own right, so far to almost say the same about their portable attempts, even if Racer ended up being a playable movie on the Game Boy Color.
Separate from the base collection but still very much in the theme is Toy Story 3 Complete Edition, which is sold both as part of the physical edition of Toy Story: Retro Roundup and as a completely different product digitally. Released back in 2010 by Disney Interactive Studios for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and handheld devices, Toy Story 3: The Game – simply named Toy Story 3 Complete Edition in this new form – is Disney’s answer to Grand Theft Auto 4, only in kid form.
It’s a surprisingly decent if not good open-world experience for younger players to enjoy molded by the events of the movie, which is still easily the best of the bunch when it comes to themes and environments. Most of the adventure takes place in a more Western environment, where Woody, Buzz, and Jessie can interact with all the other toys as they each play different roles, giving missions and sign-posting activities for you to mess around in.
This is the most ambitious of all the games that are mentioned in the review, a culmination of both all that was created for Toy Story 2 and the huge influence that GTA had at game design that is still felt to this day. As a kids product, it’s brilliantly put together, with lots of callbacks and references to the source material, lovingly converted to game form that isn’t all too difficult for boys and girls to jump in and have some fun, while not necessarily dumbing things down, feeling like an actual videogame.
Those looking to finesse their settings in this one, though, will be disappointed. Unlike the rest of the games here, Toy Story 3 Complete Edition only gives you the choice of selecting from either 30 or 60 fps limiter. That’s it. There’s no filters, borders, or anything related to what’s in store for the older titles, sadly. On the other hand, much like its polygonal friends, it’s been scaled up to higher resolutions and performance quite nicely, so at least that’s something for those looking to relive their childhood memories from not too long ago, or to offer to the next generation of players.
Safe to say, Disney/Pixar Toy Story: Retro Roundup! is a fun dive back in time for someone like me, who grew up admiring Pixar’s efforts and getting to enjoy Traveller’s Tales interpretation of those in videogame form. It’s especially enjoyable to get to see some of the people who made those happen, even if only for a little bit. And while not nearly in-depth in bonus material as say, the Mortal Kombat thing from a few months back, this one certainly has a more consistent level of quality between games on offer. Very fun and historically important indeed.
As for Toy Story 3 Complete Edition, it was interesting to jump in and see what it’s about, and even though I was way past its intended audience even back in the day, I can see the value in having a GTA-like toned down experience for a younger audience. It shows the care and effort that the developers had in making something that fed kids’ imagination in interactive form. All in all, this is a killer pickup regardless of your age range. Yee-haw!
