Toy Story 2 (PS1) Review

Famously there’s never really been a good game based on a Pixar movie. The Monsters Inc game was generic and had nothing to do with the movie, the Finding Nemo game was a bad rip off of Ecco the Dolphin, a really bare bones Cars racing game, they haven’t been great. Back in the day though I was fortunate to have played the one good Pixar game at my cousins’ house a few times. I remember really enjoying it back then so with some extra cash on my PSN (why do you have to insert in integrals of $5? That’s so dumb) I decided to relive these memories and see how it faired in a modern setting all these years later.
Short answer is it’s a good game, very fun, well made, the level designs are great but there’s just a few flaws that remind you you’re playing an early 3D platformer on PS1. These are namely the slippery, imprecise landings of your jump and the camera. Now the jumps so a decent job of giving you the feel as to where you’ll end up but once you land it’s a bit slippery and I often fell off of high ledges and would have to climb all the way back up due to Buzz not stopping in place when I landed. Now it is notable that the game was probably designed around the D pad which makes it seem that me using the analog stick might cause some problems but actually aside from this the analog controls are great and their inclusion is much appreciated. Now the camera can get stuck on walls and often in first person mode, which is the game’s most effective means of dealing with enemies, the enemies will get to you or shoot something at you which can be frustrating at times. Other than that though, there’s not much to complain about.
So what did I like? Pretty much everything else. It’s a 3D Toy Story 2 platformer that takes you through all the major scenes in the movie and adds a ton of life to their environments. The structure of each level is similar to Super Mario 64 in the fact that you have objectives in each level. They boil down to helping Ham get 50 coins which you find by killing enemies and scattered around the level, racing someone (usually RC or Slinky), some sort of puzzle, a stage related character that you collect 5 items for, and finally, defeating the boss of each stage. It’s simple, consistent, and it works beautifully as each stage you know sort of what to expect but with new challenges. Also, Mr. Potato Head gives you a power if you find him his missing piece in certain levels which become useful to get tokens you missed in previous stages.
The best part is each environment is very well fleshed out, fun to explore, and are fitting to the movie. There’s some fogging obviously but it’s never too distracting. The music is also a cult favorite at this point and I completely agree that it’s very dynamic and the variety is staggering. The voice acting is good but can get annoying when you’re in a room with someone who need your help for too long as they yell the same lines again and again. It’s notable that in the game and cutscenes (clips from the movie they redubbed at certain points) Rex’s voice is different and Woody barely speaks. Jessie kinda sounds different too but I couldn’t be for sure if her voice was different. All the other voices are the originals though including Tim Allen as Buzz so that’s nice. The cutscenes are VHS or less quality but its passable. The graphics and sound are good but the voices can seem a tad bit crunched at points, not too bad though.
Overall, if you’re looking for a very solid 3D platformer and like Toy Story at all, this is a great game. It’s a collectathon sure but if that’s what you’re in the mood for and have since exhausted the Banjo Kazooies or Super Mario games this is a great little cheap hidden gem that’s easy to get your hands on. It’s a ton of fun, well design/ themed, has a rockin’ soundtrack, and some great levels. It’s pretty short with only about 20 or less levels but there’s hours of fun to be had. The controls take some learning in regards to interacting with your environment but extra lives are abundant and the save feature makes everything rather forgiving. Traveller’s Tales did a great job here.
8/10, find it, play it, its cheap, less than $3.