Toy Story (video game)

Players control Woody through several stages that encompass the entire plot of the film. Several obstacles lie between the player and the goal of each level, including an assortment of enemies. Woody is equipped with a pullstring whip, which will temporarily tie up opponents, letting Woody pass by unharmed. It cannot, however, kill enemies (with the lone exception of Nightmare Buzz, the only boss in the game to be permanently defeated through the whip). This whip can also latch onto certain hooks, letting Woody swing above perilous terrain. The game occasionally changes genres for a stage. Players control R.C. in two stages: one in which Woody knocks Buzz out a window, the other in which they both race back to the moving truck. Both play largely the same; the game takes an overhead view of the level, giving the players basic acceleration, braking and steering, and tasking players with reaching the end of the stage while not running out of batteries (which drain constantly, but can be replenished by bumping them out of Buzz in the former stage, and merely finding them on the ground in the latter). Another stage is played from a first-person perspective as Woody searches through a maze to find alien squeaky toys lost inside the claw machine and return them to the play area, where the rest of the alien toys reside, all within a time limit. The Sega Genesis version has 18 levels, The Game Boy version features only 10 levels, mostly featuring platforming levels. The Genesis and Windows versions have an additional racing level named "Day-toy-na", absent from the other versions, in which Woody rides R.C. from the moving van to Buzz. The Windows version lacks "Really Inside the Claw Machine". ==Plot==

The game closely follows the plot of Toy Story, with a few minor differences. It is the day of Andy's birthday party, and his toys are riled up about the possible newcomers and their potential replacement. In an effort to calm their nerves, Sheriff Woody sends a troop of green army men, along with a baby monitor, to report. The mission goes over smoothly; however, they receive an abrupt warning that Andy is returning to his room, sending everyone in a frenzy to return to their positions. Once things have settled down and Andy has left the room, the toys find a lone newcomer: Buzz Lightyear. They, except Woody, are impressed with him and his features, and Hamm decides that Woody and Buzz should have a race to settle their argument. Buzz wins the race, but Woody, still unfazed, challenges Buzz to fly around the room with his eyes closed, which Buzz does. Although Woody convinces himself that he is still Andy's favorite toy, he begins having nightmares about Buzz. Jealous of all the attention Buzz has been getting, and wanting to be brought by Andy to Pizza Planet, Woody attempts to use R.C. to knock Buzz behind a cupboard, but accidentally knocks him out of a window, drawing the other toys' ire at him. Woody manages to escape from the angered toys with the help of Rex, who dislikes confrontations. Woody is chosen by Andy as the toy to go to Pizza Planet, but during a stop at the gas station, Buzz hops in the van and attacks Woody. Buzz is defeated when Woody traps him in a spare tire. However, Andy and his mother leave, without noticing their absence. Woody and Buzz hitch a ride on a Pizza Planet van to return to Andy. Once there, the two toys disguise themselves as litter and sneak into Pizza Planet, avoiding contact with humans. Buzz sneaks into a claw machine, mistaking it for a rocket to return to his home planet; Woody sneaks in the coin slot and works through the hazardous innards in pursuit. Woody is greeted by the squeaky toy aliens inside, who task him with saving some of their own, lost even deeper inside the machine. Woody is successful with the task and the aliens thank him. However, Sid Phillips, Andy's toy destroying neighbor, notices Buzz in the claw machine and tries to fetch him out. Woody delays Buzz's capture by launching the Aliens at the claw, but is unable to prevent it, and instead goes along with him to Sid's house. Woody and Buzz try to escape from Sid's room, which is overrun with metal bugs and live firecrackers. Sid occasionally pops in to torture Woody by setting his head on fire, sending Woody dashing for a nearby bowl of cereal to douse it. Woody and Buzz have a run-in with Sid's collection of mutilated toys, keeping them back with Buzz's karate-chop action. Sid decides to destroy Buzz with a large rocket, and takes him away. To save him, Woody then befriends the toys, and riding on the back of Roller Bob, sneaks out into Sid's backyard, dodging various pieces of litter and Sid's dog, Scud. The toys attack Sid and save Buzz, but Andy's family moves out of their house without either toy. Woody manages to catch up to the moving truck, but Buzz falls behind. Woody finds R.C., hops on his back on the road, and drives back for Buzz. Securing him, they proceed to ride R.C. back to the truck. However, R.C. is too slow to get there, so Buzz and Woody light the rocket on Buzz's back, cutting it off once they gain enough airspeed and glide all the way back to the van of Andy's mother. The two toys have gotten over their differences over the course of this adventure, and go on to be good friends in Andy's new house. ==Development and release==

The Game Boy version was developed by Tiertex Design Studios and the Windows version was developed by the same Disney Interactive in-house team that created Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow, while the other versions were developed by Traveller's Tales. The Sega Genesis version of Toy Story was the lead version. To pass Sega's strict approval process, Burton disguised game glitches as part of the game; instead of receiving an error message, game testers would be sent to a bonus minigame, which Burton said was part of the game. While the film had vibrant, vivid colors, the Genesis had only a limited array of colors. As a partial solution, Traveller's Tales utilized a special mode that provided access to additional shades of red, green, and blue. The Windows game features instrumental versions of two Randy Newman songs from the film. In the United States, the Genesis version was released in November 1995, The port was made by Ei-How Yang, an ex-Sachen developer. ==Reception==

Reviews Toy Story was received positively on the Genesis and SNES, while reception to the PC version was mixed. The game was praised for its impressive visuals, According to Disney Interactive, the Super NES and Genesis versions were both "tremendous successes", though a Super NES chip shortage prevented them from producing as many copies of the Super NES version as they believed they could have sold. Awards Toy Story was nominated for the Video Software Dealers Association's "Video Game of the Year" for 1995, losing to Donkey Kong Country 2. In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the Mega Drive version 3rd on their "The GamesMaster Mega Drive Top 10." ==See also==