Top 5 Toy Story Games, Ranked

As we all know, licensed games have often been unmitigated disasters. Historically, they've sold on the strength of the property, with no need for actual quality gameplay. Some licenses, however, have fared better than others in this regard. Big names like The Simpsons have had iconic hits like The Simpsons Hit & Run, and the beloved Toy Story movies have also brought the world some video games worthy of the name.

The upcoming bundle package Toy Story: Retro Roundup! is set to include almost a dozen games from the Toy Story archives (and A Bug's Life). You might fondly remember them, but is it just the nostalgia or were they actually solid games? Well, these titles weren't bad at all. Let's take a look at some of the best Toy Story games ever released, most of which are slated to be included in the retro collection.

5 Toy Story Mania

A Serviceable Minigame Compilation

Toy Story Mania was based on the ride of the same name at certain Disney parks. It's a shooting gallery of sorts, broken up into different themed experiences like a ring toss game starring Buzz Lightyear. It's all brought into the modern era via the use of technology enabled by 3D glasses. In 2009, a video game adaptation was released for Nintendo's Wii and iOS, later coming to the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

During that era, party games like this were huge deals, particularly with the Wii introducing all ages to throwaway Wiimote-waving fun. Toy Story Mania had the big-name appeal it needed to succeed, it just needed to be a relatively substantial package with solid gameplay. I'd say, overall, it achieved what it set out to.

I own the Wii version, which I would say was the best-received (even though I did have some issues with the motion controls). In terms of modes, the game's hardly the most generous, but there is a story mode to tackle, alongside one for simple free choice of minigames. In the former, you play through each in succession, with target scores to meet. Tickets you earn here can be exchanged in the prize booth, which adds some longevity to the experience for those looking to unlock all the little extras. There's more fun to be had with the package than some minigame compliations of its time, and there's no doubt of the dedication to the source material. Presentation-wise, it's great. As long as you temper your expectations, there's some solid Toy Story fun to be had here.

4 Toy Story

Another Sega Genesis/SNES Triumph

The 1990s was a great time for licensed titles. The Sega Genesis and SNES played host to Aladdin, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King, carefully crafted and notoriously difficult platformers (the latter in particular continues to haunt me today) that present interesting takes on the original movies. A lot of the gameplay length comes down to the fact that you're likely to have to retry quite a lot, but that's largely just how things were back then.

Toy Story, like those other classics, doesn't stray too far from the plot of the source material. Fans of the original movie will know very well where the basic plot is going, but there are some tweaks and bonus stages (such as a driving section as that adorable RC car) to vary up the experience. My particular favorite is a mini Doom parody that takes place inside the arcade. A simple run, jump and swing platformer it may be for the most part, but it looks brilliant for its time, and the stages are full of personality. In Andy's home, for instance, Buzz is platforming alongside you as you travel from left to right as Woody, and his 'swimming' through the air animations and poses to the camera on big leaps still crack me up. So does the fact that, as you pass through the arcade, Woody's walking inside a soda cup, and must hide inside it as people pass by.

It's one of those games where, just as the action starts to seem a little repetitive, it introduces new concepts and mechanics to switch things up. A great little effort, particularly for the series' first big licensed outing.

3 Toy Story 3

Opening The Toy Box

2010's Toy Story 3 is another series title I own for the Wii, and it's another that has quite a bit more to offer than you may be expecting. The story opens with Woody and Bullseye's desperate chase to save a runaway train, with the evil Doctor Porkchop attempting the thwart them at every turn. As the story progresses, players take control of other Toy Story legends, including Jessie and Buzz, lending some important platforming variety with their own unique talents. Playing through scenarios devised by Bonnie is fun, and I particularly enjoyed the haunted bakery shootout against the Jack o' Lanterns, which gave me real MediEvil vibes (particularly with its cutesy-creepy music).

Nabbing those collector cards throughout offered just the right incentive to take trickier routes and explore levels more closely, and there's some quite clever use of multiple toys together to solve puzzles. It's far from the most sophisticated platformer, but nor did it need to be. It offers everything that fans of the movie could've really wanted, remixing the story somewhat (in some versions more than others) while adding an exclusive new mode in Toy Box, which is an ambitious open-world accessible whenever you like from very early in the game where you can develop a western town as its sheriff.

A lot of players, including myself, spent a lot more time here than with the main story itself. It's one of the best optional modes ever added to a game of its type, and a major reason why fans will be eager to revisit the game when Toy Story 3 Complete Edition launches.

2 Toy Story Racer

Our Tiny Friends Take to the Track

​​​​​​​Toy Story Racer is part of a long and proud tradition of mascots and pop culture characters being shoehorned into kart racers. After Super Mario Kart popularized the idea, so many have tried it. There have been some excellent alternatives, like Crash Team Racing, and others that were very solid indeed. For me, Toy Story Racer is up there with Muppet RaceMania as a classic racer that actually did justice to its famous cast. Both, sadly, are largely forgotten PS1 Kart racers.

For the PS1 edition, Traveller's Tales went all out on one crucial aspect that's often overlooked with a kart racer: A range of modes for replayability and variety. Aside from the classic Grand Prix-like mode, there are also more unique offerings like Survival (and the more intense Super Survival) and Collection, where you have to nab a certain amount of items from around the track. New characters from the series are steadily unlocked, again giving that extra incentive to continue playing, and there's quite a lot to do here overall.

Another important part of the puzzle is that the racing itself is quite satisfying. You can build a real sense of speed with certain boosts, and the silly items and unpredictable and varied course layouts keep things interesting throughout. A very solid effort, but I think there's one Toy Story game that just tops it.

1 Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue

A True Platforming Icon

Now, you don't need to be a big Toy Story fan to remember this one. If you were gaming in the late 1990s, you probably experienced this free roaming Buzz Lightyear laser-athon. I first played it via a demo disk from a print magazine (as was the style at the time), and wasn't remotely disappointed by the full version of the PS1 edition.

This was the first game that really felt like it took areas from the movie and made playgrounds out of them. Plot takes a backseat to allowing the player to explore sizable areas for collectibles, and that felt perfectly fitting here. Between coins and Pizza Planet tokens, there are reasons to check every book and cranny, and while it can be a little tricky to figure out how to access certain high-up areas in the level, important levers and puzzle solutions are sometimes marked with a big blue arrow. As someone extremely prone to getting lost in big areas, I very much appreciate that.

On one level, Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue is a silly jaunt through a take on the movie's story. On another, it's so much more than that. This isn't just a licensed cash-in. It's a game where, when you switch to first-person aiming, you can see Buzz's face reflected in his visor. This was one little detail that was considered very impressive when the original Metroid Prime did it, and to see it here of all places several years before is quite the surprise. There are some "early 3D" issues with the game and its camera, and the repetitive soundbites (Buzz's HOO every time he jumps is particularly egregious) can grate, but I really do think this is the best Toy Story video game to date. It's as good as some of the movie series' best one-liners.