Review: Toy Story 3 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)

Toy Story 3 is a fun game for youngsters who want to play around in this colourful world. The variety of activities ensures there is something new to see in every level, and the missions offer plenty of simple fun for players eager to spend a few more hours with Woody and Buzz.

Pixar's films touch on themes so universal and immediate that both adults and children are drawn in. The games aren't as deep, but Toy Story 3 does a fine job of providing an entertaining and varied experience for younger players eager to spend more time with their favourite characters. The vast array of different activities ensures there is always something new to conquer, and the wealth of missions keeps the good times flowing.
Toy Story 3 doesn't rigidly follow the narrative of the movie. Rather, the story portion is a virtual tour of many of the set pieces found in the upcoming movie and the overarching fiction. This approach offers a varied experience that deftly introduces new gameplay mechanics in every stage without repeating what you have already seen.
The core of Toy Story 3 is platforming, but there is a lot more to do than just run and jump. Buzz Lightyear leaps between crumbling asteroids in outer space while shooting down robots with his laser; Woody chases down a train while riding his trusty steed, Bullseye; and Jessie helps free Hamm from a garbage conveyor belt.
The eight levels of the story take only a few hours to play through, but there is a lot more content in the Toy Box mode. This is an open-world adventure that allows you to take on missions from various characters and customise a town to your liking. Missions have you doing all sorts of different activities: tossing farm animals down a well to earn a special gold star; throwing dynamite at a mountain to carve your favourite characters' faces in the rock; or chucking army men off of roofs to get them to parachute onto a target.
There are races to take part in (of both the car and the horse variety), still pictures to recreate, and mayoral elections to rig. These bite-size challenges can be completed in just a few minutes, letting you quickly move on to a new activity if you aren't having much fun capturing criminals or rescuing aliens. None of these activities are deep, but there are so many on offer that it's easy to lose hours trying to make every citizen happy.
As you complete these various goals, you earn money to unlock new buildings, citizens and tools. The buildings each have their own uses, so once you erect a jail you have a place to lock up pesky criminals, and the tailor's shop is a fine place to give your alien friend some new clothes. Customisation tools are not just limited to what you would find in the Toy Story movies, either. You can dress your people up as Wall-E or put Nemo fins on the sides of your buildings if the desert theme seems a bit dry. This impressive number of unlockable goodies gives the game a lot of replay value.
Toy Story 3 is a fun game for youngsters who want to play around in this colourful world. The variety of activities ensures there is something new to see in every level, and the missions offer plenty of simple fun for players eager to spend a few more hours with Woody and Buzz.
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