I'd Hate This Toy Story Game If It Weren't For A New Game Collection

Welcome back to Remastered! Many embargoes were lifted today, so read on to learn my thoughts on the month’s biggest retro-related games. In particular, I highlight how Toy Story: Retro Roundup gave me a deep appreciation for a game I would otherwise not like at all. 

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Toy Story: Retro Roundup Made Me Care About A Licensed Game That Isn't Very Good

Whenever I seek out an older game that is not widely considered an industry-defining classic, I always try to appreciate what it brought to the table, flaws and all. Take Rage, which I played for the first time earlier this year and found to be an imperfect yet fascinating snapshot of where id Software was as a studio in the early 2010s. I also love learning more about a game’s development and its innovations, as the fire in which a game was forged also tells me a lot about the finished product. 

My feelings on this were reaffirmed earlier this month when I played Toy Story: Retro Roundup. The latest release from Digital Eclipse, it’s a collection of classic Toy Story games (and one based on A Bug’s Life) released across Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, and the original PlayStation. Like the studio’s other collections, it also features development insights and documentary-style videos that break down how the games were created.

Much of the screen time in those documentary segments is dedicated to the original Toy Story for the Sega Genesis. It is a truly innovative and impressive game that set the stage for licensed games for years to come. Having simultaneously played through it, though, I cannot say I find the game particularly good or fun to play. Still, Toy Story: Retro Roundup accomplished its goal as a collection, giving me a much deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, an important retro game I might never have recommended otherwise. 

For the most part, the original Toy Story game for the Sega Genesis is a 2D platformer with pre-rendered visuals. Although I can appreciate the detailed animations and Donkey Kong Country-like pre-rendered visuals of the game, these stages all felt incredibly stiff. Woody has a large hit box near enemies and doesn’t jump quite as far or as high as it feels like he should, so you have to rely on trial and error when you make your way through a stage for the first time. 

By 1996, Sega Genesis had plenty of contemporary platformers that felt significantly better to play than this. I would replay any Sonic the Hedgehog game, Rocket Knight Adventures, or even Ristar and Vectorman over Toy Story any day.

Comparisons become even less flattering when you consider all the competition on SNES too. Plenty of retro platformers hold up far better than Toy Story, and I do consider it the weakest console game included in Retro Roundup.

Despite that, there was something alluring about playing it through in this re-release. I credit that feeling to all of the supplementary content around the game provided by Digital Eclipse. In particular, it demonstrates the technically impressive feats of the game’s levels that eschew traditional 2D platforming for racing and first-person exploration gameplay, particularly for a Sega Genesis game made on such a time crunch.

For every flaw Toy Story has, there is some wild technical innovation or impressive gaming milestone it achieves. For example, did you know it is the first movie tie-in game that released day-and-date with the movie it was based on? As someone who grew up playing a lot of licensed games based on movies I liked (looking at you, The Incredibles for the original Xbox) that was surprising to learn.

Several bite-sized documentaries within Retro Roundup show how, on a very limited seven-month development timeline, Traveler’s Tales got the most out of the Sega Genesis late in the its lifespan. That first-person level I mentioned was designed to save memory by rendering only the bottom half of the screen and then flipping the image to create the top half. I can’t unsee the visual after learning that. Seeing how Pixar hand-animated Woody before that model was downscaled to Sega Genesis, then SNES, then Game Boy was also remarkable. 

I actively sought out the parts of the game Digital Eclipse highlighted, which inspired me to play through all of Toy Story. Thankfully, like other Digital Eclipse collections, Retro Roundup offers additional emulator-level mechanics to make playing through the game a smoother experience. I could rewind at any time, or turn on helpful modifiers like infinite lives and invincibility. 

I could also watch a recorded playthrough of each level and then hop in at any time during it, which is still an impressive technical gimmick to me years after it first came out in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection. While retro purists may scoff at those features, I found them incredibly helpful. Being able to breeze through a game I would otherwise find incredibly frustrating gave me a greater level of enjoyment than if I had just tracked down an original copy for my Sega Genesis. 

Thanks to those features and the added development context this collection provides, Toy Story: Retro Roundup is definitely the best way to play Toy Story. The collection also reaffirms that Digital Eclipse’s collections feel more like a curated museum collection of games than a barebones re-release. I feel Digital Eclipse wants me to appreciate the games as I play, and it is effective. 

I now respect the original Toy Story game for setting a new standard for licensed games that released day-and-date, pulling off impressive gameplay styles not common on the Sega Genesis, and showing how much clever and talented developers can get out of an aging game platform. Before playing the collection, I'm not sure I would've given this flawed game that much credit.

Toy Story: Retro Roundup launches for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 15.

What's Old Is News

Marvel Cosmic Invasion DLC, Triple-I Initiative, and more

• Atari and Retro Games Ltd announced The 800XL, a recreation of the Atari 800XL computer that comes with 25 pre-loaded games. It’ll launch on April 23, 2027 and cost $220. 
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion: The Siege of Castle Doom launches on November 10 and will add Doctor Doom and Invisible Woman to the beat 'em up ahead of Avengers: Doomsday.
• Retro-inspired beat 'em up He-Man & The Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction finally got a release date: February 4, 2027.
• A re-release of Wing Commander 3 was teased at Portland Retro Gaming Expo, per Video Game History Foundation board member Steve Lin on Bluesky.
• The Triple-I Initiative Showcase took place last week, and the following announcements should be of interest to readers of this newsletter:
  • Dave the Diver’s final crossover DLC is coming in early 2027, and it is a collaboration with Subnautica 2.
  • Iconic indie point-and-click adventure game Mechinarium is finally getting a sequel, simply titled Mechanarium 2.
  • A public playtest for Pony Island 2 is currently taking place on Steam.
  • Astral Ascent crossed over with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, giving us a taste of what those characters would look like in a pixel art style.
  • The Core Keeper-like Isle Goblin got its first public playtest on Steam
  • Team Instant Defeat revealed Volatiles, a roguelike where you slowly build out the area you’re fighting enemies on tile by tile. 
  • ReVamp, a Castlevania-inspired tower defense game, got a March 25, 2027 release date.
  • Kingdom Two Crowns: Pharaoh Lands was announced and launches later this year.
  • Prison of Husks is an eerie Soulslike with the aesthetic of a late PS1 or early PS2-era game. It has a demo out now and launches on January 27, 2027.
  • Team17 revealed Little Prince Tyger, an action-roguelike with detailed pixel art launching in 2027.

I have been playing so many games for this newsletter the past couple of weeks, but I have not been able to write about them yet. Here are my thoughts on most of them: 

Toy Story 3: Complete Edition – A remastered version of Avalanche Software’s Toy Story 3 is coming out alongside Retro Roundup. Admittedly, this is a much more barebones and boring remaster of a licensed platformer that is polished but nothing too special. It would have been cool if Digital Eclipse shared more development details on this game, and how its Toy Box mode inspired Disney Infinity, to flesh out the collection. Regardless, it is still the best Toy Story game a parent can buy for their kid, and I appreciate that it is now more readily available. 

Pixel Washer – The PowerWash Simulator games are a bit of a phenomenon, so I am surprised it took this long for a retro-inspired imitator to show up. As Pixel Washer’s title suggests, the goal of this game is to wash away every dirty pixel in some ridiculously dirty levels. The game is fairly repetitive and basic in its current Steam Early Access state, but it is still very charming and features wonderful pixel art. Pixel Washer is definitely an indie I will be keeping an eye on as it progresses towards 1.0.

Thank You Bus Driver – Double Fine’s first truly new game post-Xbox split, Thank You Bus Driver is a throwback to the quirkier small games that made me fall in love with the studio in the first place. It is simple, yet chaotic and enthralling, to memorize the layout of its small map and micromanage my bus’ passengers while attempting to get from point A to B as quickly as possible. It only costs $5, and purchases will support Double Fine as it enters a new era, so I have no qualms recommending Thank You Bus Driver.

Star Wars Galactic Racer – I have only had a chance to play a little bit of this one on a Steam Deck, but I can confirm it is fantastic. The roguelike structure is an ingenious way to keep players engaged, it fully embraces the weird side of the Star Wars universe, and it is the closest we have gotten to a new Burnout or MotorStorm in years. Check this one out if it even remotely interests you.

That’s all for this week! Expect Remastered earlier than usual next week, as I will have a review dropping on October 20. Subscribe for free so you can read that when it goes live, and consider supporting independent games media by contributing to my Ko-fi.