Toy Story Remastered Collection — Full Breakdown & Transcript

[00:19] today's video, take it all in, folks. We're about to talk about one of the most impossible video games of all time. At the top of this year, I did not have At the top of this year, I did not have Toy Story 3 remastered on my radar at

[00:33] all, but here we are. It's October, everyone's talking GTA, and I can't get enough of the best tie-in game of all time. But look, Atari, Digital Eclipse, Disney, they said, "No. No, we got to give them more. It just can't be the

[00:48] best tie-in game of all time getting remastered out of complete nowhere. No, we need to give them the entire collection of Toy Story video games, and because we can." So, you've got Toy

[01:02] because we can." So, you've got Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, Toy Story Racer, and again, A Bug's Life, all put into one collection, and the cherry on top one collection, and the cherry on top being the absolutely superb Toy Story 3.

[01:14] I'm a happy man today. Let's talk about why this collection is absolutely you're not really going to like all that much, even if some of the achievement short, and why I had a couple of tech issues on Toy Story 3 remastered on PC.

[01:29] I still am so happy these games [music] have been preserved for the modern age. A few of these here have been with me since day one, man. Like, I remember some of these games being fired up as a kid, and I'm so happy to see them back.

[01:41] here and you're into nostalgic or retrospective content, you're in the right place. Please, get subscribed. All right, let's start the building blocks here. This is really important because to get to Toy Story 3, we need to cover

[01:53] [music] the history of these Toy Story video games. So, included in this collection are all the games I listed, but also on the main menu is a Toy cool because [music] you get to see everything from the 3D models of all the

[02:08] complete box copies to old instruction manuals, old concept arts, design documents used for the making of these games, but I also loved seeing the pictures of the developers who were working on these games. You'd see images

[02:22] [music] Disney video games that they were working on. You can see the same team as they were cooking away on things like A getting ready to work on another Toy Story game. It was really cool to see

[02:35] all these old pictures from this development team in Travelers Tale. See all of the 90s beige tech, all that stuff that just brings you back to a a lot of this collection did for me is I'll especially get into

[02:48] skip out on this part of the package. They really packed it in nicely, presented it nicely. When you go to the actual game list itself, though, you'll be able to activate cheat codes for any

[03:01] of these games. However, they do disable achievements. Now, speaking of achievements, that's an important part of these retro collections. I think the Toy Story 3 remastered achievement list is great. It basically copies the

[03:13] original, adds in a bunch of Toy Box mode achievements. Really good stuff there. As for retro roundup, it's all mostly based around just beating these games, and if you want to get all of them, this is going to be a little bit

[03:25] of a tough ask because it's even telling you to beat games like Toy Story on Game Boy. Hmm. So, let's talk about that a little bit. With this achievement list in mind, I think it's a bit thin, and I think games like Toy Story 2 could have

[03:39] had more achievements, more trophies attached to that game specifically because that is the larger game, and I think that next to Toy Story Racer are be here.

[03:51] warranted their own trophy list within Retro Roundup. I mean, we just got the emulated version of Toy Story 2 on PS5 with almost 40 trophies attached to it. care about trophies or achievements, this might be a nitpick, but I did think

[04:05] the Retro Roundup trophy and achievement list was a bit lacking. game, the visual settings and options here are pretty good. They have an awesome CRT TV border. They also have the option to turn the CRT filter off,

[04:20] or you can actually have a curved option to really replicate those old times. You can also change the render scale for the texture detail. And this is really interesting cuz games like Toy Story 2, you can really see the improvement when

[04:33] you're switching between one times and four times. If you ever make any mistakes in these games, you're able to rewind all this. achievements, so this is like a built-in emulation feature. Whereas, the actual

[04:46] cheat codes like invincibility, unlimited lives, that sort of stuff, skipping levels, that will disable your achievements. You can also change the screen sizing if you want. So, there's three different options. There's the

[04:58] and kind of fits exactly within the border. There is full, which basically stretches the image a little bit more vertically and I think looks the nicest respecting that 4x3 imagery while using the maximum amount of screen space

[05:11] available. And then there is full, which just stretches the image across the entire screen. And so, yeah, you do get some widened character models and I like the CRT filter, but when I was running around in Toy Story 2, I tried

[05:24] it with full as well as CRT filter off, and I quite liked how it looked. So, settings, at least Toy Story 3's achievements being pretty good, I think they did a great job overall with setting up this package. Now, let's get

[05:38] into the games. A Bug's Life is here. It's on Game Boy Color and it's on PS1. Boy Color games in this collection that I don't think you're really going to be jumping for. They're not very good. They're rough. They're old. And again,

[05:53] got to finish them to get all the achievements. So, good luck with that. But, Bug's Life is a 2D side-scrolling adventure. The real Bug's Life game that playing at a friend's house as a kid cuz

[06:07] PS1 growing up. So, I missed out on so many games in that library. But, I did a lot of fun with it in these opening levels. And yeah, this is still a great 3D platformer collect-a-thon. It's funny because you like run around and throw

[06:23] cherries at other bugs. You'll grab letters that spell out Flick's name, kind of like grabbing the skate letters in a Tony Hawk game. That's found here. There's a limited amount of seeds that you can collect per level and there's

[06:38] that you must have a certain amount of seeds to progress onward. It's not like the best timing game ever, but I got really warm memories with this one. Just when I was a kid over at my friend's house and that was pretty valuable to

[06:53] me. But, this is aged pretty well. It still feels pretty good. The uptick in helps this thing along, specifically the frame rate when it comes to feel. And should probably talk a bit about Toy Story 1. This has a lot of different

[07:08] versions in this game. So, for Toy Story 1, there's three different versions of this game that you can play. There's the Sega Genesis version, there's the SNES version which has all features from all worldwide versions because [music] there

[07:22] are different ones included here like the Japan only version, and there is the the Japan only version, and there is the Gameboy version. The Gameboy version. Um I don't think the gameplay on screen sells how bad this thing still feels.

[07:35] Like maybe five frames per second. It feels really bad to play, man. Like again, these are the types of games that I'm happy they included for preservation. It's all here, but it's not anything

[07:48] few minutes. And frankly, this one gave me a headache, so I jumped out of it pretty quickly. This actually happened as well for Toy Story Racer, just to jump ahead a little bit here and get out of order. When I was playing the Game

[08:01] was working and how the level was loading in front of me, it just was was getting a headache and I jumped out of that pretty quick as well. The Game Boy games here are not spectacular. And uh spoiler alert, I feel very strongly

[08:15] well. More on that in a little bit. So, between the SNES version and the Sega Genesis version of Toy Story 1, I'd recommend the Genesis version. It's got more audio cues. It also has better

[08:27] player guidance, better visuals in my opinion as well. Like overall, this is a much stronger version of the game. Like I was getting stuck in the SNES version, but Toy Story on Sega Genesis was just giving you little indicators in the top

[08:40] left corner of the screen. The missions were a lot clearer, even though across all three different versions here, they were all the same. So yeah, Toy Story 1's a mixed bag. After this though, we have Toy Story 2.

[08:54] This is the one you're here for, man. Toy Story 2 on PS1 and I played it Toy Story 2 on PS1 and I played it growing up on the N64 is incredible. This is a really fun 3D platformer where you play as Buzz Lightyear and you go

[09:06] through a lot of iconic locations in the Toy Story universe, and it's a really fun story mode where these levels are very much like sandboxes. You're running around Andy's house and you're completing all of these mini missions.

[09:19] And once you've completed enough, you'll move on to the next mission. And it's just a really good time discovering all of these hidden challenges throughout reminiscent of what Toy Story 3 would set up with its toy box mode. But what

[09:32] and it kind of just clicked with me cuz I played it over on the PS5 recently, but what really clicked with me when I was playing this remaster is, "Huh, there's like no load screens when you're inside the levels themselves." Like when

[09:45] you're going from the attic to the basement, it's just all there. And that was really impressive for a game of this time. But just This is a really addicting collect-a-thon with fun 3D platforming. And I think the main

[09:59] hit-shield experience here is some camera woes. It has an active mode and a passive mode. Basically, the passive mode lets you control the camera as you right and there's a little bit of a delay upon input, whereas active is

[10:13] reacting to basically what's behind you. So, if it sees, "Hey, you're touching up reorient itself. But also, as it reorients itself, wherever the camera is facing is where Buzz is facing. So, there were moments I felt like passive

[10:27] moments that active worked better. I wish that they maybe spent a little more time working out some of these kinks to make this like the true, most incredible version of Toy Story 2, but it's still a really good time. I cannot say this

[10:40] about the Game Boy Color version though. This scarred me as a kid. Look, little story time with Matty. Uh there were a lot of great games I got as a kid. My parents blessed me extremely often and I'll always be grateful for that. But

[10:53] even the goats sometimes miss. Sometimes they get you a Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Sometimes they get you Toy Story 2 on Game Boy Color. I don't blame

[11:05] them. It's Toy Story 2. Matt loves Toy Story. It's They didn't make a mistake. But boy, did I firing this game up. Oh my gosh. Okay. This chip-tune soundtrack will haunt me in my sleep tonight after playing this

[11:18] game for the first time in a few years, cuz we did go back to this one when it came to our remembering the Toy Story games video. But yeah, Toy Story 2 uh huh. Look, I uh I just It's again very much

[11:31] the same issue that Toy Story 1 on Game Boy had where it just feels terrible. But like also, the pixel art is awful. Like there's moments there's full screen on Buzz's helmet. You can't even make out this is Buzz Lightyear. It's Toy

[11:45] Story in name only. I just for as great as the console version is, you can tell Game Boy version was like, "Oh yeah, right. We we got to do that, too." And I think it's a noble sacrifice. But again, not a game in this collection

[11:58] wait to play Toy Story 2 on Game Boy Color." I mean, maybe you like that. going to rain on your parade here, although I kind of already did. But for me, this game it goes up there with things like Batman Beyond: Return of the

[12:12] things like Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker where I just rather forget it. There's also Buzz Lightyear Star Command. This is available as well for the Game Boy as well as the PS1. Out of all of the Game Boy games here, I would

[12:25] say this is the best one because it's basically a top-down shooter as you're different pickups. And much like the are going to change based upon those pickups. However, I will say that the

[12:39] console version is a lot of fun. It reminds me a little bit of Crash about you moving forward. Like the second you decide to turn around and go backwards, maybe pick up something you missed, the game's like, "Wait, what are

[12:52] doesn't know how to operate. But when you're just running through, shooting I wasn't really like to Buzz Lightyear Star Command. I didn't watch it as a kid, either. But this game, dude, I think it's a really good time and it

[13:05] looks good, too. It kind of respects the source material with its art style. And overall, very vibrant, very colorful game. Looks great on an OLED monitor. But one game that is so good in this collection and just has no right being

[13:18] as peak as it is, Toy Story Racer. Now, the Game Boy Color version issue I had with the headaches. But it's definitely thin on content compared to the PlayStation 1 version. The PS1 version of Toy Story Racer

[13:32] it feels really great to play. The tracks are very pretty. The pickups are smash mode where you got to knock each other out. There's a knockout tour mode where as you stay in first place other people behind you get knocked out. I

[13:46] really liked about Mario Kart world and I love that it was back in this old racing game. I love that there's so many different playable characters and unlocks in this game. It's a really really fun kart racing video game and

[14:00] it works with the Toy Story universe. So definitely going to want to check out when you're in retro roundup. And look, I've reviewed a lot of these remastered collections. Everything from Mega Man

[14:12] collections. Everything from Mega Man Star Force all the way to Yu-Gi-Oh! and of a mixed bag. This leans more on the positive end. The only negative things I the games were way back then. The Game Boy Color games here are not great and

[14:27] going to have to fight through some real pain here especially [music] because you activate cheat codes which in some moments you're going to really wish they let you do that. But now let's get into the piece de resistance. Toy Story 3.

[14:42] Okay. So there's two modes here that you need to know about. There is the story mode which is a story mode for a tie-in video game that is in the upper echelon of tie-in games which just is so good and has no right being this good and has

[14:55] great production value when it doesn't really need to do that either, but it opens up with a bang. Uncharted 2 walked so Toy Story 3 could run. This train segment is sick dude. It's also a really fun tutorial where you're riding in on

[15:09] Bullseye. You catch up [music] with the train, you hop on, and now you're and you're collecting all the collectibles. It's just a really fun romp. You'll be rotating between Buzz, Jessie, and Woody throughout these

[15:23] levels, each of them having their own abilities like Buzz can throw people. He's also, of course, going to turn this game into a full-on third-person shooter where he's going to light people up with his laser. Okay, awesome. Jessie, the

[15:35] audacity. She can ninja spy or like Sly Cooper. It's amazing. I love it. And then Woody can shoot out the string on his back and and lasso the things in the environment. It's such a fun time. And so, it's one of those classic 3D

[15:49] platformers in its story where every corner has some secret tucked within it. One thing I really love about this game and it embraces that toy-like nature is there are a lot of objects in the environment that have physics. And so,

[16:02] when I was in Andy's house for one of the missions in Toy Story 3, I was fact that you could push objects in the environment around and find collectibles collectible beneath Andy's bed where if I shoulder rush into the backpack right

[16:16] next to it, it actually moves it to the side and lo and behold, there we have one of the collectibles in the game. There's also moments where you play the Buzz Lightyear video game and you're just on rails shooting everything in

[16:29] front of you, blowing up asteroids, dodging asteroids coming your way. It's awesome, man. Like it's just a really fun story. But, the memory I have attached to this game, like many of you who have played this absolutely peak

[16:42] video game, is of course the Toy Box mode. I talked a lot about how Toy Story 2 has this sort of sandbox feel to it and how open it is, all these different definitely one of the touchstones for Toy Story 3's sandbox mode. For those

[16:57] messed around with Disney Infinity, Toy Story 3 was the precursor for all of random tasks you do with all these different Disney characters. It all started here, really with Toy Story 3, and it's absolutely phenomenal. Anytime

[17:13] I fire this mode up, I think about me being in high school, post Skyrim, playing this game as a meme for a let's play that you can still find on my Mr. Matty Plays channel, and as I'm playing it for the let's play as a joke, for the

[17:26] story mode, it brings you into the toy box mode. And I remember sitting there and getting so sucked into the toy box mode, thinking I was recording a let's play for the main story, only to realize like hours had gone by, and I'm just

[17:39] playing this beautiful open world Toy Story experience, and got completely hooked in. Stopped my recording, threw all the content away, and just kept going and kept going, and then picked up the story the next day. I love this

[17:53] mode. Let me break it down for you. Like this is worth the price of admission This is what you're going to be doing the most of. So, what are you doing? What you're doing here is you're playing as one of Buzz, Woody, or Jessie. You

[18:06] guessed it. You're running around Woody's Roundup, the toy box. And it's you're going to gain gold, and you're going to spend this gold on new civilians that are going to join your town, new buildings with new functions.

[18:19] Build a barn. Build a jail. Throw outlaws in the jail. You're going to complete quests for your various citizens. Hey, I want someone to paint my house with bricks. Okay, you got it. Hey, I think the trim on this building

[18:31] You're going to be doing missions left, right, and center. You're going to be calling in the green army men, throwing them to different parts of the level. There's just challenges and missions galore. You're always progressing

[18:44] challenge somewhere, somehow, getting money, spending it elsewhere. And best of all with this toy box mode is, look, Toy Story 3, huge movie, right? Very tie-in games that are attached to important movies, they monetize the hell

[18:59] out of them. So, you had Zerg on PS3 only. You had Walmart getting exclusive only. You had Walmart getting exclusive DLC. And guess what? It's all here in the complete edition. Now, we've got Zerg on Xbox and PC. How about that?

[19:13] This is a huge moment for Toy Story 3 advocates. It's all here. It's all at home, and I'm so happy about it. But, the only thing that really I think holds Toy Story 3 back, and it's a small thing. I don't think this is going to

[19:28] really throw anyone off the rails, but I do have to call it out, are some technical hiccups. There's a moment or two as I was playing the story, it was hitching a little bit. And look, Toy Story 3 is not pushing my tech

[19:41] hitching, but it was also the way the level of detail worked in the environment where I'd be very close, for example, in Andy's room, and I'd break spill out of the box. But, when I was playing, I noticed that even though I

[19:56] disappearing on the screen until I walked very close to them. And that sort of stuff is popping up throughout this remaster, and I feel like given that this is a remaster taking advantage of current technology, things like this,

[20:11] hitching, or moments where I'm like, why why are the objects that are right in front of me loading in, just shouldn't be happening. Like, I get that this is going to care. I'm still going to call this game peak. I still think you should

[20:25] buy it. But, I think when it comes to pride and effort even, this comes up a little bit short in that area. But, I'm just happy this thing is preserved. This should not stop you from checking it out, but this Toy Box mode is what

[20:37] you're going to be spending the bulk of your time doing, and it is so addicting, so compelling. This is the moment, man. I've been telling people for years now, Toy Story 3 is phenomenal, and you get to find out why. All I'll say to you is,

[20:50] minutes long, and then [music] go into this Toy Box mode. Try to make sure you those of you who haven't played, give yourself the chance to get completely wrapped up in this thing. I'm telling you, the hours will fly by. You're going

[21:04] to have a late night because of this thing. It's so much fun. If you played things like Disney Infinity, you already know that. But Toy Story 3 is phenomenal. And so overall, this is of course a really great package. Not every

[21:16] game within is fantastic. There's a tech hiccup here and there. And the achievement list for Retro Roundup isn't as ideal as I'd hoped for. But this is still a wonderful remaster package and I am so thankful it actually exists

[21:29] because now you can't tell me, "Oh Matty, Toy Story [music] 3, yeah, I don't have a 360 or an Xbox or a PS3." No more excuses. You get to play it now. Go enjoy some peak fiction. With that, ladies and gentlemen, that's all I've

[21:44] got for you today. Thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you in the next Retro Rebound. Peace out.