Toy Story 3: The Video Game arrived in 2010 as a tie-in to the film, developed by Avalanche Software and published by Disney Interactive Studios. It landed on PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, Mac and Xbox 360. The pitch is simple: help Buzz, Woody and the rest of the toys ensure no toy gets left behind.
Story Mode Retells What Players Already Know
The game splits into Story Mode and Toy Box Mode. Story Mode follows the film. Andy is seventeen and leaving for college, and he gives his toys to a young girl named Bonnie. Hamm, Rex and Slinky recount an earlier adventure to Bonnie’s toys, one that takes the gang to Sunnyside Daycare, a colorful play center ruled by a stuffed bear named Lotso. It looks welcoming. It is not.
Toy Box Mode is the open world, and it is where the game stops being a tie-in and starts being its own thing. The summary promises players can let their imagination run wild, and that promise is the real product here.
Lotso Carries the Sunnyside Material
Sunnyside is the best material the game has, and Lotso is the reason. A daycare run by a bear who decides which toys get played with and which get shelved is a strong idea, and the game knows it.
Story Mode still plays like a platform adventure built to hit film beats. It works. It rarely surprises.
The Toy Box Is the Real Product
Platform, adventure, action, kids, open world. Single player, multiplayer, split screen. Third person throughout. The modes list is short, but the split-screen support matters — this is a game built to be handed to a second player.
The Numbers Behind the Score
Toy Story 3: The Video Game holds a 7.2/10 critic aggregate across 6 outlets on IGDB.
- Released: 2010
- Developer: Avalanche Software
- Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, Mac, Xbox 360
- Score: 7.2/10, aggregate of 6 outlets
Story Mode Against Toy Box Mode
| Story Mode | Toy Box Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Follows the film | Open world |
| Setting | Sunnyside Daycare | Free play |
| Draw | Lotso | Imagination |
Where the Game Lands
The Toy Box is the part worth your time. Story Mode retells a story players already know, and retelling is the weakest thing a tie-in can do. The open world is the opposite — it takes the toys and hands them to the player without a script. That is the bet this game makes, and it is the right one.
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