Toy Story Mania review

User Rating: 5 | Disney/Pixar Toy Story Mania! PS3

Toy Story Mania is a party style game originally released for the Nintendo Wii. It is designed primarily for the Playstation Move controllers, but functions perfectly fine with a regular Dualshock. Every playable area is based around a Toy Story character, although sadly Slinky Dog doesn't make an appearance. Even more sad is that the Toy Story licence is probably the best thing about this game.

A good party game needs variety to keep things entertaining for the group, Toy Story Mania is anything but varied. Every area is stylized as a carnival style shooting gallery. Different objects are worth more or less points, but it doesn't seem to matter where the targets are located as 5000 point targets are often as easy to hit as the 100 point ones. There are a few other games mixed in here and there such as ski ball, and a Fruit Ninja type game, but the main course is the shooting gallery. There is no skill needed for any of these games. You have unlimited ammo, and there is no penalty for missing shots. All you need to do is hold down the fire button for about 2 minutes and you'll rack up points. A curveball comes about halfway through the game when a robotic arm appears and starts throwing pies at the screen. You then need to use the right stick to move a stick figure out of the way of the incoming pies while still attempting to aim at the targets in the background. This adds a patting your head and rubbing your stomach type of multitasking to the proceedings which helps to relieve the otherwise dull shooting.

That's really all there is to say about Toy Story Mania. It can be difficult to judge a party game like a more traditional game, as they are trying to do different things. There's no story to be told, no individual challenges to overcome. That said, as a party game Toy Story Mania leaves a lot to be desired. The games are not nearly varied enough and are far too easy to hold anyone's attention at a gathering. Unless you or a young child you know is a huge fan of the Toy Story series (and I mean huge), there are much better options when looking for a game for you and a group of friends to enjoy.