Video Game Review: Toy Story Mania! for Wii

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Great in groups; fun shooting galleries

Cons: Other games often boring; too much repeated dialogue

The Bottom Line:

Not the attraction

Does still provide some fun but

Mostly for the kids

Toy Story Mania! Leaps from the Theme Parks to the Wii

The first time I rode Toy Story Midway Mania! at California Adventure, I thought to myself, this would make an awesome Wii game.  Someone else must have had that same thought because a year later, I was holding Toy Story Mania! in my hot little hands.  While the game is fun, I think it is aimed a bit more at kids than the adult fans of the ride.

Premise

Just like the attraction, this video game consists of a wide variety of games you might find at a boardwalk or carnival.  Well over half of them are shooting games of one kind or another.

The games are broken up into five categories based on the ride.  And each area is hosted by a different Toy Story character.  You've got an egg toss at animals who pop up or travel across the screen.  You throw darts to pop balloons.  You throw balls to break plates.  You toss rings around aliens or space ships.  Finally, you shoot suction darts at targets in a Western setting.  Playing these games is pretty simple, you point your remote at the screen and press the A button to fire.  You can fire as often as your finger will allow.

Each of the areas has multiple levels with slight variations of those five themes.  But each area also has other games to play.  Some of them are pretty clever.  At one point you are controlling a marble trying to get from one part of a maze to the other by tilting your remote.  Buzz Lightyear hosts a game where you try to get a ball through various moving hoops.  Others are rather lame.  Bo Peep puts a marble under a cup and then mixes it up with several others and we need to find it.  It's very easy to do (and always winds up in the same spot).  They tried to recreate those "How strong are you" challenges where you swing a hammer down and try to hit a bell.  Sound lame?  It is.  There are two different levels that are nothing but you swinging the remote to follow the characters on the screen.  The one with Hamm, the piggy bank, is fairly easy, but all I ever get when I try to twirl my rope like Woody is Jessie yelling at me to "Hold 'er steady!"

Game Play

The shooting gallery games include goals other than just racking up a high score.  You might be asked to shoot a certain kind of target a certain number of times or hit things in a certain order.  These added goals really do help liven up the game and make it more challenging.  This is especially true when some of the items aren't in plain sight.  Something you hit will trigger that part of the mini-game to appear, making it harder to complete your objectives.  Frankly, a couple of these levels are too hard because I still haven't figure out how to unlock everything.

Almost every level ends with a bonus stage which requires you to shake or twirl the remote for bonus points.  Those get old in a big hurry.

Story Mode

Pretty much when you first start the game, you must play Story Mode.  In this mode, you can either have randomly chosen levels or play everything from one part of the five larger themes.  To pass the level and move on the next, you must meet three of the five objectives.  If you meet all five objectives, that level is unlocked in Free Play.  There really is no "story" to it, so why this are is called Story Mode is beyond me.

Free Play

This is the way to play if you want to choose your own level.  All of the unlocked levels appear here, allowing you to select them.  You can just choose one at a time, choose to play all the games from one of the five areas, or choose to mix and match to suit your mood at the moment.

As you play here and in Story Mode, you earn tickets.  These tickets can be used to unlock levels for Free Play.  So if one has got you especially stuck, there is hope of getting to play it again.  After about 5 hours of play, I had everything unlocked in Free Play either through winning the level or by tickets.  And, yes, even after you've unlocked all the levels, you keep earning tickets.  These are used for virtual stickers and prizes that the game tracks for you.

Controls

Before every level, you are told what your objectives are and what controls you will need to use to accomplish your mission.  Frankly, the repetition is only useful for the few games where it might not be obvious.  Most of the time, you just point and shoot.  You are also reminded of the objectives.  Fortunately, you can skip that part by hitting the B button repeatedly since if you just played the level or are playing multi player, you really don't need to hear it all again.  All the games react well to the controls, so there's really no frustration getting it to do what you want it to do.

Multi Player

You can play with up to 4 people.  Most of the additional games are only one player at a time, so you take turns.  However, all the shooting galleries allow you to play two people at a time.  If you've got more than two people, you take turns.  And they mix it up some, so you never quite know who you will be playing against at that moment.

It can get a little confusing when you've got two people battling it out on screen.  Just keep shooting, and you'll figure out where you are again.

One definite advantage of multi player is the fact that anyone can achieve a goal, and it counts for everyone.  For example, if you've got three people playing and the first two hit four of the five objectives, that last person can get the final objective for a perfect record for the entire team.

3-D Play

Since the original attraction was in 3-D, I wasn't too surprised to find out they incorporated some of that into this game.  There are five 3-D levels, all shooting galleries.  These are only available in Free Play mode and can only be unlocked by using tickets you've earned elsewhere in the game.  All five of these levels are also available in 2-D mode, but the 3-D provides just a little extra fun.  You get two pairs of glasses with the game.  Since you can't play with more than two people at a time, that's more than enough.

Graphics

This isn't a game that will blow you away with the graphics.  However, it doesn't need to.  There's nothing confusing about the graphics.  And they fit with in the world of Toy Story.

Sound

Now here's a serious strike against the game.  The music and sound effects are fine.  The problem comes from the Toy Story characters themselves.  Most of them are voiced by their original voice actors or a close enough equivalent that it's hard to tell the difference.  The one exception is the Little Green Men.  I love those aliens in the movies, and they just don't sound right here.

Additionally, the characters needed to be given more to say.  They try to encourage you as you play the various games.  However, they only have five or six phrases each, so if you play for very long, it gets annoying rapidly.

Conclusion

Okay, I must admit.  I'm enough of a fan of the ride that I have played this quite a bit since I got it.  But it doesn't have quite the replay value I had hoped it would have.  And it is missing something from the attraction.  I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but it's missing that level of fun.

Frankly, part of the problem is that the game is quite obviously targeted at kids.  I can see kids who enjoy the attraction or the characters playing it by the hour.

And I think it would be a good game for groups.  In fact, I think it would spark some fun competition.

I am certainly enjoying my copy of Toy Story Mania! and am glad I got it.  But a more casual fan might want to get it for their kids or rent it before they buy it.