Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 Complete Edition - Switch 2 Review

Consider this a companion piece to my previous review of Toy Story: Retro Roundup, as both games are sold in a bundle but I received individual codes for each, meaning I have to review them individually. Anyway, Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 Complete Edition, as the name suggests, is a new enhanced version of the movie tie-in game for Toy Story 3 which was released back in 2010, which I never got to play at the time but I heard nothing but praise for the game. So let's see if these nostalgic toys are worth playing with again or if they should be left in the toy box.

The Good

Toy Story 3 Complete Edition loosely follows the plot of the film of the same name, letting you play as Woody, Buzz and Jesse who all have unique abilities to help with traversal which you can either switch between on the fly or control separately in Co-op, even in levels that only feature the one character. With levels constantly switching playstyles on the fly from platforming to stealth sections to even third-person shooter gameplay and many more on top of that, Toy Story 3 Complete Edition is an absolute blast to play alone or with a friend and rarely gets dull.

But that's not what people typically talk about when discussing this game. The real showstealer here comes right at the beginning and is treated as more of a side thing you can do if you’re tired of the main gameplay, Toy Box mode. In Toy Box mode you are given a small Western style town to manage as you do quests for townsfolk, customise the look of the town and its residents, build new playsets and expand the town into one massive sandbox of activities. I got so absorbed into Toy Box mode when first trying out the game that I didn’t even realise it wasn’t the main game. I’ve heard this mode was what inspired the gameplay of Disney Infinity and if that's true, then I feel like I owe it to myself to try out Disney Infinity. What’s that? It’s no longer supported? Guess I’ll just have to stick with Toy Box mode.

Now the game isn’t called “Complete Edition” for no reason. See, the original game came out at a very weird and annoying time in gaming history, where games would have multiple pre-order bonuses and day-one DLCs that were exclusive to certain stores and consoles (I'm really glad that this trend eventually disappeared, for the most part). The original version of this game got hit pretty hard with this, with the most egregious part being that only PlayStation 3 players could buy DLC that let you play as Emperor Zurg in Toy Box mode. But now with the Toy Story 3 Complete Edition, all previous DLCs are now available for all platforms the game is available for.

TL;DR

• Story Mode is great for co-op play
• Toy Box mode steals the spotlight
• All exclusive DLC has been restored in a single package

The Bad

While I do praise the story mode for rarely having a dull moment, I will admit that some levels have some pacing issues. Some levels really outstay their welcome, while others introduce something cool and fun only to be over really quickly and never used again.

With how much hype I heard about Toy Box mode, I really wasn’t expecting it to end so quickly. While there is a lot to do in Toy Box mode, you progress through it so quickly that you’ll be begging for more. I felt like Woody watching his show for the first time in that one scene of Toy Story 2, so excited to experience more only to be told there's nothing left.

I commend the dev team for trying out so many different gameplay styles and genre switches but some really got the short end of the stick. I’m sure there's a tight schedule when developing a movie tie-in game, but some more polish was definitely needed on certain gameplay sections.

TL;DR

• Some levels feel too short, while others overstay their welcome
• Toy Box mode ends too quickly
• Genre-hopping gameplay causes some gameplay styles to feel ignored

Final Score: 7/10

I can see why people still talk about this game to this day. It may look like a simple movie tie-in but under the hood it is a game with a lot of love and care for the source material put into it. It's a real shame we don’t get stuff like this very often these days, because games like this were the backbone of the gaming industry for decades and it is sorely missed.

Thank you for checking out our Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 Complete Edition Switch 2 review, thank you to Atari (via Plan of Attack) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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