Bracken adds: “During the development process, one of our pillars for success was ‘truth in toys.’ This meant that when we created a toy, it had to look and work like a toy. Throughout all of the reviews and focus testing processes, we were constantly checking to make sure we honored that rule throughout the game. For example, the buildings we built were designed to look like toys. There are plastic rivets and screws, lines where the buildings could potentially fold in half when put away.”

Ride Like the Wind! Woody races through town in Toy Box mode.

Complementary Characters

You’ll want to begin your Toy Story 3: The Video Game experience with Story mode, which follows the movie’s storyline starting with its exciting Wild West opening scene that takes place in the minds of the characters. “When we decide which parts of the movie to transfer over to the game, we look first at the ideas that come from reading the script and screening the film,” Bracken explains. “We then build a feature set we believe will be a compelling gameplay experience and then place that feature set back over the top of the movie and adjust as necessary.

“One of our pillars for success was ‘truth in toys.’ This meant that when we created a toy, it had to look and work like a toy.”

- Vince Bracken, senior producer

The Enchanted Glen. Buzz crosses the rainbow bridge during a Toy Box mission.

“As an example from Toy Story 3, we felt it would be interesting to take advantage of the imagination segments in the movie and differentiate that gameplay experience from when the toys are navigating through a real world having to deal with real problems, like how does a toy even navigate a giant human world? During the train rescue, everything is built to Woody’s scale because it’s an imaginative level. But while the toys are in a real world level, the scale is set for Andy. Just making the distinction between ‘imaginary’ and ‘real world’ allowed us to create different gameplay experiences.”

As you make your way through Story mode’s eight expansive levels, you rely on Woody, Buzz, and Jessie, each with unique abilities: Woody uses his pull string to swing across open spaces, Buzz flings other characters over long distances, and Jessie can balance on small platforms. You’ll need to switch between them to complete tasks; as in the movies, the characters’ skills complement each other.

To Infinity and Beyond! Buzz: “Come in Star Command: We have a 1082 in progress. Investigating.”

“The importance of friendship and family is one of the themes we took from the movie,” Bracken notes. “I’d like to think we captured that through the gameplay itself. We made Toy Story 3: The Video Game an inviting experience that is accessible to both kids playing it and parents who want to share some game time with their kids.”

“The importance of friendship and family is one of the themes we took from the movie.”

- Vince Bracken, senior producer

The Joy of Play

That idea carries over to Toy Box mode, an open-ended experience that Bracken says “allows more freedom for kids to do what they want, as opposed to doing what is required next. That also opens up access to parents who can jump in and out of the game as time permits.”

Riding the Rails. Woody tries to complete a mission.

As you complete missions in Toy Box mode, you unlock new toys, buildings, accessories, and other objects. You can then easily customize the game world, allowing you and your kids to, as Bracken explains, “celebrate the power of imagination and joy of play. An example of this from the game is how we magically pop in all of the mini-race car track pieces all over the main part of the town while playing with the mini-racer. We did that because that’s how some of us used to play with our toys as kids: we’d build a western town and then do jumps over it with our race cars and tracks.”

He goes on to note that his favorite toys in Toy Box mode are the bandits. “I can’t wait for them to rob my town,” he says. “Throwing them into jail is very satisfying. They’re also incredibly funny: I enjoy watching them torment townspeople by making them dance or holding them upside-down and shaking loose change from their pockets.”

Race Against Time. Woody and Jessie compete in split-screen during an early Story mode mission.

Like the movie, Toy Story 3: The Video Game speaks to the kid in all of us. In fact, as Bracken notes, all of Pixar’s films have that magical quality: “What Pixar movies do for me is provide a fun experience, but at the same time, I feel like I’m being treated like an adult and not like a kid.”

If you liked this game, check out:

• UP: The Video Game