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It isn’t uncommon to see a book, movie or toy line adapted into a game, but Toy Story Mania! breaks new ground by adapting a theme park ride. While not a new concept, Toy Story Mania! does something other games haven’t done by bringing the ride experience home.
For those unfamiliar with the ride, Toy Story Mania! is a combination dark ride/ shooting gallery where riders travel through various Toy Story-themed locations and blast targets with a light gun (think Laser Tag on wheels). At the end of the ride scores are tallied up and the winner gets the chance to gloat over the other riders. Toy Story Mania! uses the same concept and combines it with carnival-style mini-games.
The game will include a number of new mini-games, as well as eight games based on the attraction. During my hands-on time at Disney’s booth, I got the chance to challenge a Disney rep to a battery of games and it put a big smile on my face (and wore me out).
After a short warm-up session where I tossed pies at Woody and Buzz, I jumped into a classic ring toss game, but with a Toy Story Mania! twist. The basic mechanics involved tossing rings on little green men and rockets, but as I racked up points, the gallery came to life. Rockets took off, flying saucers appeared… I even got the chance to smack Emperor Zurg with a few rings. However, getting this to happen required all sorts of hand twists and other Wii-mote motions. Spinning the Wii-mote caused flying planets to spin, opening new areas and point-grabbing opportunities. Needless to say, there’s a lot more than pointing and shooting going on during games.
The second game was slightly tamer and featured the green army men. Each player is given five balls to toss at a block structure. The goal is to knock the colored blocks down, which is harder than it sounds. The structure spins and the ball’s speed is based on the speed of the Wii-mote’s forward motion. The same concept carries over into a skee-ball game where both players attempt to amass a higher pile of gold than the other. Similar to the ring toss, there’s a lot more going on than a simple carnival game; point values and target holes change spots and miners pop up and try to steal your gold.
Although most of the games are competitive, there are times where co-op play is handy. In the shooting gallery, players compete for points, but big point opportunities require players to work together. For example, opening the bank safe nets a player huge points, but to get it to appear, both players need to hold off a group of bank robbers. It’s fast and a bit strategic.
Though not on display on the show floor, Toy Story Mania! includes 3D glasses to bring the experience even closer to the ride. Several actors from the movies (including Tim Allen and Joan Cusack) will also reprise their roles to lend vocal support to players.
Look for Toy Story Mania! this Fall. |
