Toy Story Mania (Wii, 2009)

I saw this title while just browsing and I thought 'Ah! What a fun game for the kids!' So I purchase it immediately and awaited its arrival. My reason for purchasing was, besides my children's love of Toy Story, the novelty of playing a game in 3D. I kept it a secret until it arrived so I could surprise my children. I was so excited!

Fast forward five days and the game arrives. I unwrapped it gingerly, not really sure what to expect. The game cover didn't look all that exciting...

First, the good. The game is geared towards younger children which works great for my motley crew of four, 8 years and younger. There is not a lot of time wasted on story boards or dialogue which I'm sure many other parents of young ones can appreciate. The menus are straight forward and pretty easy to navigate for even the youngest (I'm thinking 3 and up here) of gamers. The mini-games themselves are pretty straightforward and it doesn't take a whole lot of effort for the children to win. There are some elements of difficulty, just enough to keep the game from becoming boring for the younger crowd, but not enough to fully engage an older gamer for too long.

Each mini-game has goals a player must meet in order to "win" the mini game and open the game up for play in free play mode. Some of the challenges seem a bit ambigious; I know that I played one game where I had to hit a certain number of targets to beat that challenge-- I did and still did not win the round. It can be a bit frustrating, but that's just my experience. I did like how encouraging the characters are; makes the kids feel good about themselves and that is a GREAT thing to have in a game.

The bad: 3D mode is lackluster at best. The glasses (only 2 pair) are flimsy and don't fit well. When playing the games on Wii there is a certain amount of moving a person must do to win the game. The glasses fell off constantly and the kids complained they didn't really see any good 3D effects. I must sadly agree. To get to 3D mode you have to go to a separate place in the game. It's not terribly difficult to find (especially if you read the book first) but we assumed 3D mode would be more of a star player in the game when really it seems like an underdeveloped afterthought. It left a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall I like the game for what it is. It keeps my younger two kids occupied for a few moments but without fail they are requesting to play another title or another game system (or one time take a bath??) within 10-15 minutes of starting. So, from our experience with it I rate it average; but your mileage may vary.

Our family loves playing this game. Short of being @ Disney World and playing it, this is the closest thing to actually being there. It is so much fun and there are tons more games to choose from than I thought would be included. I recommend this game to everyone :-)

I love this game. It is just like the ride in Walt Disney World. It made me feel like I was back in Disney on the Ride having fun with my family. I would recommend this for any age. Very appropriate for all ages.

Game is short. Doesn't take very long to make it to the end. I wish they had made it with more levels. Love the round that is played like "skeeball".

The game is vaguely similar to the ride in Walt Disney World.

I love this game it is just like the ride at Walt Disney World, just with out being in the car!!!! I recommend this game to everyone, exzpecially if you have been on the real thing. It is great!!!!!!!