Toy Story Mania - Review - Why Is This Almost Too Much Fun?

Toy Story Mania! has all of the attractions of the theme park! Your skill as a sharpshooter will be tested at any of the ten shooting galleries that move at a fast clip. New galleries that have been designed for the game specifically join the original classics. Much-loved characters, like Buzz and Woody, will entertain you with numerous new and witty mini-games. The Multiplayer Mode allows four players of any age to play together. The Co-op Mode also allows them to play together. Teams can form to unlock Collectibles and Easter Eggs. Covert bonus levels that are in 3D can be unlocked by the entire family, which enhances the game with incredible graphics.

Available:  Wii

Do you remember when Disney amazed us by introducing one of its most recent theme park rides? Now we are able to take our experience to the next level with Toy Story Mania! for the Nintendo Wii. Given the fact that the ride itself involves interactive shooting, this works very nicely. While you're riding down the rails of the indoor ride, you shoot darts and throw balls from a cannon that's connected to your safety bar.

Because of this, it's less difficult to play the game on the Wii since the physical ride requires that you aim and pull on a string that has a ball connected to it in order to launch your projectiles, which can make you worn out. Basically it requires less work, and you can play the game without having to wait in a long line.

The pie toss, which involves aiming the Wii remote at the screen and throwing pies at Buzz and Woody, who are each holding up a red target for you to hit. Since you aren't aiming straight at the target, similar to in the ride, this kind of gives you an accurate impression of how the controls function. Because there is a slight arc when you launch paint balls, rings or darts, it takes a couple tries to get used to it since there isn't an onscreen indicator to let you know where you're aiming.

This is played by throwing colored rings onto the heads of cute three-eyed alien squeeze toys featured in the Toy Store movies. You can also aim for different objects, and labels are on the points so you can choose to either aim for high numbers, or opt to just shoot at anything and hope that your rings end up somewhere. Similar to the ride, you can trigger special events depending on your target. In some cases, you'll trigger a rocket launch and will have to rotate your Wii Remote. In other instances, you could get more targets with a greater point value. The multiplayer game accommodates up to four people after the game is over, and it's easy to get very competitive since your score is tallied at the end.

The Skee-ball-like game which involves rolling a ball down a ramp and hoping that it reaches one of the targets on the opposite side of the screen. You can aim at cows worth 500 points, but interestingly, your lane is shared with your opponent. Although it's impossible to move over to his or her side, you can certainly use the D pad to aim your ball so that it collides with the other person's ball; this can be done intentionally or accidentally, depending on the strategy you use. To load your ball, press A, and swing the Wii remote with the same motion as tossing a ball.

If Toy Story Mania! didn't include darts, it wouldn't be part of the carnival game compilation, so it has a minigame of firing as many darts as you can in order to get the highest score. It seems like there is always some sort of Easter egg hidden in these minigames, so we attempted to fire at anything that caught our attention. It's remarkable if you don't hit anything since there are numerous darts all over the screen.

In Toy Story Mania! you and your opponents can also take turns aiming and throwing a ball towards a wooden structure erected by the small green plastic army men. You then try to knock down the colored blocks that are intricately piled above the noncolored ones, and typically the tower will fall over if a well-timed shot is delivered to the legs.

You have to wait until you find the right angle and get an opening since this structure is rotating on a platform with plastic foliages all around the perimeter. Push the A button to load a ball, and then push B in order to free the target reticle; you can then hit the button again to lock the reticle. You get five chances and swing to throw, unless you're able to hit one of the parachuting crates. After you're finished, the next player gets a turn.

Every aspect of this minigame compilation is in keeping with the spirit of the movies. The characters and their personalities all shine through the game, and even your main menu takes place in Andy's room of toys. The games are enjoyable, and the feeling of Toy Story is recreated when you play.

If you desire an entertaining, fun, action filled game,Toy Story Mania will make a wonderful addition to your collection.

I'd like to know your thoughts, so after you check it out, stop by and leave me a comment.

Enjoy!