Toy Story 3

Disney•Pixar Toy Story 3 for PSP is a 2010 platform-adventure game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Disney Interactive Studios. Built as a separate handheld version of the film tie-in rather than a cut-down edition of the larger console release, it brings Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of Andy’s toys to PlayStation Portable in an adventure based on Pixar’s Toy Story 3. The game follows the familiar world of toys coming to life when people are absent, presenting a sequence of colourful action stages inspired by the movie while also making room for scenarios created for the game.

Story Mode is the main route through the PSP game. Players guide the toys through a series of platforming challenges that draw on the film’s events and its central setting of Sunnyside Daycare, where the toys discover that the cheerful-looking destination is not as safe as it first appears. The campaign uses a much larger number of story stages than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release, with 13 levels on PSP. That makes the portable edition a notably different adaptation, structured as a more traditional level-by-level adventure instead of around the open-ended Toy Box feature found on some other systems.

Woody, Buzz and Jessie are playable during the story, and their differing talents are part of the game’s progression. Levels combine running, jumping and environmental hazards with character-based tasks, inviting players to use the right toy for the obstacle ahead. The PSP version also gives the Little Green Aliens and Andy’s toy soldiers playable appearances in certain stages, broadening the cast beyond the three leads. Its presentation keeps the focus on the characters, locations and toy-sized sense of scale associated with the film, from imaginative play spaces to the danger surrounding Lotso and his followers.

Outside the main adventure, Toy Story 3 includes Mini-Adventures that shift the focus to the series’ play-within-a-play ideas. Buzz Lightyear Adventures sends Buzz against Emperor Zurg, while Woody’s Roundup lets Woody protect an Old West setting and ride Bullseye. These themed challenges are separate from the movie retelling and give the handheld game additional short-form platforming to work through. They also reflect the franchise’s fondness for transforming a toy collection into several kinds of fictional worlds, from space opera to television Western.

The PSP and PlayStation 2 editions were made by Asobo Studio, whereas several of the other 2010 versions were developed by Avalanche Software. This distinction is important for players seeking Toy Story 3 on PSP: this release does not include the free-roaming, customizable Toy Box mode or the multiplayer options associated with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game. Instead, it concentrates on single-player stages and character-led mini-adventures designed for portable play. For fans of the film and of licensed platform games, it offers a standalone take on Toy Story 3 rather than simply reproducing another platform’s experience.