Post by: whilhorst on September 03, 2026, 11:13:00 AM
Preserved For Infinity and Beyond
I am not ashamed to admit it. If you wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me if I’d rather play Super Mario 64 or Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue I will go with the Space Ranger. Not only is it one of the most formative games of my childhood, but over time I’ve come to realize that it was perhaps ahead of its time in certain design ideas. From the absolutely top-notch soundtrack to the many creative levels and power-ups to incentivize completion. The Toy Story: Retro Round-up collection apparently also includes other games which is fine too I guess.
Joking aside, Digital Eclipse is once again bringing the goods. Not only are you getting several versions of Toy Story games such as the original SNES and Game Boy version of Toy Story, Toy Story Racers, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and even a Bug’s Life, but in their historical approach there are also a ton of bonus features included. I’m looking forward to all the interviews with the original teams at Traveler’s Tales and Disney/Pixar to see how these games were brought to life. Design documents, development photos and concept art in the highest resolution I could ask for. During Gamescom we were shown some of the new features like “Rex’s Cheat Codes” that can be enabled at any time to change the game’s behavior. Whether that is infinite lives in the pretty difficult Toy Story for Game Boy or getting power-ups earlier in Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue. It should make for an accessible collection even if you haven’t played all these titles. A music player is here too to fully appreciate the soundtrack of TS2:BLTTR (and others I suppose).
What surprised me was even in the inclusion of an upscaler that enhances the look and performance of all games. You can toggle this as much as you want, but I loved how it retained the look and feel of these games while suddenly running a lot smoother. While only the PlayStation 1 versions are included for the 3D-games, it did make me excited to finally give A Bug’s Life a shot that is included here too. Finally a rewind feature is available for all games in this collection, meaning that falling down the tree in Andy’s backyard in Toy Story 2 is no longer the bane of my existence. Look, can you tell I am excited for one particular game here.We unfortunately did not get to play around with Toy Story 3: Complete edition quite yet, but I was assured that all the ‘lost’ content of the game will be included here. I do have to say that playing as the evil emperor Zurg does sound quite enticing in the Toy Box mode.
If you have any nostalgia for these titles, or are simply looking for a fun collection of platformers from the late 90’s and 2000’s the Toy Story: Retro Round-up should be really everything you could ask for. As I left the appointment with my buddy Leon we looked at each other. We’ve seen all the movies together. Played through Toy Story 2 on a computer at his house after school. Now jaded, almost-30-year-olds I couldn’t help but realize that we both had a sparkle of joy in our eyes. October 15th cannot come soon enough.
