Hey Duders,

Here is a Deepish Look! My usual Deep Look videos focus in on a cool gameplay mechanic or story element from a game I have played the heck out of, in the hopes that I can share what makes that mechanic so cool. This Deepish Look is a bit less critical and a bit more review-y or Quick Look-y. I still try to give some good insight into the game I'm playing, but this video is geared a little bit towards people who may not have played the game in question. Also I aim to keep the videos under 20 minutes.

In this Deepish Look I go back to one of the very first games I've ever played to see if it stands up to modern scrutiny. It turns out it doesn't! However, Toy Story 2 does have a lot of mechanics that are emblematic of where 3D platformer design was in the late 90s. So I take a look at why the developers might have made collection the game's core mechanic and what value that holds. I also show off a few moments of isolated brilliance in the early levels that stand out in an otherwise mediocre game.

I played this game! I remember kinda liking it! Well, actually, I played the N64 version.

I really liked this game as a kid. Still have the game, case, and instructions.

I too liked this game growing up. Though if I remember correctly there were some later levels that were bullshit even back then.

I have very fond memories of this game I remember beating it at least twice.

Even when I was a kid I knew that Toy Story 2 was bullshit. So I'm going to really enjoy watching this video.

I miss these schlocky 3D platforms. I never played Toy Story 2 or wanted to, but that looks a lot better than what I would have suspected

You know I wonder what games little kids play these days. So many of these types of games used to serve as gateway games into becoming a "gamer" per say.

I suspect Kids these days mainly play mobile games as that is where all the liscensed stuff seems to have gone, which I imagine doesn't bode well for consoles down the road as their future customers are getting trained in a different ecoystem

Alright, after watching this video, I'm reminded of any given Giant Bomb East Quick Look where Vinny says "Making games is hard". And your video does a decent job of expressing appreciation for the bright spots in what is otherwise a mediocre licensed 3D platformer in an era where those were dime-a-dozen. I'm eagerly awaiting your in-depth analysis of Croc.

@arbitrarywater:Vinny's statement was basically my takeaway from replaying the early parts of Toy Story 2. There are talented and creative people on every mediocre game and their work is largely forgotten because the end product is so meh. However, there were some moments here and there that showed real ingenuity and skill so I thought I would highlight those instead of dumping on the obvious problems. People kinda already know the game isn't great, but they might not appreciate the craft that went into the mediocrity.

I've never played Croc, butI do want to get around to playing Rugrats: the Game at some point. Look forward to that.

@slag:I think kids now days are getting trained up on mobile games and minecraft which is having two effects. One, they are used to touch controls, microtransaction models, free games, and strategy games. Two, they are less put off by bad graphics than adults are. I played FFIX with my 10 year old cousin and he had no issues with the graphics at all, despite that game looking very dated by modern standards. He also had problems with the ui and objectives.

I think the bigger problem for modern games is that most AAA developers are skewing towards T and M ratings and in doing so are cutting off the young players with responsible parents. Also modern games take a lot of things as a given, like the player knowing how to control a camera or line up a jump. Those assumptions also cut down the new/young potential audience for modern AAA games.

@donutfever:I don't remember the later levels that much so you're probably right. Even the second and third levels had some annoying sections where the camera really got in the way or the edge detection was faulty.

I remember really liking this game. I also liked the side scrolling platformer Toy Story game where you play as woody. They're both pretty simple games but try to incorporate different mechanics like the level where woody is constantly running or the stealth pizza planet level. They should make another toy story game...

Toy Story 2 is a game that I have really vivid memories of. I remember watching a playthrough of it not that long ago and I could remember just about everything about the early levels. At a certain point, 8 year old me must have given up playing on account of the frustrating platforming and camera angles because I really couldn't remember the latter half of the game. There were some neat and interesting aspects about the levels (which is why I don't think it's a necessarily "bad" game) and you've done a good job of highlighting them.

I played Rugrats: Search for Reptar an awful lot as a child. I think I actually beat the game because I can remember being impressed by the ending. It still had terrible camera controls and clunky-ass movement but it managed to keep me entertained when I was young. It also managed to creep me out. No idea how it'd hold up in 2015.

This was my first PS1 game.

This game is awesome!

Awesome to the max!

@456nto: Yeah my memories get a little hazy after the first level in Al's Toy Barn. I'm pretty sure the later half of the game is more frustrating, but that's to be expected with how rudimentary the camera and aiming are.

Really enjoyed this. Not only because of the discussion on the time constraints for developers and how this can affect them and design/narrative decisions, but also the impact little design decisions (whether it be feeling of a single jump, simple little UI things/item readability, or a unique piece of level design that switches things up). It made me think of the single player to splatoon. There isn't a ton to most levels, but the way they throw in a unique little twist (like the sponges for platform) can go a long way to leaving on a positive impact on me. Thanks for the video!

@jiggajoe14: Thank you very much! I haven't played much of the single player of Splatoon, but from the little I have played its already impressive how differently Nintendo has approached a shooter campaign. They made it a puzzle game that really challenges the way you usually play shooters and they devised mechanical twists beyond stuff like "its a turret section with lots of fodder!" Some levels are much more mechanically complex than some shooter campaigns ever get. I'm really looking forward to playing more.