The release of Toy Story: Retro Roundup! + Toy Story 3 Complete Edition seems like a particularly big deal on Xbox compared to something like PC, as it’s bringing multiple games to the platform for the very first time.
Retro Roundup includes loads of games that have never appeared on Xbox before – Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Toy Story Racer, not to mention all the included Game Boy titles as well.
Meanwhile, it’s being bundled with a new version of Toy Story 3, which was released on Xbox 360 but has since been delisted on the Xbox Store. You can buy TS3 separately outside of Retro Roundup if you want to, but the pricing difference means most people will buy the bundle ($39.99) versus just one of them on their own ($24.99 – $29.99).
So, we thought we’d take a look at them both! Pure Xbox Editor Fraser Gilbert has been checking out Toy Story: Retro Roundup! for review, while Pure Xbox Staff Writer Craig Reid has been playing Toy Story 3 Complete Edition. We’ll bring our thoughts together in the conclusion, but we’ll also break them into individual parts down below.
Toy Story: Retro Roundup! – Fraser Gilbert
To a degree, Toy Story: Retro Roundup would have been worth it even if they’d just slapped all the games into a basic emulator – after all, there’s no other way of playing them on Xbox. However, I feel that Digital Eclipse has done an excellent job at bundling everything together into a package that celebrates the history of these titles.
You get multiple versions of the same game in some cases (for different platforms), the ability to listen to soundtracks for each of them, various filter options and even the ability to render certain titles at higher resolutions. There’s also detailed artwork, posters, 3D recreations of the original box art, photos of developers working on the games behind the scenes, and a series of newly-produced videos highlighting how the games came to life.
My favourite feature is something called “Practice Mode”, which allows you to watch a video walkthrough of someone completing your chosen game, but with the ability to press “Y” at any point to jump into the video and start playing the game yourself. I can’t figure out how this works — it’s a seamless and instant transition — but it’s extremely helpful considering some of these games can be surprisingly challenging.
Ultimately, I think Toy Story: Retro Roundup as a package is really well designed, and while I would have loved even more behind-the-scenes content and perhaps the PC and Dreamcast ports of certain titles, that’s probably asking for a bit too much. It’s still fantastic even without those bonus features.
The only real consideration in my view is whether these games are worth playing anymore, and everyone’s mileage will vary in that regard. I think they all feel dated at this point to be honest, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get any enjoyment out of them, and some people consider the likes of Toy Story 1, 2 and A Bug’s Life to be nostalgic masterpieces that they’ll never tire of. They each have their charm without a doubt, even including the Game Boy games which are quite different from the console versions in some cases, but you’ll need to be willing to put up with awkward cameras, challenging difficulties and various other game dev quirks from the 90s and early 2000s.
Toy Story 3 Complete Edition – Craig Reid
Early in the year, I decided to take a trip down memory lane by installing what I believe to be the best movie tie-in game out there, Toy Story 3: The Video Game, on my Xbox Series X via backwards compatibility.
The nostalgia kicked into gear right away as I heard Jim Hanks impersonate his brother’s iconic character, Sheriff Woody Pride. A few hours flew by and I thought the Xbox 360 version held up pretty darned well considering the game is roughly the same age as Andy in the third feature film.
I was having the rootinest tootinest time until Atari announced it would be whippin’ up a Toy Story 3 Complete Edition, and so, I immediately hit pause on the retrospection and waited patiently for this polished new version.
Digital Eclipse describes its ‘Complete Edition’ as the definitive version of Toy Story 3, and I’d be hard pressed to disagree. In fact, if you don’t already own the original Xbox 360 version, this is now also the only version of the game available on the Xbox Store.
I mention this because it’s largely the exact same game it was back yonder in 2010, but it now boasts higher resolutions, smoother frame rates, and some welcome visual enhancements to boot. See for yourself and rummage through the comparison carousel below.
Toy Story 3 Complete Edition is certainly just a polished version of the original. Pixels have been upped to present Woody, Buzz, and Jessie in all their glory on Xbox Series X, and, from what I can tell, toying through locations such as Andy’s room, Sunnyside Daycare, and Woody’s Roundup all seemed to run at 60FPS.
Lighting deserves a bit more of a spotlight though. I wouldn’t say it’s hugely noticeable, but you can tell Digital Eclipse has implemented modern lighting techniques across the game. Buzz’s arm laser reflects off surfaces, ambient world lighting is nice and clean, and shadows are a little more defined than they once were. Visually, the game looks exactly how I remember it but boosted to modern standards.
In regards to modernising the actual gameplay, I think Toy Story 3: Complete Edition remains extremely faithful to the original experience. Switching between it and the 2010 version felt like playing the same game, for better and for worse.
Take Toy Box Mode, for example, this wonderful sandbox playground featuring various locations linked together through an underground network of mineshafts and such. It was seriously impressive back in the day, however, it still appears to pause the game while loading the environments you’re heading into. It’s old-school and certainly faithful, but you’d expect a 16-year-old game to handle seamless transitions between its dated Toy Box world in 2026.
So, do I think Toy Story 3 Complete Edition was necessary? Not really. Am I glad it exists? Absolutely.
Conclusion
Toy Story: Retro Roundup! is a well-designed walk down memory lane for the Toy Story games of the ’90s and early ‘2000s, with A Bug’s Life thrown in there for good measure. These games certainly feel their age in 2026, but there’s every chance you’ll still get many hours’ worth of enjoyment out of this package, especially considering all the extra features they’ve added in.
Meanwhile, Toy Story 3 Complete Edition reminds us why we adored the Xbox 360 version. Digital Eclipse has done a great job preserving the original experience whilst bringing its performance up to modern standards. It’s not perfect, but this polished new version is exactly what it says on the tin, and nothing more. Improved resolutions, 60FPS performance, and refreshed lighting all help make this the definitive version of the best movie tie-in game on the market.
Review copy provided by Atari. How we review products. Scoring Policy.
