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The eagerly anticipated arrival of Toy Story has generated an excitement usually reserved for top flight Saturn titles. Early reports that Disney had succeeded in producing a Megadrive game to rival the look of Clockwork Knight were dismissed as hype. Rumours that animation code had been ported directly from the world's first totally computer-animated film raised expectations further. Could this thing really deliver the look promised in the press pack's screenshots? And how would it play?

Toy Story closely adheres to the latest film from Disney and Californian animation specialists Pixar - you play Woody, a toy cowboy who becomes jealous when a more sophisticated toy, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear, is given to his owner, Andy, as a birthday present. Fearful that Buzz, a creation so sophisticated he doesn't even realise he's a toy, will replace him in Andy's affections, a bitter struggle develops between the two. The game takes this conflict, and the hostile reactions of the other toys in the nursery, as its basis. Toy Story is destined to become one of Sega UK's big high-profile 16-bit titles in 1996, and has already shifted serious units in the States.

But enough hype. Time to dust off your Megadrives - (nearly) everything you've heard is true...

The game of the world's first totally computer-animated film, using code ported directly from the movie.

As Woody the cowboy doll, play out racing, platform and Doom-style scenarios from America's Christmas No. 1 film.

1. That Old Army Game
   It's Andy's birthday, and Woody the cowboy wants to check out the kid's presents. Your task - cross the nursery, crack open a bucket full of toy soldiers and make sure they 'capture' the baby monitor and take it downstairs.
2. Red Alert!
   The marines report back that Andy has received a surprise present and is about to bring it upstairs. You have to get all the toys back in their right places before Andy walks through the door. Jump up and down on the balloon pump and propel Mr Potato Head, Rex the dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank and the clockwork robot into the open toy chest. Get the remote controlled car and Rocky the strongman under the bed, and finish the level by jumping on the bed - all under a strict time limit.
3. Ego Check
   You meet Andy's new toy - Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear. The other toys are impressed with Buzz's laser beam (in fact, a blinking lightbulb) and his flying capabilities. You challenge Buzz to a flying race across the nursery - your aim: to stay in the air using your lassoo and a grappling hook, your goal: to get onto the bed at the end of the room.
4. Nightmare Buzz
   Woody is feeling intimidated by Buzz's technical superiority and the attention he's getting from the admiring toys in the nursery. During a fitful night's sleep, you dream that a giant laser-spitting Buzz is tormenting you...
5. A Buzz Clip
   You're no longer Andy's favourite toy. When Andy's mum takes him to Pizza Planet for dinner, he decides to take Buzz. Driving a remote controlled micro machine, you try to knock Buzz behind a desk so Andy won't be able to find him.
6. Revenge Of The Toys
   You succeed in knocking Buzz - but he goes flying out the window! The other toys get angry at you, and a nervous Rex decides to make a run for it. Clear his path across the nursery, watching out for vengeful toys.
7. Run Rex Run!
   Rex is grateful, so offers you a ride on his back to escape from the other toys. Look out for the toy soldiers, parachuting in to ambush you.
8. Buzz Battle
   Andy takes Woody to Pizza Planet because he can't find Buzz, but Buzz hangs on to the car bumper and confronts you when the car stops at a petrol station. Using your lasso, see if you can 'tyre' the Space Ranger out...
9. Food And Drink
   Andy and his mum have driven off without you! Together with Buzz, you hitch a lift to Pizza Planet, and attempt to make your way across the restaurant unnoticed. Watch out for falling food and rampaging children.
10. Inside The Claw Machine
    Buzz sports a claw machine, and mistakes it for a spaceship that can return him home to Sector 4. You can't face the other toys without Buzz, so you enter the machine's innards to look for him. This level has a basic structure, but some very tricky sections.
11. Really Inside The Claw Machine
    You discover some squidgy toy aliens (in reality, the claw machine's prizes) and they ask you to rescue eight of their lost friends and return them home. You roam the machine's steel 'corridors' searching for little green men. Looks like you're Doomed...
12. The Claw!
    Your reward for success is a visit to 'the claw'. Unfortunately, an evil brat called Sid is pumping quarters into the machine, trying to pick up Buzz. Try to keep Buzz out of his clutches until his money runs out.
13. Sid's Workbench
    Sid grabs Buzz, and you hang on to the Space Ranger's leg for dear life. Sid takes you both home, and attempts to torture you using a magnifying glass and some sunlight. Attempt to escape across Sid's cluttered workbench. Watch out for mutant spiders and fireworks.
14. Battle Of The Mutant Toys
    Sid is called downstairs by his mum, so you look for Buzz in amongst the brat's mutilated toys. Negotiate Sid's toys and some dangerous gaping chasms.
15. Roller Bob
    While Sid straps a rocket to Buzz's back and attempts to 'launch' him out the window, race to his rescue on 'Roller Bob' - a cobbled together skateboard/broken Action Man. Sid's fireworks and various obstacles make your task harder. Oh, and watch out for Scud, Sid's dog...
16. Day-Toy-Na
    You escape from Sid's house on the back of a truck - but Buzz is left behind. Realising you've forgotten your former enemy, you drive the remote controlled kart back to Andy's house to pick him up.
17. Light My Fire
    "Thanks for coming back, Woody," says Buzz. The two of you head back down the road, looking for the removal van that's leaving Andy's house. Dodge the cars and traffic cones.
18. Rocket Man
    The remote controlled car can't catch up with the removal van or Andy's mum's car, so Buzz uses his rocket pack. Together with your new friend, you fly between the traffic, under trees and around traffic lights, trying to catch up with Andy.

Blimey. No sooner had the Megadrive been dismissed from the gaming minds of the Saturn and Playstation owners, than this little beauty arrives to bring big cheesy grins to the fat cats at Sega. Not for a long time has any Megadrive game impressed so many people in the way that this has.

It's one of those games that leads all the people involvved in the industry who have any sense to declare that the old 16-bit scene is nowhere near dead.

The graphics are some of the best seen on our humble little machine and show just what it can handle if really pushed. But the fun doesn't stop there. This plays really well to boot, and with so many different styles of play (the Doom-type bit, Micro Machines thingy and Mario Kart section are just a couple of examples) bringing much more than the standard platformers.

Superb animation and typical Disney/Sega cheesy soundtracks all add to the feel of an excellent game. Sometimes, the action can be a little too simple in places, but that doesn't really matter. Overall, Megadrive owners can look forward to a worthwhile trip to the shops when this is released.

Bit embarrassing this one, really. How many times have we witnessed the latest development in 16-bit software, professing it stretch the Megadrive as far as it can go? How often have we categorically thought we'd finally witnessed all the Megadrive had to offer?

Rarely have we been proved so spectacularly mistaken. Film tie-in games are traditionally halfbaked excuses to trot out inferior product. Toy Story is a sophisticated and worthy complement to a groundbreaking film, and would stand alone without its lucrative licence.

The quality of this game's graphics, the variety of its game styles (whoever thought that this would set the scenario for the Megadrive's only spin on Doom?) and the care lavished on everything down to the least significant intro screen (instructions are relayed on an Etch-A-Sketch) make this an incredible achievement in nearly every department.

It seems that the future for the Megadrie is as a machine to cater for younger gamesplayers, and this title certainly fits that bill. If you don't like Disney software, don't like the Toy Story film, or didn't like the Saturn Clockwork Knight games then you ain't gonna dig this, however astonishing it may be. Everyone else is in for a treat.

I'm not going to fall into the usual trap of saying that this pushes 16-bit software as far as it can go. Suffice it to say that this is one of the most impressive Megadrive titles ever released.

Graphics 94%
P. Groundbreaking graphics elevate this beyond the highest expectations of most Megadrive owners, truly doing justice to the Toy Story film.

Animation 91%
P. Check out the waddling Hamm the pig. Woody's end of level victory dance and the evil bouncing clowns. Breathtaking throughout.

Music 88%
P. Presumably lifted from the film, this is cheeky and fun.
N. It can get annoying if you're trying to perfect one level.

Effects 90%
P. Sound effects are superb throughout, culminating with a snatch of Woody and Buzz speech on the final level.

Playability 93%
P. Unsophisticated, but highly diverse gameplay.
N. Some of the levels are very samey, and a few are just too short.

Lastability 89%
P. Eighteen levels, some quite tricky, and a secret bonus game.
N. This clearly isn't aimed at, and won't present much of a challenge to, the seasoned pro.

Overall 92%
An incredible achievement in 16-bit programming, and a near-perfect Megadrive classic.