Disney adds a little originality with Toy Story: Smash It
Last time I spoke with Disney's Bart Decrem, I asked him about the company's plans to put out original mobile games. Lately, they've been on a bender of rebranded iOS hits, including Temple Run Brave, Monsters Inc. Run, and Where's My Perry?, which is a branded remix of Disney's own original Where's My Water? title. Decrem told me that the team had plans for original titles, but that when they had a hit franchise, "you invest in them aggressively and you evolve them aggressively."
The team's latest iOS release, Toy Story: Smash It, is actually a pretty good compromise. Yes, the game is based on the popular Pixar series, and yes, it eagerly reuses characters, art and music from the three Toy Story movies. But unlike Disney's rebranded titles, Smash It isn't based on any game I've heard of, even if the gameplay is reminiscent of other catapult-style games like Catapult King and the old Wii title Boom Blox. As the various Toy Story characters, you hurl projectiles at other characters perched on block-based structures, trying to take as many down as possible.
In the sense that it's not based on an existing game, it's kind of original, I guess? I'd still like to see Disney mix up their gameplay even more -- the company had such a big hit with Where's My Water? because they tried something completely new, and I haven't seen Decrem and company take a risk like that since. Meanwhile, if you want to play Toy Story: Smash It for yourself, it's out on the App Store now for US$0.99.
