Cheat codes
Level skip code
Enter this at the title screen, with Woody on screen and the game waiting for Start:
ABRightACADownABRightA
Read Right as R and Down as D and the code spells "abracadabra", which is a lot easier to remember than eleven buttons. Woody shouts "Hot, Hot, Hot!" when it takes. Start the game, and on any level that's giving you trouble, pause with Start and press A. The level counts as done.
How do you turn on invincibility?
The second level, Red Alert!, hides a code of its own. Collect exactly seven stars, jump into the toy chest and hold Down. After about five seconds the top-left star, your health, starts spinning, and Woody is invincible.
The detour is cheap. Red Alert! gives you 150 seconds to get every toy into place, which is more than enough. Count carefully, though: the desk you climb to free Rex has stars on it, and an eighth star ruins the setup.
Swinging on hooks
The Ego Check briefing tells you to swing on hooks with the pull-string, but not how to do it. Hold Up together with the direction you want to go, and whip again the moment you let go of one hook, aiming at the next. The timing is looser than it looks: on the run of five hooks in Ego Check, a throw that's roughly on time still catches.
Chains work differently. At the end of a chain, jump straight off without pressing any direction, then hook across, and it should catch every time. You'll need that on Sid's Workbench, on the chains hung with spike balls.
Can you keep up with Buzz in Ego Check?
No. Keeping up with him is impossible, whatever the briefing says, and the level only asks you to reach the end. Let Buzz go and take the gaps at your own pace. Wait for the shark to jump before you cross to the bookshelf, then time the jump onto the ball so the shark can't reach you.
Beating the bosses
Nightmare Buzz
Whipping nonstop is the fastest way to lose this fight. Whip the orbs away without touching them, since they hurt too, and when Buzz yells "Take That", press Down: ducking is all it takes to dodge the laser. He takes damage only when he isn't flashing, which means a short window right after the laser, as he starts to teleport. His life is four cowboy hats, one per hit. If he moves in close, whip him anyway. It does no damage, but it pushes him back a little.
Buzz Battle
The second boss is a big jump in difficulty, and the whip does nothing to Buzz himself. Use it on the tire instead: knock the tire into the air so it comes down around him. Four tires win the fight.
His pattern never changes. He lowers his head and charges from one side of the screen, then from the other, and a well-timed jump clears him both times. Then he stops, shouts "To infinity, and beyond!" and spins through the air after Woody, following him everywhere. Keep moving and run underneath him. The tire can't catch him mid-spin, so be patient. Every tire you land sets off the same spin, only now stars fall out of him. Grab the ones in your path and leave the rest, or you'll end up starting the fight over.
How do you stop the claw from taking Buzz?
The Claw! is the hardest level in Toy Story. Sid works the claw from outside, and you're at the bottom of the machine with Buzz and the aliens. Five coins sit at the top of the screen, and each one is a grab you have to break. Hold out until Sid has spent all five.
When the claw closes on Buzz, whip the aliens up into it, the same move as the tire against Buzz. Do it right away, because the claw drags him to the right, and if he leaves the right edge of the screen, you lose a life. Each alien that hits the claw also knocks Tin Stars loose.
The claw moves in a fixed order. The first two times it sweeps the floor, the third time it rises to the top and bobs up and down, and on the fourth and fifth it grabs Buzz as soon as it can. Between grabs it comes down at Woody, and the cable that runs through the machine hurts too. Playing online here, you can press Save as the level starts and Load each time Buzz is carried off, instead of paying a life for every mistake. If the claw still wins, the Level Skip code works here like anywhere else.
Where are the aliens in Really Inside the Claw Machine?
There's no whip and no jumping in the maze, and nothing in it can hurt Woody. Up and Down walk forward and back, Left and Right turn. The clock is the only thing that can beat you, and the level turns easy once you know where the aliens are. The quicker you finish, the more Tin Stars you get at the end. Collect enough of them and the game throws in Shooting Stars, a bonus round worth up to three extra hit points. This route starts with Woody facing the pit:
- Turn left, go down the corridor and take the first right. The first alien is there.
- Go back down that same right and through the X door for the second.
- Turn left and follow the corridor to its end, take the right and go through the door into a big room. Go straight, then right along the wall. The third alien sits in a small alcove.
- Return to the big room the same way, but at the corner turn left through the X door. That's the fourth. Keep going forward through the corridor into another big room. The first turn on the right is a second pit, where you can drop this alien off.
- Turn around from the pit and go straight across for the fifth.
- Turn around again and go up and to the right for the sixth.
- Follow the right wall around into another corridor. The last two aliens sit in their own corners.
Sid's room
Sid's Workbench
Use the anvil to launch Woody up to the first checkpoint. The extra life just past it isn't worth the trip, because you'd lose a life getting it.
Twice on this level Woody stops, flops over, and Sid fries his head with the magnifying glass. From then on he runs forward on his own, fast, and only a bowl of cereal puts the fire out. Spike balls stand in the way, and the trick is to tap Left and Right quickly so Woody stays put until you're ready to run past the next one. The second run is the longer one, with at least ten spike balls and some fireballs between Woody and the cereal. Mind the last spike before the end of the level too.
Battle of the Mutant Toys
This is where the hook throw really gets tested. You climb two series of hooks, swinging back and forth across them all the way to the top. The first set is staggered, the second winds up in a spiral.
At the end of the level, three hook jumps to the right land you next to Buzz. Walk up to him and Woody grabs on, and from then on B is Buzz's karate chop. The mutant toys show up, with Baby Face creeping up from behind. Ignore the one on your left, keep moving right and chop the two on the right until the level ends.
The RC levels and the finale
RC gets three levels of its own, and the two seen from above are hard mostly because of the steering. In A Buzz Clip and Light My Fire you steer with Left and Right, hold A or C to accelerate and brake with B. The battery drains the whole time, and touching a wall at any speed sends RC into a spin that wastes charge. Tap the accelerator in short bursts.
A Buzz Clip
You have to ram Buzz ten times, and every hit knocks a battery out of him. Pick up each one, because they're the only way to recharge RC on this level. Most of the time a single tap to point RC the right way is all the speed you need.
Day-Toy-Na
This one is easy by comparison. RC races down an empty road back to Andy's house, with A or C to accelerate and Left and Right to steer. Stay off the grass, which slows you down, and ease off the accelerator into each corner. Half to two-thirds of the power cells are enough to keep RC moving, though each one is also worth two stars at the end. If the battery does run dry, you lose a life and start the level over.
Light My Fire
The overhead view is back for the last real test before the finale. The battery runs out very quickly, so take every power cell you find. Turning back for a missed one is tricky. Follow the stars, because they lead the right way, and if you lose them, head up, since the exit is at the top. Coast as much as you can. Everything you bump sends RC spinning.
Rocket Man
RC drives for about a second before Buzz's rocket fires and the two of you take off. From there you move up and down past cars, trees and traffic lights, and flying wherever the stars are is the easiest line. Then the moving van appears. Climb all the way to the top of it, and once you're past it and Buzz starts yelling, dive to the bottom right corner of the screen, out of reach of the tires. Getting squashed costs a life on the spot. When the van starts to fall back, Buzz yells again and Andy's mom's blue car comes into view. Fly over its roof and coast, and Woody and Buzz drop in on their own.