Wooooah. That was my reaction when I first played this game many many years ago. Obviously, it has been technically surpassed by modern technology, but the artistic direction means that this game has aged far better than most.
Playing as a rejected toy, you have to rescue all the other toys from the clutches of an evil wizard. Not exactly original, but presented charmingly enough.
The whole game is played out on a fake stage with scenery being wheeled on and off behind you, which gives the game a really unique look. Enemies burst through from behind, panels fall off, and you fight the occasional boss backstage. Treasure have always been masters of the boss battle, and this game proves no exception. A giant mechanical dog, a huge robot baby-face which keeps cracking and peeling away to reveal an older face until finally you get down to a wrinkled old man, and an awesome flying stage with a four wheeled cat. Crazy? Yes. Brilliant? Hell yes! Which brings me to one of the best features of this game. The soundtrack is totally phenomenal. It's very unique, and certainly won't be to everybody's taste, but the melodies used are brilliant, with the stand out point being the giant dog fight which takes place to...the bolero!
This game really doesn't take itself to seriously, and was overlooked by many, being released towards the end of the mega-drives lifespan didn't help that, but the fact is that even today, this game has yet to be bettered. It is the epitome of Japanese platforming.
Also, it pretty much pushes the mega-drive to the limit with the best use of parallax scrolling and sprite scaling ever seen.
This is an absolute gem of a game by the auteur's at Treasure and can be picked up very cheaply. Buy it!