Toy Stroy 2 : Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue

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About the Game

Toy Stroy 2 : Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue is the second ever game made for the popular Disney Pixar property Toy Story. The game was originally developed by Traveler's Tale and Tiertext Design Tietrex design studios no longer exists as in August 2021 and 34 years after their initial start closed their doorms permanently. The second studio, Taveller's Tales continued working on game franchises such as the iconic Sonic The hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot and since 2005 until now in 2022 has been working on most of the Lego Video Games such as the Harry Potter, Hobbit avengers and others. Toy story 2 Buzz Lighyear was released in 1999 for all the consoles at the time such as Ps1,Nintendo 64 and the Dreamcast. The game was published by Activision and THQ and was met with mediocre ratings. However, people around the world still consider the game as one of the best Disney classic games. Furthermore, Buzz Lighyear sales were decent for it's time and thus a year later they made a new game based on the spin off animated series Buzz Lightyear of the star command. Last but not least, Sony seems have a soft spot for the game as it has been ported to nearly all of their consoles in a very low price. To elaborate the game has been ported on the Playstation 3, on the Playstation Vita and in July 2022 for the Playstation 4 and the Playstation 5.

Story (Minor Spoilers)

The story of the game follows the plot from the Toy Story 2 movie. In other words the game follows the plot of the Andy's toys trying to manuver inside the city in order to make their way to All's Toys and rescue their Cowboy friend Woody who was stolen during a yard Sale.

The game's story is given through cutscenes taken directly from the movie Toy Story: 2 and also additional bonus cutscenes that re unlocked by clearing levels are also taken from the same movie.

Gameplay

The game is very simple as back in 1999 most games it's style were very straight tro the point. You control the hero of Buzz Lightyear, a galazy ranger toy who moves around different playable areas in order to help his friends to earn tokens in order to unlock the next area. There is a total of 15 leves which consist of 5 areas with 3 levels each. the third level of the set is always a boss encounter. Boss encounters in the game are all originally design with the exception of two heroes who were in fact included in the movie such as Emperor Zuorg ( Buzz's Archenemy) and Stinky Pete who is hanging with Woody. In a smimilar fasion all the levels try to represent locations found in the movies. To elaborate the first location is placed inside Andy's house and the second one oustide. Furthermore, the following levels have the heroes placed outside in the neighborhood of Andy's house, all the way to the toy store of Alls and the airport.

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Once the player loads in a level the player should become aware of his friends locations and what their tasks for him are. Each time Buzz helps a hero they reward him with a planet Pizza Token. All of the levels have a total of 5 tokens that re required. Collecting a few each time might allow the player to swap to a new level but eventually they ll need to return to an older level in order to collect more tokens to break the limit wall. Most levels have the following tasks:

The best way for the player to succeed their goals, they ll have to visit Rex the Dinosaur who upon interacting with buzz will reveal the tasks to Buzz. Each time he'll mention a different task for the player. For example in the second level Rex will mention how a floating Duck needs to be blown air in order to hover on top of a pool acting like a trampoline for Buzz to reach a token. Visiting Rex should be a must if the players find themselves stucked.

Buzz Controls

Buzz Lightyear is free to explore the areas to his hearts desire. All levels are made with knowledge of the player's manuver abilities and also keep themselves contain within walls that Buzz cannot go through or fences placed in the gardens. The player can move around, jump over locations or even double jump in order to reach higher areas or further areas. More over the ranger is capable of grapping on ledges or other sufaces such as broom sticks to move upwards or downwards. In order to attack enemies, buzz can shoot his trasty lazer which is capable of charging up by holding the button down instead of tapping it. Moreover, the hero can use a spin attack for close combat very similar to Crash bandicoot spin attack. Holding down the mellee button also allows the hero to spin like crazy with the punishment of being temporary stunned from all the spin. On top of that the hero can access first person view in order for the player to aim towards an enemy however, the buttons are reversed. In addition Buzz is capable of making a stomp attack by jumping above an enemy and rushing down. Last but not least the hero is capable of receiving powerups that can be find around. Game over can occur by receiving multiple hits. Once the healthbar reaches zero, Buzz loses a life.
The new ports of the game allow the player to save the game at any time and even rewind the time in case they missed any random jump or died in a close encounter. Unfortunately the new ports did not fix the camera and thus the players will have to turn Buzz to the location they want to move towards.

Final Thoughts

Overall Toy Story 2 Buzz Lightyear is an old classic that made it's way to the new Consoles. The game is an emulated port and not an Hd Remaster/Remake. As someone who had the priviledge to experience all the versions (Ps1,Ps Vita,Ps5) i can say that the game is still very enjoyable. It's not long as it can be completed within 2 - 3 hours but it doesnt overstay it's welcome. The new port is also not expensive and its free for anyone who has the uopdated version of the Ps plus subscription. Toy Story is an IP who didn't receive alot of games after 2003, with the exception of the licensed Toy Story 3 game for the Psp/ps3 and this makes this game slightly more unique.

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