Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command

There can't be that many people in the world who haven't seen and enjoyed Toy Story, can there? In fact, the movie's success was such that it was obvious there would be a whole range of varied merchandise to wade through. So, on that note, straight from his spin-off TV series, Buzz Lightyear leaps from one small screen onto an even smaller one! The only problem is you'll soon wish he hadn't bothered...

Don't Toy With Us...

Apart from this being a Buzz Lightyear license with an almost interesting game design, there's little else to recommend the title.

The game involves Buzz travelling to a selection of planets in order to catch a criminal. Each level requires you to beat the evil genius to a finish line (yes, it's like a race apparently!) and once you have crossed that line, you and your nemesis must battle to the death! Along the way, all kinds of obstacles and angry aliens try to prevent you from getting through, but by collecting coins and weapons, you can blast them out of the way.

Sadly, the game doesn't make that much sense and Buzz handles like a drunken shopping trolley. If he hits a wall or any of the obstacles, getting him to move away from them is like trying to pull him out of a bucket of glue! Buzz can only move forward, left and right, and this causes the game to get extremely frustrating as the enemies are incredibly hard to avoid and very difficult to kill! The only way to complete each level is to mindlessly run through them and hope for the best.

The graphics are ugly, and because there is so much going on at any one time on the screen, it all gets far too cluttered! There really is no challenge here, and it's a real shame to find such a great character stuck in a terrible game!

Based on the cartoon of the same name, this mildly kiddie 3D action game from Activision and Travelers Tales features Buzz in his own "real" galaxy, fighting a variety of baddies. The Buzz character model has a cartoony cel-shaded graphic style, but the rest of the game doesn't. Too bad.

Levels are set up like chases: The boss character says a couple of things in the beginning of the stage, then you chase him/her through the level, avoiding enemies, collecting money, tons of items and different space-age weapons, eventually making it to the boss battle. Then you can spend your cash on items, shields and weapons. It has a September release date.

Other than the graphics, there isn't much different between this PS Buzz and its DC cousin both from Activision. You control Buzz in his home galaxy, defending it against a variety of evil alien henchmen. The game is based on the cartoon by the same name, and has more of a kid's game feel. It features tons of space-age weapons and several vehicles to ride. It's due in the fall.