Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue

Download Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue and join the beloved space ranger on a thrilling adventure! Save your friends, explore exciting locations, and overcome challenging obstacles. Are you ready for an out-of-this-world experience? Play now!
a game by Traveller's Tales, and Activision
Genre: Action
Platforms: PC, Nintendo 64Nintendo 64
Editor Rating: 7.5/10, based on 3 reviews
User Rating: 6.9/10 - 35 votes
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See also: Toy Story Games
Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue
Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue
Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue

The game of the sequel of the film, in case you were wondering, which - if you've yet to see it - is well worth a look. At least as good as the original, it's a heartwarming affair that mesmerises from the off, managing to provide top entertainment for the kids while throwing in enough cultural references to keep the adults nodding smugly (or guffawing wildly, in the case of some foreigners at a recent press screening).

As for the game, it's a competent platformer in which you assume the role of square-jawed Space Ranger, Buzz Lightyear, one of the leading characters of the films, and patron of the (technically impossible) catchphrase, "To infinity and beyond!". However, unlike the Buzz of the movies, the game character has even greater powers, notably the ability to fire his laser, perform a fancy spin, and even fly for a couple of seconds.

The story only tenuously follows that of the film, as watching a toy spaceman constantly miss a ledge by inches clearly wouldn't make for much of a movie. The action features appearances from much of the cast, including Rex the cowardly dinosaur, Hamm the piggy bank, Slinky Dog and Mr & Mrs Potato Head. New characters from the latest film also crop up, along with numerous video clips, which could prove something of a spoiler if you've not seen it. We've been waiting for a platform game to come along and reinvigorate the genre for ages and, not surprisingly, Toy Story 2 didn't exactly set our world alight.

Ultimately, the game was always going to suffer in comparison to the film, although in fairness it is definitely a cut above most merchandising tie-ins. If you buy it for a kid, don't be surprised to find yourself regularly 'helping out'.

Download Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear To The Rescue

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
Nintendo 64

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Pixar and Disney sure do know how to mate computer graphics with a good script that equals mega-dollars at the box office. Can Activision, Disney Interactive, and Traveler's Tales do the same thing with a 3D action game on the Nintendo 64?

Toy Story 2 (TS2) is an action adventure game as Mario 64. The storyline of the game loosely follows the movie of the same name. You control Buzz Lightyear in a 3D environment that consists of five zones and 15 levels that range from Andy's house to the tarmac of an airport.

Gameplay

As Buzz Lightyear you have to find or earn Pizza Planet tokens (sound like stars in Mario 64?) and the more tokens you get, the more zones that you can access. While you play through these zones and levels you will get help of varying types from Buzz's friends Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky Dog, and Hamm the piggy bank. They either give you some play help or they provide a challenge where you can earn more tokens. Each level also has a race, a puzzle, and a mini-boss to provide more ways to get these elusive Pizza Planet tokens.

Buzz pretty much has your standard moves for a game of this type (e.g. run, jump, grab n' pull up, pole climb, etc) which do take some time to master. One of the hardest things for designers to implement is the camera control for a 3D game. In TS2, I found this camera to be frustrating -- during some sequences in gameplay it worked extremely well but in others it gave me mild motion sickness. You do have the option of having a fixed camera or one that moves around, however neither was entirely successfully implemented.

One area where this game exceeds expectations is in the size of the levels -- they are huge! Not Donkey Kong 64 big, but larger than most of the platform games out there today.

Graphics & Audio

The graphics are average for a fifth generation N64 game that doesn't require the expanded memory card. If you have Mario 64 (who doesn't?) and use that as a baseline then this is slightly better in raw graphics. The audio in TS2 is okay but nothing that Randy Newman would put on his resume.

Bottom Line

If you love the movie Toy Story 2 and haven't played too many of the 3D platform games out there on the N64 then add this title to your library. But for me, this game wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Kids and adults alike enjoyed the first Toy Story movie, with its brilliantly rendered characters and lifelike animation. Now a second feature-length Toy Story flick is on the way, and so is a game by the same name.

Toy Story 2 is a third-person free-roaming platform game much in the same vein as Banjo-Kazooie. As Buzz Lightyear, you must save Woody from an overzealous toy collector. There is also the evil Zurg (Buzz Lightyear's archnemesis) to contend with on the toy-sized level, along with his band of hench-bots. Basically, you work your way through levels destroying enemy robots, collecting icons and taking on various tasks. Overall, there's around 10 movie-inspired levels, filled with this sort of gameplay. The first level, which starts inside of the house from the movie, really makes you feel like a toy roaming around an empty house. Everything is proportioned properly, and there are plenty of areas to explore--from the top floor all the way down to the basement.

Many of the characters from the original film are in the game as well. When Buzz meets up with them, they often have some sort of task for him to complete. For example, some of your toy pals will have you retrieve a lost object for them in return for a power-up, while others will challenge you to a race or some other activity. Either way, Buzz is rewarded for his hard work.

Buzz has all kinds of moves (just like he does in the movie), which are either learned by reading the info found inside little floating alphabet blocks or within a level. Once activated, these "toy accessory" moves--like double-jumping, grappling and flying-can be linked together for access to unreachable or hidden areas. Of course, Buzz has various offensive tactics to take out enemies with. These include his arm laser and torso spin.

Most of the enemies are robotic and either fly or bounce around. Players can simply shoot them while running around, or go into "sniper mode." By killing enemies, players receive collectibles--the more collectibles, the more free lives you get. There will also be five main bosses in the finished game, with Zurg being the final boss.

Snapshots and Media

PC Screenshots

Nintendo 64/N64 Screenshots

See Also

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