PrinceWatercress plays Punky Skunk - Part 3 of 8

In this entry, we finish up the third world and get started on the fourth. The slot machine mini-game makes this take longer than it should.

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Tomb Wader

In this area, you'll be in a pyramid. The shifting sands act much like the water from the fountain level in the previous world, so if you're used to the water there, you'll be able to get around pretty well as you take out enemies flying around the screen on the sailboards. Also, if you explore the level, you might even find a false wall or two that will take you to pick-ups.

There is a candle holding a mini-game entrance in the second section hidden behind a false wall near the goal. Guess what? It's a slot machine mini-game. You're better off getting Punky on the fourth and faster reel first before messing with the other three; it's the only way to ensure that you get the red crystal for a health extension. Not surprisingly, I spend more time than I would like getting the red crystal here, but at least I'm able to stock up on lives. 

As always, you'll want to watch out for the enemies. The mine dropping faucets are back, as well as the mice that are disguised as synchronized swimmers that jump in and out of the sand. 

Sandtraps

You'll be able to get the skysurfer at the beginning of the level. You'll need it to make some of the jumps in this level, and the yellow platform midway through will allow you to get a 1-Up that you see early on. You'll also be able to grab a pogo to replace the skysurfer near the end, but you won't really need it.

There are enemies that throw bowling pins, but they are easy to get rid of if you attack them from a distance.

Near the end, you'll want to head left and walk off the edge to find a candle hiding the mini-game entrance. This time, it's the matching mini-game, which is easier compared to the slot machine mini-game we played in the previous level. Once you get the red crystal for the health extension, you're good to go. Amazingly, once you're done with the mini-game, you're taken back to the 1-Up that was almost midway through the level, and not back to the beginning.

Da Bomb

It's time to face Commander Chew again, and this time, you have another easy boss...if you know what to do. Move the bomb launcher with Left and Right on the D-Pad, and catch the blue bombs with the see-saw like arms while avoiding the red ones. Make sure the bombs don't explode on you. When you catch one bomb, you'll launch it when you catch another. You'll want the bombs that you launch to fly directly into Commander Chew from underneath. Once you hit Commander Chew enough times, it's time to head to the fourth island of the game.

Chewtopia

Treetop Trounce

You'll get the pogo at the beginning of the level, and you'll be needing it to explore the level.

You will sink in the leafy areas of the tree as you stand on them, so watch where you're standing. The pogo will help you save yourself from sinking easily. 

If you can get to the upper-left corner of the level, you can drop down to get a 1-Up.

The green blob enemies will slowly move towards you if you are a certain distance away from them, but they are easily defeated. You'll also have the mouse enemies running around dressed like flower pots, and they can walk off edges to get to you.

To get to the mini-game, you'll need to get the paraglider, then go back and drop down off the left edge as you jump back up and to the left where the pit is. Glide to take the air current to the right, then attack the candle to enter the mini-game and play another round of Captain Flag for a red crystal. Keep in mind that you jump higher with the paraglider equipped, so watch out for those spikes!

PrinceWatercress plays Punky Skunk - Part 2 of 8

In this video, we blast through the second world of the game with Kahuna Bay, then get started on the Forbidden Temple.

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Kahuna Bay

Fountain Follies

The swimmers jump in and out of the water, and can easily be attacked. The faucets will drop bombs, but you can actually destroy the bombs with your physical attack.

Speaking of the water, the water slowly pushes you in specific directions, and it's not hard to tell which way the streams of water will take you if you stand still long enough.

Along the way, you'll find a pogo stick in the wall. You'll need to go back to the left, go down the water running off the platform, and keep holding Right until you go through the wall. From there, you can get the pogo stick. You don't need to jump on the way to the pogo stick, but I do it anyway. Once you get the pogo stick, you can head back to the left.

The green platform with the sad face will drop down if you land on it, so get to the other side quickly!

You'll also find a candle enemy standing around doing nothing but dancing. Go up the waterfall after it to get to the ceiling, then head left and attack it to play a Captain Flag mini-game. Just like with all the mini-games from the first world, doing well enough will net you red crystals and health extensions. There is a big upside to entering the mini-games multiple times, which you can do, and that is playing them well enough every single time and getting a ton of extra lives out of it. However, there is also a downside to entering a mini-game: once it's over, you get kicked back to the beginning of the section you're in, and in some cases, back to the beginning of the level. It's not that bad here, since this level is pretty short due to still being early in the game, but it is still a pain, especially in later levels.

Rainforest Rally

It's time for another skating level, and this time, things get a little more interesting. There will be a mouse with a slingshot shooting shots that explode when they hit the ground. You won't be able to defeat him, and you won't be able to get on his track either. Thankfully, you can tell which platforms you can land on, as the platforms you can interact with are more brown and less gray. You'll also want to watch out for the guys on the bungee cords that drop down. They have a limited range, but they can still get you in mid-air if you're not careful.

Pathgrinder II

It's time to dig with the claws again. Watch out with the rocks, as they will drop down if you create a path underneath. Interestingly, you can use the rocks to get past some spike pits and collect some items, including stars.

The enemies become a little more daring at this point. You have the little black dots with eyes that bounce around where there isn't dirt, and you have the BB Brigade's tank generators that spawn infinite mice in drill tanks. If you destroy the generators with the claws, the enemies will stop showing up.

This is the first level with more than one section. If you walk into the bubble with the word "In" inside of it, you'll be teleported. Above the start of the second section is a candle leading to the cycling mini-game. As always, I complete this one for another red crystal. At least I don't get kicked back to the very beginning of the level after completing it; just the beginning of the second section.

Drill Sergeant

This is your first boss battle with Commander Chew, who will sic the Driller XL on you. Kelly will show up and tell you to attack the holes that Commander Chew's face pops out of, as the ones with the fire will explode into debris that can hurt you if you attack them. This is not a hard boss battle by any means, but you will risk hitting the flaming drills just to get to Commander Chew, and near the end, you'll have as many as five drills popping out, with only one of them being Commander Chew. Once Commander Chew falls down, however, you'll complete the second island.

Forbidden Temple

Jetstream Jinx

This is the first level where the paraglider and the jet streams that push you around everywhere take center stage. Grab the paraglider, then get ready to glide and get pushed around by the air currents. Along the way, you'll see plenty of flying enemies - some that fly in circles, others in straight lines, all of whom will slowly fly towards you - but you can always hit them from above to get rid of them and get some stars in addition to a boost forward through the level. There are also enemies that pump up balloons and fly straight towards you, but they're not much more dangerous than the other flying enemies that you'll see here. Thankfully, you don't have to look for a bonus area here, so just focus on heading towards the goal.

PrinceWatercress plays Punky Skunk - Part 1 of 8

It's a shame that the advertising made this game look extreme and edgy when it wasn't and that the game magazines tore this game to shreds when it came out for being as tame as Tomba. Even though it doesn't bring much new to the table, it's still a solid game.

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If you leave the title screen running long enough, you'll see a cutscene of Badler, the leader of the BB Brigade, send his troops after Punky. Why is he doing this? Because Badler is destroying the chain of island where Punky Skunk and his friends, Kelly and Nash, live in an attempt to take them all over. It's up to Punky Skunk to stop Badler.

From here, Nash introduces the first of several inventions that you'll be able to use throughout the adventure: the paraglider, which allows Punky to glide by pressing X in mid-air when equipped. Meanwhile, Kelly will get info on the members of the BB Brigade. After this, the game starts.

Woodlands

Drop Zone

Left and Right allow you to move, Down ducks, Up lets you look up, X jumps and Square attacks. (This is assuming you are using the default controls.)

At the top of the screen, you'll have your current amount of lives and health, your current form, and the amount of starts you have. Collecting 100 stars nets you a 1-Up. Small stars are worth one, while big ones are worth five. Beating up enemies will not only net you small stars, but also the occasional health refill that replenishes one of your hit points. The "1-Up" symbol is an extra life.

The enemies here will just slowly move towards you; hit them with your skunk spray by pressing Square. Use your jump to hop over the bottomless pits at the start of the level. Enemies do re-spawn, but thankfully, they'll usually drop health or stars just about every time you defeat one.

Once you collect the paraglider, you'll be able to get the ability to glide by pressing X in mid-air. You'll also be able to use the glide ability to be pushed around by air currents, and thankfully, you can see which direction the currents will push you in by watching them. While the paraglider is equipped, you can switch between the paraglider and your regular, non-ability gameplay with the Circle button. Also, while you have the paraglider equipped, you won't be able to attack with Square, but the game does give you the ability to jump on enemies to defeat them, which is something you can't do as regular Punky.

With the paraglider, you can easily zoom through the level and get a feel for how the paraglider works. This is the first level you'll be using it in, but it will not be the last.

The pole at the end with the BB flag is the goal. Attack the button (or jump on it, if you still have the parachute equipped) to get rid of the BB Brigade flag and clear the stage. You'll get five stars for each unit of health you have left.

Once you beat the stage, you'll enter your first mini-game, which is a clone of the Game & Watch game Flag called "Captain Flag." Use the shoulder buttons to follow the directions and raise or lower a red or white flag before Captain Flag does. If you can do it correctly enough times, you'll get a red crystal (much like a Heart Piece in the Zelda games). Collecting red  and if you're perfect, you can get that as well as a ton of extra lives. As you'll soon see, it pays to play the mini-games well.

R1: Raise Red

R2: Lower Red

L1: Raise White

L2: Lower White

You'll also get the pogo stick after playing the game. When you have it equipped, hold down X to jump higher. There is a ceiling on the jump, but the high jumps will prove useful.

Mushroom Romp

When you enter a level or world, the game will give you a chance to save to the memory card before you enter. When you select the save option, make sure you move the cursor to Yes so you can actually save your game. X lets you enter, Triangle lets you back out.

The guys in the caterpillar suits can only be hurt when their spikes are down and not sticking out.

The rainbow color orbs refill all of your health, as opposed to the green orbs that only refill one.

For this level, you'll need to jump up the mushrooms to get to the goal on the other side. This is where the pogo stick comes in. Thankfully, you don't have to press X as soon as you land upon jumping with the pogo stick equipped in order to get a higher bounce; you can just hold the button, which is great if you're not in the mood to deal with timing to get the higher jumps.

Completing the level introduces you to another mini-game: the pedal generator mini-game. Left and Right let you switch between the four bikes, while tapping Square repeatedly makes Punky pedal. You'll need to fill up all four gauges and get them in the blue zone to turn on the lights before time runs out, and if you can do that, you'll get a red crystal as well as a 1-Up the moment that all four lights are on. This mini-game isn't too hard as long as you're fast and you're paying attention to all four gauges as you're filling them up.

You'll then get the skysurfer, which acts just like a snowboard. You can still move left or right, but if you go down slopes for fast enough and long enough, Punky will glow gold, and as long as Punky is glowing gold, he will be invincible.

Cool Runnin'

Drop Zone is to the west of the cabin and Mushroom Romp is to the east, but Cool Runnin' is to the north.

The yellow platforms will ride up the track in the background when you stand on them. This will get you to higher areas.

The bowling pin enemies will throw bowling pins at you, while the flying enemies will fly around in circles while also trying to fly into you. Both can be easily taken out with the spray attack.

At the top, you'll get the skysurfer. It's not hard to glow gold and run through the enemies, but be ready to jump when you reach the big slope going downward so you don't fall into a bottomless pit. If you can get the speed and jump at the right time, you can easily jump right to the goal.

After clearing this level, you'll be introduced to the slot machine mini-game, which is the hardest of the four. Use Left and Right on the D-Pad to switch between the four buttons and press Square to stop the reels so that they land on Punky. You'll want to stop the reel when Punky is on the line in the middle. The reels get harder as you go from left to right, and I found myself starting with the right-most reel first later on to make things a little easier. You'll need to get all four reels to stop on Punky to get a red crystal for a health extension, even though this level's edition of the mini-game will give it to you at three. Again, it's all about those extra lives.

You'll then get the skates. You'll be building up speed, and you won't be able to stop on a dime unless you press Down on the D-Pad while the skates are equipped. The skates allow you to be fast, but you'll also want to be careful.

Desert Derby

As soon as you grab the skates, be ready to move, as the screen starts scrolling when you do. If you go too far to the left, you'll instantly lose a life...so watch it. This can be pretty easy to do, and if you're not ready for the scrolling as soon as you pick up the skates, you'll be whisked to the left, to your doom. 

There will be a guy on an ostrich throwing spears, and you'll want to avoid running into the spears even if they are on the ground. Aside from that, you can still jump on enemies and go for as many stars as you can.

You can run into the button at the goal with the skates equipped to trigger the goal and clear the stage.

Clearing this stage introduces you to the matching mini-game. You'll need to look at the lone monitor in the upper-right, then move the cursor with the D-Pad and press X (not Square!) when you highlight the title that is shown on the lone monitor. You only have thirty seconds, but once you figure things out, you'll be able to get in the groove and get a lot of matches before then. You'll have to do well to get the red crystal, but if you do really well, you'll get a bunch of bonus lives along with that red crystal.

When you collect four red crystals, your maximum health will increase by one hit point...so beat those mini-games!

Completing this game will net you the diggers, a set of heavy metal claws. You can use them to dig in the dirt and you can throw them at enemies with Square, but you won't be able to jump unless you take them off with Circle.

Pathgrinder

This is where you'll get used to the digging controls. Once you get the diggers, you can walk into the dirt and move in four directions through it with the D-Pad. You'll be able to attack from a distance with the 

There are waterfalls of quicksand that will cause you to sink downwards, although they don't kill you. Watch out for spikes, however, as they will hurt you if you touch them.

When you beat the level, Commander Chew and his minions will kidnap Nash as punishment for helping Punky. You'll have to go from island to island to find Nash.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 16 of 16

In this entry, we take on the final boss battle. It's a bit underwhelming, but they couldn't make something up and they had to something. All's well that ends well, I guess.

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Level 15: Final Showdown

Strangely, the loading screen says "Prospector Showdown." Interesting.

With all 50 tokens collected and all of the levels completed, it's time for the final battle. For the final boss, you'll be taking on three bosses - the prospector, the gunslinger and the blacksmith - all at the same time.

The gunslinger is the easiest to take care of. Run away from him and lock on to him from a distance, and shoot at him as you jump over the bullets he shoots. Make sure you charge your laser to do more damage, too.

Next, you'll want to take on the prospector while keeping the blacksmith away from you. Thankfully, the blacksmith moves around rather slowly. Run around him and keep pressing the spin button to damage him with the spin attack. As you do this, The Prospector will keep striking with his pickaxe, but he will keep missing.

Finally, there's the blacksmith. Run far away from the blacksmith when he strikes the ground, then round around in a big enough circle so that the energy wave doesn't hit you and you can run back to the blacksmith boss and hit him with a spin attack, then repeat the process until he goes down.

As the battle progresses, the plane - and the camera - will lean back and forth. Thankfully, it's not enough of a dealbreaker for this level to the point that it becomes harder to focus on what you need to do during the level. 

Once you defeat all three bosses, you'll save Woody and Jessie, you'll get an ending cutscene, and you'll roll credits on this game. You just beat Toy Story 2 for the PS1!

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 15 of 16

In this entry, we tear through the last regular level of the game.

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Level 14: Tarmac Trouble

This entire level takes place on the airport runway, and you'll need to explore every bit of it to find as many coins for Hamm as possible as well as to find all of the tokens.

The first thing that you want to do is scour all of the ground level. You want to shoot down all the enemies that you can find and take their coins, because you're going to need them for Hamm's token.

The level is divided by eight zones, which are all numbered. Rex will be between Zones 1 and 2 on the back of the luggage truck, ready to tell you where everything is. Zone 3 is where you'll find out about the five pieces of luggage from the Little Tyke figurine who is there, which I'll mention the locations of shortly. Hamm will be in Zone 5, and we head there for his token once we have enough coins. You'll find the green laser in Zone 8. 

There are five pieces of luggage jumping around that serve as the collectible for this level. They are located in the following areas:

1. near the wall in Zone 4
2. at the top of Zone 8
3. the top of the moving plane
4. the front of the luggage truck between Zones 1 and 2
5. at the top of the plane entrance ramp in Zone 6

Once you get them all, take them to the Little Tyke in Zone 3 for a Pizza Planet token.

There is green ooze that you want to avoid stepping in at ground level, and there are also Rocket Boots scattered about ground level, as well. If you need to, grab a pair and zoom towards where you need to go; you'll save yourself some time doing that.

At the center of the airport is the central pole. You can find Slinky there, and if you talk to him, you'll start an interesting challenge: stay on the path without jumping or walking into the green slime and get to the end all before time runs out for a Pizza Planet token. The game has decided to pull a King's Quest II for one of the tokens, and I actually like it. And yes, the challenge will suddenly end if you accidentally press the X button and jump. You want to watch where you're going, but at the same time, you don't want to take too long regaining your bearings and repositioning yourself so you don't walk into the green slime that the timer runs out before you can get to the token. It can be a little tough, but it can be done.

There is a lights puzzle at the top of Zone 1, and you can easily reach it by taking the zipline at the top of the luggage truck where Rex is. To complete the puzzle, you'll need to match the lights at the bottom with the lights at the top within three moves or less. You have a moves counter at the far right, and you have four buttons to stomp on. Each button will turn on one light but turn off another. The first turns on the red light but turns off the blue light, the second turns on yellow but turnbs off red, the third turns on green but turns off yellow, and the fourth turns on blue turns off green. If you take more than three tries, the puzzle resets with different lights turned on, but that is the only penalty. Thankfully, if the situation calls for it, you can hit the switch to turn on a light that's already on while simultaneously turning off another color, which can make things easier. Once you complete the puzzle here, the nearby helicopter will drop down, and you can get the Pizza Planet token below the rope.

There is a plane that slowly flying around the level. By climbing up the rope at the center pole near where Slinky is, you can jump onto the plane and carefully run and jump your way to the other side. Keep in mind that the plane will always be turning left as you're jumping around on it, so you'll have to plan your jumps accordingly. From here, you can wait for the planet to get to the zone where you want to go. You'll need the plane to get to the luggage at the top of the plane entrance ramp in Zone 6, the blacksmith boss at the top of Zone 7, and the luggage at the top of Zone 8.

The blacksmith boss is at the top of Zone 7. To beat the blacksmith boss, you'll need to run far away from the blacksmith when he strikes the ground, then round around in a big enough circle so that the energy wave doesn't hit you and you can run back to the blacksmith boss and hit him with a spin attack, then repeat the process until he goes down. You can do that, or you can just keep taking the hits and spin into the blacksmith boss repeatedly while grabbing the nearby battery in case you're low on health. That also works. Regardless of how you do it, beating the blacksmith boss will net you a Pizza Planet token.

And that's Tarmac Trouble finished. All we have left is the final boss battle.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 14 of 16

We do our last bit of backtracking before returning to our regularly scheduled Let's Play.

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Now that we have the Hover Boots, it's time to head back to the storeroom with all the cardboard boxes in Al's Toy Barn. We need to head back and get the five chicks. They are in the following locations:

1. at the top of the box across from the storeroom entrance
2. the first skateboard challenge (the one that involves getting on the skateboard, bouncing off a trampoline, jumping to a platform off of a toy kiosk, swinging off a horizontal pole and sliding down a zipline to the egg)
3. on the gumball machines in the corner that require bouncing off a running hay stack ride machine to bounce to
4. near the skateboard past the two sets of spinning bicycle wheels
5. near the vent leading back to the starting area, past the hen

The first one requires the Hover Boots, as you will need them to get over a box that you can't even grab with a double jump. Once you get on top of that box, you'll soon have to jump across three boxes that are moving up and down, and you can tell which ones are the moving ones due to the yellow and black caution stripes on the wall near them. From the third box, there will be a token that you can see below; jump to that token, then make your way up the boxes ahead to get the chick.

Once you get all five chicks, talk to the hen near the blue cones blocking the slime pit for a Pizza Planet token.

I also show off the honest method of getting the race token for Andy's Neighborhood. This method involves the Rocket Boots, and it's a lot faster. As long as you stay on the track while going at super speed, especially at the last corner by refraining from jumping over the grass just before the corner, you'll be credited for a lap. As long as you stay on the move, you should be able to get this Pizza Planet token easily with the Rocket Boots.

I then cap the video off by beating the Bombs Away boss, because why not?

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 13 of 16

In this entry, we get done with the Airport Infiltration level. We're close to the end of the game now, but we have some loose ends to take care of after this...

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At the start of this video, I head up the conveyor belt area. There are a lot of poles to climb and rods to swing off of, and you'll need to make use of them to get to the top. There are also platforms that act as lights that you can stand on for extra coins if you need them. Along the way, you'll find your second Little Tykes passenger.

I then head back to the plane and move up the plane wings that act like see-saws. I then have to land on a red platform (which is part of the back wing of a nearby plane), then jump towards a nearby platform to get Mr. Potato Head's mouth. From there, I head back to the suitcase stack and give the mouth to Mr. Potato Head for the Hover Boots.

With the Hover Boots, you can hold X to float higher and let go of the button to float lower. You cannot exactly fly with them, but you can float with them temporarily. The boots will allow you to get to the top of the suitcase stack, where you can face The Prospector. To beat him, you cannot shoot him; instead, you have to run around him and keep pressing the spin button to damage him with the spin attack. As you do this, The Prospector will keep striking with his pickaxe, but he will keep missing. You'll be able to get a Pizza Planet token from him in mere moments. Stomp on the nearby green suitcase afterward and take the zipline to get your third Little Tykes plane passenger.

The last two plane passengers will be in the room with the rocket you have to climb up. Finding out where you need to go is as simple as looking around, whether it be with the active camera or with the first-person view. You'll need to land on small platforms to get higher, and you'll also have to swing off the occasional rod and climb the occasional pole, too.

The turbines will blow you back if you're caught in front of any of them. You'll need to float over to the lowest one to get your fourth Little Tykes passenger, and you'll need the Hover Boots to do it.

To get up to the top of the rocket ship on the platform past the turbines, you'll need to grab the Hover Boots, float up to the nearby platform, float up towards the nearby slope at the top of the rocket, then all the way to the top, where you can get a Pizza Planet token.

At the same platform where you need to get to the top, you'll need to drop down to the platform underneath, then drop down to the platform underneath that. You'll find your fifth and final Little Tykes passenger here. You can now go to the Little Tykes pilot and pick up the fifth and final token for this place.

You're done here. Next time, before we play the final level before the final boss battle, we head back to Al's Toy Barn! Then we get the race token in Andy's Neighborhood the proper way.