PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 10 of 16

In this entry, we take a detour back to Alleys and Gullies to collect the remaining Pizza Planet tokens.

First | Previous | Next | End

For this video, we're heading back to Alleys and Gullies. Since we have the Grappling Hook now, we can use it at the ground level to look for the five ducklings and fight the boss.

The five ducklings are located in the following areas:

1. The awning at the top of the marketplace area
2. On the water behind the barricades in the marketplace area
3. In a nook on the other side of the gully 
4. In a window to the side of one of the balconies that has three bars
5. In a gutter near the boss battle area

The last two ducklings are in areas that require the grappling hook. This part is pretty gun, as you have ziplines with electricity to avoid and a lot of ladders to climb and balconies to explore. You'll be using the first-person aiming view extensively to look and see where you need to go next. It's an arduous climb

To beat the spinning top boss at the top of the alley, stay out of the water and move away from the boss when it moves towards you. When the boss is away from you, use your lock-on to ensure you hit the boss. Also, stay away from the water; you don't want to slip and slide while you're doing this. Taking the boss down nets you a Pizza Planet token.

The mother duck will be in the center of the ground level area. Talk to her with the five ducklings to get a Pizza Planet token. With these two things out of the way, you're finally done with this level.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 9 of 16

In this level, we complete Elevator Hop before going back to make more use of the Grappling Hook.

First | Previous | Next | End

Now that we've got the elevators up and running after playing around with the control panel in the last video, we can drop down and collect our prize: a Pizza Planet token. You can now use the elevator platforms to get up and down the elevator shaft. The edges of the platforms go the rainbow route from red to purple and follow the "ROYGBIV" sequence, with red being the bottom platform and purple being the very top. When you see the black and yellow cylinders on the elevator cables, you'll know you're at the very top where the purple platform is.

By jumping between the two sets of platforms and getting to certain levels, you'll be able to get to certain parts of the level. There will be a boss battle at the top, and the start of the level will be at the bottom, but there are several parts in-between that are worth checking out.

The fourth mouse will be near the other shortcut switch that you can hit with the stomp that takes you up to the top. Also at the top is the boss. To defeat the Spider Gunro boss, you'll want to run around the room and turn around to shoot the spider. You'll want to avoid the flamethrower and the jump attack, and stay away from the webs that get shot around willy-nilly that will slow you down. You'll want to be quick with turning around and blasting the spider, because the spider is as quick as it is relentless. Thankfully, like other bosses, you don't have to worry about its health meter getting refilled if you die, so it's easy to get the Pizza Planet token for fighting this boss.

Also at that location will be the race challenge at the top. For the race challenge, you'll need to follow the token to the bottom of the shaft without falling into the pits. Thankfully, the pits are easy to identify by the yellow and black diagonal caution lines that you'll see. Just jump over the areas that have these lines and you'll get to the token with a couple of seconds to spare. Don't forget to pick the token up!

The fifth and final baby mouse will be in the elevator shaft, directly below where the control room is. You will definitely have to double jump from the elevator platforms in order to reach it.

The mother mouse is back at the control panel for the elevator, so you'll want to go back to her and get her Pizza Planet token. Also, Hamm will be in the electrical room from the beginning of the level where you had to go to get Mr. Potato Head's missing foot for the grappling hook and the rest of the level. At this point, their Pizza Planet tokens are the only ones left, and I end up grabbing both of them to complete the level.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 8 of 16

We take on our third big boss before heading up the elevator shaft as we chase down Al.

First | Previous | Next | End

Level 9: Toy Barn Encounter

Get behind the UFO to avoid the laser it shoots out, and shoot it from behind with the lock-on ability. When you do this, a normal enemy will pop up, and you'll have to shoot it down. The first three cylinders will contain one enemy, while the last three will contain two. If you haven't figured out that you can destroy the Zerg soldier with the shield with the spin attack yet, you will now. Also, make sure you're not under the boss; the boss can lower its altitude in addition to shooting at you.

Level 10: Elevator Hop

In this level, you'll be in the elevators leading up to Al's penthouse suite, and you'll be going up and down...a lot. You'll start out in the vents. One of them leads to Mr. Potato Head, and you'll need to find his ear and hand it to him to get the Grappling Hook, which we'll also need for Alleys and Gullies. Two of the vents will have fans that act as shortcuts that will take you further into the level, but you'll need to find the switches first. The one remaining vent will be the path you need to start progressing into the elevators.

The room with the electrical controls leads to Hamm as well as Mr. Potato Head's missing foot and a baby wind-up mouse. There are five of these mice, and we'll need to collect all of them in order to get the collectibles token. Stay near the wall as you jump from platform to platform here so you don't get knocked down to the bottom, and watch for the electricity that is coursing everywhere, both on the rods you can swing across with as well as the water covering the floor.

Once you get the Grappling Hook, use the lock-on ability, then lock onto the red hooks and press Square to use your grappling hooks. You can have up to ten grappling hooks. This is the only way to use the hooks, so don't worry about accidentally using a hook, as you'll still be able to defend yourself with your laser. Also, if you see a vented part of a floor, wall or ceiling, fire will come out of it, so watch where you're standing as you use the grappling hook.

The snakes will jump towards you if you get close enough. Use your lock-on to take them out more easily.

Rex will be in the entrance to the elevator shaft, which is where we will be doing a lot of the exploration for this level. He'll tell you where everything is. He's also worth mentioned because he is where you will find your second baby mouse.

If you see any fans, wait for them to stop before using the grappling hooks. This will give you more time to aim.

If you keep following the vents, you'll see the control room. You'll find the switch to stomp to give yourself a shortcut back here from the start, and you'll find the mother mouse that I mentioned earlier. There is also the third baby mouse to collect moving around on the ceiling, and while collecting it is a pain, it can be done.

Believe it or not, you can jump and double jump in the lock-on view. Remember that for later.

As for the control panel with the three buttons you need to stomp, you need to stomp the buttons so that all three of the cables are in the middle. The first one raises the red cable, but lowers the green one, the second raises green but lowers blue, and the third raises blue, but lowers red. The quickest way to do this is stomping the second switch, the first, the third and then the second again, in that order.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 7 of 16

After doing what we could and only what we could in the last two levels, it's nice to be able to do everything and move on here. What really makes this interesting is that you can speedrun through this level if you really know what you're doing.

First | Previous | Next | End

Launcher, then stay away from the boss and keep firing while still standing near the boss, and you should be able to get the Pizza Planet token for this. Also, watch out for the slime while you're in here.

Level 8: Al's Space Land

Compared to Al's Toy Barn, you can complete this level in about fifteen minutes if you know what you're doing.

The Zerg Knights with the shields can be destroyed with the spin attack. I avoid them at this point because I don't know it yet. Also, this is the main gripe I have with the spin attack: It works, and it does its job, but at the same time, it has so few uses compared to your blaster that you forget that you have it, and this leads to positions where you could be stuck when you're really not.

The UFO near the start is looking for five missing aliens. Find them, come back, and you'll get a Pizza Planet token. You'll find your first one on the mobiles hanging above where you start. You'll need to push a box to some other boxes on the floor so you can jump to them. While climbing on the mobiles, don't hold Down; instead, gently tap it to go down carefully so you don't fall off.

Another path at the start leads to a purple UFO character that will challenge you to yet another race. This time, you'll need to go down a bunch of ziplines without falling all the way down. As you go down each zipline, you'll see a small red line. These red lines are where you need to hold Up on the D-Pad and jump (or double jump) to the next zipline. If you can pull this off and get to the checkerboard platform before the purple UFO does, you'll get a Pizza Planet token. From the token, you'll want to double jump forward to get your second alien. As for the rest of this area, there's not much else aside from a few enemies.

Yet another path has you shooting down enemies while also avoiding raining tennis balls. At oine point, there will be a bunch of bars that you'll need to swing across. If you can do that and then double jump from one platform to another, you'll eventually get the Cosmic Shield. You'll need this to protect yourself from the barrage of lasers that will pelt you and slowly ebb away at your health, as you'll eventually get hit by a laser in the second half of this path no matter what. The third alien is below a zipline; you'll need to jump off early and land on some boxes to retrieve the little guy. You'll find Hamm a little further down the path, and I get his Pizza Planet token. Above Hamm is the fourth alien.

There is also the arcade. Jump on the cup to get on the stool so you can get on the other stools as well as the arcade machines for coins and health. You'll eventually push another cup to the floor. You can double jump to the ball pit and go inside for some more coins as well as the fifth and final alien.

Near the ball pit is the claw machine. Stomp the button once to get the claw moving horizontally, then stomp it again to get it moving vertically. Stomp the button a third time to drop the claw. You'll want to align the claw's shadow with the Pizza Planet token's, and if you can pull that off, the claw will pull the token out of the machine. The token will then drop to the floor where you can get it.

Rex is also in the arcade on the floor near the claw machine, but we've done everything and we're not going to need his services at this point.

There are some boxes blocking one more path, and you'll need to climb up and jump across the strings of the mobiles to get to the top of the boxes and leap over them. Behind the boxes is the boss battle for this level. To beat the evil Buzz, keep away from him and avoid both his homing missiles and his lasers by running away from the former and jumping over the lasers, and use lock-on to him him when he is lined up with you. Coming here with high health is advised, and you'll find one battery in the room where you face him which can help with that matter.

I finish the level by returning the aliens to the UFO. With that, we have this level completed in about fifteen minutes!

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 6 of 16

Al's Toy Barn is another area where you won't be able to get everything on the first go-around. There's still plenty to do, however, and once you figure it all out, the game gets a little more interesting.

First | Previous | Next | End

In the watery area known as the gulley, there are platforms moving across the water that spawn in and out every so often. The lily pads, on the other hand, are stationary, and can be used to wait for the moving platforms. If you fall down into the water, you won't be able to recover by double jumping if you land on the slope leading to the bottom. You'll need to get to the stairs and double jump up them to get back to dry land.

In the center of the gulley, you'll find Slinky. Talking to Slinky triggers the race token, where you'll need to double jump from the center platform and back to it while collecting the five bones nearby. If you fall into the water, it's a long way and a good amount of time back, so you'll want to be good on your double jumps at this point. Once you get all five bones, talk to Slinky for the token, then get out of here. You won't be able to do anything else here...yet.

Level 6: Slime Time

When you approach the garbage can, you'll face your second boss: a slime creature in a garbage can. The second boss will bounce around, and when you get close enough to him, he will throw a projectile at you. You will need to spin at the right time to bounce the projectile right back at him. When the projectile hits, keep shooting at him, then spin the next projectile back at him. You'll be alternating between spinning and shooting to get this guy to shrink and compress him into the can to do damage. Every phase will go the same way, with the only difference being that the boss gets bigger and bigger the more damage you do to him. After four phases, the boss will go down for good.

Level 7: Al's Toy Barn

Once again, you won't be able to do everything on the first shot...so do what you can.

You'll need the Rocket Boots to cross over to the shopping cart. In order to get the Rocket Boots, you'll need to find Mr. Potato Head's missing arm. You'll find Mr. Potato Head's missing arm, you'll have to get on one of the checkout counters at the start of the level. To get on the checkout counters without the Rocket Boots, you'll need to get to the trampoline, bounce onto the top of the shelf, jump onto a shopping cart, jump on top of a Buzz Lightyear box, swing on a bar to another platform, then go down the zipline and jump to the missing arm. Watch out for the slime surrounding two of the checkout counters; it will hurt you if you step in it in any way.

Once you have the Rocket Boots, you can not only get that one token in Andy's Neighborhood the honest way (which I'll show off near the end of the Let's Play), you can now make use of the switch you can stomp on to activate the hay bale ride at the beginning. You can also barrel down the ramps on the checkout counters, stomp on the spring in the shopping cart at the end, move past the egg to swing across from bars, bounce off the hay bale ride and find a chick.

In the hallway past the trampoline, you'll find a rooster wearing overalls and holding a pitchfork. Talk to him to trigger a race challenge. You'll need to stomp the skateboard, then get to the egg that I mentioned earlier to get another chick. If you talk to the rooster again, you'll be able to do this challenge again for a Pizza Planet token. This time around, however, you only have 23 seconds instead of the 45 you had for the chick. If you're smooth and you know what you're doing, however, you can get this token easily.

Rex will be in the storage room if you're looking for him for all the hints.

There is ooze on the floor in the office room. Stay away from it and jump up the chair to the table, where you can find Disk Launcher ammo. Use the Disk Launcher to destroy the red padlocks on the file cabinets, but be careful when you hit them. The file cabinets that you free will move in and out, and you'll need to use them as platforms to get to get to the exploration token at the other end.

Hamm will be on a table in the office. Talk to him with 50 coins for his Pizza Planet token.

Left of the trampoline is a bit of an obstacle course. Avoid the bouncing basketballs, jump through (or around) the bike tires and avoid the spokes, climb up the jump rope, jump around some more bicycle wheels, jump to the skateboard and grab your third chick, stomp the skateboard, push the box across the path and avoid the hula hoops. The hen will be here; talk to her when you have all five missing chicks, which you won't be able to do until you get the Hover Boots.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 5 of 16

We finally face two of the greatest enemies in the years that I've done these Let's Play videos: a table and a balloon.

First | Previous | Next | End

As Rex will have mentioned if you've talked to him, you'll need the Disk Launcher to face this boss. Once you have it, however, the jackhammer boss isn't that hard: just stay near the boss as it follows, but do not be close enough for the boss to attack you. From there, keep firing off Disk Launcher shots at regular intervals. The boss will be following you the whole time, but you don't even need to turn around to fight back, due to how the Disk Launcher works. Beating the boss will net you a Pizza Planet token.

The only token that is left is the one that involves Slinky the Dog in the sand pit at the bottom of the building. Talk to him, and you'll have 50 seconds - more than enough time - to collect five wrenches. Thankfully, all of the wrenches will be in the sand pit area; all you have to do is hop around and scan the perimeter of this area to find all five wrenches. Once you find them all, talk to Slinky again for a Pizza Planet token.

If you choose to exit a level after collecting a Pizza Planet token, you'll see Buzz fly away.

Level 5: Alleys and Gullies

Unlike the previous levels (unless you count Andy's Neighborhood because you don't know how to get the race token without the boots), you won't be able to get everything here in one trip. This is because you won't be able to get the grappling hook, which is available in this level, until later in the game. 

The boxes with the planes can be shot down, but it will definitely take a bit of effort. The green laser will definitely help in that regard. Also, only the first two planes to come out of the box will drop coins when defeated. The planes will fly around and can be easier to destroy with the lock-on ability, but if you get close enough to them, they will notice you and start shooting.

The purple hovercraft shoots bombs out like a mortar, and it takes a bit of a beating before it gets destroyed. Use charged or green lasers to take it out.

The marketplace is in one direction at the start, while the gully is in the other. I head to the marketplace for his video. Wait for the electricity to move down the wire before going down the ziplines so you don't get shocked. You'll find Hamm here (and he gets his coins in this video), and you'll find one of the ducklings in the pool behind the road blocks. There is also a tunnel under the water that leads to an extra life.

You'll need to push a box to get some disk launcher ammo, then you'll need to jump to some watermelons, take out the Zerg robot with the shield with a disk launcher shot while using the two see-saw platforms as ramps, then stomp on the scale to get to a switch to turn on the fan. You'll then need to move another box to another table near where the balloons are, then grab onto the balloons and jump from the first one to the second one to get a Pizza Planet token. This one is really hard to do just because of how unintentionally hard it is to grab onto the table near where the balloons are, and because the game apparently doesn't want Buzz to grab the table, this becomes a task unto itself. Also, you just want to take a single jump towards the balloon once it pops out of the oxygen tank, then ride it to the nearby garbage can to get the exploration token. 

While you're at the fan switch, you can jump to the umbrellas and get a good number of tokens. This will also allow you to double jump to the awnings near the marketplace entrace, where you can find your second duckling.

The mama ducking is at the central drain. You won't be able to find all of her ducklings until you get the grappling hook.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 4 of 16

In this video, we start tackling a more interesting level and exploring it for Pizza Planet tokens: the Construction Yard.

First | Previous | Next | End

Level 4: Construction Yard

You'll be able to get your hands on the green laser immediately at the start. Use this to take care of any enemies, including the new flying ones that will drop bombs if you get close enough to them.

Exploring the ground level is essential at the beginning of the level, as you'll find quite a few coins for Hamm here as well as most of the missions. The construction foreman near the start will ask you to find his fiving missing Little Tikes workers and return to him for a Pizza Planet token, Hamm will be at the top of the tractor near the wheelbarrow,

One of the Little Tike workers will be on a wheelbarrow that you can access by pushing a cinderblock towards it. You can reach Hamm from here. 

At the bottom of the building that is under construction. The bottom level is a sand pit, and you can sink through it and take damage. I jump across it just to make sure that I don't sink. There is also a metal platform in one corner, and as you go up the building, the platform will act as an elevator that takes you all the way up to the highest point that you've taken during your stay in the level. In case you fall all the way down, just come all the way back to this corner and wait for the platform to lower so you can double jump onto it and take a big shortcut back.

Rex will be in one corner at ground level, and he will tell you where all the token are, as always.

The wooden ramp at ground level leads to the trailer, and here, you'll have to mix paint in order to get a Pizza Planet token. Avoid the green ooze and jump on the dry areas, then jump onto the chair and then the table. Climb up the pole, then jump to the top of the filing cabinets. Some of the drawers open and close, and I end up using only one of those drawers to get to a second Little Tikes worker before getting to the paint mixing station.

Here, you can stomp on the buttons to pour the paint into the bucket that you need to move into the white circles on the counter. The circle indicate not only where you need to put them to pour specific colors, but also to put certain colors when you're done making them. You have red, blue and yellow paint to work with, and you can make all three colors the game asks of you - purple, orange and green - with just two colors each. Red and blue combine to make purple, red and yellow combine to make orange, and blue and yellow combine to make green. When you're done making purple paint, move it to the picture of the purple paint can; the same goes for orange and green. When you create all three colors of paint, you'll get a Pizza Planet token.

The bulldozer will be your means of getting up the girders of the unfinished building. Not only will you find the third Little Tike worker inside, but you'll also find a switch that lowers the shovel. You'll need to stand on the shovel to get on the lowest level of girders. Once you're on the girders, avoid crushing pistons as well as falling nails, and pay attention to any mesh in the corners to see where you can get past walls. You'll find the fourth Little Tikes worker on the lowest level of the girders.

If you see any wall switches while on the girders, stomp them when you see them. This will allow the elevator platform in the corner of the unfinished building to move to that level in case you take a big tumble. At least there's no fall damage in this game.

Your main mode of going from one level of girders to the next is the yellow and black "caution" girders that move up and down. They will tilt as you move from one end to the other.

Mr. Potato Head's ear will be on the third level of the girders. When you return it to Mr. Potato Head near the paint mixing trailer, you'll get the Disk Launcher. The Disc Launcher is a homing weapon, and you can carry up to thirty shots. You get ten whenever you pick it up, and it will replace the green laser if you have it. If you stay where you picked up the Disk Launcher ammo, you can get up to thirty if you wait around long enough. When you fire a disk, it will home in on any nearby enemy and hit them, including those nasty bomb-dropping robots that float around in the air. You don't have to go into first-person mode and use the lock-on ability unless you need to; if you're near the enemy, it's getting nailed.

I end up getting the Hamm token before getting the Disk Launcher, so there's that.

After three levels of girders, you'll find a wooden ramp that takes you to the top level. Not only will you find the fifth Little Tike worker off to the side from the red girder platforms, but you'll find the boss. I will mention how to fight the boss in the next video. As for this one, I close it out with the Little Tikes token. Next time, we'll get the boss token and the challenge token.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 3 of 16

In this video, we take care of the last of the Pizza Planet tokens in Andy's neighborhood, then take on our first real boss.

First | Previous | Next | End

As you've probably noticed, the Hamm coins will lead you to the gaps in the fences where you can access other areas to get more Pizza Planet tokens. One of these areas is a backyard pool, and if you stomp on the bellows at poolside, you'll inflate an inflatable duck raft. When you fully inflate the raft, it will land in the pool. Stomp on the raft, then jump straight up when the raft jumps upward to get the open air Pizza Planet token.

Moving around in water will definitely slow you down, and even your jumps will feel floaty. Keep this in mind, as this isn't the only level where you're going to be underwater for some reason.

The perimeter of the yard with the pool is a gambit of double jumps, with the occasional enemy to shoot down. You've probably noticed that enemies re-spawn after a while, but it definitely becomes annoying here. Halfway through the series of jumps that you'll have to make, you'll be able to push a wooden plank. Do it; you'll need to make it easier to get to the last potted palm tree at the end, where you'll find your fourth soldier.

There is another area with a pick-up truck with no wheels as well as a clothesline. By stomping the two switches near the truck, you can lower the truck so you can jump on it and stomp the hood to be launched into the washing machine. From here, you'll be able to jump to the clotheslines. At the clotheslines, you'll need to quickly - and carefully - jump from one clothesline to another to avoid running into drying clothes while getting to the basket at the end, where you will find the fifth and final soldier. Now that you have all five soldiers, you can head back to Sarge at the beginning of the level for a Pizza Planet token.

You'd think you'd be done with the level for the time being, since Rex will tell you that you need the Rocket Jet Boots to beat R.C. Usually, you would be right. However, there is a trick to beating R.C. without them, but it takes a bit of practice, a bit of knowledge about how things in the game work, and a bit of patience and getting some timing down.

To beat R.C. without the boots, you need to stay in the center of the track at all times as R.C. accelerates around the track. If R.C. runs into you, he will come to a dead stop. Use the time that R.C. is not moving to make some headway on the racetrack, and keep moving and watching for R.C. You obviously have to double jump over the sand pits and the water puddle, as the sand pits slow you down tremendously and the water puddle is slippery.  If you know that R.C. is going to catch up to you just before the sand pits, stop before the sand pit in the center of the road, have R.C. run into you, then double jump over the sand pit. You'll also want to do this near the water puddle if necessary. 

We have all the Pizza Planet tokens, so it's time to head out of here. If you want to see the race done with the boots instead of without, I'll show that off near the end of the Let's Play.

Level 3: Bombs Away

Bombs Away is your first boss, and it's a plane that flies around and shoots at you.

Walk forward to start the boss battle. Charge up your laser at all times; it will do more damage to the big bosses just like it does to the level bosses that give you tokens. Stay still and do not move around; this will keep you from getting bombed with water balloons. When the plane flies far away before diving forward and shooting the machine gun, this is when you want to lock on to the boss and fire a fully charged-up laser. Three charged shots (six regular) will take this super-easy boss down. Your reward for beating this boss battle is another clip from the movie in addition to the next level.

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

In this entry, we finish up the first level of the game. On to Level 2.

First | Next | End

The basement is off to the side from the living room. Avoid the poisonous green goo as you jump around on dry land and get to Mr. Potato Head, who will give you the Cosmic Shield in exchange for his ear. While you cannot jump very high on the toxic goo, you can get to the wooden platform safely and then get on the boxes to explore the rest of the basement.

Pushing the boxes in the basement will allow you to reach a Pizza Planet token. In every level, there will always be one Pizza Planet token out in the open; thankfully, Rex will tell you about it if you find him. As for the zipline in the basement, it will take you to the fourth sheep.

The kitchen is near the basement entrance, just off to the side from the living room. The trash can will get you on the countertop if you push it; watch out for the hot water coming out of the pot on the stovetop. The fifth and final sheep will be on top of the cabinets near the sink and countertop; you'll need to push a scale off the top of another set of cabinets, then stomp on it to get to the sheep. Bo Peep will be on the table; you can either jump up the chair or climb up the broom to get to the top of the table. Talk to her with all five sheep collected to get a Pizza Planet token.

We're done, and if you talk to Rex at this point, he will tell you that you have all the tokens. On to Level 2!

When you exit a level, you'll see what you've collected. At the top, you'll see what the five tokens are. There is a Hamm token, a collectibles token, a race token, an out in the open token and a boss token, and the levels never stray from this formula. In the middle is the amount of coins you've collected for Hamm. At the bottom, you'll see which power-ups you've collected throughout the game. We have the Cosmic Shield, but we'll need the others to fully complete the game. You'll then be able to save your game before being taken to the world map. Left and Right will let you switch levels, while X lets you confirm and Triangle takes you back to the main menu.

Level 2: Andy's Neighborhood

When you start the level, the rescue mission begins. Buzz finally leaves the house and explore the neighborhood.

At the start, avoid the lawnmower; it will hurt you. You'll also see a bunch of molehills on the lawn. The hint cube will tell you that you'll make the soldier surrender if you stomp the molehills that he is near. Look for the stomp symbol and the fireworks to see where to stomp. With each stomp, you'll smoke out the molehills, and on the last one, you'll get a soldier to pop out so you can collect him. You'll also find Sarge on the stoop. He will ask you to find his five soldiers, and if you can do that, you'll get a Pizza Planet token.

When you leave the starting area, you'll come across a racetrack. The RC car will be waiting for you to race him again for another Pizza Planet token, and you'll also see a bunch of car enemies that look like Emperor Zerg. The car enemies require a charge shot to quickly destroy, and if you have the green laser, one shot will tear them to ribbons. Rex is near the huge tree and the swingset. Watch out for the slime coming down from the tree.

You can climb that tree by jumping up the swingset (and collecting your second soldier on the way up), then climbing the rope holding up the tire. Once you're in the tree, you'll meet Hamm almost immediately, so head over here when you need to hand him the coins for the Pizza Planet token. While on the tree, you'll need to jump on the green leafy parts that act as platforms. You may have to go up other parts of the tree, but the completely green parts are the ones to concentrate on. There is also a see-saw platform, and you'll need to get it to lean to one side by getting it to lean all the way to the side in order to continue on.

There is a rope off to the side when you're halfway up the tree. You'll want to double jump to it and grab it, because this will pull the rope down and give you a shortcut back up the tree. This is good, since you'll need to swing off some bars in order to get to the top of the tree, where you'll have to fight a Zurg kite for a Pizza Planet token. Charge up your laser and use the lock-on ability to hit the kite, then stay away as the kite lowers and spins around to hit you in retaliation. Thankfully, this is the whole battle, and once you beat the kite, you'll be able to get a Pizza Planet token.

The video ends with me getting the Pizza Planet token from Hamm, since I'm able to get back up to him.

PrinceWatercress plays Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1) - Part 1 of 16

Compared to the games based on the first movie, this one is a little easier. It's just as enjoyable, however, and shouldn't be missed.

Next | End

Yep, it's Toy Story 2. Which means it's based on the movie. Given that it's on the PS1, it's going to be a 3D platformer, although you could make other kinds of games out of it.

When the game begins, Woody is kidnapped by Al, the owner and founder of Al's Toy Barn. It's up to Buzz and all of his friends to rescue him. 

Level 1: Andy's House

You start the level - and the game - in Andy's room. You move around with the D-Pad, you shoot lasers with the Square button to attack enemies, and you jump - and double jump - with the X button. The Circle button will allow to perform a spin attack. Holding Circle down lets you charge it up, but you'll get dizzy for a few seconds after you let it loose.

Exploring Andy's room will teach you how to play the game. Jumping up to the desk will take you to the numerous help cubes that are in this level. Jumping into the help cubes will give you hints for the level you're in.

Some items in the environment will have a green hand that acts as a push icon. If you see that above an item, you can move into it to push it. Some items will have black trails with red smaller lines inside of them that show you specifically where you can push them, and these locations you can push items to will prove to be useful when getting through the game.

After double jumping from the bed to the dresser, you can climb a pole. Jump into a pole then crab on, then climb up and down with Up and Down on the D-Pad and spin around with Left and Right. Pressing X lets you jump off. Keep in mind that when you do that, you'll jump forward in the direction you're facing.

Jumping into zip lines allows you to slide down them. Jump to jump off before you reach the end.

Once you land in the crib, you'll learn how to enter first-person mode and aim your laser. Press L1 to enter first-person mode and look director through Buzz's visor. From here, you can look around with the D-Pad, press Square to shoot your laser and press the R1 button to lock onto nearby enemies. If there are multiple enemies nearby, you can keep pressing R1 until you lock on to the one you want. By using the lock-on ability, you can shoot down the catches holding up the side of the crib to get out. Just be near them, press R1, and the green reticles will lock on and show you where the catches are so you can shoot them down.

Enemies in this level include red robots that bounce around and flying robots that drop bomb. Using the lock-on ability and the charged laser works wonders in taking them out. Enemies also leave coins when defeated, so make sure you pick them up.

First-person mode has some interesting details, too. You can see Buzz closing his left eye to improve his aim, and you can also hear him breathing. That second part makes no sense, given that he's a toy, but it's still a nice detail.

Speaking of the laser, you can hold the Square button to charge up your laser for a more powerful shot, just like with the spinning attack. Keep this in mind, because you're going to use this pretty often.

The gold coins that you pick up will be necessary for getting one of the Pizza Planet tokens in each level. There are five Pizza Planet tokens in every normal level, and they serve as the main collectible for the game. There are 50 altogether, and we'll be getting every single one of them.

The green coin with Buzz on it is an extra life. Pick it up for a 1-Up.

When you're standing still, you'll see the amount of lives you have in the upper-left corner, your current amount of energy in the upper-right corner and the current amount of gold coins in the lower-left corner. If you're charging up your weapon, the charge gauge will be in the lower-right corner.

Rex is near the entrance to the attic. If you talk to him, he will tell you what you need to do in every level to get the five Pizza Planet tokens. If you pick up a token, he won't mention that mission. If you've picked up all five tokens, he will tell you that you've completed the level.

Above Rex is the attic. Here, you'll learn how pushing things like boxes works even further, but you'll also fight the tin robot. You'll need to beat this tin robot to get a token. To beat the robot, charge up your laser and run away when he charges at you. When he slows down and eventually stops, be ready to fire on him. The boss enemies will have a health meter in the top center to show how much health they have left, and when you empty it, you'll beat the boss. The tin robot takes six shots - three if you charge them up - to defeat, and when you beat it, you can get the Pizza Planet token that shows up. After collecting a Pizza Planet token, you can choose to keep playing or head back to the world map.

Horizontal rods can be jumped into, and if you do that, Buzz will swing around before jumping forward. Be ready to hold Up on the D-Pad and, if you need to, double jump. This will be important for later in the game.

The rest of the attic leads to the top near the roof, and the narrow platforms don't leave much room for mistakes, as you will fall down to the floor if you walk off the edge. Thankfully, there's nothing in the way of fall damage for this game. Thankfully, you can enter the pause menu with the Start button and select "Camera Mode," then select "Active Camera." Active Camera will always keep the camera behind Buzz. It also changes the controls a little bit. Normally, under the Passive Camera, L2 and R2 will rotate the camera left and right. In Active Camera mode, L2 and R2 rotate Buzz left and right. This lets you line Buzz up so you don't walk off edges, and you'll also be able to use the buttons to spin around on poles. It's a nice feature.

You'll find one of the sheep on the other side of the top of the attic. The sheep are the level collectible, and you'll see how many of them you have in the upper-right corner. When you collet all five, you'll be able to return them to Bo Peep, who is on the kitchen table.

Going downstairs leads to the garage as well as the rest of the house. To beat the RC car in the race, you'll need to take three laps around the car. Keep jumping while moving, as it allows you to move slightly faster than if you just run. Double jump over the oil slick, as it is slippery and will cause you to lose control. Also, don't run into enemies. Even though this race is easy, you can lose almost enough momentum to lose the race if you touch an enemy just once. Placing first against the RC car will net you a Pizza Planet token. If the RC wins, leave the garage, then go back in to do the race again.

The path to the top of the garage is full of poles you can grab as well as some obstacles of its own, such as the power drills that can drop down and hurt you as well as buzzsaws that can slice you. You'll eventually end up on top of the family car, and from here, you can jump onto the nearby light fixture to get to the higher shelves. The hint cube will tell you about the horizontal bars you can jump into and swing off of, which I mentioned earlier. At the end of the path at the top of the garage, you'll find another sheep.

Along the way, on top of the family car, you'll find the green laser. The green laser is as powerful as a charged red laser, and if you hold the button down, you'll get rapid fire. You only have a limited amount of ammo, which is indicated by the gauge in the lower-right corner, so use the green laser sparingly, as it is pretty powerful.

Hamm is on the living room couch. If you give him 50 coins, he will give you a Pizza Planet token. Remember that number, as it stays the same every level. 

The two downward-pointing green triangles are the stomp icon. To stomp, jump into the air, then press Circle to stomp. If you stomp on certain things, you can not only hit buttons, but you can also activate shortcuts to places you couldn't normally access. Stomping on the couch with the white X on the seat will launch you to a high corner shelf above the bookcase. You'll be able to jump your way to a battery (which refills health), a 1-Up, and the third sheep. Also, underneath where you land is Mr. Potato Head's ear. You'll need to hand that off to him elsewhere in the level.

PrinceWatercress plays Bomb Jack (ZX Spectrum) - The Longplay

Of course I would do better with the longplay after relearning how to play the game during the Let's Play. Of course.

Let's Play

Bomb Jack is a 1984 platformer-style arcade game from Tehkan, which would later become Tecmo. In this game, you play as Bomb Jack, and you have to avoid enemies while picking up all 24 bombs on the screen. Some of the bombs have lit fuses, and as you pick up lit bombs, more will be lit, and you'll have to pick those up, too. Those will usually be in the line of bombs where you find a lit bomb. The more lit bombs you pick up, however, the more bonus points you'll get...if you get more than 20 in total when you complete a stage by grabbing all the bombs, that is.

Left and Right on the Kempston joystick allow you to move around, while the fire button jumps. Pressing the fire button mid-jump lets you stop rising upwards and start dropping, and if you keep tapping the fire button repeatedly, you'll be able to float in mid-air, which makes it easier to grab bombs and avoid enemies. If you hold Up before jumping, you'll perform a high jump.

As you grab the bombs, enemies will pop up. You'll be avoiding mummies and birds that both move back and forth and fly around the screen respectively, but eventually the mummies will tumble to the bottom and turn into flying saucers and slugs that will seek you out and destroy you if they get to you. The birds are just as bad as the transformed enemies, as they will constantly take the shortest path towards you and constantly get in your way because of that.

As you play, power-ups will also show up. The B icons will give you bonus multipliers up to 5x that will multiply the amount of points you get from grabbing bombs, while the E icon will give you an extra life if you're lucky enough to encounter one and grab it. Unfortunately, the E icons are the only way to get bonus lives in this game, as you cannot get any off of points. The P icon is the most important, however, as it turns the enemies into bonus coins for a short period, and if you can grab these coins before they turn back into the enemies, you'll get rid of the enemies for a brief time and you'll get points for it.

There are five backgrounds in all, and once you see all five, they will loop. As for the level designs themselves, however, they do not seem to loop like the backgrounds do, and there is also no ending.

Despite my initial misgivings with the game, I ended up enjoying it. You can tell which bombs are lit just by paying attention a little bit, and it's actually easier than I expected to see where both I, the enemies, the bombs and the platforms are despite the obvious limitations in the ZX Spectrum's hardware. The gameplay was pretty responsive and did not give me any trouble, and once I learned how to high jump, control my jumps, and even float, things got a lot better. Even the gaming press in the UK loved this port, with Crash! giving the game a Smash award and a 92% rating, calling it a great arcade conversion. It was also #2 on the UK sales charts in 1984, kept off the top by Green Beret, only to make it to the top of the all-formats chart two years later when it received a budget re-release. If you're looking for arcade action for the Speccy, this is a really good place to start.

PrinceWatercress plays Bomb Jack (ZX Spectrum)

I haven't played a ZX Spectrum game in a long time. Let's fix that!

Longplay

Bomb Jack is a 1984 platformer-style arcade game from Tehkan, which would later become Tecmo. In this game, you play as Bomb Jack, and you have to avoid enemies while picking up all 24 bombs on the screen. Some of the bombs have lit fuses, and as you pick up lit bombs, more will be lit, and you'll have to pick those up, too. Those will usually be in the line of bombs where you find a lit bomb. The more lit bombs you pick up, however, the more bonus points you'll get...if you get more than 20 in total when you complete a stage by grabbing all the bombs, that is.

Left and Right on the Kempston joystick allow you to move around, while the fire button jumps. Pressing the fire button mid-jump lets you stop rising upwards and start dropping, and if you keep tapping the fire button repeatedly, you'll be able to float in mid-air, which makes it easier to grab bombs and avoid enemies. If you hold Up before jumping, you'll perform a high jump.

As you grab the bombs, enemies will pop up. You'll be avoiding mummies and birds that both move back and forth and fly around the screen respectively, but eventually the mummies will tumble to the bottom and turn into flying saucers and slugs that will seek you out and destroy you if they get to you. The birds are just as bad as the transformed enemies, as they will constantly take the shortest path towards you and constantly get in your way because of that.

As you play, power-ups will also show up. The B icons will give you bonus multipliers up to 5x that will multiply the amount of points you get from grabbing bombs, while the E icon will give you an extra life if you're lucky enough to encounter one and grab it. Unfortunately, the E icons are the only way to get bonus lives in this game, as you cannot get any off of points. The P icon is the most important, however, as it turns the enemies into bonus coins for a short period, and if you can grab these coins before they turn back into the enemies, you'll get rid of the enemies for a brief time and you'll get points for it.

There are five backgrounds in all, and once you see all five, they will loop. As for the level designs themselves, however, they do not seem to loop like the backgrounds do, and there is also no ending.

Despite my initial misgivings with the game, I ended up enjoying it. You can tell which bombs are lit just by paying attention a little bit, and it's actually easier than I expected to see where both I, the enemies, the bombs and the platforms are despite the obvious limitations in the ZX Spectrum's hardware. The gameplay was pretty responsive and did not give me any trouble, and once I learned how to high jump, control my jumps, and even float, things got a lot better. Even the gaming press in the UK loved this port, with Crash! giving the game a Smash award and a 92% rating, calling it a great arcade conversion. It was also #2 on the UK sales charts in 1984, kept off the top by Green Beret, only to make it to the top of the all-formats chart two years later when it received a budget re-release. If you're looking for arcade action for the Speccy, this is a really good place to start.

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 6 of 6

In this entry, we finally beat Blackhorn, rescue Princess Rosebud and return to our world.

First | Previous

Round 6-1: Thelenea

This level is a maze. The first door that you see is obviously where you want to. Just stand in front of it and hold Up on the D-Pad until you enter the next section. (Thankfully, this is also mentioned in the game's manual.)

From here on out, you're on your own. Here's where you figure out where you need to go: look for the skeletons. If you see a skeleton, fight it, then go through the door it spawned next to. Keep doing this until you reach the final area. You'll face a slime knight who will teleport in and out and strike with his weapon. You'll want to hit him with the most powerful strikes that you have, and you'll want to get the health that is in the statue just before you kill him.

You'll then meet Thorndog. Destroy the hand whenever it spawns, then strike at the purple medallion in the center as powerfully as you can while avoiding the purple orbs that move around in sine wave patterns. If you need to use your magic, do it.

Once you beat Thorndog, Thorndog will curse Astyanax so that when Thorndog dies, so will Astyanax. Cutie breaks the seal on Thorndog's curse by sacrificing herself.

Round 6-2: Tower

You'll face a boss rush as soon as you enter this level. The bosses you'll face are the boss from Round 1-1 (the bouncy guy), the boss from Round 2-1 (the slimy guy with the eye), the boss from Round 3-1 (the minotaur), the rock throwing boss from Rounds 1-2 and 3-2, and the hawk and lion boss from Round 5-1. The same strategies apply, and there will be a platforming taking you to the next fight whenever you beat a boss.

Unlike the first time, however, I focused on the hawk instead of the lion for the last boss. I just kept attacking the hawk with powerful jump attacks while jumping over the lion. For some reason, it made that fight easier for me. Regardless of which enemy in that combo you defeat first, they both eventually combine into the same second phase.

You'll then get a full health refill and a range increase before you face Blackhorn. After a cutscene, get away from Blackhorn so that he strikes with his magic instead of his sword. You'll know when he is attacking with his magic when he stands there with the electricity flowing between his hands. You'll want to keep striking him with powerful attacks so that he doesn't hit you with a full-screen magic attack. Blackhorn will also keep teleporting in and out, and if you're too close to him, he will slash at you with a sword instead. It doesn't have a good amount of range, and if you get away from him, you can avoid it.

After doing enough damage, you'll then face a transformed Blackhorn. Blackhorn is now a dragon, and you'll need to strike the red jewel in his chest while avoiding or slashing at the fireballs that he spits out. The jewel will keep moving in and out of existence, so if it disappears, stay away from Blackhorn and keep avoiding or striking the fireballs. If the fireballs land on the ground, they will move towards you, and you'll need to jump over them as they travel across the floor. Blackhorn starts out silver, but he turns gold after enough damage and turns red when he is near-death. When he turns red, hit him with the fire magic while the jewel in the chest is out. It will usually take him out and make this fight go a little faster at the end.

Once you beat Blackhorn, you'll save Princess Rosebud, then Astyanax will be teleported back to his world. When he is, he suddenly runs into a girl who turns out to be Cutie in human form. This ends up being a reward given to Cutie by Princess Rosebud for her bravery, and Cutie ends up staying in the real world with Astyanax. The game then ends. You just beat [i]Astyanax[/i]!

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 5 of 6

We have one more short stage before entering the final stretch...

First | Previous | End

Round 5-1: Telugamn

You'll want to keep your strikes as powerful as possible when fighting the monsters, which are mostly the same as Round 4-1. Also, watch out for plants. You may have to use magic to take care of some of those plant enemies.

The boss here is a lion and a hawk. The lion runs back and forth while the hawk flies back and forth while performing the occasional divebomb. You'll want to take the lion out first, as it's much easier to defeat than the hawk. The hawk will start carrying the lion around, and you'll want to strike it so that it's high enough up in the sky so that you can duck under the divebomb attacks.

Round 5-2: Cliff

You have another vertical level full of the blob and plant enemies, so use what you learned in Round 1-2 and use it here. Make sure you jump all the way up at the center when you reach the top. The boss is the mini-boss as from Round 3-2; the only difference is that if you've been doing well, you may be able to take him out even faster.

You'll then find out that you're in the castle maze. Rosebud tells you to pay attention to the signs so you can reach Blackhorn, but at this point, her magic weakens.

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 4 of 6

If you can persevere through the swamp, you'll make it into enemy territory. Onwards!

First | Previous | Next | End

Round 4-1: Marshy

To take care of the enemies that hide in the water below, let them come to you, then strike them on their way up and again on their way down, assuming that you have enough power to do it. If they land, they will follow you around and spit projectiles. If you can, move far enough away so that you can off-screen them out of existence. You'll want to do the same for the ones that leap in and out of the water between smaller platforms, who can also throw spears in mid-air.

The piranhas bounce around. You'll want to move a little further to keep them from re-spawning, then hit them when they're at the right height when they're in front of you. You may have to move yourself into position in order to make that happen without getting hit.

A plant will spawn to the left of one of the power-up statues; you'll need to be on the edge and crouch strike it repeatedly to get rid of it.

If you find Cutie inside of a power-up statue, jump up to her to talk to her. Press Down if you want to change your weapon or Up if you want to refill your magic. Good thing I needed the magic.

The mid-boss is a gold skeleton. He just fights like the rest of the skeletons in the game and just takes a lot more damage than the rest of them. That's it.

Round 4-2: Grave

The butterflies are just like the floating blobs; the only thing different about them is their appearance.

The skeletons can also perform a huge flying leap in addition to attacking and throwing out projectiles, but it won't exactly save them from getting smashed.

There are a couple of plants in this level. I hit the first one with magic, but the other ones can easily be taken care of with your weapon.

The mini-boss is a purple wraith who can freeze you in place for a few seconds in addition to tossing projectiles. You'll want to move back and forth to avoid the mini-boss teleporting on top of you, then get right up to it and hit it with powerful weapon strikes. This will help off-set any times that the mini-boss is able to freeze you in place.

You'll then fight the boss: a tree beast that moves back and forth and throw out green seed projectiles that roll forward and turn into plants while also stopping to hit you with some sort of vine tongue. Keep jumping up and hitting him in the face with powerful strikes, and take out those green seeds before they become a problem.

You'll then arrive at Blackhorn's lair in Thelenea. The end of the game is in sight...

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 3 of 6

This is the last easier level in the game. Things are going to get a little more difficult from here on out...

First | Previous | Next | End

Round 3-1: Ryogoku

Be careful with the platforms at the start. Make sure you move just a little bit to the right of the spawn points for those flying blob enemies, because some of them will fly at ground level and you will definitely need to get rid of them. There's also a plant on one of the platforms, and you'll need to get rid of it as well when it pops up.

If you've been doing well so far and you've gotten your power meter to a considerable level, you can take out the skeletons here in one shot.

Land at the edge of the platform with the third power-up statue, then immediately duck and strike. This will kill the plant that shows up right away.

The red potions refill just three hearts, but the blue potions are a full health refill.

The mini-boss here is a minotaur with an electric charge around his horns and a full-screen thunder attack that rains down, much like Magical Stardust from [i]Actraiser[/i]. Keep hitting him with powerful strikes at regular intervals so he attacks as little as possible, and if he goes over the side of the screen, he will wrap around to the other side and you won't be able to hit him in time before he attacks. Thankfully, you should be able to do more damage before you meet him on the other side to repeat the process.

Round 3-2: Rent

It's another vertical section, but this time, you're going downwards instead of upwards. The tiny dragon enemies you'll encounter here may be nothing to worry about, but they can pop up when you least expect them as you make your way downwards, and you can lose a little bit of health from touching one. Those hits can add up.

The mini-boss here will move towards you and throw rocks every so often. You'll want to jump over him immediately after he throws a rock so you don't get hit. Keep hitting him with powerful strikes and you'll ensure that you spend as little time with this guy as possible, even if you can easily anticipate where his rocks will go.

The boss is some sort of rock creature with a spiky face in the middle. You'll want to avoid the spiky balls that it throws: one completely overhead, which is only a problem if the boss is far away when it fires it, and the other one that has less distance and bounces along the ground. You'll want to jump over that ball when it is low to the ground. Keep striking the face, but be ready to avoid the spiked balls every so often. When you expose the pink face behind it, you'll only need to hit a few more strikes before the second phase.

For the second phase, the pink enemy in the rock flies back and forth and shoots bubbles downward that move in a sine wave pattern. Avoiding the bubbles while striking with powerful attacks at regular intervals is harder than it seems, and every so often, the boss will speed up for a second and potentially ram into you as it flies around. If you run low on health, use your magic; it'll get you out of a jam here.

After the round ends, Blackhorn knows that Astyanax and Cutie are getting closer. Thorndog assures Blackhorn that they will not make it any further and that he has strengthed the spell he has cast on Princess Rosebud and has now stopped her from communicating with Cutie telepathically. Rosebud says that Astyanax and Cutie will show up, but Blackhorn sees them as just a speed bump in taking Rosebud's power and ruling the world.

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 2 of 6

In this entry, we face a few more bosses while also tackling our first strictly vertical level.

First | Next | End

Round 2-1: Redroad

The pink skeletons not only shoot projectiles, but they will also strike low in case you're ducking.

Watch out with the small platforms. There's a plant shortly after the beginning, and another one at the end. Both spit fireballs. If you know what you're doing, you can land at the edge at the end, duck down and kill the plant in one shot if your swing is powerful enough. Otherwise, use magic.

When possible, let the flying blob enemies you've been seeing since Round 1-1 move past you. Whatever you do, don't stand where they spawn out from; otherwise they'll come back the instant you kill them or let them leave the screen.

The boss here is a green, one-eyed blob monster who travels across the floor. When you strike him, he rises and strikes back. Keep your distance and strike with your most powerful blows at all times. Thankfully, jumping over him does not put you in any peril, so feel free to do so as long as he's moving around.

Round 2-2: Inazumi

This is your first vertical level. Always jump straight up first before advancing, as this will show more of the level and also reveal some enemies ahead of time, such as the blobs that move back and forth and occasionally rise from the floor to throw spears at you. 

Keep holding the direction you're wanting to go in case you get caught on a platform while jumping from place to place; you'll get to where you need to go more often than not.

When you reach the top of the stage (you'll know it when you see it, as it's all floor with nowhere else to jump to), go all the way to the center, then jump. You'll trigger the mini-boss, which is a dragon-like creature that divebombs you. Avoid the projectiles that it shoots out in diagonal directions by keeping your distance, and strike it enough times with powerful blows from your weapon so that it backs up to the top of the screen. By doing this, you can stay on the ground and the mini-boss will have less of a chance to hit you. Be ready to back the mini-boss up to the top again after it attacks.

The boss is some sort of Medusa-like creature. You'll want to attack the purple jewel on his stomach by crouching down and striking it, and you'll want to be close enough so that you can duck under its hand when it claws at you  and still attack. It will also send two snakes at you, but you can turn around while ducking to strike them both down easily. After this boss sends out four snakes, it immediately disappears and come out from the other side of the screen, alternating between the left side and the right side each time. Thankfully, this boss is deceptively easy if you know what to do.

After the boss battle, Astyanax gets homesick, and Cutie apologizes for putting him through that, as Thelenea - where we need to go to face Blackhorn - is so far away.

PrinceWatercress plays Astyanax - Part 1 of 6

Didn't think I would play and beat this one, but after seeing a Let's Play of this game while moving house yet again last year, I had to give this one a shot.

Next | End

"Astyanax...Astyanax...I'm waiting..."

That same dream again...strange.

I'm Astyanax. The name comes from Greek mythology, I think. I'm a freshman here at Greenview High.

I don't understand what the dream means.....and who is that girl??..

The other day I was walking to school.....

"Astyanax. Astyanax."

What the heck....

And from here, we get teleported to another world, and the game begins.

Interestingly, the name is from Greek mythology; Astyanax is the son of Hector of Troy and Queen Andromache from The Iliad.

Round 1-1: Remlia

As soon as the game begins, Astyanax finds himself in Remlia, and he meets a fairy named Cutie. Cutie brought Astyanax to Remlia to rescue Princess Rosebud, who has been captured by the evil wizard Blackhorn and has been appearing in Astyanax's recurring dreams, as he possess "the miracle power." Cutie also reveals that only Rosebud has the power to return him home. Cutie gives Astyanax the magic axe known as Bash, which will be his weapon for the adventure, and Astyanax is soon on his way.

Left and Right move Astyanax left and right, Down ducks, A jumps, and B attacks. Start pauses the game, and while the game is paused, you can switch between one of a few magic spells with the Control Pad. I stick to the default magic throughout the game. Magic spells are cast by holding up and pressing A. You have three spells: Bind, which freezes enemies for several second (represented by a circle); Blast, which damages all enemies on-screen (represented by a flame); and Bolt, which kills all-on screen enemies and can severely damage bosses yet uses more magic than Blast does (represented by a lightning bolt).

At the bottom of the screen is all of the important information. From the left, you have your current score, the current amount of lives that you have left, the current round that you are on, and the current spell that you have equipped. To the right of all that is your power gauge, your life meter and your spell meter. The power gauge empties and slowly refills after you strike with the B button, and the more it is filled up, the more your next attack will be. The life meter shows how much health you have. The spell gauge decreases when you use your magic.

You'll meet your first enemies here. The flying enemies will just fly past you, and unless they are directly in your way, you won't need to attack them. The jellyfish drop projectiles that won't damage you, but if you hit them, you'll be stunned for a few moments before you can move again. You'll want to attack only the jellyfish with the most powerful strikes that you can. The skeletons will pop out of the floor; you'll want to let them come to you, then strike them when they are in range of your weapon.

The statues contain power-ups. The glass container will increase the maximum power of your power gauge, allowing you to strike more powerfully with your weapon. Keep in mind that the more of these you pick up, the more time you'll need to wait before it slowly fills all the way up. This is a good thing, as you actually don't want to rush your way through the rounds. You'll want to move through this game slowly and carefully. Unless you're on the exact point that a flying enemy will spawn, you can easily stay in place and wait for your power gauge to fully refill so you can get past some of the enemies that will be in your way more easily.

Be careful when jumping over pits; you never know when you might run into a plant enemy that will sprout out and spit projectiles upwards. You'll want to fight them from a short distaance with your weapon or with your magic. If you can do it with your weapon, do so; it saves magic for the boss battles.

Grabbing the axe item lets you change the axe into a sword. The sword not only makes your physical strikes more powerful without adding to the power meter, but it also powers up your magic at the expense of using more of the spell meter. It is possible to get a spear, but it is less powerful.

The red potions give you three hearts for your health, but the blue potions refill all of the health meter.

The mini-boss is a bouncing boulder enemy. Grab the power-up at the end before the boss battle is over, then keep your distance as you strike while the boss bounces around. You'll want to keep your distance from the mini-boss and walk past him when the opportunity allows for it. When he opens up and stands still, get close to him and keep striking him with powerful physical attacks while ducking down.

The power-up that looks like a shield is really a pair of wings, which allows you to attack more quickly with your physical weapon.

The boss is a knight on a giant creature. You'll need to attack the head of the giant creature first. Jump over the head when it flies around in a circle, and watch out for the projectiles that it spits out, which won't be much of a problem as long as you stay close to the boss and duck. Once the creature is defeated, you have the knight left. Attack with your physical weapon and trap the knight against the wall, then duck and keep striking repeatedly from a short distance when the knight is backed to the wall.

After the boss battle, Thorndog will tell Blackhorn that Caesar, the boss we just defeated, has been killed. Blackhorn will soon notice that Cutie has brought Astyanax here, and demands Astyanax be destroyed.

PrinceWatercress plays Venture for Atari 2600 - The Longplay

...and now, Venture for the Atari 2600, minus commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Venture is a game by Exidy in which you go through a world with several buildings that you need to enter, get the treasure out of and then get out of in one piece. The game was ported to a good amount of systems back in 1982, with the Atari 2600 being one of them.

You start out in front of a bunch of purple buildings. The single lone purple pixel that looks like it is out of place is you. Yes, you actually control this pixel. This pixel is you. By going into the gaps in the walls of the buildings, you can enter the buildings proper. Here, you can move around, but you can also press the fire button to fire arrows at enemies - something you can't do in the overworld where you're one small, tiny pixel. The arrows have limited range, but you have an unlimited amount of arrows and you can never run out. The dot near the happy face that represents your character indicates where you will fire, and that dot will change position every time you move in a different direction, and the direction that you last went will be where you fire your arrow. Enemies hurt you not only when they are alive, but also when their corpses are still on the screen; if you touch the enemies' corpses before they disappear off the screen, that will cost you a life. As mentioned before, you'll want to get the treasure in the building, then get back out through any of the gaps in the building walls, which counts as both entrances and exits. If you take too long, an indestructible demon that can travel through walls and will always take the shortest path towards you will show up, and if it touches you, you're losing a life.

At the top of the screen, you have your current amount of points in the center, and your lives will be the squares in the upper-right corner. Lose all your lives and the game is over. Sadly, you cannot get points out of extra lives in this game.

The hardest part of the purple buildings is the building in the upper-left part of the map. Here, there are moving red walls, and if any of them touch you, you will lose a life. You'll need to line yourself up with the gaps and make your moves quickly in order to get in the center, grab the treasure and get out before the indestructible demon shows up and ruins your day.

Once you collect all of the treasures in the purple buildings, you'll move on to the blue buildings. This is more of the same, and sadly, there isn't any moment on the blue map that matches the building with the moving walls on the purple map. Once you collect everything in the blue buildings, you'll have completed one loop of the game, and you'll go back to the purple map, but this time, the enemies will be faster and will move around more randomly. The second loop is also much more difficult compared to the first one.

The game does not seem like much, but it does make history as one of the first, if not the first, popular adventure-style games (other than Rogue) to be played from a top-down perspective, and even predates the very first Zelda game by a few years. The graphics are very simple and very identifiable, and gameplay is pretty simple, and while the first loop of the game is easy enough to get through, the second loop and every loop after that is a lot harder to clear. While this port is much more scaled down compared to the arcade original (there are two maps instead of three, graphics are more rudimentary, far less treasures are available to collect, and no music plays at all), it is still a decent effort and well worth putting in your Atari 2600 library.

PrinceWatercress plays Venture for Atari 2600

Welp, time to play yet another game from the pre-Nintendo Entertainment System days of yore. Interestingly, this one is a little more up my alley.

Longplay

Venture is a game by Exidy in which you go through a world with several buildings that you need to enter, get the treasure out of and then get out of in one piece. The game was ported to a good amount of systems back in 1982, with the Atari 2600 being one of them.

You start out in front of a bunch of purple buildings. The single lone purple pixel that looks like it is out of place is you. Yes, you actually control this pixel. This pixel is you. By going into the gaps in the walls of the buildings, you can enter the buildings proper. Here, you can move around, but you can also press the fire button to fire arrows at enemies - something you can't do in the overworld where you're one small, tiny pixel. The arrows have limited range, but you have an unlimited amount of arrows and you can never run out. The dot near the happy face that represents your character indicates where you will fire, and that dot will change position every time you move in a different direction, and the direction that you last went will be where you fire your arrow. Enemies hurt you not only when they are alive, but also when their corpses are still on the screen; if you touch the enemies' corpses before they disappear off the screen, that will cost you a life. As mentioned before, you'll want to get the treasure in the building, then get back out through any of the gaps in the building walls, which counts as both entrances and exits. If you take too long, an indestructible demon that can travel through walls and will always take the shortest path towards you will show up, and if it touches you, you're losing a life.

At the top of the screen, you have your current amount of points in the center, and your lives will be the squares in the upper-right corner. Lose all your lives and the game is over. Sadly, you cannot get points out of extra lives in this game.

The hardest part of the purple buildings is the building in the upper-left part of the map. Here, there are moving red walls, and if any of them touch you, you will lose a life. You'll need to line yourself up with the gaps and make your moves quickly in order to get in the center, grab the treasure and get out before the indestructible demon shows up and ruins your day.

Once you collect all of the treasures in the purple buildings, you'll move on to the blue buildings. This is more of the same, and sadly, there isn't any moment on the blue map that matches the building with the moving walls on the purple map. Once you collect everything in the blue buildings, you'll have completed one loop of the game, and you'll go back to the purple map, but this time, the enemies will be faster and will move around more randomly. The second loop is also much more difficult compared to the first one.

The game does not seem like much, but it does make history as one of the first, if not the first, popular adventure-style games (other than Rogue) to be played from a top-down perspective, and even predates the very first Zelda game by a few years. The graphics are very simple and very identifiable, and gameplay is pretty simple, and while the first loop of the game is easy enough to get through, the second loop and every loop after that is a lot harder to clear. While this port is much more scaled down compared to the arcade original (there are two maps instead of three, graphics are more rudimentary, far less treasures are available to collect, and no music plays at all), it is still a decent effort and well worth putting in your Atari 2600 library.

PrinceWatercress plays Coconuts for Atari 2600 - The Longplay

...and now for a longplay of this game, minus commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Coconuts is a really simple one-screen game for the Atari 2600 from 1982. You play as jungle explorer Stanley I. Presume, and you have to move around to avoid coconuts thrown by a monkey at the top of the trees. That's it. That's the game. You move left and right with Left and Right on the joystick, and those are your only controls. By holding the stick in a direction, you move faster. The fire button is used to start the game and is used to start playing again when the monkey takes a break from throwing coconuts, which also allows you to take a breather for as long as you need. Stanley moves more quickly on B/Novice than he does on A/Expert. You have three points of protection: the umbrella on top of your hat, the hat on your head and your head itself. If you get hit on the head without any head protection, the game is over. If you reach 500 points, you'll recover the last piece of head protection that you lost, and you'll be able to do it again if you reach 1500 points, which can be pretty difficult to do. Points are awarded by dodging coconuts. You'll get five points at first, and that will slowly increase in five-point increments all the way up to twenty points.

It's a simple and fun game and there's not much to it, and what you see is what you get. This could have been considered a classic if it were released a couple of years earlier, but by 1982, there were much more complex games around, and by this point, you had a lot of the Atari classics such as Centipede and Missile Command, and even Nintendo's own Donkey Kong kicking around in the arcades. Still, if you're looking for a simple game for the Atari 2600, this one is a good place to start.