"Great game, just a shame it feels like a Playstation game."

Toy Story 2. Now why I bought this game? I thought I should add a game for the young ones to my reasonably large Dreamcast collection (no boasting), thinking 'Who knows? Maybe I'll like it.' So I bought it sealed for around £4 total on eBay, and whilst it's a good game, it just didn't feel anything like a Dreamcast game.

Story: 5

If you've seen the movie Toy Story 2, the story is exactly the same in the game.

Woody the Cowboy has been stolen by a greedy toy collector and seemingly has no chance to be saved. Hell-bent on liberating his friend, it's Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! Hopping from area to area, our hero overcomes puzzles, traps, and other obstacles to help narrow the trail to finding his lost comrade, and saving him.

Nothing intriguing, nor is it that original, but I can't say it's bad or stupid either.

Gameplay: 6

If you love platformers, then good news - this is the typical Action/Platformer, with 5 helping hand missions in each stage. Doing one of these missions rewards you with Pizza Planet tokens, which let you continue to the next level.

All levels have a different theme, eg, you don't continuously end up in a forest or something, and they're all based on the movie - from Andy's house to the airport. There are even clips of the actual movie included on the disc (some which need to be unlocked before they can be viewed) and they all follow the story quite well.

Quite a fun platformer, and it definitely provides challenge, considering it's a game designed for children, I find myself struggling with some of the tasks.

The camera however, is frustrating at times. Whilst it's not always a major problem, when you're trying to line up a jump and the camera is constantly flicking towards the way you're facing, it becomes a chore to do.

Which leads me onto the controls. The button layout is simple, and that is not the problem. The problem is the analogue control. I swear, it is absolutely impossible to run in a strait line using the analogue (I have tried doing it). It's as if the developers only implemented the diagonal commands in the analogue. Thankfully, this problem can be solved by using the D-Pad.

Also the fact that you cannot walk in this game (run only), makes the control a lot worse. It's not so bad when you're running around the carpet or grass, it's when you have to walk across narrow poles or tightropes. Also, even when standing still, and you press the opposite direction to where he's facing, Buzz makes a kind of skid animation - asif he was running forwards and decided to turn around, which DOES throw you when trying to walk a tightrope.

Sound: 6

All sounds and voices are clear, however, there is little variation between them. Whilst you don't immediately notice it at the beginning, later on in the game, you will find that the sound of a crow, and a woman screaming use the same sound effect. I mean, when a crow is one of your enemies, and the woman is supposed to be someone to save, it gets slightly frustrating not knowing which of the two is making the noise.

Buzz's constant random comments do get tedious after a while. It gets annoying hearing him saying "You'd wanna get out of my way when my laser fires", and things like that. Also the constant hollowing of the characters you're supposed to help shouting 'Hey Buzz!' at you if you're in the same room as them - even after you've spoken to them.

Music: 10

I have no problems with the music. Some of them are quite pleasant (my favourite one being Al's Penthouse).

Graphics: 3

This has to be the worst part of this game, and by far the most over rated. Reading several other peoples reviews, including the one on IGN, I cannot see how these graphics are good.

There is no filtering of any sort here - or if there is, it was very poorly implemented. There is also an insanely low polygon count for a Dreamcast game. An example of how low is, instead of building a nose for any of the characters (excluding the horse), they either make their face triangle shaped, or flat.

Whilst there aren't any noticeable jaggies (maybe they used anti-aliasing), the textures are very pixelated, and mostly solid textures (an example, completely white fridges without a mark on them). Sometimes, especially in enclosed areas, the textures blank themselves out in parts, so it looks like you're walking into blackness.

The draw distance is also poor. You can only see fire in areas if you're about 5 steps away from them, and you cannot hit enemies that are further than 5 steps away (you aim and shoot, but they won't hit). The way all the enemies regenerate as soon as you leave the room is also a flaw.

They seriously just look like a high resolution Playstation 1 graphics. Given that this was originally on the PS1, there is no reason for having 30 frames a second in it, and ESPECIALLY inclusive with constant slowdown throughout the entire game. I mean, I'm playing a Dreamcast here! If they decide to make a bad looking game like this, I at least expect 60fps, or a stable framerate!

Loading Times

I've never included loading times in a separate section of a review before, but this just can't be ignored. As soon as you see that it takes around 10 seconds to load the title screen, and then another 10 seconds to load the main menu after you press start, you know you're in for some serious loading times.

Each level, including the smaller boss levels, take around 20-30 seconds to load. Not only the time, but the crazy laser movement makes it sound like your Dreamcast is about to wear itself out from it! Moving backwards and forwards from the edge of the disc to the center constantly for 20-30 seconds cannot be good for it, and probably is the main cause for the long loading times. Had the developers arranged the files on the disc all to a convenient 'track', loading screens would of probably been cut down to about 10 seconds.

Replayability: 7

It depends if you're one of those gamers who would like to collect every single Pizza Planet token or not. Because I am, then I decided to give it a 7, as the replayability is there.

Overall: 6

Had the developers actually removed the slowdown, added texture filters, fixed the controls and the loading times, this game could of been great. Those four things are the only things that make this game seem terrible, and just about 'ok' for a Playstation game. If you ignore those things though, and you are generally into platformers, then chances are you will enjoy it (like I did).

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/16/06