Description:
Buzz Lightyear uses arc lasers, hoverboards, and old-fashioned Space Ranger muscle power as he attempts to save the universe from Emperor Zurg and his vile minions in this multilevel action game. The mission: chase bad guys, then defeat them. The game has 14 primary missions that take place in nine different 3-D locations. Most of these locales are worlds: Jo-Ad, a pastoral planet; Karn, a swampy world where the ooze slows the action; and Flamar, a planet where players must dodge molten lava hazards, are just a few of the wild planets Buzz must visit. Players must help Buzz complete each mission before moving on to the next. There are two levels of difficulty: Cadet and Space Ranger. As Buzz races through these strange worlds, there are shields, wild modes of transportation, and even teleport machines to help him on his way. The weaponry in this game would make Charlton Heston's day: there's a standard issue laser gun, homing plasma guns, iceguns, Gatling guns, arc lasers, and various grenades and rockets. We didn't know Buzz was such a shoot 'em up kind of guy! Though the myriad missions take place in different settings, with different hazards, this Windows-only game can become boring, since the basic nature of each mission is chase and destroy. It's possible to win medals for rescuing little green men, and one of the two bonus levels involves finding all of the parts of a robot character (XR) who's been blown to bits, but even these extra elements are still just chase scenes with different motivations. Attention to detail is missing on this program: Commander Nebula repeats mission instructions on an endless loop unless the player hits a space bar to interrupt, and even on the highest resolution setting, this game lacks that smooth, flawless Toy Story look. Also, the keyboard user interface was serviceable for game play, but it was counterintuitive and frustrating when we needed to change options. We think some of Zurg's minions may be to blame. (Ages 8 and up) --Anne Erickson
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