Unfortunately, the gameplay in
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command does not a game make either, really. An unconnected chain of ‘chase the bad guy’ levels through half a dozen worlds or so will leave you looking for some real entertainment, although there’s not much to be found here.
You ‘control’ Buzz Lightyear, out to apprehend criminals before they do Very Bad Things. I put the word control in quotes, because that’s pretty far from what you actually do -- wiggle the analog pad around until he goes somewhat in the direction you like. For reasons only the video game designers understand, the villains you chase are invincible until they get to the end of the level, and you must stay right behind them -- you only have 15 seconds after they get to the end to catch up. If you manage to pass them up, you can get some power-ups and have a friend in the Space Rangers soften them up.
And that’s just about it to the game. Run through a drab level, memorizing where obstacles are to save you time, and hope you get there first.
Yes, there are jetbikes and hoverboards (the last made me think of Back to the Future II), and there are lots of different weapons that you can buy as you run around on the levels, but the whole thing feels so drab and pointless. Every once in a while a bomb will pop up that you have to shoot before it blows up the planet. Why would a villain blow up the planet he’s on? Ugh.
There are two challenges that open up after you defeat a level, allowing you to try to beat it in under a certain time (time trial) or find the robot parts of your buddy. The time trial is pretty difficult, and the robot collection is often near impossible. And the game forces you to do these things -- the later levels have a medal requirement to enter them, and you won’t get enough by just going through the levels. You can also get half-medals by rescuing LGMs and picking up lots of money.
But why bother?
