For years I've heard from so many people that while the first Ty the Tasmanian Tiger lives up to its pretty mediocre legacy, I'm always told that Ty 2: Bush Rescue was different. This was the one where they really nailed the formula. Really perfected it. Made it the best it can be. Well, after being surprisingly forgiving and a bit more positive about the first Ty, how do I feel about this 2nd one? Is it everything people have said about it and more? Not really. It's fine, but I feel the game suffers from completely different problems now. Let's get the first thing out of the way, I think it's incredibly impressive that a game from 2004 was so heavily experimenting with Open World gameplay, something that wouldn't become to prevalent until around the late 2000's about the time Assassin's Creed really started popping off, and for the most part, it works pretty damn well. Even more impressive, now that this game has an HD port, the previous loading zones between the open world and levels are now almost seamless. For this game to run this well and load so fast being a 20 year old title is very commendable. Even with getting a bit of extra horsepower in this HD version, the original still had the ability to do most of this at a consistent framerate, so props are still in order. Gameplay is a bit more tweaked and refined. All rangs from the last game return plus much more. Unfortunately, a lot of the rangs this time around feel very unnecessary. The elemental rings from the first game are hardly ever used. Fire Rangs are used about twice in one level, and Ice Rang is used about twice in two different levels, but I never once used the Zappyrang. Not once. I really only stuck with 2 main rangs for most of my playthrough. The X Rang, and updated version of the Infrarang, and the Smashrang, a new rang that allows you to bust open metal crates. The Warprang, an upgrade of the Lashrang, was also used a lot for grappling and swinging on hooks. Other than that, none of the other rangs need to be used ever, and if you're not going for the 100% or platinum, your really not missing much. While the gameplay has been tweaked and improved upon from the first game, it unfortunately feels like you don't get to experience it too much here. Ty 2 on top of your average platformer levels from the original, now pile on side missions and minigames, while on paper sounds like a good way to avoid to much tedium and helps with keeping the game fresh, unfortunately feels like it focused TOO MUCH on these news side segments, as it only feels like you only really have 4 traditional levels, and they're all still about the same length as a standard level in the previous game would be. This results in the games pacing going from fine, to really fast, and then grinding to a halt. It's all over the damn place. Regardless, what is there in the main levels are still fun, and not all the new side segments are boring slots. They do help break up the monotony every now and then. My last problem with the game is the fact that despite still including all the characters from the first game, they all feel like they're barely there and do nothing. Sly is only seen in the first and final cutscenes. Absolutely no time getting to explore him becoming his own person or how he feels about formerly working for Boss Cass. Shazza does drive Ty around the overworld and you could argue she's in a lot of the game, but aside from the beginning and ending cutscene, as well as the first overworld video, she never converses with Ty at all. Same goes for Julius, who only gives you a handful of missions and contributes to the plot only at the end. It's fun to see all these characters back and what they're now doing in this new city, but so little is done with them in 90% of the game that seeing them mostly feels like references to the first, and it just really bugs me. The ga.e also has a real non story. In fact, it feels like a 20 episode season of a TV show. Lots of one adventures and missions, and only a few interconnecting stories that will tie in a little to the plot, but only at the very end. I continue to be very frustrated that Boss Cass is such a fun goofy villain that these games do almost nothing with. COME ON. Have him in more of the game harassing Ty and his crew. Give him and his minions more of a presence in areas that he's invading. SOMETHING besides "Oh boy, he sure is being an evil gentleman in the background." Let me see it please. Despite these gripes, I still enjoyed TY 2, even if it wasn't what everyone was hyping it up to be. Once Krome decides to finally remaster and release TY 3 HD, then I can finish off this series, but it seems like they may want to still wait a while before tackling that.

I loved the first Ty game when I was younger and I thought that remaster still held up well. I expected to really enjoy the sequel as well, since I never played it when I was a kid but it's not great.

Feels like they had too many ambitious ideas they wanted to add to the sequel but didn't really deliver any of them well. The 'open world' is boring, terrible driving mechanics to slowly get from level to level. The Mech sections are dull and repetitive, walk slowly and punch, that's it really. The helicopter missions are super basic, definitely could've made them even slightly more interesting by adding some variety. The core platforming gameplay is probably the only good bit about this game, and it's basically unchanged from the first game. The bosses in this one are also a major stepdown and pretty forgettable.

But the worst aspect of this game...the dialogue. Some of the stupidest and non-sensical character dialogue I've ever heard. I laughed but only at parts that weren't meant to be funny. And the voice acting is atrocious, it felt like they were seeing the script for the first time and just ran with the first take. The terrible accents are painful to listen to.

If you enjoyed this when you were younger, I would recommend just leaving it like that, don't ruin your nostalgia and give this a miss.

I liked this game more than I remembered, and I remembered liking it.

The storytelling in this game is soooooooooo much better than the previous game, and the tone feels appropriately lighter and more self-aware. The enemies have been amped-up, making combat with the different rangs much more satisfying. There is a greater wealth of quirky characters and funny interactions. I also found the collectables so much more reasonable and rewarding to collect. I was honestly shocked by how much this game improved from the first game, which I already liked.

Not every change was for the better: Ty 2's biggest problem is a strange dependence on vehicle segments, few of which are good and take up a significant portion of the game. The level design is also a bit more hallway-like, making exploration less-satisfying in many areas. The pacing of the story is also somewhat awkward, as the first game went much too fast, this one goes a bit too slow, having very little story development between missions and reaching the end without feeling like much has happened.

Nitpicks aside, I love this game, and will definitely re-visit it in the future. I haven't played Ty 3, but everyone says it's complete trash. So, for me, the series ends here, and it was a good note to end on.

Ty 2, You little Beauty! (I did it again)

tons of fun! it's impressive what krome did with these HD remasters, clearly a lot of love went into them. they're even still being updated with new rangs, costumes, etc! it's incredibly comendable and it paid off cause similar to the original, i had a great time here! i remember a good bit of the original from when i was a kid, but i had forgotten if i played this one. when i booted into the hub world i instantly remembered it, especially that giant ramp. i didn't remember much beyond that, but i ran around the starting hub world for actual hours as a kid. it checks out, cause this is a really solid hub world! i do wish ty was maybe a bit faster, or at least had a dash/run button because it can feel a bit large for him but it's got some fun exploration to it and just sticks out as very memorable to me. the meat of the games is outside of the hub town, which is for the most part pretty solid! if you know me i actually kinda love platformers that do random vehicles/gameplay change ups/etc for no real reason and this game is FULL of that. there's a kart racer, mech combat, helicopter and submarine rescue missions. i fully understand not liking or wanting that but it is all ontop of a pretty solid 3d platformer if you're willing to get past it. i will say i do prefer the originals more standard approach to collectathon with a few big levels with multiple objectives compared to this games tiny little areas that are generally more linear. it was still fun, but it makes a lot of the platforming areas feel more uninteresting and stand out way less than the levels from the original. they're still decently fun, it's helped by ty feeling great to control and there being a ton of different rangs that felt fun to use. the mechs also are generally pretty fun, aside from the huge yellow one where the whole gimmick is lifting huge things. a game that already can feel a bit slow gets put to a complete stop at any of those sections and i did not like that mech at all. the 2 main standard ones were fun, and the special one you unlock for the final boss is super cool and a neat reward for getting to the end.

i don't know what it is about ty the tasmanian tiger in particular that just clicks with me so hard with these silly weird mascot 3d platformers! i've played a ton of them but for some reason everything about ty sticks out as a better time, to be fair the games (at least, the first and this) are solid games but really nothing THAT special in the grand scheme but something just works really well for me lol. if ur a 3d platformer freak like me i'd wholeheartedly recommend the original and this game! hopefully the third isn't as awful as some people say.

Games I Dislike That Everybody Else Likes

"Look at how they massacred my boy... " - Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather (1972).

Monotony. Right off the bat it's impossible to knock the ambition on display, trying to take the series in a new direction - but out of a combination of sufficient resources not being there and a core concept that isn't fully realized yet, it flounders as soon as it begins. Instead of having some of the finest, most definable levels of any 3D platformer collectathon like the (infinitely superior) first game you've got a shittier collection of micro-levels that mostly feel the same as one another - in an overworld that's a major bore to navigate. Frill Neck Forest is kind of okay with its big floor net and lightly foggy skies, but the rest bite the dust. The progression system here can't even be called competent let alone satisfying, and the voice acting mostly stinks (I loathe that Steve character). And in trying to be a Ratchet & Clank/Jak and Daxter clone you inevitably end up being worse than even the crappiest games from those series. A big swing, but ultimately a miss.

A great remaster of a fairly middling sequel.

Ty 2 does the Jak 2 thing of adding a big open world and mechs to the sequel. And both of those things are the least interesting parts of the game. The mech fights are boring and the open world is empty and a chore to navigate. The levels themselves are pretty fun but there are FAR fewer of them than there were in Ty 1 because the open world is meant to replace the need for more levels.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you're an absolute sucker for ps2 era mascot platformers like I am