Disney's Lightyear Is Now A PS1 Game
Ah, the '90s - dashing home from school to drink a Panda Pop, eat some Turkey Twizzlers, and watch The Simpsons on BBC Two. When not doing this, we were exploring Kanto with Pokemon Red and Blue, jumping off a dam in GoldenEye 007, or creaking open the doors of the Spencer Mansion in Resident Evil. We miss this bygone era, but don't worry, it's still here in spirit.
The decade of dungarees and Fresh Prince was rounded off by Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue, as the game followed the Pixar movie of the same name. While the OG Toy Story game from 1995 was slightly too early for the PlayStation, its sequel is remembered as one of the console's most underrated. Now, someone has given 2022's Lightyear the PS1 treatment.
What Does Lightyear On The PS1 Look Like?
YouTuber Hoolopee has reimagined the Lightyear trailer in classic PS1 style. Harking back to Sony's nostalgic console, we see Chris Evans' Buzz Lightyear rising through the ranks of Star Command and saving the galaxy.
Although it's an almost shot-for-shot demake of the movie's trailer, there are small details like Buzz keeping his purple hood on. You might also spot that you can pick up this mythical platformer at Al's Toy Barn - a major setting of Toy Story 2 and the 1999 game.
Fans were blown away and shouting "to infinity and beyond" to Hoolopee. The OP said it took him around a week to make, however, he started work on some of the assets back in November. One fan cheered, "This is amazing, the style and the animation is perfect. Incredible work!" while another added, "This is so sick! Makes me want to see the movie even more now." A third concluded: "All we need now is a woody film along with this within the next 5 years, and an accompanying PS1 version to go along with it."
Why Are Demakes So Popular?
As much as we're obsessed with putting The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in Unreal Engine 5 or gawping at Tess' realism in The Last of Us remake, there's an equally obsessed fan base that can't get enough of demakes. We've written a lot about the lauded Bloodborne demake giving FromSoftware's gruelling Souls-like the PS1 treatment, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Other AAA releases like Resident Evil Village and Horizon Zero Dawn look great in all their pixelated glory. We also have to give the nod to a PS1 Elden Ring - imagining what the Lands Between would've looked like back in the day. Sadly, a lot of these are just a bit of fun that don't actually let you play the game. The Bloodborne demake is a rarity in this case, and as developers don't smile kindly on someone taking their work for remakes, demakes, or whatever else, we'll have to get our retro gaming fix by playing Toy Story 2 via PlayStation Plus.