Toy Story 2 PS1 Remake Hits Big Milestone After 600 Days

A dedicated group of fans have spent the last 600 days redoing the first three levels of one of the PS1's best licensed games – Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue.

For as long as I can remember, licensed games have always had a reputation for being mostly garbage. While we've all sadly long since moved on from games based on movies and TV shows, the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 are home to some real classics, including one licensed game that bucked the trend and showed just how good they really could be.

I'm talking, of course, about Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue, a collect-a-thon platformer loosely based on the second Toy Story that's widely considered one of the best licensed games out there. As with The Simpsons: Hit and Run, it's one of the top games that people want to see remade, which, again like Hit and Run, has actually happened thanks to a group of fans.

Toy Story 2's fan-made remake is 'finished' after 600 days

Unfortunately, it looks like we'll never actually play it

For nearly two years now, YouTuber Level reDesign (as well as a group of other developers) has been trying to remake Buzz Lightyear into the Rescue and sharing their progress on their channel. The first video, posted back in April 2024, showed how much work would actually be needed to go into a remake, as even getting Buzz's model right and redoing Andy's house was a big job.

Family

Toy Story 2 is a nostalgic platformer masterpiece that needs a remaster

It's time for Buzz Lightyear to make a comeback.

Now, nearly two years later, Level reDesign has shared a video of the remake's progress, confirming that after creating 322 custom 3D models, 192 blueprints, adding costumes, and spending 40 hours “baking light,” the remake is finally as finished as the team wants it to be. Keep in mind that all that works is redoing the first three levels of the game. At least it has the game's best level, Andy's Neighborhood.

Level reDesign's video shows just how much work and effort went into the Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue remake, but unfortunately the movie is as close as we'll ever get to actually playing it. A disclaimer in the description notes that the project is for “educational and entertainment purposes only” and will never be released without the “express permission of the copyright holders”.

While that's a bit of a bummer considering how good the remake looks and how much work went into it, it's still an incredibly impressive project that breathes new life into a true classic. I hope Disney takes notes and realizes that many of us would love to dive back into an official remake of the game.