Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue is a 2004 3D platforming game developed by Krome Studios and published by EA Games for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox systems, along with a 2D side-scrolling version of the game developed and released for the Game Boy Advance by Halfbrick. It is the sequel to Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and the second installment to the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series.
The game was remastered in high-definition for Microsoft Windows and was made available through Steam in 2017. On January 14, 2021, Krome Studios announced the start of a Kickstarter campaign to fund the remastered versions for release on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Reaching their target goal in less than 24 hours, the game was released on March 30, 2021 for the Nintendo Switch, on June 23, 2021 for the Xbox One and on June 30, 2021 for the PlayStation 4.
Gameplay
Bush Rescue is set in Southern Rivers, a rural Australian countryside divided into many smaller areas, such as Bush Rescue HQ, the town of Burramudgee, and various other inhabited regions. Presented as a non-linear open world game, the player is given a degree of choice as to where to go and the order of what missions to accomplish. While most of the gameplay is on foot, the player is occasionally given a selection of vehicles and weapons to control, which include trucks, mechanical body suits known as "Bunyips," mortar launchers, helicopters, and go-karts.
The game progresses by completing missions, which range from helping town citizens, delivering items from one point to another, destroying mission-critical objects, and defeating certain enemies/bosses. After completing a handful of normal missions, the player is assigned a plot-critical mission, which progresses the game further and unlocks new areas upon completion. Ty's trademark weapons are his twin boomerangs, which can be thrown individually or together to defeat enemies, be used to perform a glide after jumping or falling, manipulate objects to create or clear pathways and utilize objects for maneuvers. Ty can also use a bite attack, which lunges himself at the nearest enemy, crate, or object with a large jaw chomp. It also allows him to reach hidden areas of objects by chaining bites together (Similar to the Homing Attack in Sonic games). New boomerangs can be purchased using Opals, the game's currency, at Sly's Boomerang Shop in Burramudgee, each with varying differences in combat effectiveness and functionality.
Multiplayer consists of Mario Kart–style go-kart racing, where players use various items to disrupt other racers as they compete to reach the finish line. The mode is playable split-screen with up to four players (two in the PS2 version).
While the story and overall gameplay remains the same as the console versions, the Game Boy Advance version plays as a 2D side-scrolling platformer as opposed to a fully 3D game. The game also is more restrictive, changing the open world vehicle exploration found in the console versions to an overworld map with enemies scattered throughout in real-time. Interacting with foes triggers a driving minigame where all enemies must be destroyed before being allowed to proceed, similar to Bionic Commando. Go-cart racing and all side quests associated with it were also completely removed, and no multiplayer modes are programmed in this version.
Plot
Following from where the previous game left off, the Tasmanian Tiger Ty manages to defeat his Cassowary nemesis Boss Cass using his father's Doomerang given to him by his reformed brother Sly, destroying Cass's Neo Fluffy X mech and retrieving the last missing talisman. After Ty returns the talisman to Rainbow Cliffs, his parents who were trapped in the alternate realm of "The Dreaming" during an earlier battle with Boss Cass return to the real world. Ty and his parents embrace and Rainbow Cliffs is saved. Boss Cass is later detained by police as a result of the incident.