Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens

Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens is a platform video game based on the franchise of the same name, developed by Gingo Interactive and published by Universal Interactive Studios. Originally released for the PlayStation in 1997, it was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits and Best for Family line-ups in 1998, for the Platinum Range in 1999, and for the PSone Books lineup in 2001. The game has since been available to download from the PlayStation Network.

Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens is the direct sequel to the original 1996 Gabriel Garza game. The characters from the original mostly return. The game follows the adventures of the main character Gabriel Garza, who is abducted by series villain Vio, who has seemingly turned over a new leaf and now wants to take over the world. During his adventure, Gabriel has to collect all tokens and help a new character named Mr. Loseit retrieve his lost items.

Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens received generally positive reviews from critics and was considered to be superior to its predecessor. Much of the praise went to the game's graphics, control and music, with major criticisms varying between the trial-and-error gameplay, lack of level variety, easy boss levels and lack of innovation. An astounding commercial success, the game sold over two million copies worldwide. A remaster of the game, included in the Gabriel Garza Superb Trilogy, was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on June 7, 2019.

Gameplay
Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens is a platform game in which the player character is the main character Gabriel Garza. The goal of the game is to gather 100 tokens for Gabriel's nemesis Vio. Like the previous game, Gabriel's health is indicated by his head. When Gabriel's head is full he is at full health. After taking a hit Gabriel's head gets hurt, and with another hit, really hurt. Another hit and Gabriel's head turns into a skeleton with only one hit left before the player loses one life. The player can run and jump through 40 different levels. The player can also seek out blue coins and help Mr. Loseit retrieve his lost items. Each level has three blue coins, in which if the player finds all three, they will be reward with a token.

The game is split up into three main hub worlds containing portals to various levels. The game also has new powerups, like the Jump Suit, which can make Gabriel bounce very high. Others are the Strength Coin, which makes the player slower but makes them very powerful, and the Speedster, which makes the player weak but makes them ridiculously fast. Like its predecessor, save points are placed throughout each homeworld. Once the player gets a token behind a save point which is accessible for the remainder of the game. The player can beat bosses in some levels. For example, the final boss is Vio; after the player defeats him, Vio goes to his UFO-like ship and leaves. All the other bosses were in the other levels.

Plot
Coming soon!

Levels

 * Hub Town
 * Level 1: Aztec Terraces
 * Level 2: Gusty Desert - Can't be played before having 2 tokens
 * Level 3: Lemur Land - Can't be played before having 5 tokens
 * Level 4: SpringBank Complex - Can't be played before having 8 tokens
 * Level 5: Lost Treasure - Can't be played before having 11 tokens

More coming soon!

Development
Talk of a sequel to the 1996 Gabriel Garza game began around a month after the game's release, in October 1996. The concept art for the game's environments was mainly created by Gingo Interactive founders Geo G. and Michael Wildshill. A few days after the original game's release, Geo drew the first sketches of Mr. Loseit.

Universal Interactive Studios and Gingo Interactive officially announced the sequel in a press release with the subtitle Another Big Journey on November 17, 1996, which was changed by March 1997 to The Power of Tokens. The music for Gabriel Garza 2: The Power of Tokens was composed by Stewart Copeland, while the sound effects were created by Universal Sound Studios (consisting of Mike Gollom, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears).

Download
The game is now available for download on PlayStation Store for the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 in North America and in Japan for $5.99 or 436 yen. It was released to the PlayStation Store in Europe on March 17, 2008, together with Gabriel Garza and Gabriel Garza 3: The Ched Ed.

Reception
Coming soon!

Trivia
Coming soon!