Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Developer: Naughty Dog Publisher: SCEA Release Date: 31 October 1997 Genre: Platform ESRB Rating: E NOTE: Please excuse the poor quality of the screenshots. The Playstation 1 was truly a fantastic console. So many gamers have fond memories of titles that brought them countless hours of joy and excitement. Not only that, but the Playstation 1 also set the bench mark for so many genres in gaming. One can think of Final Fantasy 7 which is arguably described as the hallmark of Role-Playing games. It further saw the release of Gran Turismo which reinvented the driving and racing genre. On the other hand, the release of Crash Bandicoot signalled a new era for platform titles. Colourful worlds and imaginative lands, fused with the power of the PSX to fuel these creations, allowed for gamers to truly experience the potential of the platform genre. Amidst a plethora of fantastic platform releases, with Spyro the Dragon and Croc to name a few, Naughty Dog emerged as the forerunner of companies developing platform games. Their Crash Bandicoot series is widely considered as the best the console has ever seen. Combined with their Jak and Daxter series, the company have consolidated their spot as one of the top developers of platform video games. This review will focus on their fantastic second release in the Crash Bandicoot series. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is set shortly after the end of the first game. Cortex crash lands on an island and finds himself deep in an unknown cave. Within he finds a large pink crystal, which will allow him to proceed with his evil plans. However, he soon realises that he will require further smaller fragments of the same crystal in order extract enough power for his needs. To do so he seeks out an unlikely ally. In the meantime, Crash is relaxing on the beach with his sister Coco. She soon has need of a new battery for her computer and sends Crash in search for this battery. Soon Crash is teleported into a strange room where he is contacted by Cortex. The villain persuades Crash to undertake his crusade to find the missing crystals necessary for his needs. Crash decides to help him with the belief that he must do so in order to prevent a catastrophe. Misled by Cortex, Crash embarks on an entertaining adventure to find all the crystals, and discover the true reason behind Cortex’s desire to possess them. The storyline, needless to say, is not fantastic by any stretch of the imagination. It is pretty straightforward and predictable at best. However, a game such as this does not necessarily need a deep and involving story to make it great. After all, it is all about the actual gameplay and not about what happens in between. It simply acts as a medium between the levels to enable some kind of progression in the game. The gameplay is where this title really shines. Playing through the levels is a joy. The most important thing to say is that it is incredibly addictive. The simplicity of the design and the controls are what make this so much fun. The game begins with you in a circular room, surrounded by doorways to five different levels. You may play the five levels in any order, and replay them if you so desire. Once the five are complete, you gain access to an elevator in the centre of the room which you may take to the next room of five doorways. In between however you are challenged by a boss who you must defeat in order to progress to the next room. There are a total of five rooms, with a hidden sixth for you to uncover. The levels themselves are extremely fun, but at times rather short. Your goal in each level is to find the pink crystal and reach the end. Once all five crystals are collected in each room, as mentioned earlier, you get the chance to fight a boss and progress to the next set of levels. Each level however has hidden gems in it as well. They are usually attained by breaking every single box in the level, but some are only attainable through exploration. These are not required to successfully complete the game, but are necessary for those players interested in achieving 100% completion. The levels are generally presented in a behind-the-character perspective and occasionally divert to a more side scrolling view or a front-of-the-character angle. They are relatively linear. You run around a tight path and defeat the various enemies by sliding, spinning or jumping onto them. You are further faced with various obstacles to guide your character through, such as pit falls, sinking platforms or crumbling bridges. Each level also contains a bonus section, which helps you receive bonus lives. Playing through the levels is fun. They are not always challenging but do provide enough entertainment to make this game addictive and exciting. Each new level brings with it a new path to negotiate through and increases in difficulty. The levels are divided into various designs such as a snow area, a jungle area and even a sewers area, to name but a few. The game itself is not very challenging and experienced gamers should have completed it in a couple of days or so. The levels are short, but fun, and do have the odd difficult sections that will frustrate even the most experienced of platform gamers. Crash is usually killed when he falls into a pit or is hit by an enemy, however, with the help of an Aku Aku mask found throughout the levels, he can survive one or more blows. Collecting three successive masks without getting hit results in a spell of invincibility for Crash which decimates every enemy and box before him. The game mechanics are impressive. The controls are simple enough. You mainly need to jump and spin. You will also need to master the slide and the high jump. Beyond that there is not much else in terms of controlling your character. The great thing about the game is that you almost never find yourself stuck in the scenery or be the subject of a frustrating glitch. The game is very well designed and runs without a hitch. The graphics of the game are superb for a title developed in 1997. This is perhaps one of the PSX’s finest looking games. Like most platformers, the environments are colourful and friendly. The backdrops are pretty for a PSX game, and the characters are well designed and structured. All in all the graphics are impressive. The sound in the game is brilliant to say the least. The voice acting is not legendary or anything but the in game music is just so captivating. As you play through the levels you are treated to a soundtrack that really sets the mood. Fast beats, keyboard masterpieces and just fantastic atmosphere are the order of the day as your hyperactive hero jumps and spins his way through each level. All in all this is a mighty fine platformer that improves significantly over the original Crash Bandicoot. Although it is rather short and a tad too easy, this game is great fun and a must for every PSX collection. It may appear to be a little childish but it can certainly be enjoyed by all and it is a nice change from the usual violent games we see so often. If you are looking for a short and sweet game to last you a couple of days you could certainly do A LOT worse than Crash Bandicoot. The fact that the PSX is also the home of a trilogy of Crash games, as well as two fantastic spin-offs (Crash Bash and Crash Team Racing), there is much to enjoy in the world of the crazy orange bandicoot. Story: 6/10 Predictable and not very exciting but also not unbearable. Gameplay: 9/10 Too much fun. The reason it is not a perfect 10 is due to the ease of most of the game. Graphics: 10/10 Beautiful graphics for this PSX title. Sound: 9/10 Great sound and fantastic soundtrack. Replayability: 8/10 There is a high probability you will come back and play through this game again. I have played through it three times myself. Total: 42/50 This is a fantastic game for the PSX. It’s a must play, especially for platform fans. For those that are looking for a good platform game for the PSX, they would struggle to find a better option than the Crash Bandicoot series.
Nice review, pal. Crash is legend, man, I remember days spent over my friends' houses, playing this for hours and hours. Excelent game.
I checked it twice man. Don't spot any mistakes. If you could show me where? Thanks Jin Crash is awesome, I agree. I just love the original Crash games. It's a pity the more recent ones are nowhere near as good in my opinion. But thanks for the comment.
Never! Just kidding. Excellent review my friend, can't wait for the next one. Haven't played Crash in a long while, and I never was a big fan, but I'll try this sometime.
A decent review for once. Good one. EDIT: Thought you were monter. Nice review grimsim1. If this was monter's, I would have been dreaming. I've played all of the PSX Crashes.
Crash Bandicoot was my favourite PSX series of games. Your review was awesome. I think i get up to the 5th floor then my memory card broke. Seeing this review makes me wonder what it would be like to play this game again. Great job.
Lol. Anand, had me worried there. Thanks for reading it ROmz, its thanks to RomUlation that I got the chance to play it again. Its up for download in the PSX ISO section. Great stuff.
great review mate. The only mistake I can see is this Crash and Coco are actually in the jungle/forest area, not the beach Crash 2 was the first Crash game I got, life was so much simpler then lol.
