by Chuck Bednar
Crash Bandicoot has finally arrived.
Designed to be the Playstation's answer to Mario and Sonic, the original Crash Bandicoot was a decent title at best. Give the folks at Naughty Dog credit - they recognized that the game had flaws and they improved on it. Take the original game engine, throw in more speed, a couple of cool new attacks, and digitized character voices, and you get Crash 2 - a truly enjoyable disc that finally puts the much hyped Australian critter on the map.
If you've never played Crash Bandicoot, the concept is elementary. You dash through hoardes of colorful levels, collect various items in boxes, and beat up on enemies. Crash travels through different Warp Zones, each containing five levels that span various types of terrain. After you clear all the levels in one Warp Zone, you have to defeat boss characters before you can reach the next. Fans of Crash's first effort will recall his famous spin attack, but the marsupial returns armed with a brand spanking new sliding attack and a body splash added to his arsenal. The best new features, however, are Save Wall which allows you to save at any of the Warp Zones, and the abillity to exit any level at any time and return to the Warp Zone using the Start button. The story is fairly strong, especially for this type of game. Just when it seemed as though the world was safe from Dr. Neo Cortex, the evil doc has returned. But has Cortex experienced a change of heart? He learns that the planets will line up in such a way that they'll create a blast of cosmic energy that, if harnessed, could destroy the world. Cortex apparently decides to build a machine that can capture the energy and dissipate it. That's where Crash comes in. Cortex needs 25 purple crystals to power the machine, and he turns to his former arch-enemy for help. Can Cortex be trusted? Maybe, maybe not. Crash learns from N. Brio, a former partner double-crossed by Cortex, that the maniacal one may be up to no good. He tells Crash that there are 47 gems that can stop Cortex if necessary - 42 clear gems awarded to Crash if he finds all the item boxes in the given levels, and 5 colored ones hidden in some of the stages. Crash has little choice but to collect both the gems and the crystals, without truly knowing who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. In addition to fine jewelry, Crash can collect Aku Aku masks, which allow him to survive one hit from an enemy; Wumpa Fruit, which gives Crash a free life for every 100 collected; and Crash Heads, which gives you a an automatic 1-up. While the graphics are basically unchanged from the game's predecessor, they have undergone some tweaking. The background scenes are sharper and more realistic, with brighter colors and a depth which can at times be mistaken for secret passages. Depending on the level, the game uses different camera angles to track Crash's progress.
A few levels have you dashing toward you while avoiding bolders (and other things) ala Indiana Jones. If the boulder happens to catch him, he gets plastered on your TV screen. In fact, the best addition to the graphics seems to be the many new and creative ways ol' Crash bites it. New voice effects highlight a crisp yet unispired soundtrack.
Between quests in the Warp Rooms, various holographic images appear and give our hero instructions or advice. The vocals are a nice touch. The music, however, is somewhat weak, but luckily it gets lost in the outstanding gameplay. While some of the sound effects are quite humorous, such as the gurgling Nitro boxes and Crash's many painful dying cries, more would've helped. This is the one part of the game that boasts no major improvements, though few were needed. Believe it or not, the difficulty is higher than one might think. Sure, the stages are easy enough to get through, but one you take in account that you've gotta find all the item boxes and a bunch of secret items, things get a lot tougher awful quick. The key to beating the bosses is like that of the Donkey Kong Country series - it's not how many times you hit them, it's when you hit them.
There's enough in each level to keep you scouring every inch of them time and time again. True, this game may not make the best use of the Playstation's audio and visual capabilities. Forget all the technical stuff, though. Crash Bandicoot 2 is just plain fun. The exciting stages, the fast-paced challenge, and the numerous secrets are more than enough to keep any gamer hooked for days or weeks on end. Rent it, and you may find yourself buying it. Just trust me on that one - I speak from personal experience.
by Chuck Bednar
Chuck Bednar is a full time freelance writer and sports columnist. He currently serves as the North American Sports Editor with the Canada Post and the NCAA Football editor for Suite 101. Bednar writes a weekly column for e-sports!, where he was recently voted the June Author of the Month, as well as periodical features for InQuest, ByLine, Rockies Golf Daily, WWWiz and others.
