Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

"An average platformer with a few small problems"

Just a few years ago,if you had told me Crash Bandicoot would be on a Nintendo system I would not have believed you.Nevertheless,it happened,and I am here to give you all my opinion on this very average game.
First of all,if you did not like the older Crash bandicoot games,chances are you will not like this one.If you still insist that you might,then read on.

Story-8/10

Crash and his younger sister Coco are out water skiing when freaky stuff starts happening.Aku Aku discovers it is all the work of Uka Uka and Dr. Cortex,who have awakened a group of destructive masks known as the ''Elementals'',It is up to Crash and Coco to collect crystals and beat Dr. Cortex's new secret weapon,Crunch,to bring peace once again to the Earth.
Not as exciting as Resident Evil,but several times better than most Mario game stories.

Gameplay-7/10

Collect Crystals and beat a sometimes difficult boss every 6 stages.Simple,and won't take you very long.It has been done several times before.
Leaves much to be desired.

Sound-8/10

A few catchy themes,and the SFX aren't annoying.However,Coco's voice acting is sub-par in some places,and you may find the sounds getting a bit repetitive after a while.One shining point is the inclusion of Jess Harnell of Animaniacs fame as one of the Elementals.Most of the time,though,I choose to turn it all the way down and listen to my stereo instead.

Graphics-9/10

The strong point of the game.In some places,the framerate is slow,but not very many,and in other places the framerate is very high as well.The new look of the boxes I prefer much more over the original design.Graphic renderings are very well done,and Crash has never looked better.
Still,there is still some pixellation,and for a next-generation game,it could be much better,so this is just short of a 10.

Replay Value-5/10

The only thing that saves this from a 1/10 is the fact that if you collect all of the gems,you see an alternate ending.Collecting relics unlocks new stages,and it could be fun to get all of them,but aside from that,this is pretty much a one-time game.

Overall score-8/10

This game would be better as a rental than to buy.Fans of the series may enjoy it for a while,but more likely it will collect dust lying at the bottom of your game stack in very little time,due to the fact it takes so little time to spend all this game has to offer.
You'll get alot more out games like Metroid Prime or Star Fox Adventures,trust me.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/03, Updated 02/25/03