Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

"Crash is finally back to his adventures, and is better than ever!"

Graphics
Some of the best graphics on a PlayStation2 game to-date are included in this game. The graphics are the best out of the Crash series, although this is no surprise considering it's on a new system. All of the levels were polished to perfection on this game, and the surroundings of them look cool as well. No pop-up of areas on the levels or any other little annoyances affect this game. The levels also have unique areas, such as the frozen lake on the snow levels, including a nice refection of anything on it. Crash and all of the other characters also are nice-looking and have fluid motions, just like the previous Crash platform games. They are much smoother. Crash also looks exactly like he did in the previous games and moves just like him. Any of the vehicles you pilot on the game are smooth and clean. Everything in it is covered in detail, including the level's surroundings. All of the levels also can have their own lighting effects, which looks very neat.

Gameplay
Let's just say that if you liked the controls on Crash Bandicoot 1, 2, and 3, you will love the controls on The Wrath of Cortex. Crash controls exactly like he did, and has a few moves only useable after progressing through the game. One is a tiptoe, which lets you walk over Nitro crates, unique to this game. Other moves include ones you may have already seen, such as the Crash Dash (sprint), and the Bazooka, all of which control nicely. Just beating all the levels through is a challenge. But like the other games, you can go back and get clear gems, colored gems, and relics, including the all hard platinum ones. There is plenty of stuff in this game to last you a while. The collision detection is perfect, but sometimes I have trouble judging platforms like the previous games, yet it is nothing you can't get used to, and now I can judge them perfectly. The new vehicles, including a total of about 15 different vehicles or more, are very fun to control around the level, but some of them don't last the whole level, meaning you will be controlling a vehicle for a while, then jump to a regular land level, which I thought was very cool. Some of the things you pilot are so fun, you will go to the level over and over again, such as the mech, or sphere. Another thing unique to this Crash game is the use of his sister, Coco. Yes, you could use her on Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, but she was only playable as she was riding a tiger cub, and not playable without it. In this game, she is playable with her own levels, and can run around just like Crash, and has a few unique moves of her own, like the Sweep Kick. She controls just like Crash, just as fluidly.

Sound
They brought back the same sounding music from the first five games on the original PlayStation. The music sounds just like it used to, and some of it is the same basic song, but remixed a little. But, some new music was also added. In fact, some of the later music can actually be classified as decent music for a motion picture score. But overall, the music is good, and offered some new tunes as well. The sound effects are all the same, like Crash spinning, boxes smashing, collecting fruit, everything.

Overall
Overall, this is a very well-put together game, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed it on the PlayStation. If you disliked the Crash games on the PlayStation, at least rent it, because this game is full of surprises.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/01, Updated 11/11/01