Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

"What happened to Crash! Was he drawn in a day"

I played this game to see what was so good about it. I normally love all Crash Bandicoot games, especially the first few games, and I was excited to see a new game on the shelf. So I bought it. Tryed the game out and played for an hour....WHAT A WASTE! The only reason someone should buy it, is to complete their Crash Bandicoot collection...like me!

MUSIC 6/10

The music in the game has interesting SFX, adn neat music to the levels, but it lacks what Crash music is about. It is not memerable, meaning I can barely remember it in my head, and it makes me wanna turn the sound off my TV and listen to a cat being strangled (or even Backstreet Boys!!!)

GAMEPLAY 3/10

The levels are a disgrace to people who liked the original designs from the first few games. The first set of levels were too hard for first levels, and the final levels were simple, when you have mastered the controls. Underwater levels have changed significantly from Crash Warped. Crash does not have vehicles and he should not. Bosses are completley terrible. They are always Crunch...repeatedly. Tropy, N. Gin, Tiny, and Dingodile, have no part in the game, and they were some of the best villians...wait...wasn't there another important character...Brio? Where did he go? The second boss is way to difficult for a beginner boss. Time trials are all the same time for each level in each section, so the first five levels will all be say 1:50:00 or around that. Why aren't they all spaced out, depending on how long each level should be! Collecting gems changed from a scavenger hunt, to grocery shopping! BORING! Crystals should have been more near the end of the level, but now are found in the middle of the level. Checkpoints are very, very, rare and seeing as they are like half a level apart! Whatever happened to riding on Polar Bears and Tigers? That's whats cool about Crash. It is not just cars! Crash runs from boulders...not dragons! What is this...fantasy or an adventure that starts out in a beach! (ie. Crash Bandicoot 1). But it is still fun to see him running from new stuff. We get to see some improvements from Vivendi...ugh!

STORYLINE 5/10

So...aern't the stories supposed to be all about Crash, seeing as he is the main character!? Now, they are all about the elementals and Uka Uka. Aku Aku has no part in the whole story, he is just a guardian. Cortex plays a tiny role in the story. HEY!? Isn't the title Wrath of Cortex? Not wrath of the Elementals and Uka Uka? The only part Coco plays is playing in 3 levels and they are particularily boring! Why are there past bosses such as Tropy, N. Gin, Tiny and Dingodile just debate in a conference of evil? I mean, shouldn't they have a supporting role in the storyline?

GRAPHICS 3/10

Well, well, well, Vivendi. I feel disgraced! Playstation One games, from 1996, had better graphics than a game made in the new milennium! And isn't PS2 supposed to have improved graphics wise? (Not that I'm saying all PS2 games have bad graphics, just Vivendi graphics! NO APOLIGIES VIVENDI!) The boxes are way different than the Naughty Dog boxes! I mean, the Naughty Dog ones were big and actually had a breaking sound when destroyed, and were detailed! They had lines in them showing that they were wooden! These are just cardboard crap! A bouncy box springs Crash up, but when he is in the air, he reaches up. Normally, he would hit them with his head! But now, it's just stupid! And Crash! Did you watch the video from the Ring because your face has been distorted like crazy! Cortex looks even worse! What happened? He looked cool and evil, in Crash 1, 2 and 3! Now, he looks like a stuffed animal! And have you noticed in the instruction booklet his N is backwards! Tropy doesn't look like Tropy! He looks like a robot rodent that has been run over by a car and declared roadkill! N. Gin lloks really bad, and girly! Tiny is not bad, but doesn't look right. (At least he's still fat and stupid!) Dingodile who is rarely seen looks different, in a bad way! Even though Vivendi destroyued the PS2 Crash games, I still have to say that the huge adventure for GBA, is really quite good. Not long enough or hard enough, but good enough to make it past 40%. (I'd rate it a 70% and thats really good!) All other games were above 80 % (I mean the original Naughty Dog games!)

RENT OR BUY

Only buy it if you want a complete Crash collection, otherwise, rent it if you are stupid! Stay FAR AWAY from it if you are sensible!

Please note...

The cover may make the game look awesome, but ti is far different to what the game really is!

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/05