Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

"Undeniably the best in the trilogy of incredible games"

The original Crash Bandicoot was (and is still) a great game, and one of the first must-have exclusives for the PlayStation. Despite its flaws, like only D-pad controls and a not so great save system, it was still an extremely enjoyable game, and I still play it sometimes. Now, sequels aren't often received very well, because they're known for screwing up everything that made the original one great. But not this game. Crash Bandicoot 2 is the blueprint of how to make a sequel right.


GAMEPLAY:

The gameplay is great. In Crash Bandicoot 1, it was really only 2 moves. Jump and spin. In Crash Bandicoot 2, you can jump, spin, slide, belly flop, slide-jump, slide-spin, crouch, and crawl (I hope I didn't forget any).

The controls couldn't be any better. The game was released after Sony got analog sticks for their controllers, so unlike Crash Bandicoot 1, this game supports analog sticks. I actually finished the whole game with the D-pad, because I didn't have any controllers with analog sticks, and even the D-pad controls are perfect. But don't get me wrong, the controls are still way better with analog sticks.

The levels are still only linear paths, but don't feel as claustrophobic as in Crash Bandicoot 1, and there are more optional paths than only one path.

There are a few stages where you use vehicles, like a jet-pack, some weird surfboard, and a small polar bear. These parts are fun, but the jet-pack controls could be a little bit better.

The camera is perfect, with only one exception, and that's when backtracking a level. But there's only one place in the whole game this can get annoying. One thing I find weird is that this problem hasn't even been fixed yet in the newest Crash Bandicoot game, Crash of the Titans. Weird...



GRAPHICS:

For a PS1 game in 1997, this is just incredible, with very solid frame rate, and fast loading times (I know N64 fanboys will laugh at me now...). I mean, the loading times are just as fast as in Crash Bandicoot 1. That's impressive, because this game looks twice as good, and has much longer levels than any of the levels in the first game.

The level design is some of the best I have ever seen, even if it's very similar to Crash Bandicoot 1. Well, don't try to fix what isn't broken, remember? There are a few new settings in this game too, like the jet-pack levels and the new boulder levels. I've heard the design is repetitive? I can't believe anyone can say that. That's just wrong.

The design of the levels just give a distinct feeling and atmosphere only Crash Bandicoot 1, Crash Bandicoot 2, and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune gives me. I really hope more game developers will make games with the same environment as those 3 games.

My favourite levels have got to be the ruin levels. Sure they're the least bright and colorful levels in the whole game, but they're really epic, and makes me forget I'm playing a cartoon game. I love the river levels and the jet-pack levels too.


The animations are incredible for the PS1. Everything looks very smoothly animated. This is one of the few PS1 games I know that actually have some sort of animated faces. Crash has many different expressions in this game, and they all look good. Yeah, Crash Bandicoot 1 had that too, but not nearly as good as in Crash Bandicoot 2.



SOUND:

The sound is good too. Some of the sound effects are the same from Crash Bandicoot 1 though, but there are lots of new sounds effects too. Nothing special about the sound effects, but I like how most of the sound effects are more realistic than cartoony. The voice acting is outstanding though.



MUSIC:

The music is just awesome. I loved the music in the first one, but this is just pure greatness. The sound quality of the music is crystal clear, and every single soundtrack fits perfectly to the environment (like Crash Bandicoot 1), while still being very catchy and memorable (unlike Crash Bandicoot 1). When you enter a 'skull route' or 'gem route', the music changes into a little faster soundtrack with even better melody which sounds a bit more serious. I mean, what more can you ask for?

Just like in Crash Bandicoot 1, the Dr. Neo. Cortex theme is the best of the best.

(I love the bass guitar used in some of the soundtracks... Best bass guitar ever.)



STORY:

Hard to say anything here... The game starts from where Crash Bandicoot 1 ended, you see Cortex falling from the sky just like Crash 1 ended, and hit the ground... And he survives!? Uh, yeah, OK... anyway, then he finds a crystal he can use to power his new and improved 'Cortex Vortex' space station, which he hasn't even built yet, and make the whole world his mindless followers.

1 year later, the space station is finished, but not only does he need he need one 'master crystal', he will also need 25 'slave crystals' from the Earth, and since he doesn't have any minions left on Earth, he captures Crash and says he needs Crash's help to collect the 25 crystals to save the world. Crash is gullible enough to believe him, and starts collecting crystals at once. But after collecting a few crystals, Dr. N. Brio (the other bad scientist from Crash Bandicoot 1) contacts Crash and demands Crash to stop collecting the crystals, or he will do anything to stop Crash. He demands Crash to start collecting gems instead of crystals. So Crash needs to collect both crystals and gems, because he has no idea who is the bad guy.



CHALLENGE:

If you're not going for the 100% ending, this game won't give much challenge to the more experienced gamer, but completing it 100% is challenging.

The boss fights could be harder though.



REPLAYABILITY:

The replayability is great. The game can take less than an hour to finish if you speedrun it, but if you're going for 100 %, it can take days. You will find yourself replaying this game over and over again.

The game is 10 years old now, and I still find myself replaying this game as much as most other gamers replay Super Mario Bros 1! Except Crash Bandicoot 2 takes a lot longer time to finish than 5 minutes.





FINAL RECOMMENDATION:

Take everything that was great about the original Crash Bandicoot, and make it better. Then take everything that sucked about the original Crash Bandicoot and just erase it. Then you get Crash Bandicoot 2. A perfect game in an almost perfect trilogy of incredible games.

If you like platform games, you should check this game out. If you like the original Crash Bandicoot, you NEED to check this game out. If there's one PS1 exclusive everyone who owns a PlayStation should have, it's this game. It's the best PlayStation 1 exclusive you can ever find (Metal Gear Solid was ported over for the PC, and even a re-make is available on the GameCube, so that game doesn't count).



BUY THIS GAME IF YOU HAVE ANY SENSE.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/25/07

Game Release: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (EU, December 1997)