"This game was not as good as I expected it to be..."

Crash Boom Bang is the second party-style game in the Crash series. Since I am a big Crash fanboy, I had high expectations for this game, but it didn't live up to what I thought this game would be. Here is my review for Crash Boom Bang.

Story: 8/10

The story goes something like this. A guy named Viscount is looking for a super power crystal that grants any wish. He needs some help to obtain it so he holds a competition. Crash and his friends decide to enter in this contest. The story unveils more once you go deeper in Single Player Mode. Yeah, the story is cheesy. What do you expect from a party game? I give the story an 8.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in this game don't look half bad. As a matter of fact, I like the looks of the boards. Each board is detailed with a different theme. The thing I dislike though is the character models. Coco looks like she went from 13 to 30 in one night and Pura is now as tall as Crash, wears shorts, and walks on his hind legs. Overall, I give the graphics an 8.

Controls: 6/10

The controls in this game are somewhat complex. This game relies on heavily on the touchscreen. Almost every mini-game uses the touch screen. While some of the mini-games are easy with the touch stick, other mini-games are hard and frustrating. The controls stick either is unresponsive or messing you up. This is what makes some mini-games unbearable. I give the controls a 6.

Sound: 9/10

No complaints about the music from me. The character's voices on the other hand are quite annoying. The noise Coco makes when she is winning is quite annoying and Crash makes an awkward sound when he gets an item. I give the sound a 9.

Gameplay: 7/10

First off I will talk about the boards. The boards in this game each have their own objective. On some boards you must reach a certain destination while on other boards you must find key items on spaces. Each board has a hidden map. A hidden map is an area that can't be seen on the touchscreen unless you are in that area. Also, each board has different happening events that trigger when you land on that space.

There are a lot of items in this game. Each item has a purpose. You can either use an item on yourself or use it on an opponent. This gives strategies on the board. I wish they would've made the items more useful though.

There are a total of 40 mini-games in this game. A mini-game is triggered by landing on a mini-game space. The mini-games both use the touchscreen and the mic. Each board has its own mini-game. This means that a mini-game you play on one board will be not be playable on another board. This causes a problem. You play each mini-game over and over again on the same board which gets repetitive.

The boards run sort of similar to Mario Party. You hit a dice block that is numbered 1-6. You move the amount of spaces based on what number you got. Each space has its own effect. Once a mini-game is played, you must win the mini-game to get some points. The objective is to get the most points.

There is three different modes yo can choose. Festival Mode is where you can play by yourself freely or with friends. Single-Player mode is where you play by yourself. The other mode is the your room. You can play mini-games you unlocked, send messages to friends, or just mess around.

Overall, I give the gameplay a 7.

Rent, buy, or forget about it?

If you are a Crash fan, then you should buy this game. 30 dollars is not bad for this kind of game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/06