Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

CRASH BANDICOOT 2: Cortex Strikes Back! (1997) is one of the greatest Crash sequels, brought to players by Naughty Dog (Crash, Jak and Daxter, Last of Us). Crash 2 is the game that I played for hundreds of hours as a child, and it still holds a very strong and special place in my heart. The nostalgic force is strong with this one.

"Crash Bandicoot is on an adventure to collect crystals and help Dr. Neo Cortex save the world, or so it seems."

The game is a puzzle platformer, and has excellent level designs, characters, boss fights, and story. The level become progressively more challenging as the game goes on. The music and sounds effects are iconic and so well done. This game has such a great, unforgettable OST.

Crash Bandicoot 2 is by far one of the greatest games of all time, in my humble opinion, and my personal favorite in the series.

Following the events of the first one(that I have no idea what are, I haven't played it and it's not like these are that much about plot, anyway... I avoid it as I hear it's even harder than this, and life's too short for that much frustration), Dr. Neo Cortex comes upon very powerful crystals and then contacts Crash and tells him he needs his help, to collect all 25 of them. He insists that he's good this time, and we believe him right up until we read the title. I've tried this and the third game, and comparisons are unavoidable. They all come out in favor of the latter, I'm afraid. The one thing I can see as something some could call positive is that this is tougher(I'd say too much so, it ends up not being fun at least half of the time), and there are those who want the challenge(and hey, good on you). Other than that... there are bugs and glitches, and many places are rather awkward and just barely work right. Did they not have time to complete this properly? The difficulty goes back and forth, and several of the very last levels are by far the easiest, so some may give up near the middle of this, expecting it to get worse. Couldn't they just have rearranged the order? The graphics leave a bit to be desired, and better-looking stuff came out during and before this. And worse still, there is a distinct lack of color(it's straining to the eyes with all these gloomy, drab sights... and it's inconsistent with the tone, which is light and child-friendly) and creativity to this, the greatest aspect of "Warped". It feels remarkably uninspired, and I see no excuse for this. This isn't licensed, I don't see why it would have been rushed, and I personally would not have wanted my name attached to this as it was released. There are few cartoony, children-friendly(frankly, a couple of them are truly disturbing) deaths, the stages are the same handful of bland areas(including the sewer, the one that, as The Spoony One reminds us, always sucks) that are not memorable(and tend to be difficult to even define as where exactly they are, what they're meant to evoke), and all appear to be in the same time period(and I have no idea when that is, but I suppose it's a while from now, due to the futuristic stuff). For most of the enemies, I have no clue what they are supposed to be. They just look weird, and not even in an interesting manner. The ones that I know what are, are merely straightforward, appearing and/or moving in a dull way. You don't get any new moves as you play this, so what happens early on is the same as what happens later. Well, there are exceptions. Near the end you get a jetpack for a few segments, that has truly terrible controls(I honestly did not know you could screw something that inherently awesome up, particularly this badly), and before that, you run towards the player, away from something large chasing you, and you get to ride a polar bear cub, and that goes fast and is enjoyable, as are a few other portions of this. This doesn't mix the "concept" ones in with the rest enough, and there aren't very many of them. Thus, it gets to be tiresome and predictable almost immediately. For anyone who doesn't know these, this is the essential gameplay. You run, maneuver, jump and slide your way through about two dozen 3D missions, and fight 5 boss foes(those can be pretty cool). Collect 100 apples and you get an extra life, and there are 42 gems to get(either by breaking all of the boxes, or doing something else that you may have no idea how to do, so you just have to try everything... what a lazy and obnoxious way of prolonging the experience of going through this). There aren't Time Trials in this, and again, nothing to go back to earlier spots to use. It's annoying the initial time you go through this(don't get me started on all the stuff they just made to be a pain, not because of any semblance of logic... and what's with the things that don't even kill you even though they really seem like they should?), and I don't see much reason to go back for something that's just even worse. But hey, I'm not a gamer, (and) I want to be entertained by what I play in addition to something that requires skill to get through. The sound is nice, and relatively varied. Music is somewhat catchy. This takes you through a marsh, one of the Poles, an Aztek... village(?) and a technologically advanced factory(with pistons! Lots of them!). Other than you(who will spend most of this looking like he barely knows where he is, much less what he's doing) and your nemesis, this has your sister Coco(who takes forever getting to what she needs to say, even though she has almost no time to do it) also butting in and blathering on every so often as you progress through this, albeit she does little else than repeat herself each time... and she isn't the only one. When you have next to no story, just don't spend a lot of time expositing it, you just bring extra, unneeded attention to something negative about your product. I mean, did they think we had that short attention spans? Or is it that they think we'd spend weeks even completing a little of this? That, I get, but let's be realistic, either you get through this fast and without too many breaks, or you give up early on. There is no offensive material in this, other than the potentially upsetting things that can happen when you perish in this(this *is* for kids, right?). I recommend this to big fans of platform adventure action releases, especially the ones that are infuriating. 5/10

Let me start off by saying, that I am a HUGE fan of Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot games. 1, 2, warped, CTR, and CB are all pretty sweet games. But overall, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is my favorite of them all. Let me tell you why.

1) The Levels: Overall, this game has twenty-five levels of non stop fun. Though elements from the first game were used, there were new level types such as taking a jetpack and travelling through a space ship, and old elements were reinvented as well. For example, you run from a boulder in the first one. In the second one, you run from a huge polar bear. Pretty sweet and fun levels.

2) The challenges: Now believe me when I say that this game is freakin hard at times. At least, if you wish to get a 100% finish. Multiple traps, tricks, secret passage ways, if you want it all, be prepared to look around quite a bit. Well, not a bit. A lot!!! For example, you know those nitro boxes that you can't touch? Well in a level, there is a pile of them, set up to look like stairs. You can actually hop on those ones and not blow up. Get to the top of the pile and you end up in a secret warp room. I'm sure you wouldn't think about diving in a hole and uncovering a bonus room. Yup, very challenging.

3) The Characters: We are introduced to some of the Major characters in the series. Coco Bandicoot, Crash's lil sis, N. Gin, and Tiny Tiger. We also get to see Ripper Roo again. One of the particular bosses didn't last. The komodo bros. I think they were in CTR, but that's it.

Overall (Yeah, I use that word a lot) This game is freaking awesome! 10 out of 10, baby! Favorite and best Crash Bandicoot game ever!!!

I know some people will say the original is beast and warped is the best but I believe the 2nd installment in the Crash series beats all. Even the if the new crash games are average, they still don't have the hype and enjoyment like this one.

Gameplay: 10/10 - The gameplay is by far excellent and there is nothing wrong with the controls. Everything is very stable and you can move crash or an animal around freely.

Landscape and Graphics: 9.5/10 - All the environments and textures and colours truly bring this game to life and when you instantly pop this into your play station, you will already have the feeling that you will love this game and that you will want to stay on it.

Music Score: 10/10 - The music in this game is very true to the gameplay, the Crash character and even to the game itself. Even other crash music came along in the other games, but this track will never be beaten. Being honest, playing and owning every crash game, i find that you will get the best music in this one! Overall and concluding, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back! is a very powerful and very playable game which will have you scoring to grab the crystals, restore the gems and kick Cortex's ass. Nuff said people.... 10/10!

Crash 2 basically takes everything good from the first game and expands upon it with new characters, levels, bosses, everything was improved and polished to a sheen. Gameplay wise it retains the simple and effective linear stages but this time gives a hub world and lets you choose the order in which you progress. Each level has a crystal needed for progression and has a certain number of boxes you can break for an optional gem. Each level has its own boss that offers a different challenge from the last.

The graphics and animation: Dated by modern standards but its important to note how much personality crash has in his design and animations because it speaks to the core of how to properly create a video game character. The little hump dances he does when he wins help illustrate his goofy personality, crash has the demeanor of a goofball but with all the subtlety of a tom and jerry cartoon. The fun nature of crash helps balance out the hilariously violent death animations which see crash being disintegrated, flattened, electrocuted, eaten, you name it but it never gets old or stops being funny.

The controls: crash 2 introduces the slide which can be chained into a jump in order to gain momentum, it can also be used to hit enemies which makes movement a very smooth experience. Its very easy to get a grip on because of how simple it is but it also helps that the controls by themselves are very responsive and tight, you can tell a lot of time was put into how they feel. The new addition of analog functionality was also a welcomed addition that really took advantage of the ps1 hardware.

The music: Fantastic. All you need to know about the music for crash 2 is that it perfectly fits the tone and describes what the game is going for, a unique absurdity that only the lovers of cartoon level goofiness' can understand. Just listen to the title theme, its impossible not to smile while hearing it.

The characters and voice acting: Clancy Brown is(once again) phenomenal as Cortex, he gives off a lex luthor vibe without taking himself too seriously, he makes a great villain. The other characters are mostly completely new designs, the most notable being N gin and Polar with returning ones like nitrous brio and crash's sister. All these characters are great performances for what they are and most importantly fit the world they are put in.

Crash 2 reaches dizzying heights yet Naughty Dog makes it all seem so effortless and that's what true style is. I have a ton of respect for all of the developers who made this game possible. All killer no filler.