Crash now has some additional new moves like the slide, crawl, and belly flop. There is something about hearing the pipes banging that made it so appealing to listen to it's like something out of Stomp.Įverything that the first game did, Crash 2 did a whole lot better in gameplay. My favorite track, however, comes in the sewer levels.
It's just as catchy and upbeat as the original with more memorable tracks like the snow levels, which add these jingles the water skiing levels, which have a surfer rock type of music and the chase levels which have a sense of danger when the beats become fierce. The score by Josh Mancell continues to amaze me. Best of all, Crash's signature dance makes its debut here, which never gets old. In the chase levels, there are times where Crash will turn his head to see what is chasing him and look scared. He is also given some of the funniest death animations like being just a head with feet when squished or getting stung by a bee. For one, there is a variety of animations to behold, like Crash leaving footprints or breathing in the snow levels. Gin and Tiny Tiger (excellent name, by the way) also become the series' mainstays and recurring boss characters.Ĭrash 2 ups the presentation more than its predecessor did. Crash is more laid-back and lazy, while Coco is much more intelligent. She doesn't have much screen-time, but she serves as a nice foil to Crash. She's a welcome addition to the cast of characters.
Why exactly does he have a sister now? Apparently, Crash's girlfriend, Tawna, was omitted from the series because her design was considered too sexy, which led to the creation of Coco. Still, we don't really play Crash Bandicoot for its plot.Ĭrash 2 does introduce some of the series' recurring characters. Sure, hiding his plan would still be pretty obvious to even the least genre savvy players, but it was a better way to go. It makes his final "reveal" all the more redundant. I think the story would have played out well if we did not know that Cortex was the bad guy the whole time. Brio from the last game asks Crash to collect all of the 42 Gems to defeat Cortex, becoming a race on who gets what. Lacking in any allies, Cortex enlists the help of Crash by pretending that he is turning over a new leaf. Gin, concludes that they need 25 "slave" Crystals in order to harness its power. Neo Cortex (now voiced by Clancy Brown) discovers a Power Crystal after his defeat. It made for one of the finest video game sequels anyone could ask for. It's there that its sequel, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, went and established the gameplay formula that some of the later titles would emulate. Like I mentioned in my last review, it suffered from Early Installment Weirdness, where it was trying to figure out what sticks and what doesn't.
However, it feels pretty dated in some areas concerning gameplay. The original Crash Bandicoot was a hit, becaming one of the reasons to buy a PlayStation.