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Dom Robinson reviews
Sony 
- Price: £39.99
- Players: 1
Crash Bandicoot needs no introductionand really the only difference for “The Wrath of Cortex” is that it’sthe first outing for Crash B on the PS2.
You run, you jump, you collect the apples and end-of-level purple gems throughover 30 stages devised by the evil Dr Cortex and based around the four elements,Earth, Wind, Fire and Water.
This time round Crash has a new “tip-toe” move and extra vehicles to movearound in such as jeeps, a scooter and, my favourite, the gyroscope, which meansthat in addition to the usual run-jump melee, you have levels that feel akinto the 80s arcade classic, Marble Madness, with the rumbling vibrationin the joypad really giving you a sense of atmosphere as you roll around.Crash’s friends will also pop up along the way to be controlled includinghis sister Coco.
The graphics and sound aren’t breathtaking, but they are perfect for the jobthat they do. I failed to see any clipping along the way and couple that withthe smooth textures, shadows and the speed at which it moves along and there’splenty of eye-candy to keep anyone happy.
I’ve only played one Crash game in the series beforehand – the second one on thefirst Playstation – and I was a bit concerned here how I’d handle theaway-from-the-screen running sections when someone’s after you, such as thedragon, but you just need to keep your wits about you and assume that if you’vepassed a hole in the ground on one side, the next hole is most likely due tobe on the other. Of course, don’t take that for granted just in case. You’llalso find yourself performing moves along the way that you didn’t think youwould manage.
In fact, I only have one complaint about Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath ofCortex – the excessive loading times between levels. They do get irritating.The only other thing you could level one at is the originality, but thento do that at an arcade game is to miss the point and you should be enjoyingthe fact that it’s a great piece of fun that anyone can pick up and playinstantly.
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ORIGINALITY
ENJOYMENT
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.