Crash Bandicoot: Warped is developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony. "Crash Bandicoot" and related content is owned by Activision. Playstation is trademark of Sony.
“Old, but gold”. This saying may be used in
many situations, but there is a world where it fits perfectly: games. The best
games are ageless, because which defines a good game is how much fun you can
get from it. Of course, graphics, sound, plot, and others characteristics are
also important; however, they are nothing if the title is not funny to play.
Every gamer has some great old games as his
favorite list. And, among some of my list, there is one called Crash Bandicoot:
Warped. Released in 1998 for the Sony Playstation, the title developed by
Naughty Dog is the third game of the marsupial series. Third, and probably the
best Crash’s title until now, even after many new developers tried to achieve
Naughty Dog quality level through the last years.
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| Crash Bandicoot: Warped box art cover |
The game formula is simple. It gets every good
point of its predecessors: mechanics, characters, basic level design; and then
adds new great stuff, like new environments, original music and sounds, and a
lot of exciting and funny challenges. Warped is a perfect example of how to
improve a franchise. It is like the previous Crash games, but at the same time,
it has much fresh new improvements.
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| You can select the levels before each boss, entering the Time-Twisted Machine. |
Warped plot makes use of the time travels
possibilities. After being defeated by Crash in the last game, Doctor Neo-Cortex
releases an evil entity called Uka Uka, brother of Crash’s ally Aku Aku. Aiming
to find the gems and crystals that Cortex was not able to (in the previous
games), Uka Uka recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy with his Time-Twisted Machine.
Now, they will try to get them in the past.
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| The villains, from the left to the right: Dingodile, Tropy, Cortex, N. Gin. Tiny Tiger. In the top, the leader Uka Uka. |
Aku Aku senses the return of his evil brother,
and asks to Crash, and his sister Coco Bandicoot, to enter the Time-Twisted
Machine. In order to collect the gems and crystals, the siblings must travel
through many ages and locations. Crash has the majority of the levels, but Coco
has some of the best challenges. The final battle is between Crash and Cortex,
alongside Aku Aku versus Uka Uka. But don’t forget: there are always something
extra to find in Warped.
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| Get the yellow clock in order to start a Time Trial Challenge |
If you not familiar with a Crash Bandicoot
game, don’t worry. Most of the levels follow a simple objective: run with Crash
from the beginning to the end of a level, finding the obligatory pink crystal
in the way. You will need to defeat enemies, escape from traps, chasms, and
many other dangers. You can also get extra lives and Wumpa though the level.
Coco’s levels are different, but you also need the pink crystal to beat them.
And don’t forget the boss battles, always funny and challenging.
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| Coco's Jet Ski levels are a great addition to the game |
As I said before, Crash’s best adventure seems
to have made good use of the fans and critics feedback. Before Warped, some of
the cons could be the high difficulty of the first title, the repetitive
environments of the second, and the somewhat lack of different gameplay of both
games. The launch of the third Bandicoots adventure is nearly perfect. It has
the top graphics available in the PlayStation, with many exciting new gameplays,
as Coco’s flying and Jet Ski missions, and Crash’s bazooka and motorcycle
races.
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| The bazooka helps you to eliminate enemies and find secrets |
The environments are very original and well
designed. Using a time-machine, you can travel to different eras and locations,
such as the medieval era, future, pre-history, Arabian nights, World War,
Piracy era, among others. And the difficult level of Crash Bandicoot: Warped is
well balanced. In general, levels are fair, with the boss battles needing more
strategy. And, as usual for the series, the backtracking for crystals, gems,
secrets paths and levels, and the new time-trial mode, is a great reason to
keep playing after defeating Dr. Neo-Cortex.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped is probably one of the
best 2.5D games of all time. It is a funny and challenging game, with the
perfect difficult level: it is not impossible, but you will have to improve
your abilities in every level played, mainly if you want to get all the secrets
of the game. With amazing graphics and original level design, great sound
effects and music, fascinating characters, and an addictive gameplay, Warped is
really “old, but gold”.