It's always tough ending a trilogy when the 2nd game already improves a lot on the 1st one. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped now has the tough task of trying to follow that up, so what does Naughty Dog do exactly?

TIME TRAVEL!! I see this as an absolute win.
Yes, Crash and Coco now have to stop Cortex, and new character Uka Uka (the evil twin of Aku Aku) by going through one of his henchman's time machine, and find the Crystals scattered all over through time!
Whether it be Ancient Egypt, the Middle East, deep underground waters or the future, Crash 3 is no slouch when it comes to stage variety, and I absolutely love it!
Crash 2 already made some efforts to bring in more environmental diversity, but Crash 3 easily trumps it, and it's one of my favourite things about this game.

This goes right alongside the presentation of this game. While in terms of graphical prowess, Crash 3 doesn't look much different from Crash 2, there are now some new elements added in that make this game look better than 2, especially the water seen in the Jet Ski levels.
The voice acting is absolutely fantastic for the year this was released, with even more voice actors jumping in, and Aku Aku now having a voice, which is always nice.
And once again, Clancy Brown kills it by not only returning as Cortex, but also voicing Uka Uka!
And the music is still as good as Crash 2, with the world map theme being one of the best tracks in the original trilogy, in my opinion.

But of course, what about the gameplay?
Well, I'm glad to say that they've kept everything from Crash 2. Jumping, sliding and spinning all feel like before, and it's great.
But this time around, you get a new power-up after defeating a boss, whether that'd be a Double Jump, a Super Belly-Flop, or a fucking Bazooka!
The Double Jump and Super Tornado Spin are definitely my favourites, because with great timing, you can do some cool shortcuts, and that feels awesome to pull off.

But jumping through levels is not the only thing this game has.
One of the most contentious aspects of this game is the fact that you'll be spending a good chunk of it riding vehicles. Whether that be racing in a motorcycle, riding a Jet Ski or shooting down blimps in an old-school airplane, Crash 3 makes you do quite the number of diferrent tasks.

I can definitely understand why people don't like this much, considering the lack of consistency, but not only do these vehicles control great, I think they allow for greater gameplay variety, that was not seen previously.
I also think that Naughty Dog might've added those in to prevent the overall Crash formula from getting stale.
Of course, whether you agree with this notion is up entirely to what you felt before, but once again, I liked playing as these vehicles... even if I wasn't the biggest fan of getting Crystals in the Motorcycle stages.
Oh well.

Also, Coco is playable, which is nice, but her levels are just most of those vehicle levels, so you don't get to play around as just her much.
Oh well. (x2)

The biggest thing that I love about this game though is, outside of going back to go to the Colored Gem pathways in previous levels... there is next to no backtracking within the levels themselves, which makes the act of collecting gems so much easier!
Although I decided to not go for 100% this time, mainly because they also added the Time Relics!

New to this game is the ability to, after beating that level once, to do a time trial of it, and by betting it under a certain time, you can get either a Sapphire Relic, a Gold Relic or the holy shit, this is so difficult Platinum Relics.
Short into the point, I don't care about them, but to get 100% (or 105%), you need to at least get Gold Relics on every stage... and I just don't feel like it.
But kudos to the game, it gives you more replay value, which is nice.

Overall, while it may lack consistency, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped makes up for it by providing really fun gameplay, and trimming the bad parts of previous games!
Definitely my favourite in the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy!

a game that i will always adore. it's impossible to divorce this game from how it made me feel playing it as a 5 year old, and any time i replay this game, that precious joy is evoked. level design peaked here with levels that end up being the perfect length so they don't overstay their welcome, and the variety of levels aids this game, despite what popular modern consensus says. i do share the sentiment that they could've likely cut off a jet ski and motorcycle level or two to make room for another platforming level, but my playthroughs of this game never leave me feeling unsatisfied. i especially love how time trials are handled here, as the changes in boxes and added element of time stopping radically change how you'd view a level compared to the initial run.

i dunno man! i just love this game. i love the level themes, i love the bosses, i love the music, i love the graphics. . . it's just one of my favorite games i've ever played. i have very little negative things to say about this game, and i can only say that there will always be a deep reservoir of love in my heart for this thing.

Crash 3 sucks. Because too much of Crash 3 is not actually Crash Bandicoot. Behold:

Crash Bandicoot levels: 15 - 47%
(Cat riding levels): 2 - 6%
Swimming levels: 2 - 6%
Jet Ski levels: 4 - 13%
Motorbike levels: 4 - 13%
Plane levels: 3 - 9%

Less than 50% of the game is the traditional (and fantastic) Crash Bandicoot game you signed up for. The rest are just really tedious. So, let's break down each of these six different categories of game:

Crash Bandicoot levels:
What you came for and it's good. Nothing too exceptional over the previous entries, just real solid Crash adventuring. The new power-ups to Crash's moveset feel largely superfluous, but do allow players to get more creative with movement and sequence break somewhat. I actually really appreciate that you're not too often forced into using these, and they're more for extra flair and showing off expertise.

And expertise is worth showing off, as the biggest addition here are the Time Relic Challenges. Not just speedrunning through a level, but doing so while collecting clock-freezing boxes to maximise your best time. Weighing up whether certain 3 second boxes are worth going for or not is good video game. It also brings back the "no death" challenge from the first Crash in a way that feels much more fair and satisfying. They also don't take lives from you for failure, so thanks Naughty Dog.

Recommend attempting these once you beat the final boss the first time around, as unlocking the Sprint power-up makes these really fun challenges. Crash 3's levels aren't anything super special, but they're a good solid time.

Oh, and the boss battles here are all fantastic. Like, really really good. Especially the final Cortex fight. Cortex in general is at his best here. The final dialogue with him where he's already acting defeated is really well done and Uka-Uka is a fantastic comedy partner for him. Unrelenting evil paired with exhausted-worn-out evil. Wish I could have seen more of them.

Cat riding levels:
Somewhat mean to include these in a separate category as they're a staple of the franchise. But there's also only two of them this time around so whatever. They're the same as they ever were really. Slower than in Crash 2, but with a sprint button instead. Not much to say, there's only two of them and they're fine. I liked them in Crash 2, I like them here in Crash 3.

Swimming levels:
Why don't we put in a swimming level? Everyone loves swimming levels.

These aren't actually that bad compared to the others, especially since swimming has been married to platforming for a long time. (Thanks World 2-2). It's got a bit of Donkey Kong Country flavourings with a rideable mount and being able to modulate your speed with kicking or spinning. Again, not much to say. It's a swimming level. Long, kinda dull, not particularly exciting. They'd probably stand out more if there were than just 2 of them, and if they were the only new gameplay mode on offer here.

Jet Ski levels:
Oooooh here we go. The real unfun stuff.
Credit to Naughty Dog, the water in these levels looks fantastic. But actually playing it... ehhh...

The issue with vehicle sections in games like these is that they're often undercooked mechanically. Meaning that it becomes repetitive and not particularly challenging. The jet ski has one button, the "go" button and you just steer it along. It looks cool going over jumps, but since you're going to be getting all the crates, you may need to take these jumps several times. And then, you're gonna have to wrestle with a non-existent camera system to try and get it positioned behind Coco again to line-up the jump. They also hide a bunch of crates in one of these levels, so enjoy back tracking to try and find those. Very fun times to plod back through the level after seeing you missed 2 boxes.

We also haven't gotten to the best bit of these levels yet! Since you're going to have to collect all the time relics, these levels need to be played at least twice! They're even less fun the second time around!

Motorbike levels:
Awful. Awful. Awful. Awful. Awful. Awful. Awful. Awful. Not even copying and pasting this, writing awful each time I have that such strong disdain for these levels. Awful. If your videogame ever makes the player go "this feels like such a waste of my time" then you have completely and utterly failed as escapism. The LAST thing I want to think of is that I'm wasting my time.

The bike controls are as stiff as a dead cat and the gameplay is about as engaging as a funeral for one. The opposing racers don't actually feel like they're racing and instead are just big boxes that float along the track. If you dare collide with one (or one takes a scripted lane switch into you), you'll lose all speed and potentially fly off the track.

Awful. Why are there four of these levels? Why do I have to play them three times each? (I took the first one really slow to get all the boxes and cross that off).

Plane levels:
Last one, phew.

These aren't as bad as the Jet Ski or Motorbike levels, but also, again, aren't particularly fun. A lot of dead time flying about to the next objective to shoot down. These levels being somewhat fixed on a horizontal plain keeps the controls simple enough as well. I also almost enjoyed the flying level where you race in the plane. Nothing much to say, just kinda dull. The artwork of Crash with flight goggles and a giant scarf looks cool though.

In conclusion:
Someone at Naughty Dog drew a picture of Crash Bandicoot on a motorbike with sunglasses and a bazooka and decided they should make a game about that.

That game isn't very good.

I wish I could rate it in-between this and 3 and a half. It's good it's fun has the most variety and most unlockables extra content and a awesome final boss. But the gimmick stages made me miss the crash stages more. There was barely any and while the other stages were fun they were basically a distraction. Movement is great but it's a shame crash gets so little levels to test em out. The final boss was climatic enough to make this trilogy trip satisfying. I'll probably revisit this one the least

Feel exactly the same as the majority regarding this game. Platforming levels are fun. Vehicle levels suck. And god are they fucking miserable, with the motorcycle and plane levels especially. Like really ND, it wasn't enough to make the motorcycle handle like a tank? Now we gotta do it in the dark w/ fat UFOs blocking the road and chasms sucking you in for barely clipping their edges? Y'all crying about Abby in 2020, ND been trash since '98 for this nonsense. AND the fact that the secret world (26-30) only consisted of VEHICLE levels (not counting the two secret paths for already-existing levels)? Was so disappointed when I came to that realization, this just might be my least favorite of the trilogy.

I have a lot of movies, shows, songs, and of course video games that take me back to specific times and places. Usually these are positive experiences, but every now and then a piece of media gets a little bit tainted. In this case, I remember a friend dragging me back to his absolutely filthy house (his parents were hoarders), dog crap on the floor and air thick with cigarette smoke to play Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Ah, the sights and sounds of the 90s... That same kid used our house phone to call a 1-900 number and later tried to steal my Pokemon cards, resulting in us getting into a physical altercation that ended in Pokemon being banned from my middle school in all its forms. I don't know where he's at now, but hopefully dead!

Anyway, it took me a number of years to get the bad taste out of my mouth, and I feel like I'm better able to enjoy Warped for what it is. Which, really, is just more Crash Bandicoot, and that's not a bad thing. The actual platforming levels are probably the strongest in the series (at least during its Playstation years), but the more gimmick heavy levels fail to resonate with me all that much. Riding on the back of a tiger as Coco is a decent challenge, but I'm less sold on her jet ski levels, which I think don't control particularly great and have some bad pop in. Crash's motorcycle levels are similarly lackluster. Granted, nothing is as bad as the jetpack levels in Crash Bandicoot 2, but there was far fewer of those by comparison, and I think these vehicle levels hold Warped back. The requirements for 100% completion are also really rough for this one, so of the original three, it's the only one I did not bother to approach with a completionist mindset.

But, yeah. Warped is a solid 3D platformer with a few clunky levels. That's all I have to say, really. For once I'm not turning in a tome full of insane ramblings. Feels good.

While watered down by vehicle/gimmick levels, this game is a solid experience. The level themes are varied and interesting and the power-ups add a bit of flavor to the platforming. The completion of this game takes significantly more time than the previous entries due to the addition of time relics. While some despise this inclusion, I think it fits just right into the Crash series. Very solid PS1 visuals, and the final Crash platformer made by Naughty Dog. This game is my second favorite in the original Crash trilogy, but I completely understand why many say that this is their favorite.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped is an interesting game, mostly from the fact that it's a case study of what I think tends to be a common problem with sequels, and the different philosophies used when approaching a sequel. Do you show the player something completely different, or do you iterate on the formula? How do you expand the formula? What's an interesting mechanic you can insert into a game to revitalize the gameplay loop? Warped is an example where I think they ended up going for the "more is better" philosophy and it not seeming to work as well.

The slide in Crash 2, I think, really helped revolutionized Crash's movement, and made the level design become more focused around the move. They go for a similar approach in Warped that I think loses sight of what made the slide so effective. Ultimately, I don't think the double jump is really as necessary to Crash's moveset as a slide is. It halts his momentum, and it's only purpose is the one use of jumping over slightly taller crates, and not much else. Crash's spin is iconic, but adding something like the Death Tornado can also feel unnecessary. In fact, a lot of these moves end up feeling like unnecessary additions to Crash's moveset. While the addition of these moves, in theory, I think could maybe work if they were tweaked around and played into each other more, I don't think they're very expansive to Crash's moveset other than being gimmicks. Which is a bit of a shame, because on paper, I feel like these things should be working, but they end up just feeling repetitive within the moveset.

This isn't to say that this makes the game bad to play, far from it, Crash Bandicoot: Warped is still a fun time, and I prefer it over the original game by a wide margin, but it doesn't quite reach the same highs as the second entry. This is also in part because of it's use of gameplay styles that aren't platforming.

Now, I'm a fan of Banjo Tooie, you know, a game that constantly has new mini-games, enough to have entire mini-game mode. I prefer Sly 3 over Sly 2 if you catch my drift. I don't mind diversions from the main game, especially if I find them fun. Warped tends to have a large chunk of it's levels dedicated to these diversions. For a majority of the game, you'll be going jetsking, motorcycling and the like. And while they're fine, even fun, as simple diversions, they end up taking away from the platformer aspects a bit too much for even my tastes. I think it's mostly because they tend to not be substantial enough to take up as much of the game as they do. With a game like Banjo Tooie, each mini-game I think works on such a level that they could be fun enough to work by themselves if the designers wanted to. With a game like Sly 3, these other gameplay styles thematically tied together the aspects of pulling off a heist, using the many different team members skills in order to accomplish a goal. The Warped ones are mostly throw away in comparison to the main event.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped is a game I very much enjoyed, despite a lot of the more critical parts of this review. It's attempt as a last hurrah for Crash as a trilogy doesn't go out with as big of a bang as I think they hoped it would, but it's still a very solid sequel. It makes me curious what philosophy with sequels Crash 4 ended up using.