As I said when I reviewed those games, both Crash Bandicoot 1 and 2 ended up falling short for me, not terrible games by any means, but they are plagued by problems, both from its original design and the ones that the N'Sane Trilogy spawned. If I had to define Crash Bandicoot in one word, it would be ''mediocre'' and Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, while it did introduce a handful of upgrades both in gameplay and in presentation, it was a rather small step that wasn’t enough to solve the core problems with the original, which were very much still present. Plus, the whacky hitboxes and platform collision only added salt to injury, and resulted in a pair of 3D platformers that, while competent, felt really underwhelming and filled with flaws...
...then Warped entered the room and NOW WE ARE FUCKING TALKING!
Despite all of my problems with the previous two, I kept pushing, 'cause I really wanted to experience the marsupial's first trilogy and I really wanted to like it, but I'll admit that after Crash 2 not being the leap forward I hoped it would be, I went into Warped mentally prepared that maybe it would just be another Crash game, and yeah, I was right, it wasn't a leap forward... but rather a jet propelled jump.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped is still cursed by some of the already existing problems of its brothers, hitboxes are still far from perfect, the fact that in this one it was the least noticeable out of the three doesn't make it less excusable, and sometimes the game has a hard time communicating distances and hou long needs your jump to be (tho sometimes it may be the platform collision messing it up), but as a whole, it really feels like the game is playing on a league of its own.
It takes many of the things introduced in Cortex Strikes Back and ramps them up to eleven: the warp rooms, a little more of focus of in the story department and mini cut-scenes scattered through the game all come back stronger than ever. The set up for this one is well done, introducing the biggest menace yet with Uka Uka, giving Aku Aku finally some personality and in general they manage to feel the stakes somewhat high, which is honestly very surprising and welcomed. Also making the warp-rooms unified and giving the context of being a time machine instead of some random, unknown place like in 2 is a really neat touch and adds a lot to the game's thematic. Also the music is really good once again, tho in my opinion the previous game soundtrack is amazing and a bit better than this one, this game has some absolute bangers, especially with the bosses, Dingodile's theme in particular feels out of this world, it's a freacking bop.
But alright, the perfected the presentation, neat, but where Crash has limped a little has been in the level design department; levels from the previous entries ranged from ''that was neat'' to ''that wasn't really good...'' and my favorite: '' I don't wanna see this level ever again''. So, imagine my surprise when Warped levels turned out to be... fun! Like, really, really fun and well designed, and finally shows how much Naughty Dog had learned from their previous outings. Level use the time travel theme to their fullest potential, creating obstacles and enemies that make senses within the theme at play (dinosaurs, medieval, futuristic,...) and at same time creates really interesting layouts that are really fun to traverse and pose a challenge almost never feels like a chore. It never stops moving, constantly trying new ideas, and while levels of the same theme tend to follow similar beats like the previous game, this time around they ALWAYS introduce something new or put a really interesting and fun spin, for example: the first dino level has a 2-D section and a chase part with a triceratops, and the next dino level does have these things too, but it introduces new enemies, obstacles, and section here you can ride a baby T-Rex, and those small changes make the level feel both like a blast and original. They also vary a lot with new styles of gameplay, I've heard that many people dislike the non-platforming levels but I actually really love them, they control nicely (for the most part, we will get to that) and a really cool way to spice things up and try new things, and honestly I don't think that Crash on an armed airplane would suppose a menace to society but it ended up being extremely fun, so I have very little to complain about.
I liked almost all the levels here, which is a huge contrast with my experiences with the other games... but I'll say this: I have no idea who approved of that level, and it maybe is ebcause of the N'Sane trilogy new controls, but Road Crash is one of the worst levels I've played in a while. It isn't fun, turning is incredibly difficult, if you fuck up once you pretty much lose the entire level and the rest of motorcycles levels aren't even as fucked as that one, so I don't know what happened there.
Anyway, returning to the good stuff: THE BOSS FIGHTS. Holy mother of N.Brio what a glow up. In the past games, bosses were easy, simple and extremely boring, and in this one, they are easy, simple, and extremely fun! They aren't complicated in the slightest, but this time they manage to be really entertaining, they go by fast, and in general are still pretty well designed, and the final boss fight this time around is actually remarkable and cliamtic! Tho I say, I wished they played with the time travel theming a bit more, Tiny Tiger has this really cool boss fight on a Rome Colosseum, with lions included, but the rest just feel like average Crash bosses with not that much of that of the time travel theme on them (except N.Tropy I guess, but I digress). There's also much more build up to them, they are introduced by this little cut-scenes before levels where they talk to Crash and Coco, and it goes a long way in making them more feel like characters, giving them a personality and making you want to take them down. And if ALL of that wasn't enough, when you defeat one you get a power-up! In 1 an 2, bosses were kind of in the way, they appeared, you beat them, and continue with your adventure. This time you get an upgrade to your move set, which once again goes a long way in making this encounters feel more climatic, and the power-ups and incredibly useful and amazing additions to Crash's control, the double-jump in particular being an incredible implementation.
You may be asking at this point why the hell I'm so over enthusiastic, after all this all sounds like basic things that there would be on a competent platformer, and in fact I doubted if giving this game 3'5 stars instead of 4, and it's still possible that I change my mind in the future, so why am I gushing so much about this game? Simple: not only does this finally feel like what these games always strived to be, but also it executes it masterfully, it's a game that is a blast to go through... but I can't imagine it that it can be very fun to complete.
Everything positive I said doesn't change the negatives I already stated, plus the fact that some of the vehicles, like the jet-ski and motorcycle, while fine enough to control on its own, sometimes and when trying to go fast, it's clear that they are anything but precise. I believe this is once again a problem with the N'Sane Trilogy, and that honestly sucks, 'cause it’s another flaw to add what this time around would be an incredibly amazing game.
Warped has become my favorite by a long-shot, I think that fact has been apparent though most the review, and while it still as polished and well-designed as I would have liked, it was a joy to go through and it has finally managed to make me really value the orange rat.
It may still be flawed, but it has a ton of heart... AND DINOSAURS LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
...then Warped entered the room and NOW WE ARE FUCKING TALKING!
Despite all of my problems with the previous two, I kept pushing, 'cause I really wanted to experience the marsupial's first trilogy and I really wanted to like it, but I'll admit that after Crash 2 not being the leap forward I hoped it would be, I went into Warped mentally prepared that maybe it would just be another Crash game, and yeah, I was right, it wasn't a leap forward... but rather a jet propelled jump.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped is still cursed by some of the already existing problems of its brothers, hitboxes are still far from perfect, the fact that in this one it was the least noticeable out of the three doesn't make it less excusable, and sometimes the game has a hard time communicating distances and hou long needs your jump to be (tho sometimes it may be the platform collision messing it up), but as a whole, it really feels like the game is playing on a league of its own.
It takes many of the things introduced in Cortex Strikes Back and ramps them up to eleven: the warp rooms, a little more of focus of in the story department and mini cut-scenes scattered through the game all come back stronger than ever. The set up for this one is well done, introducing the biggest menace yet with Uka Uka, giving Aku Aku finally some personality and in general they manage to feel the stakes somewhat high, which is honestly very surprising and welcomed. Also making the warp-rooms unified and giving the context of being a time machine instead of some random, unknown place like in 2 is a really neat touch and adds a lot to the game's thematic. Also the music is really good once again, tho in my opinion the previous game soundtrack is amazing and a bit better than this one, this game has some absolute bangers, especially with the bosses, Dingodile's theme in particular feels out of this world, it's a freacking bop.
But alright, the perfected the presentation, neat, but where Crash has limped a little has been in the level design department; levels from the previous entries ranged from ''that was neat'' to ''that wasn't really good...'' and my favorite: '' I don't wanna see this level ever again''. So, imagine my surprise when Warped levels turned out to be... fun! Like, really, really fun and well designed, and finally shows how much Naughty Dog had learned from their previous outings. Level use the time travel theme to their fullest potential, creating obstacles and enemies that make senses within the theme at play (dinosaurs, medieval, futuristic,...) and at same time creates really interesting layouts that are really fun to traverse and pose a challenge almost never feels like a chore. It never stops moving, constantly trying new ideas, and while levels of the same theme tend to follow similar beats like the previous game, this time around they ALWAYS introduce something new or put a really interesting and fun spin, for example: the first dino level has a 2-D section and a chase part with a triceratops, and the next dino level does have these things too, but it introduces new enemies, obstacles, and section here you can ride a baby T-Rex, and those small changes make the level feel both like a blast and original. They also vary a lot with new styles of gameplay, I've heard that many people dislike the non-platforming levels but I actually really love them, they control nicely (for the most part, we will get to that) and a really cool way to spice things up and try new things, and honestly I don't think that Crash on an armed airplane would suppose a menace to society but it ended up being extremely fun, so I have very little to complain about.
I liked almost all the levels here, which is a huge contrast with my experiences with the other games... but I'll say this: I have no idea who approved of that level, and it maybe is ebcause of the N'Sane trilogy new controls, but Road Crash is one of the worst levels I've played in a while. It isn't fun, turning is incredibly difficult, if you fuck up once you pretty much lose the entire level and the rest of motorcycles levels aren't even as fucked as that one, so I don't know what happened there.
Anyway, returning to the good stuff: THE BOSS FIGHTS. Holy mother of N.Brio what a glow up. In the past games, bosses were easy, simple and extremely boring, and in this one, they are easy, simple, and extremely fun! They aren't complicated in the slightest, but this time they manage to be really entertaining, they go by fast, and in general are still pretty well designed, and the final boss fight this time around is actually remarkable and cliamtic! Tho I say, I wished they played with the time travel theming a bit more, Tiny Tiger has this really cool boss fight on a Rome Colosseum, with lions included, but the rest just feel like average Crash bosses with not that much of that of the time travel theme on them (except N.Tropy I guess, but I digress). There's also much more build up to them, they are introduced by this little cut-scenes before levels where they talk to Crash and Coco, and it goes a long way in making them more feel like characters, giving them a personality and making you want to take them down. And if ALL of that wasn't enough, when you defeat one you get a power-up! In 1 an 2, bosses were kind of in the way, they appeared, you beat them, and continue with your adventure. This time you get an upgrade to your move set, which once again goes a long way in making this encounters feel more climatic, and the power-ups and incredibly useful and amazing additions to Crash's control, the double-jump in particular being an incredible implementation.
You may be asking at this point why the hell I'm so over enthusiastic, after all this all sounds like basic things that there would be on a competent platformer, and in fact I doubted if giving this game 3'5 stars instead of 4, and it's still possible that I change my mind in the future, so why am I gushing so much about this game? Simple: not only does this finally feel like what these games always strived to be, but also it executes it masterfully, it's a game that is a blast to go through... but I can't imagine it that it can be very fun to complete.
Everything positive I said doesn't change the negatives I already stated, plus the fact that some of the vehicles, like the jet-ski and motorcycle, while fine enough to control on its own, sometimes and when trying to go fast, it's clear that they are anything but precise. I believe this is once again a problem with the N'Sane Trilogy, and that honestly sucks, 'cause it’s another flaw to add what this time around would be an incredibly amazing game.
Warped has become my favorite by a long-shot, I think that fact has been apparent though most the review, and while it still as polished and well-designed as I would have liked, it was a joy to go through and it has finally managed to make me really value the orange rat.
It may still be flawed, but it has a ton of heart... AND DINOSAURS LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-
4 Comments
Finally, someone that speaks the truth
I wish I was a dinosaur. I wanna fuck shit up, dino-style.
Question is, who doesn't?
BlazingWaters
1 year ago