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.
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.