Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
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| Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex | |
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| Developer(s) | Traveller's Tales |
| Publisher(s) | Universal Interactive Studios |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 2 October 29, 2001 November 23, 2001 December 20, 2001
Xbox |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) ELSPA: 3+ CERO: 3+ OFLC: G |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube |
| Media | DVD, GameCube Optical Disc |
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (クラッシュ バンディクー 4: さくれつ! 魔人パワー Crash Bandy Kuu 4: You Give! Demon Human Pawā?) is a platform game in the Crash Bandicoot series. It follows Crash Bandicoot: Warped as opposed to Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash.
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[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay is basically the same, but this time Crash has a new move called sneak. This move allowes you to sneak over nitros. Coco is also playable, and for the first time, Coco has her own set of moves. There are many vehicles available including a 4x4, a plane, and a robot suit.
[edit] Story
The story begins somewhere outside Earth's orbit, where we see Doctor Neo Cortex's evil space station. Inside it, Uka Uka has called together a "bad guy convention" and is obviously quite angry with everyone. According to him, their track record for spreading evil is pathetic. They conclude that Crash Bandicoot is to blame. Of course, they wouldn't let anything stand in the way of evil, especially not a "brainless orange marsupial", and decide that Crash must be eliminated. And so, Uka Uka orders Cortex and his cronies to come up with one good plan... or else. Cortex informs everyone that in his scientific endeavors, he has created a genetically-advanced superweapon of unbelievable strength. But the final missing crucial element is a power source. Uka Uka brings up the Elementals, a group of destructive masks with the power over Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. If they unleashed their destructive energy, they'll have enough power to bring Cortex's secret weapon to life. They would have a weapon capable of crushing mountains, demolishing entire cities, and wiping Crash Bandicoot off the face of the Earth forever.
Back on Earth, strange things begin to happen. Volcanoes are erupting, thunderclouds are forming, and tsunamis are devastating the coastlines. Aku Aku concludes that his evil twin brother Uka Uka is up to his no-good tricks again, and travels into outer space to find out what he is planning. There, he learns that Uka Uka and Doctor Neo Cortex have unleashed the Elementals, and tells Crash Bandicoot and Coco Bandicoot that they must find a way to stop them before they destroy the Earth and all of its inhabitants. He also tells them that the only way to subside their destructive nature is to imprison them with the use of ancient crystals. Each Elemental can be returned to their hibernation state with a total of 5 crystals. So Coco's new Portal Chamber is unveiled. The Portal Chamber is a device that allows the Bandicoots to travel to different parts of the Earth to gather the Crystals needed to halt the Elementals' reign of terror. "It is time to even the odds into our favor," Aku Aku proclaims.
And so, Crash and Coco travel the world collecting the Crystals. Uka Uka's patience is already tested with the defeat of Rok-Ko, the Earth Elemental, but Cortex ensures that Wa-Wa, the Water Elemental will make sure that Crash doesn't see the light of day. But with Wa-Wa's defeat, Crunch claims that he doesn't need a mask to help him, and that he can exterminate Crash all by himself, but Cortex insists that he and Py-Ro, the Fire Elemental will vanquish Crash and his annoying friends together. Cortex is already fed up with Crash making a mockery out of him and his minions, and as a result, he enlists the aid of N. Gin, Tiny Tiger, Dingodile and Nefarious Tropy for assistance, starting with a jeep race in the deserts of the West. With Py-Ro defeated, Uka Uka questions the value of Cortex's "superweapon", and Crunch is becoming equally impatient, saying he can take out Crash with his metal arm tied behind his back. But Cortex somehow keeps his cool, telling Crunch not to be so silly, and ensures Uka Uka that Crunch will use the Elemental masks, saying there's no need for him to lose any beauty sleep. Things are really getting desperate for Cortex, as he prepares an armada of space stations to strike Earth at one point. But thankfully, they're taken out by Coco. With the final Elemental mask defeated, Crunch's Elemental powers reach maximum capacity. The battle takes to Cortex's space station.
In the end, Crunch is defeated, and Uka Uka is prepared to kill Cortex, but in an attempt to blast Cortex with a fireball, he hits a vital part of the space station. All of a sudden, Crunch realizes that Dr. Cortex doesn't have control over him anymore, and decides to give him a piece of his mind, but Aku-Aku insists that they escape instead, because Uka Uka's energy blast caused a slight chain reaction, resulting in the space station reaching a critical overload. Cortex believes that it might be wise if they do the same, and make their way to an escape pod. Uka Uka blames Cortex for this, and says that if he hadn't ducked out of the way, none of this would've happened. Crunch and Crash escape through Coco's spaceship. Back on Earth, Crunch thanks Crash, Coco and Aku Aku for believing in him, and if it wasn't for them, he would still be under the control of Dr. Cortex. Coco asks Aku-Aku if this is the last they'll see of Dr. Cortex. He says that that's what he'd like to believe, but somehow, he doubts that very seriously. Meanwhile, somewhere off the coast of Antarctica, Uka Uka is once again mad at Cortex for stranding the two of them in the middle of nowhere, and proceeds to pursue Cortex around a small island. Cortex yells into the sky: "I'll get my revenge, Crash Bandicoot! Just you wait!"
[edit] Characters
[edit] Crash and his Pals
- The main hero and protagonist of the game, and the pinnacle of genetic manipuation. He was formerly a normal average bandicoot, but he was taken away and experimented on with Doctor Neo Cortex's Evolvo-Ray. As expected, Crash was quickly booted out the door for crashing Cortex's lab up. Nowadays, he likes sleeping on the seaside, and wiping the floor with Cortex's head.
- Like Crash, she was also captured and genetically enhanced. She has an IQ of 164, and she's also an expert Hong Kong martial artist and scooter-rider. Voiced by Debi Derryberry.
- An all-powerful ancient voodoo mask that aids and protects Crash in his quest to stop Cortex and Uka Uka from destroying the Earth and all of its inhabitants. Voiced by Mel Winkler.
[edit] Cortex and his Baddies
- The main villain and antagonist of the game, and creator of Crunch Bandicoot. He was at the top of his class in The Academy of Evil, but was laughed out of the scientific community because of his outlandish, yet nearly workable theories. He continuously attempts to conquer the world to shut those know-it-alls up once and for all. Uka Uka is the only one he actually fears; his mere presence has him on his knees. Voiced by Clancy Brown.
- Cortex's latest creation. A real testament of his scientific genius, and a real bandicoot warrior. He's a large, buff bandicoot who was created to destroy Crash Bandicoot. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
- A large ferocious Thylacine who was Cortex's first attempt at genetic alteration. His humongous muscular arms are his strongest weapon. But the only thing tiny about him is his intelligence. He's often seen playing checkers with himself, and waving his hand through holograms.
- Another one of Cortex's mutant animal minions. He's an Australian-accented dingo-crocodile hybrid who's hobbies include reading Shakespeare, playing croquet, and roasting bandicoots with his prized flamethrower.
- A time-obsessed freak who is an expert in quantum warp technology and creator of the Time Twister. He ofter disturbs the temporal flow by creating time paradoxes for laughs. Voiced by Corey Burton.
- Cortex's right-hand man and an expert in robotics and cybernetics who became a cyborg after an experiment gone horribly awry. Because of it, he has a missile sticking out of his head, which becomes activated whenever he becomes stressed or angry. He suffers from chronic migraines. Voiced by Corey Burton.
- Aku-Aku's evil twin brother, he is the controlling force behind Cortex's evil forces. He constantly threatens to kill Cortex if the Earth isn't conquered by suppertime, yet he never really does. Voiced by Clancy Brown.
[edit] The Elementals
Rok-Ko - The Earth Elemental:
- The Elemental Mask of Earth. He has a quick temper, and a head full of rocks. He controls earthquakes and landslides. Voiced by Thomas F. Wilson.
Py-Ro - The Fire Elemental:
- The Elemental Mask of Fire. Maniacal and extremely short-tempered, he's the strongest and most evil of the elementals. He controls volcanoes. Voiced by Mark Hamill.
Wa-Wa - The Water Elemental:
- The Elemental Mask of Water. A stick-in-the-mud who wants to flush out the world clean with his watery powers. He controls floods and tsunamis. Voiced by R. Lee Ermey.
Lo-Lo - The Air Elemental:
- The Elemental Mask of Air. A joker who dominates over the forces of wind. He controls tornadoes. Voiced by Jess Harnell.
[edit] Reception
The game was not a commercial success. Many believe this to be the fault of the game's multiplatform release. Previously, Crash Bandicoot games were exclusive on the PlayStation. Fans of the series weren't thrilled that the game was on the Xbox and GameCube. In addition, the game was mainly criticized by fans and critics for offering nothing new to the series.
Because of its multiplatform release, the quality of each version also varied.
- The PlayStation 2 version had fairly good graphics but had ridiculously long load times which was the game's major complaint. Reviews of the PS2 version commented on the presence of a wumpa fruit minigame that played during load times, but it was removed in the final version due to a copyright infringement. The Greatest Hits release had improved loading times.
- The Xbox version fixes the loading problem with drastically shortened load times, in addition to enhanced lighting and visible character fur.
- The GameCube version had more or less fixed load times than that of the PS2 version and has slightly better graphics, but the framerate is lower than that of the PS2 version and some control problems arose as well. It is considered to be the worst version. This version also had GC to GBA connectivity, offering a shooting game that can be played on the Game Boy Advance.
Despite these brutal criticisms, the game sold enough copies to become Player's Choice (Gamecube version), Greatest Hits (PS2 version), and Platinum Hits (Xbox version).
[edit] Trivia
- The mech that Crash operates in some of the space levels seems to be based on a similar mech from the 1986 movie Aliens.
- The jeep race level's title (Smokey and the Bandicoot) is an obvious spoof on the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit.
- The animal herd that charges after Crash in the level Jungle Rumble wasn't originally all rhinos. It was originally supposed to be a variety of animals including elephants and zebras, a la Jumanji.
- There was originally a concept of Elemental Boxes during production of the game. When you break an Elemental Box, it would reveal a secret area, start a mini-boss, etc. Apparently, this concept was scrapped because Traveller's Tales didn't want to mess with the original Crash formula.
- A scene where Coco is kidnapped by a large gorilla and prepared as a sacrifice to a volcano was storyboarded, but wasn't included in the final game.
- The game shares some similarities to Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. Both games were the first multiplatform release of their respective series, and both failed to bring anything new to their series, and thus garnered a similar reaction. Both villains came back from circumstances that would be impossible to escape (Cortex was transformed into an infant and sent to a time prison, while Ripto sank in a pool of magma) without any explanation as to how they escaped, the only potentially possible way of Cortex escaping from the Time Twister was through Doctor N. Gin, who was the only villain not to be caught in the Time Twister at the end of the game because he was left in space (although it is probably safe to assume that these 2 titles and every susequent title are separated from the originals). Also, both franchises were sold to Universal Interactive Studios after each original trilogy was completed.
[edit] Music
The score is composed by Swallow Studios, made up of Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra. The game's score mostly consists of electronic dance music, most noticably in the boss battles and the ending credits.
[edit] External links
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex on GameFAQs.
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex on IMDb.
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex on Crash Mania.
