THE KING IS BACK!
Time travel in this adventure is first class all the way. You'll weave through trap-filled Egyptian tombs with colorful hieroglyphics lining the passageways; ride a small tiger atop the Great Wall of China as dragons swirl across the sky; run through a futuristic city with neon signs, mirrored buildings and pulsating lasers; and even journey to an Arabian village that would make Aladdin green with envy!
There is so much happening on the screen at once that you may not realize (or appreciate) all of the little nuances that went into this game; take turns with a second player and behold all of the amazing sights! Even more impressive is the amount of funny death scenes Crash will experience. Almost every single enemy or object will affect him in a different way: club-wielding ogres will bat Crash into your TV screen; a giant frog will kiss the bandicoot and then turn into a prince; sultans will cut the trousers off him and giggle as Crash tries to cover his "naked" body; and spears will send him slamming into the ceiling. Each enemy will also laugh or cheer while this is happening, which really adds to the crazy atmosphere.
The game takes place within a warp room leading to five different areas, each composed of five stages and an amusing boss character. You can play these stages in any order, with the primary goal being to retrieve the purple crystal located on the course. Making their debut are levels centered on vehicles including a motorcycle, biplane, jet ski and underwater jet sub. These levels are so well done that it makes you wonder why there aren't more PlayStation games covering these genres.
The jet ski levels offer undulating water with an amazing reflective surface that just beckons you to play. Motorcycle levels are straight out of Motor Toon GP with clean, colorful roads and vehicles plus wild ramps you can use to catch air. The goal in this segment is to place first while avoiding stationary police cars, road signs and potholes. The jet sub underwater levels have you firing torpedoes at sharks, puffer fish and spiked mines that block your way. Even more impressive are the biplane levels, where you shoot down zeppelins and other planes while barrel rolling to avoid the rat-a-tat-tat machine gun fire.
Besides collecting the 25 crystals, which are almost impossible to miss, there are other goodies you can gather whenever you return to a stage. These include the following: Clear Gems for either breaking all of the boxes in a level (this is not easy to do!) or finishing a secret area, five hidden Colored Gems and two types of relics: silver and gold. These are obtained by speeding through each level in as little time as possible, and for every five relics you earn, a secret level will become available.
This really adds to the playability as you'll hunger for more stages after experiencing the fast-paced arcade feel of those included. The sheer variety makes this the best in the series, and even if you've hated the other two, there are enough differences here to make you take a shining to the orange marsupial. In a year (1999) filled with impressive software, Crash Bandicoot: WARPED whirls its way near the top of the list.
Graphics graphics rating
Unbelievable. Everything is crystal clear, colorful, smoothly animated and extremely detailed. Nifty effects like rain, thunder, water reflections, billowing smoke from downed planes and light-sourcing will keep you glued to the screen.
Sound sound rating
The voice acting is five-star quality all the way, as each boss will taunt you during your quest for the crystals with distinct personalities. Dingodile, for example, will say: "Break out the buttah, we're gonna make toast" in an Australian accent as he fires up his flamethrower. As impressive as the voices are, each time period has its own musical score which captures the level setting perfectly.
Enjoyment enjoyment rating
The one drawback is that the game doesn't let you have free range of movement like in a Super Mario 64 or Spyro the Dragon. Still, with the amount of graphic detail and traps, enemies, and secrets, you may never feel the desire to move away from the courses. I do wish, however, you could choose between Coco or Crash for any level instead of being "assigned" to a character on certain stages. One thing worth mentioning is the vibration feedback -- it's fantastic, especially during the vehicle sequences: you really feel the hum of your jet ski or motorcycle! It's also very subtle on the other stages, making it (in my opinion) the best level of feedback in a PlayStation game since Gran Turismo.
Replay Value replay rating
The game can be finished in a day if you just collect the 25 crystals. Of course, no gamer worth his or her salt would want to miss out on the secret levels and challenge of trying to get a 100% completion rating. A nice feature is the fact that you can replay any of the levels over and over again and enter a time trial mode (which alters the layout of the level and does away with the fruit and checkpoints). Since most of the stages are fast-paced, it's fun to just ride the waves or rev up the motorcycle after you finish the game. Plus, you acquire new moves after you defeat the bosses--which will help you reach previously inaccessible areas on the earlier levels.
Documentation documentation rating
The instruction manual is very colorful and tells you everything you need to know, but it's only thirteen pages in length. I wanted to learn more about the wacky bosses and different levels.