Crash spends most of his time chasing his tail, but like all stupid dogs it eventually does something funny
REMEMBER THE TITANS? THEY ARE BACK
The story begins following the events of Crash of the Titans. After the Doominator robot smashed into Wumpa Islands, Crash Bandicoot, Crash's sister Coco, Crush Bandicoot and Aku Aku (a magical tribal mask) return to their daily activities. Life is good until all the inhabitants of Wumpa Islands receive gifts containing a contraption called "NV". Much like a cell-phone, NV is the answer to everyone's problem-free lives. There's one little problem, though. As soon as someone puts on a pair of NV goggles (they look like helmets) he or she is turned into an idiotic mutant. Crash is naturally immune to the whole scheme because he lacks the attention span required to even put on the contraption. Plus he's already an idiot.
As you might have guess, Dr. Neo Cortex and Dr. Nitrus Brio are behind it all. To make the whole ploy even more malicious they managed to betray Uka Uka, Aku Aku's evil brother (also a tribal mark), and milk his Mojo, which is used to manufacture the devices. And by "milk" we mean having the mask hooked up to a bunch of suction machines... Coco and Crush had the misfortune to put on the contraptions so they turned into mutants. With the help of Aku Aku, Crash sets out to foil the plans of both evilicious Doctors.
Crash: Mind Over Mutant is rather simple game - a platformer in the truest sense of the word. Players must once again run around, gather Mojo and defeat various giant enemies. Like in Crash of the Titans, monsters can be saddled up for added gameplay, expect here we have more variety. Radical Entertainment created a fairly large amount of rideable Titans, each with different attack moves and abilities. For instance, some can slow down time while others can turn into a ball or freeze water. Some Titans are better at long range attacks, others at hand-to-hand combat, while some have telekinetic skills that can lift enemies and move objects. Many levels are designed around specific Titans, which the game conveniently makes available where needed.
Radical Entertainment nixed some of Crash's old moves. Our ever-smiling mascot can no longer use Aku Aku as a surfboard, though he can still use his friend as a shield. Gameplay is straightforward and similar to previous titles. Crash runs around destroying crates and other objects picking up Mojo. Once enough Mojo has been accumulated our lovable bandicoot levels up. While riding a Titan, Mojo will level up the Titan in question. Crash can double jump, spin, dig underground tunnels in specific locations and perform a weak and strong attack. He can also dodge the attacks of larger opponents with a well-timed press of a button. This might look like a lot but our canine friend has a rather shallow assortment of moves.
The Titans are clearly the focal point of the game. Most of the action takes place while riding them and there are plenty of oddities scattered about to keep players from running on foot for too long. Crash can have up to two Titans in stock (only one if he saddles up a really big Titan). Each one can perform a weak and strong attack, as well as a variety of special moves that drain an auto-recharging power bar. Gameplay in general is decent but a bit unpolished. Crash and his Titans feel clunky in a slippery kind of way. They will often slide off structures they are supposed to grab onto or activate items they are not facing. Despite some of the shortcomings, gameplay is fun and keeps players interested throughout the entire game, thanks to the Titans.
OPEN-ENDED LINEAR GAMEPLAY
Mind Over Mutant tries to introduce open-ended gameplay to the franchise - emphasis on "tries". The game is divided into a free roaming "outside" world and "indoor" parts. The outside world includes various regions: Wumpa Islands, Ratcicle Kingdom, Rinoroller Village, remnants of the Doominator and various areas in between. Players can run around in those zones at will, killing enemies and gathering Mojo, but many missions are performed indoors, much like in previous Crash games. For instance, to reach Nina's School players must to pass through Wumpa Islands and Ratcicle Kingdom, which together can take around 20 minutes to go through, but once inside Nina's School it's back to good old linear gameplay. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you, just be forewarned that the entire game isn't open-ended. The majority of missions are sequential so this open-endedness is only skin deep.
The game is rather short in length. To counter this problem Radical Entertainment makes players go over the same areas multiples times. This wouldn't be a bad thing had it not been so obviously done to stretch out play time. The free-roaming nature of the outside world isn't a positive in some aspects. Objectives aren't always clear, so when a mission tells you to go to a specific location it's not always apparent how to get there. Players will often find themselves roaming like a homeless dog. The cartoonish map doesn't help in the matter. All it's good for is telling you where you are but it doesn't say how to get anywhere.
The most enjoyable part is the animation. Radical Entertainment gives us some hilarious cartoons between missions. Dialog is funny, up-to-date and trendy. The game presents an effective social satire of current consumer trends. Dialog between characters is smart and funny. Accolades are truly well-deserved here. If this is what the creative heads up at Radical Entertainment are capable of, Crash deserves his own animated TV series. Cutscenes use various forms of animation. Some of them are done using side-splitting paper cutouts while others look like something out of the Cartoon Network (picture Cow and Chicken or Dexter's Laboratory). Video clips and various extras can be viewed from Crash's house on Wumpa Island.
Previous Crash titles had a room with portals that lead to various missions. This formula hasn't really changed. All Radical Entertainment did was increase the size of the room, except here portals have been replaced with giant doors and caves, and the "room" now has an open sky, enemies, a few tricky platforms, switches and walls to climb. It's a shy improvement from the old formula but a step up nonetheless.
Gameplay requires a fair use of Titans and their unique abilities. In some parts players have to create bridges by freezing water, slow down time to move through rapidly-moving platforms or pull blocks out of walls, all with the help of Titans. While only playing as Crash, levels will ask players to pass wobbly platforms, climb walls and dig tunnels to reach new areas. In later stages portals become available allowing players to jump to specific locations. Getting to specific zones, before we are graced with portals, is fun the first time around, but after going through the same tricky parts multiple times - usually needlessly while straying on your way to a specific location - things get annoying. Yes, Crash, smile… Smile, you mutt, while I waste another 15 minutes telekinetically moving blocks around trying to get somewhere, only to find out I shouldn't have gone that way. Ergo, gameplay gives mixed feelings.
SMILES, DROOLS AND SLUGS
Co-op mode becomes available once Coco Bandicoot is saved from the clutches of her NV contraption and it's not that good. Both players have to be on screen at all times, which usually makes one of the characters more of a fifth wheel than an asset. To save Coco players must first defeat a drooling, snarling mutant version of Crash's sister - the same goes to Crush Bandicoot. Most bosses are taken out in a unique way, which is always a good thing. The mutated Crush Bandicoot, for example, hides behind rocket-launchers that can only be destroyed by flinging TNT crates at them using the telekinetic Titan. Nina, on the other hand, is "saved" by protecting her school project from being destroyed. In all, boss battles are fairly simple and fun.
It should be noted that Crash can't die. For better or worse dying only sends players back to a previous checkpoint without any penalties. There are no lives like in previous games. I personally didn't find this to be a bad thing. Had they added lives players would have still managed to finish the game, only with more headaches and in no less play time either.
Speaking of headaches, one of the biggest drawbacks is the camera. Radical Entertainment created a fixed camera, which is a good thing in most games since the best angles are chosen for us. Unfortunately camera angles in Mind Over Mutant often suck. Much of Wumpa Islands will be played with players running towards the screen with the entire level behind Crash, barely seeing what is ahead. And even with the fixed camera players will often find themselves missing a ledge, usually because the camera is completely zoomed out. Would it have hurt to at least let players have the option to zoom in and out? Most of the game is played with characters about the size of raisins on screen. Crash might look like some guy in an ugly costume with an oversized head, but as a player I would like to see his nauseous smile from up close. We never get to see the game as depicted in all the awesome screenshots.
SUMMARY
In all, Crash: Mind Over Mutant is a good game – not great, but good. It offers enough Titans to keep players busy throughout the dozen hours or so of gameplay. The rideable monsters are pleasantly varied. Gameplay is linear in some parts and finding your next mission can be a pain in the outside portions, but since Crash is "immortal" getting lost and dying won't matter much. Bosses are always a treat to fight. It's too bad Radical Entertainment makes players go through the same places multiple times. The game is rather short, so we can only imagine how much shorter it would have been had all the areas only been visited once. Still, Crash: Mind Over Mutant is a decent platformer, though it fares much better as a cartoon. Players will find themselves laughing out loud on more than one occasion while watching cutscenes. Give it a try if you liked previous Crash games, but be warned, the game is short and you won't grasp all the inside jokes if you have the attention span of our favorite bandicoot.
Graphics 67
Nothing special about them and most of the time the camera is so zoomed out we can't see any details
Gameplay 72
Fun for the most part but going over the same parts gets annoying, especially when you get lost. Co-op mode isn't available at first and it's not that good
Production 75
Funny animated clips make it worthwhile, though not enough effort was given to make the game as funny as the clips
Sound 80
Memorable enemy lines and some catchy tunes. Great dialog during cutscenes
Replayability 60
Short game and not enough extras for seconds