3D Platforming goodness
Crash starts out with a cute little opening, setting up the story of your rival, Cortex, wanting to steal all the crystals that inhabit six different worlds. Since he can't do it himself he enlists the wonderful, yet dumb, Crash Bandicoot. Of course Crash's sister is kidnapped giving him an alterior motive to want to take on this mission. May not be the best story but at least it is something different than your typical "hey a princess is kidnapped, go rescue her." Once diving in you'll notice the game controls great and it's easy to navigate the home base and different levels. You can play with the analog sticks or the directional pad. I reccommend usuing both though as I sometimes felt the analog was a little too sensitive to get through some of the later levels.
Although the polygon based graphics dont hold up well now, the cartoony look never makes the game look dated. I also love that the camera doesnt suffer too much from early 3d based camera angle awkwardness, you'll never really find yourself getting frustrated and thinking "I would have made that jump, if it werent for the camera!"
The levels are great and I would even go as far as to say they are the best in the original Crash trilogy. The levels are so different from world to world based on what theme that world is. There is everything from a cold snowy world to a futuristic space themed world. The levels also never feel like they're repeaticious and they are just plain fun even though they are pretty short, I personally love the "Indiana Jones" inspired levels where you have to run towards the screen while dodging obsticles and being chased by a giant boulder. Collecting all the fruit and boxes in the game is fun too and adds a lot of replay value since you are rewarded with another different type of crystal. Thats right on top of collecting the main crystals you may also choose the task of collecting different crystals that are obtained by smashing all the boxes in each and completing the time trial challenges.
My only real gripe with the game were the bosses, they are very imaginative, but I would have liked to have seen more of them. They really only seem to take three to four hits each and they're weak points are easy to figure out especially the fight with Cortex at the end seemed pretty bland and didnt offer the satisfaction I would have liked. The ending really shows that this game was basically just set up for a Crash Bandicoot 3.
In short, Crash Bandicoot 2 is a great older 3D platforming adventure that will keep you engaged for a little while but will forever stay in your memories.