Crash Twinsanity

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Crash Twinsanity Crash Twinsanity boxart
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal Games
Composer(s)	Spiralmouth
Series	Crash
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Mobile
Release date(s)	NA September 28, 2004 PAL October 8, 2004 NA November 6, 2004 (Mobile)
Genre(s)	Platform game
Mode(s)	single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E OFLC: G PEGI: 3+
Media	DVD
Input methods	Game controller

Crash Twinsanity (released in Japan as Crash Bandicoot 5: Crash and Cortex's Ambition?!? (クラッシュ・バンディクー5 え〜っ クラッシュとコルテックスの野望?!?, Kurasshu Bandikū 5: Ētsu Kurasshu to Korutekkusu no Yabō?!?^?)) is a platform game published by Vivendi Universal Games and developed by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released in North America on September 28, 2004, in Europe on October 8, 2004 and in Japan on December 9, 2004.

Crash Twinsanity is the eleventh installment in the Crash Bandicoot series, although it is the fifth chronologically. The game's story takes place three years after the events of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and follows the main protagonist and main antagonist of the series, Crash Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex, as they are forced to work together to stop The Evil Twins, a duo of parrots who plot to destroy the archipelago of islands the characters of the series inhabit.

Gameplay

Crash Twinsanity differs significantly in gameplay from its predecessor Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. The game is largely played in a free-roaming style, although the linear path based gameplay of the previous installments occasionally reappears. The game's plot is now pushed forward by going through levels, instead of collecting crystals. Crash's control style is pretty much the same as previous games, although he does have various new moves. Like the Jak and Daxter series, Crash is occasionally accompanied by a second character, in this case his nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex.

Crash can use Cortex as a hammer, perform a spin attack while holding on to him, throw him across gaps to activate switches, and can even use him as a snowboard. Whilst most of the time Crash could happily swing Cortex to his doom and have him return safely, in other sections of the game, Crash must clear a path for a disoriented Cortex to prevent him from blundering into deadly obstacles. In the earlier levels, Crash and Cortex will get drawn into a comedy slapfight, and the player then steers the scrapping pair around obstacles to reach their goal.

In some areas of the game, such as the Academy of Evil, Cortex will go solo, armed with a raygun and a limited amount of ammo. Another controllable character is Cortex's niece, Nina Cortex. She fights through the levels using her mechanical arms and wall climbing abilities. At the very last part of the game, Crash goes into the robot known as Mecha-Bandicoot. He is the final playable character and can shoot plasma blasts.

Plot

At the end of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Doctor Neo Cortex's space station was destroyed once again, leaving him and Uka Uka preserved in ice in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Three years later, all is well in N. Sanity Island until Crash's sister, Coco Bandicoot, is paralyzed by a free Neo Cortex. Poorly disguised as Coco, Cortex lures Crash over to a bay, where he attacks Crash with the Mecha-Bandicoot, a gigantic bandicoot-like mech. After this fails to defeat Crash, the robot falls in a cave, taking Crash and Cortex with it. Cortex, infuriated over losing for Crash again, attacks him, and the duo fights to the exit of the cave.

After getting out of the cave, Crash and Cortex are confronted by a pair of odd parrot-like creatures who self-proclaim themselves as "Evil Twins", who claim to have come to destroy the Wumpa Islands. When it is learned that the Evil Twins come from the Tenth Dimension, Cortex proposes that he and Crash travel the islands in search of crystals needed to power the Psychetron, which will allow travel to the Tenth Dimension. Crash faces many of his old enemies during this crystal-gathering quest, including Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nefarious Tropy. After gathering enough crystals, Cortex enlists the aid of his neice, Nina Cortex. It is later revealed that the Evil Twins are actually Neo Cortex's former pet parrots, mutated by the radiation present in the Tenth Dimension. Once the required crystals have been gathered, Crash, Neo Cortex and Nina travel to the Tenth Dimension and defeat the Evil Twins.

Development

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Crash Twinsanity had a large amount of content cut out due to time constraints and multiple changes in the direction of the game. Some of this content is viewable in the "Yellow Gem Gallery". A number of levels reached a fairly advanced state of completion, before being dropped for various reasons. These included a level set on the sea-bed of a dried-up ocean, a cyberspace level reminiscent of Tron in which Coco Bandicoot is controlled and a level set inside Coco's mind (named "Gone a Bit Coco"), where Doctor Cortex fights against cute animals. A much longer storyboard was originally drawn up, which included a great number of extra cutscenes; these were trimmed early on to save time in development. The game was originally known by the working title of Crash Bandicoot: Evolution. It was briefly renamed Crash Unlimited (which ended up as the name on E3 and magazine demos of the game), before finally ending up as Crash Twinsanity. The game was originally to be platformed for GameCube along with PS2 and Xbox, but was later axed due to disappointing performance of other Vivendi Universal games on the system.

Music

The soundtrack of Crash Twinsanity was performed by Spiralmouth, an American a cappella band. Spiralmouth would reprise their role in the next Crash game, Crash Tag Team Racing. Some tracks in the game are a cappella recreations of classical music, including Flight of the Bumblebee ("Doc Amok" levels), The Blue Danube (third part of "Totem Hokum") and Hebrides Overture (Rusty Walrus chase section of "High-Seas Hijinks").

Reception

Crash Twinsanity received mixed reviews from critics upon release. Play Magazine declared that "Traveller's Tales has delivered a 60 fps cartoon epic without sacrificing expanse, dwarfing boss encounters or vivid effects by skillfully balancing model and environment integrity with performance."^[2][3] James B. Pringle of IGN said that "Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around."^[10][11] Andrew Wooldridge of 1UP.com said the game "is funny, fun to play, and is a definite improvement on the claustrophobic linear levels of games past."^[1] Chris Stead of GamePro described the game as "great fun for our gaming youth and a humorous piece of nostalgia for veterans keen to spank their bandicoots, one last time."^[5] Brent Soboleski of TeamXbox crowned the game as "one of the best Crash titles to have been released since its earliest inception on home consoles, and it’s creative use of combining past enemies as partners is what gives Twinsanity a new lease on life."^[12] Nick Valentino of GameZone said that the game "rises above the game’s original roots to bring a game that’s both refreshingly humorous as well as downright enjoyable."^[9] However, Louis Bedigian of the same site described the game as "double the insanity for all you psychopath-loving gamers out there, but it's half the fun for gamers."^[8] Ryan Davis of GameSpot concluded that "it's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well."^[6][7] Official Xbox Magazine declared that "even if you're frustrated by dying on a jump for the 50th time, you'll still think it's funny as hell."^[3] Kristan Reed of Eurogamer said that "the gameplay variation is there for all to see, and when it hits the mark it - believe it or not - is every bit as enjoyable as the very best the genre has to offer, with some true high points to look back on."^[4] PSM Magazine praised the graphics and controls but criticized the level design, saying that it was "designed to kill the player in as many cheap ways as possible."^[2] A reviewer for Game Informer finished with "While it pains me to say this, maybe Crash should make like the entire cast of Blossom and disappear."^[2][3] Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine described the game as "a bummer" and "a tragic tale of missed opportunities, as a funny, engaging platformer shines through the me-too muck."^[2] Electronic Gaming Monthly decided that the "funny writing (courtesy of an ex-Ren & Stimpy scribe) can't save this uninspired rehash of antiquated Crash antics with lackluster visuals."^[2][3]

References

External links

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• Official website