Unless you’ve been sitting in a cave with your eyes closed and your fingers inserted into your ear canals for the past few years, then you’ll be familiar with the Crash Bandicoot video game series – Naughty Dog Development’s most popular game titles, designed for the Sony Playstation gaming consoles.

After the roaring (over five million sales) of Crash 1 and 2, the programmers and artists working for Naughty Dog began work on Crash Bandicoot Warped. This game, of course, is much like its predecessors, in that the main character is a Bandicoot (well now DUH!) who races around the world spinning, stomping, belly flopping, and otherwise assailing his opponents. He fights the “bosses” at the end of each world, warps to the next, and eventually beats the game. While doing all of this, he also collects relics, performs “time trials” within the levels in order to earn MORE relics, and stomps on his enemies. All of this is, of course, G-rated: No blood, no profanities, and no violence. Crash is a nice little guy – perfect for your toddlers to play with.

What’s so darned great about this kiddy game, and why do I like it so much?

PLAYSTATION. PLAYSTATION. PLAYSTATION. Sony’s gaming console was superior to its competitors. It had more storage space, better usage of memory, and incredible graphical representations, giving top-notch programmers and artists an advantage. They could, within this environment, create realistic games that were jam-packed with all sorts of extra features, high-end resolution, and plenty of action. “Warped” is no exception to this, of course.

Crash is very realistically represented. The star bandicoot wears jeans and hi-topped sneakers and looks like quite the high-end compilation of bits and bytes. He jumps, spins, crawls, dances, celebrates, and otherwise moves in entertaining (yet quite functional) ways. This character won’t soon bore you.

Crash Warped is also host to numerous other characters, many of which are unique to each of the worlds. The frogs and goats that attempt to destroy Crash. The wizards that shoot magical fireballs. The protective mask that gives Crash a one-hit immunity (after that, you’re toast if the enemies sink their claws into you). Volcanic masses, vampire bats, Australian gators, lions, biker gangs, and other crazy animations try to wipe you out whilst playing your way through this title. The various levels and worlds’ll not bore you, either. You will go into the desert and face genies. You will go underwater and fend off sharks and blowfish. You will go to China and ride a tiger – then, later, you will get dumped into the water and ride a jet ski around.

The main point, of course, is to pass the level by dodging the characters and reaching the end – the “warp zone.” However, there are other things to be done whilst playing.
There are boxes that you can stomp on, spin into, and slide against. Most of these contain apples – collect 100 of them and you receive an extra life. Some contain the protective mask. Others are marked with a “?” – who knows what’s in them? If, at the end of the level, you have successfully stomped ALL of the boxes, you will receive a relic in the shape of a diamond. If you receive all the diamonds (a challenge in itself, as you must go through ALL the levels in ALL the worlds to accomplish this!) then you will unlock bonuses such as more levels. I have yet to succeed at this, preferring instead to simply stomp the hell out of my enemies and collect as many relics as I can. However, it proves to create an added dimension to the challenges in Crash Warped: While younger children and inexperienced “shallow” gamers as myself can simply enjoy going through the levels, more serious people (such as yourself, perhaps) can challenge themselves by attempting to get all of the various relics.

EASY GAME PLAY

Crash Warped is very easy to play. You can make it harder by trying to collect all of the relics, of course: However, when I play a video game I simply want to shut out my thoughts. My brain works overtime ALL DAY LONG. I don’t ever shift into a lower gear. I can’t simply get lost or stare into outer space. So, I play video games that are easy – things that I do not have to concentrate on. (This is why I am not a fan of the Final Fantasy series – they are EXCELLENT games, and highly recommended to people who enjoy such involved gaming, but they aren’t for me.) Crash Warped is simply a matter of going from one level to the next without getting hit by enemies. There are no secret trap doors, logical thoughts to be reasoned out, or other surprises. This is a straightforward game – very comparable to the original Mario Bros. Series or Sonic the Hedgehog.


GREAT CONTROLS

All of Sony’s controller buttons are utilized. Slide, run, dodge, duck, crawl, spin, et cetera with the push of a button. They are logical and easy to learn – it took me about ten seconds to pick up the gist of the layout. This is a simple game, one that your younger children will certainly enjoy for a long time to come.


“G” RATING

While I’m not adverse to “adult” games such as the Final Fantasy series, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto, or Goldeneye 007, I occasionally like “child-safe” games. Crash is a relief to even the sternest and most morally upright of parents: You won’t worry about the youngest of the kids in your house playing this game without your direct supervision.


SAVING OPTIONS


As with most other PlayStation games, you use a regular old Memory Card to keep track of your progress in this game. You can save each time you complete a level, or whenever you pass a world – or most times in between, as all you must do is exit to the main screen and walk Crash over to the Warp Screen. You can save, load, name, or delete your games from this screen – very fast, easy, and convenient.


ENTERTAINMENT VALUE


I’m actually the only person in the house that still plays this game more than twice a year. It’s definitely not for people who are more interested in complex games – if you quickly grew tired of Sonic or Mario, this is probably not a good title for you.
But if you, like myself, enjoy simple gaming with no strings attached or brain cells required, then pick this title up as soon as possible. It is still selling at a very respectable pace here in the States, and for good reason – kids enjoy playing it!


GRAPHICAL QUALITY


The programmers and artists did a first-rate job with the artistic and graphical qualities of Crash Warped. They have created a realistic series of worlds for Crash and company to exist and play in – something that is certainly admirable. They picked the Sony PlayStation for their titles because, at the time of its release, the PSX consoles were the most advanced where graphics were concerned. PS featured the best storage space, with the most wicked and advanced graphics on the market. Naughty Dog Development definitely picked a great console for this involved, futuristic game.
The graphics are clear and crisp, with a very high frame-rate. Even Crash’s fastest moves do not slow down this game or make it look like a pile of crap: Everything that you make the characters do is clearly and adequately represented on your screen. The backgrounds are absolutely breathtaking: Very detailed and vivid! Truthfully, this is one of the better games where graphics are concerned, and I believe the staff that created it deserve a round of applause. Most “kiddy games” don’t focus much on graphics, but this is definitely the exception to that rule.


Then again, there are a few things that I don’t particularly like about Crash Warped. It seems like the game is sensitive: If there are even a few light surface scratches on the disc, you will experience a lot of “freeze-ups” – I definitely recommend that you save your progress often.
However, there are plenty of cheats available on the Internet and through Game Shark that will allow you to unlock all levels at the beginning of the game. This way that one particular level that ALWAYS locks up the system can simply be bypassed. This is obviously not the most desirable solution, but at least it works.


The sound effects aren’t as spectacular as they COULD be. They are actually quite boring, as if the designers recycled the same things every time just to avoid a bit of extra work. But, that isn’t necessarily a HUGE issue, as I generally have my Discman playing with the television volume turned all the way down. (Gaming sound effects bug the hell out of me most of the time!)

Overall, Crash Warped was a GREAT addition to my video game collection – which also consists of the likes of Tetris, Mario, Zelda, James Bond, and a host of other characters. If you’re not interested in involved, complex games, then pick this one up.

You can find out more about Crash and the company that created him at http://www.naughtydog.com - however, on a side note, Crash is no longer being made. Yes, they have retired the character, and are seeking greener pastures for their creative energies. Goodbye, Crash. It was great while it lasted.








Recommended: Yes