Crash Twinsanity

When Sony's Playstation was still in its nascent stages of gamer acceptance, there was a widespread belief that the system couldn't survive because it lacked a franchise character. Nintendo, of course, had Mario, and Sega had Sonic, but Sony seemed to be lacking some kind of furry mascot character. Back in 1996, Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot fitted the bill perfectly, offering platform hungry gamers, and parents who didn't want to buy their kids games featuring the slaughter of not-so-innocent hookers a solid but  ultimately by-the-numbers platform game. While Crash has since moved into the cross platform realm, and moved over under the wing of developers Traveller's Tales, he's not markedly advanced in terms of the type of platform action he offers. There are some new innovations in Crash Twinsanity that do raise it above the more pedestrian Crash games such as Wrath Of Cortex, but ultimately it's still the same old Bandicoot that we've been sending to comical deaths for the last eight years.

Having faced off and beaten the hideous Dr Neo Cortex so many times, the series did need something of a refresh, and the method that Traveller's Tales has taken works reasonably well, although it's not entirely original. Twinsanity opens with Crash being lured into a nasty fate by Cortex (disguised no so well as Coco Bandicoot), but being the bandicoot of sound moral character and zero intelligence that he is, he's quickly able to rend asunder all of Cortex's complex plans. It's at that point that a pair of evil twins from the tenth dimension (carefully identified by Dr Cortex as "Somewhere between the 9th and 11th dimensions") intercede, and announce their intentions of destroying Nsanity island, stealing Cortex's brain and enslaving Crash. Resistance, they announce in their best squeaky evil villain voices, is futile. Neither Crash nor Cortex want to lose their homeland, so they reluctantly join forces to fight the evil twins in a battle that will ultimately end up on Twinsanity island.

So what does this pairing bring in terms of gameplay, I hear you ask? Well, it means that aside from what could be seen as the "core" Crash levels -- 3D platform jumping, creature riding and running away from large rolling dangerous things, this time as multiple different characters -- there's also a lot of gameplay that works on getting Crash and Cortex to reluctantly work together. Crash can spin Cortex around him, extending the range of his spinning attack; he can also use Cortex to smash otherwise indestructible objects, and he can throw Cortex over gaps to activate switches and destroy enemies. Cortex can even be used as an impromptu board for Crash to slide through levels on, although as with all his other uses, he's hardly a happy and acquiescent chap when he's sliding down a hill with an insane bandicoot on his rump.

There's a smattering of levels with a distinct Super Monkey Ball feel, where Crash and Cortex fight in a cartoon style whirling ball of fists and feet which must be directed down ramps. Admittedly, Wrath of Cortex had similar levels, but they're much better implemented in Crash Twinsanity. There are also levels where Cortex's vision is impaired, and as Crash you've got to quickly run through the level, triggering switches to keep the good doctor free of perils such as spiked pits and crushing anvils. Aside from these sections, though, the good doctor is relatively indestructible; most of the time you've only got to concentrate on keeping Crash alive.

The additions to Crash Twinsanity aren't all that innovative -- most recently Whiplash used the same buddy system to solid effect, and it's something that's been part of the Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank games as well. So what you end up with is a title that most gamers will feel immediately at home with that just happens to have a few new challenges in it. Along with that feeling of familiarity will come some all to familiar frustrations, as Crash Twinsanity doesn't really rectify all that many of the factors that have plagued the series since day one. Crash still dies quite easily, and often quite unfairly, and this is only partially rectified by the game throwing an almost embarrassing number of extra lives at you. Checkpoints and especially game saves are very unevenly spaced. Sometimes you'll hit two in quick succession, only to find a longer and much more challenging section that refuses to yield, forcing you into many, many replays before it's finally cleared. Finally, the game's 3D camera, while somewhat improved, is still a little clunky, and in some of the game's more high-wire areas, you will die more than once thanks to iffy camera positions.

The dodgy camera aside, however, Crash Twinsanity is a good looking game. Crash and Cortex have some really solid animations that bring both of them to life, and even the enemies are nicely animated, especially the plentiful level bosses. That's backed up with some solid audio, from the in-game score, which incorporates both a sense of menace and a sense of whimsy, to the voice acting. Special mention here must go to whoever does Cortex's voice, as it's a superb job. Far too many games try to be wacky humorous, and just fall flat, but thanks to Cortex's convincingly over-the-top voicing, Crash Twinsanity has far more than its fair share of genuine belly laughs to offer.

Crash Twinsanity will probably sell pretty well; while titles like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Halo 2 get immense publicity budgets pumped into them, Twinsanity's a more family-friendly game (well, unless your family is made up solely of orange bandicoots, in which case you might find the wholesale 'coot-slaughter a tad off-putting) that builds well on the existing Crash franchise. Sure, it's not without its problems, but its charm, genuine sense of humour and solid gameplay model make it a game that it's hard not to like at least a little bit.

• E-mail this
• Print this
• Share this...
  • del.icio.us
  • digg this
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
• beam_from:CNET Australia beam_text:Crash Twinsanity http://m.cnet.com.au/240002205.htm beam_tags:CNETAU beam_label:Send to my mobile beam_icon:12 beamad_category:20 beamad_placement:2181