Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex

by Konami / Universal Interactive Studios

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005NCCI
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 15, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (172 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,099 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #42 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Action
  • #89 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > All Games

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.com Product Description

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, the first PlayStation2 installment in the Crash Bandicoot series, delivers the same mix of intuitive gameplay and elaborate adventure that fans have come to expect, offering many enhancements and all-new environments and missions. Neo Cortex is back, and he means to rid himself of Crash once and for all. To energize his most diabolical creation to date, Cortex channels the power of the Elementals, a group of renegade masks with the destructive power of air, earth, water, and fire. To stop the Elementals and Cortex's new weapon, Crash or Coco (a fully playable character for the first time) will face five game hubs, 25 dynamic levels, and five unique bosses, as well as a new character that will rock the Crash world.

You can complete specific levels of the game to play as Crash's fiery sister. Coco will have a wide variety of moves and animations tailored to fit her personality. New free-roam sections will be implemented within certain levels of the game. These sections feature puzzles and hidden areas never before seen in a Crash game. New bosses and minibosses offer up a Noah's Ark-sized list of new creatures. The game also has an all-new graphics engine that brings vivid life to environments and characters like never before.

Product Description

Crash Bandicoot for PlayStation 2

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, November 14, 2001

By 

Kent Miller "shortstop-ok" (Norman, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Video Game)

I have been playing this game for about 5 days with my 2 sons (ages 4 and 7) and we have been enjoying it for the most part. I had really high hopes for this game as we play through Crash 3 (Warped) every few months.

This game is much more difficult than Crash 3. We have gotten through about 20/25 levels. Some of the boss stages have been (unnecessarily) frustrating. I would say that my 7 yr old can do about 75% of the levels and my 4 yr old has only been able to do 3 or 4.

There is only real new play mode we've seen so far - on several levels Crash is in a glass ball and you run in the ball through the level. I think these are pretty good, we have replayed some of these just for fun.

On a couple of levels Crash flies an airplane as in previous games. These levels aren't nearly as difficult as the past games and are now kind of frustratingly easy.

There has been 1 racing level that I didn't enjoy too much. There are holes in the road that you can't see until too late, and the other cars seem to make it their mission to get in your way. It took me about 12 tries to complete it, and when I did it seemed like it was random instead of that my skill had increased.

On a couple of levels you play as Coco, and in parts of these levels Coco rides a scooter or a snowboard. It is kind of irritating that Coco doesn't inherit the skills you acquire like tip-toeing or double-jump. We really like the levels in the old game where you rode the baby tiger and were kind of disappointed that there weren't any of those in this one. The Cocoa levels are pretty good, though.

There are a few underwater levels in which you swim or drive a submarine through. There are some mine-looking things that fall down from above as you approach them. The only trouble is that they are sometimes off the top of the screen. You either have to take baby steps through the level or memorize where they are. I don't think these levels are very fun (but then again I didn't like either the swimming or jet ski levels from Crash 3 either).

The load times are extremely annoying. My 7 year old and I have 2 ways to entertain ourselves during the load times. Sometimes we imitate Crash falling through the air. Sometimes we joke about how many things we could do while a level is loading. (I say "Wanna go eat dinner while this loads? He says: "Are you sure it will be done by then?") I usually turn the game on and walk away and do something. Then I load a level and walk away again.

I don't think this game is as polished as Crash 3 was. Some things are irritatingly hard and others seem too easy - it seems like they rushed it out for Christmas 2001. One of the little things that drive me nuts is that you can fall off the edge of cliffs when you are trying to go onto the platform for bonus levels. It seems like the key to success is often to die and die until you memorize the level enough to get through it (jump here, don't jump here. That box is not worth trying for, etc...). The first game of the series was kind of like that, but I thought the 2nd and 3rd were less so.

When you collect the 3rd mask it is hard to tell that you are invincible. The previous games had a really distinctive drum beat that played - in this game the music changes but it is really subtle and you have to be paying attention to even know.

I also think the music is not nearly as good as in the previous games. The songs from the previous Crash games were pretty hummable but I can't say I even really notice the music in this one.

One more thing I wanted to mention is that I get some motion sickness sometimes when playing 3d games. I know that many people suffer from this. One if the things I appreciated about the previous games is that I could play it without getting dizzy. This game does contain a few levels in it that make me a bit dizzy, but it isn't too bad.

So what you want to know is, should you buy it. I think I've been really hard on this game because my expectations were so high due to home much we enjoy Crash 3, which is my favorite platform game ever. Some people have complained that it is too easy, but it matches my attention span for a game pretty well. (...)

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Game, but Flawed, August 20, 2002

By 

GamerGirl (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Video Game)

I really enjoy Crash Bandicoot games. The Wratch of Cortex was also enjoyable in its way, but there were too many frustrations for me to really be enthusiastic about it. There are 30 levels in the game, including the bosses. If you have ever played a Crash Bandicoot game before, then you will find everything you have come to expect from one. You are in a 2.5-D world, sometimes side-scrolling, sometimes a third person view from the front or behind, and sometimes using one of the game's numerous modes of transportation (i.e. biplane, mine cart, dune buggy, etc.). If you were expecting improved graphics, then your expectations will be pleasantly fulfilled. The game moves very smoothly through some beautiful environments.

So what are my complaints? First, Crash seems harder to control than I remember from his previous adventures. I think one of the biggest factors in this are the camera angles. Sometimes it seems that the camera is too close so that you cannot see everything around you, and then sometimes it seems too far away and it is hard to judge the depth of your enemies. I think I noticed this the most on the levels where you have a front view of Crash and he is being chased by something behind him. The camera seems to be in way too close, so that nitro crates, holes, and other obstacles just jump out in front of you, forcing you to die a million times while you memorize the route you have to take. Second, some of levels tended to be repetitive. Granted, I did enjoy some of the newer levels. There were a couple of short sections of levels where you got to ride a mine cart, which was fun. There were also three levels where you were rolling through the level inside a sphere, giving it a marble madness feel. I would have liked to see more levels like these rather than the underwater and biplane levels that seem to pop up repeatedly in every single game in the series. Third, the bosses were just painful. I may be biased because I really do not like bosses, but these ones seemed more annoying than usual. Lastly, the loading times were the worst I have ever seen in any video game. You have spend at least a minute or so staring at a loading screen every time you enter and leave a level. I was actually discouraged from playing this game many times because I knew how much time would be wasted on loading screens.

Of course a Crash Bandicoot game would not be complete without the gems and relics. After you beat a level, you can replay it and try to open every box in the level to win a gem, or race through the level and beat a set time to win a relic. Once you beat the final boss you are granted access to a secret room with 5 extra levels that are earned by winning relics from the levels. This could be interesting if you actually have the patience to play through all the levels over again.

I might have given this game 4 stars had it not been for the hideous loading times. It got so ridiculous that I would start flipping channels during the loading screens because I got so bored. Aside from that, this is a pretty adequate helping of Crash if you have enjoyed previous games.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Beware of Load Times, November 10, 2001

By 

R. Caldwell (Cary, North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Video Game)

I was so excited to rent this game, rush home, and play it, being a big fan of the Crash games. This has to be, without a doubt, the biggest gaming letdown I've had. There is absolutely no excuse to release a game in this state for the public. Sure, the game itself may be enjoyable, but it is difficult to enjoy a game between unrelentless load times. I kid you not, the first thing you see when you start this game is "LOADING." Then, five seconds later you see it again. After you hit Start, you see it again. When you finally, after an eternity of waiting, get to any screen that lets you play the game, you have to wait about 30-40 seconds for your level to load. After you beat the level, you have to wait again for the warp room to load (why should it take 30 seconds to load a warp room .... what is the PS2 exactly doing all this time?) Then you wait again when you start the next level .... it is an endless series of waiting. I couldn't stand it any longer and turned it off. Perhaps it's my problem that I don't want to wait 30 seconds between ever single part of a game (like every 3-5 minutes or less) but I guarantee I'm not one force fed by the MTV generation; I can be patient within reason. I just can't believe that the game designers actually believed this game was ready to fly--but then again, it is Christmas time, and so certainly time for a quick buck. I hope the developers read this and take note that such lengthy load times are bad programming in my opinion. I'v played plenty of more complex games on PS2 with basically no load times (check out ICO for that matter.) Please do us all a favor, and don't release a game with such shoddy technical planning to the public again. Work out the kinks so we can enjoy the quality game it should and otherwise would have been.

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