Crash Bandicoot N-Sanity Part 2

Well, this took longer than expected. My original plan for this series was to complete the first game, then do Final Fantasy VII Remake and then go back to the N-Sane Trilogy with Crash 2. But then Trials of Mana came out so I had to review that and after finishing two big action RPG's I wanted to play something lighter so I played some indie games and, well, I got a little distracted. But I'm back to continue looking at the Crash Bandicoot the N-Sane Trilogy with the second game in the series, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.

Released just a year after the original Crash Bandicoot, Crash 2 is generally considered to be the game where the series started to hit it's stride. It improved on a lot of issues in the first game and helped refine the Crash formula to. In fact, the formula that most people recognise started in Crash 2. But the funny thing is, the N-Sane Trilogy also fixed a lot of the issues with the first game, so Crash 2 isn't as big an improve ment on the original in certain aspects in this collection. Don't get the wrong idea though, Crash 2 is a better game, it's just that the N-Sane Trilogy has improved on Crash 1 to such a degree there is a reasonable argument you can make to preferring it over Crash 2. As I said last time I've found a new apreciation for Crash 1 and now consider it my second favourite game in the trilogy but Crash 2 is still my absolute favourite. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's take a look at Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and see how it holds up and why I think it's the best game in the trilogy.

The story starts right where the first game left off. After being beaten by Crash and knocked down to earth from his own blimp, Cortex discovers a Crystal which he can use to take over the world. One year later he discovers that he needs 25 more Crystals to enact his plan but with no more ground based forces, Cortex is forced to rely on an enemy. So he kidnaps Crash and tricks him into thinking he has reformed and tasks him with collecting the 25 Crystals he needs to conquer the planet under the guise of saving it. Crash is a bit of an idiot so he goes along with it but it won't be easy because Cortex's old partner N Brio has turned on him and will try to stop Crash with his own forces, though he does say to collect Gems instead of Crystals to put a stop to Cortex's plan. It's a more complicated plot than before but still straight forward enough to not get in the way. I like that Cortex is constantly providing updates to fill in Crash as it gives a sense of progression and helps give Cortex a more defined character. Crash 2 also introduces Coco Bandicoot, Crash's younger more tech savvy sister to the series. She's even a playable character in the N-Sane Trilogy. Really my only complaint with the story is that it doesn't try to keep Cortex's motivations a mystery. I think the plot would be more effective if the player didn't know Cortex was evil and had to figure it out as the game progressed. Other than that it's a decent set-up that provides context for the gameplay without being distracting which is just how I like it in a platformer.

Since I already talked about the overall presentation of the N-Sane in part 1 I won't spend too much time on it here. I will say that Crash 2 benefits a little bit more due to it's more varied locations. The original was a clear graphical update over Crash 1 which is lost in N-Sane Trilogy due to every game receiving the HD face lift, not complaining about that mind you it's just an observation. My only complaint in terms of visual presentation are that the hologram scenes aren't as good as the original, they lose the electronic static effect and don't transition into each other very well but it's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. Audio wise it's a bit richer in the sequel. The music was pretty good in Crash 1 though it leaned heavily on atmosphere while Crash 2 finds a balance between atmosphere and melody to craft a more memorable soundtrack. Because there are more cutscenes, Crash 2 has a sizable amount of voice acting, at least compared to Crash 1. All of the voices were redone for Nsane with the cast used since Twinsanity reprising their roles. I do miss Clancy Brown as Cortex but Lex Lang does a great job here, you can tell he's comfortable with the role given how long he's been voicing the character.

When the original Crash 2 released it was immediately obvious when you started playing it just how much better it was to play. The controls were so much smoother compared to Crash 1 it was like driving a new car after driving an old banger you just felt the difference. That feeling didn't survive the translation due to N-Sane Trilogy having similar controls and physics for all three games but even with that lost it's obvious just how much better a game Crash 2 is. For one, Crash has an expanded move set. He still has his trademark spin but he now has a slide that not only doubles as an attack but when combined with the jump, Crash can perform a long jump that helps him get past large gaps. Crash also has a duck that can lead to a high jump and a body slam to deal with armoured boxes. All these new moves are done using the circle button which sounds like it would be messy, assigning so many functions to the same button tends to do that, but Crash 2 manages to fix this by making each move context sensitive. Press the circle button while running and you'll do a slide, press it while standing still and you'll crouch. The slide and long jump are easily the best additions, ducking and the body slam are a bit too situational and you get the same height with a long jump that you get with a high jump. Here's a neat trick, if you spin right when you take off during a long jump you'll gain a little extra height, you can use it to skip sections of levels.

Of course improved control is nothing without great level design to back it up and Crash 2 certainly doesn't disappoint in that department but before we get into that let's discuss the game's structure. Unlike Crash 1 where you would traverse through a world map doing each level one at a time, Crash 2 instead feature five warp rooms with five levels each, with a boss fight after all five levels have been completed. You can play the levels in any order you want and while I miss the sense of progression from the first game I have to admit that the warp rooms do allow for much better level variety. Plus being able to play the levels in any order means backtracking through levels for 100% completion isn't anywhere near as annoying. I'll go into more detail later.

Which leads us to the levels themselves. Crash 2 feature a wider variety of locations than it's predecessor. While certain level themes return like jungle, river and ruins, they each offer a different feel to those found in the original and are joined by brand new themes, icy tundras, snowy forests, sewers and even space stations. It not only allows for better visual variety but each level also offers it's own unique gimmicks and gameplay mechanics. Some levels will even feature vehicles for Crash to ride including a jet-pack, it's awkward to control but who cares it's a frigging jet pack. Vehicles would be a common feature in the Crash series going forward which I have mixed feelings on but in Crash 2 I don't find them too intrusive. They only serve to add to the core gameplay. Of course the trademark chase and ride levels return as well, only instead of riding a warthog you ride on an adorable baby poar bear named, Polar. Real creative naming there guys.

Levels in Crash 2 feel more dynamic than Crash 1. In Crash 1 levels would either be 3D or 2D it's not uncommon for stages in Crash 2 to shift perspectives. The best level that exemplifies this is Un-Bearable. It's a level where you get chased by giant polar bears but at one point you can drop down a bridge into a secret 2D section and at the end you ride on Polar to escape the final polar bear. In terms of pacing Crash 2 is much faster than Crash 1 and often rely's on quick reactions than patience. Sure ther are times where patience is required but with Crash's enhanced moveset it's more fun to try and blaze through levels.

Crash 2 isn't as hard as Crash 1 but the difficulty feels more, layered for lack of a better term. Take enemies for example, in Crash 1 most enemies could be dealt with fairly easily with a simple jump or a spin but in Crash 2 enemies often have to be taken out with specific attacks, some can be jumped on but spinning them will hurt you intead for example. It adds a degree of puzzle solving when dealing with enemies. Of course it's not just enemies you'll have to worry about, you'll also have to deal with obstacles with the most common being the nitro boxes. So I forgot to mention this in part 1 but one of the box types you would find were TNT boxes. TNT boxes couldn't be spun into otherwise they would kill you but jumping on them would cause it to count down before exploding, nitro boxes, on the other hand, will explode if you so much as touch them, probably best you avoid them. The only way to break nitro boxes is to find a green switch box which will explode all the nitro's in that level. And you need to do this because nitro boxes count towards your box total.

Which brings us to collectibles. The basic collectibles from the first game, Wumpa fruit, extra lives and the Aku-Aku masks, all return and work as they did before. The more substantial collectibles come in the form of the Crystals and the Gems. Crystals are mandatory, there's one in every stage and you need to collect them in order to progress through the game, they aren't hard to find as most of them are in plain sight so you won't be able to miss them. Gems, however, are a little more tricky though you don't need to do a perfect run to collect any of them so thank god for that. Like the first game, most Gems can be picked up at the end of a stage by breaking every box. But stages often have two Gems with the second requiring different conditions in order to get. I'll be reffering to Gems received from boxes as Box Gems from now on ust to keep things clear. But yes, it's not uncommon for levels to have more than one Gem. The second Gem is received by completing certain conditions like beating the level in a certain time or by completing an alternate route which are unlocked by collecting a Coloured Gem or they can be a Death Route. Death Routes are harder sections of levels that can only be gotten too by getting to the special platform without dying once, it's a better integration of how collecting the Gems worked in the last game. Here's a pro tip, once you have a Gem you keep it even when you die so once you get one it's worth killing yourself to go back to the main path to save you from replaying the entire level. Some alternate paths have boxes in them but many of them don't or at the very least have boxes that are easy to get to from the main path. Don't worry about your lives, the game gives you plenty.

These aren't the only side areas you'll run into as some levels have side areas that can only be entered through secret warp points in other levels. By finding these secret warp points you'll be taken to a secret warp room. The secret warp room contains secret warps into other levels or entirely different secret levels, it's a much better way of handling secret levels compared to Crash 1. Actually Crash 2 has a large amount of secrets to find which is one of my favourite parts about the game. Going off the beaten path to find a secret area feels very rewarding. Really my only issue with collecting the Gems is trying to get the Box Gems often requires backtracking through levels, not backtracking to levels mind you I mean going back through a level your already in. It's not too bad in 2D levels but in 3D levels you have to run towards the camera which makes it easy to run into enemies and pits since you can't see what's in front of you. This was a minor issue in Crash 1 but it's made worse in Crash 2 because you do it more often. The worst levels in terms of backtracking are Cold Hard Crash and Piston it Away. Cold Hard Crash because it involves backtracking through a very difficult Death Route and Piston it Away involves backtracking towards a Death Route so you can't mess up once. These levels are infamous for a reason.

Despite that, I tink Crash 2 is the only game inn the trilogy that gets 100% completion pefectly right. The secondary Gems add an extra layer of variety and the Box Gems aren't too difficult to get. In the original some of the secrets culd be a little obtuse but the N-Sane Trilogy rectifies that by adding helpful hints during the loading screens. I'm not the kind of guy that always goes for 100% completion in games but there exists certain games where I not only always go for 100+%, I feel like you need to. Crash 2 is one of those games sure you could just run through the levels and get the basic ending but not only will you miss out on a good chunk of the games content, you'll also miss out on the true ending, which is actually worth getting this time. More importantly, the Coloured Gems are paced out in a much better way. In Crash 1 most of the Coloured Gems were found in later levels, meaning you had to backtrack to get the Gems in levels that had a Coloured Gem platform. In Crash 2 that rarely if ever happens because the Cloured Gems are spaced out in a way that you can complete most levels in one run without having to go back to them. That's not to say you don't have to replay levels because there are times where you do but in most cases you can replay them right away to get secondary Gems and the levels are short enough that it doesn't become a big problem.

As you can probably gather by this point, I really like Crash 2. As I said it's my favourite game in the trilogy, but no game is perfect and the chink in this game's armour are the boss fights. Like Crash 1 they're far too easy with the only standout being the fight with N-Gin where the game decides that it is now a shooter. The worst boss by far is the final boss against Cortex. This is one of the most pathetic final bosses I've ever seen, it doesn't even count as a fight since all Cortex does is run away from you, compared to his Crash 1 fight it's a major let down.

That pretty much covers everything in Crash 2 but before we wrap things up let's talk about some of the changes made in the N-Sane Trilogy. Loading screens now have hints to help you find secrets, given how obtuse some secrets can be this is for the best. Time trials were added and the Crash Dash from Warped is rewarded when you beat the game. Coco, as I mentioned earlier, was added as a playable character. The last thing I'll mention is that the hitboxes on Crash's feet were made smaller which makes jumps tighter. Purists might be put off by this but it's not something you can't adjust to it.

Crash 2 is an excellent platformer and a fantastic sequel. It does everything a sequel needs to do, improve on the original in every way. Crash 2 is my personal favourite game in the trilogy because it found the right balance in almost everything. Secrets were fun to discover, the extra vehicles added extra variety without being intrusive and getting 100% is actually fun to do and far more rewarding to do. It's not a perfect game but more often than not it polished the Crash Bandicoot formula to a fine sheen. To me this is the game that perfected the Crash Bandicoot formula. But we still have one more game to go in this collection and many see that as the best game in the series. So next time we'll finish looking at the N-Sane Trilogy with Crash Bandicoot Warped. Until next time, remember to stay safe and have fun.