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DEVELOPER
Naughty Dog
PUBLISHER
Universal/Sony
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
CD-ROM
PLAYERS
1
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rash Bandicoot was the topic of many a heated debate between former GA-er Brady Fiechter and myself. He loved it; I couldn’t understand how anyone could see anything good about it. Ditto for Crash 2. But this should make him giggle with glee, I actually enjoy Crash Bandicoot: Warped.
After being foiled by the orange bandicoot twice, Doctor Cortex has a whole new set of worries. It seems Aku Aku’s evil brother, Uka Uka, has finally been released from his prison. Uka Uka is Cortex’ boss, and he wants answers. Upon learning of our hero, Uka Uka hatches a plan that even Crash can’t beat, he contracts the services of Dr. N. Tropy to build a time machine. It’s now up to Crash and his friends to chase Uka Uka, Cortex and his minions through time in order to once again save the world.
At its roots, Crash Warped is basically the same game we’ve all played twice already. Even though there are a few swimming and racing levels, the lion’s share of levels require you to run in or out of the screen, or left to right, defeating minions and collecting items and power-ups.  Every now and then Coco Bandicoot will take over in order to race along the Great Wall of China on a tiger or to ride though a jetski level.
The Crash games have always been pretty impressive looking. All the characters have always reminded me of an old Looney Tunes cartoon, especially the way they’re animated. Crash Warped continues this tradition, adding things like rainstorms and real reflections in glossy surfaces like puddles and streams. Along with all of this comes the usual bevy of PlayStation effects, great 3D, copious amounts of lighting effects, it’s all here. My favourite part of the presentation would have to be the death animations, though, as they all change depending on the situation. After being blown up you’ll witness Crash’s smoldering feet and eyes clatter to the ground, if a frog kisses him it turns into a Prince (that’s a little disturbing when you think about it), etc. It’s almost worth dying once in a while just to see what will happen.
 Another thing that has remained largely the same through the series is the sound scheme. We still have a collection of largely forgettable tunes in Crash 3, along with a precious few voice samples and generic sound effects. What I do enjoy about Crash 3 is the way the boss for each level, Uka Uka or even Dr. Cortex will pop up from time to time in order to taunt or damn you. The voice acting is top notch considering the type of game this is.
The biggest complaint about Crash Warped would have to be that it’s too short. Sure, there are twenty-five levels plus hidden areas and bosses, but they're limited to variations on about five different time periods, and they’re very short. That coupled with the fact that extra lives are more plentiful than Presidential scandals, and you’ve got a game that will only last a good player a couple nights at best. I recommend a rental before you decide to buy it.
-- Greg Sewart
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