Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Screenshots The Final Say! Gameplay 8.5 Graphics 8.0 Sound 8.3 Value 8.5 Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex - reviewed by Tory Favro Review Date: 22 November 2002 Review Score: 8.5/10  Distributor: Vivendi Universal

Crash makes his way finally onto the Nintendo GameCube and let's everyone know what they were missing out on when he was the Sony mascot. Great animations and the overblown storyline let us know that once again the evil Dr. Neo Cortex is up to no good! Crash's nemesis Neo Cortex is a simple man, all he wants to do is rule the universe and destroy our hero Crash by all means possible. Tired of being foiled every single time he hatches an evil scheme, he creates Crash's greatest enemy, the anti-Crash: Crunch! Resembling a somewhat rabid steroid affect bandicoot, Crunch is all out to give our hero grief and finish him once and for all.   Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Features Players 1 Memory Card 2 Units Classification: G Game Type: Platform Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced Link to GameBoy Advance   This is the same outing that has already appeared on both the Playstation 2 and the XBox, so if you are an owner of these consoles, chances are you might as well stop reading right now. The title is a direct port of the PS2 version and for some odd reason does not feature any graphical enhancements at all that I can make out, unlike the XBox version that was packed with detail and even visible fur on Crash and Coco's bodies.   The title is huge and boasts over 30 levels, all of which are brilliantly designed and a blast to play your way through. The gameplay is fast and varied with never enough time for boredom to set in. A complaint to be made is that there are really no new gameplay elements introduced for previous fans of the series, however it is possible that with the jump to the next gen console that the developers thought that fans may not have moved along with the technology. This is a highly illogical assumption however the only other answer is that they had a tried and true formula and thought they would play it safe and stick to it.   There are some slight changes made to the game such as the inclusion of drivable vehicles and even a mech which provides for a welcome breather from the rest of the game. The title is linear for the most part and involves getting Crash from point A to point B whilst collecting apples and not getting into too much strife along the way. There are also a multitude of environmental dangers that Crash needs to make his way through and over  to get to the end of each stage.

Game levels are really well designed and the texture work on the graphics, while a little flat in some areas, really does stand out. There are some nice reflections in the Ice levels and for the most part the game runs well. It was odd to notice that framerate drop a number of times though considering that with no enhancements made for this version, the Cube should have been able to process it with ease. Even with frame drops though, it didn't affect gameplay and I have only really mentioned it here as it surprised me. Another nice point to this version is that the game loads nice and quickly on GameCube unlike the first version on the PS2.

The audio on this game is nice and brings more of the same tunes that had fans of the previous Crash titles tapping their feet whilst playing. It's a shame but this version of Crash doesn't support Dolby Prologic II and this could have been used to really good effect, especially during some of the chase scenes.

Fans of platforming titles will not be disappointed by this game and I think that it should leave gamers with a taste for a little bit more Crash on GameCube.  This might be a pipedream however as I am under the impression that this is the last outing by Crash on any platform with developer Naughty Dog going on to other projects.

- Tory Favro