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Revision as of 15:22, 15 September 2010

Crash Twinsanity is the eleventh game in the Crash Bandicoot series, although it is the fifth chronologically. It was published by Vivendi Universal Games and developed by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released in North America on September 28, 2004 and in Europe on October 8, 2004.

The game's story takes place three years after the events of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and follows the main protagonist and main antagonist of the series, Crash Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex, as they are forced to work together to stop The Evil Twins, a duo of parrots who plot to destroy the wumpa island (n.sanity) and steal Dr.neo cortex's brain

Gameplay

Crash Twinsanity differs significantly in gameplay from its predecessor Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. The game is largely played in a free-roaming style, although the linear path based gameplay of the previous installments occasionally reappears. The game's plot is now pushed forward by going through levels, instead of collecting crystals. Gems littered throughout the levels can be collected to unlock extras such as concept art. Crash's control style is pretty much the same as previous games, although he does have various new moves. Like the Jak and Daxter series, Crash is occasionally accompanied by a second character, in this case his arch-nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex.

Crash can use Cortex as a hammer, perform a spin attack while holding on to him, throw him across gaps to activate switches, and can even use him as a humiliskate. Whilst most of the time Crash could happily swing Cortex to his doom and have him return safely, in other sections of the game, Crash must clear a path for a disoriented Cortex to prevent him from blundering into deadly obstacles. In the earlier levels, Crash and Cortex will get drawn into a comedy slapfight and spanking too, and the player then steers the scrapping pair around obstacles to reach their goal. --202.57.38.42 (talk) 07:41, 6 September 2010 (UTC) In some areas of the game, such as the Academy of Evil, Cortex will go solo, armed with a raygun and a limited amount of ammo. Another controllable character is Cortex's niece, Nina Cortex. She fights through the levels using her mechanical arms and wall climbing abilities. At the very last part of the game, Crash goes into the robot known as Mecha-Bandicoot. He is the final playable character and can shoot plasma blasts.

Plot

At the end of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Doctor Neo Cortex's space station was destroyed once again, leaving him and Uka Uka preserved in ice in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Three years later, all is well in N. Sanity Island until Crash's sister, Coco Bandicoot, while chasing a harmless butterfly, is paralyzed by a free Neo Cortex. Poorly disguised as Coco, Cortex lures Crash over to a bay, where he attacks Crash with the Mecha-Bandicoot, a gigantic bandicoot-like mech. After this fails to defeat Crash, the robot falls in a cave, taking Crash and Cortex with it. Cortex, infuriated over losing to Crash again, attacks him, and the duo fight all the way to the cave's exit.

After getting out of the cave, Crash and Cortex are confronted by a pair of odd, blue parrot-like creatures who self-proclaim themselves as "Evil Twins", who claim to have come to destroy the Wumpa Islands. When it is learned that the two Bird Brains come from the Tenth Dimension, Cortex proposes that he and Crash travel the islands in search of crystals needed to power the Psychetron, which will allow travel to the Tenth Dimension. Crash faces many of his old enemies during this crystal-gathering quest, including Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nefarious Tropy. After gathering enough crystals, Cortex enlists the aid of his niece, Nina Cortex. It is later revealed that the Evil Twins are actually Neo Cortex's former pet parrots, mutated by the radiation present in the Tenth Dimension. Once the required crystals have been gathered, Crash, Neo Cortex and Nina travel to the Tenth Dimension and defeat the Evil Twins, who escape and are subsequently eaten alive by Evil Crash, the Tenth Dimension's version of Crash.

In the ending, Cortex attempts to get rid of Crash for good by sending him to the Tenth Dimension, but the Psychetron malfunctions and destroyed,in case. instead transports Cortex into Crash's brain.

Development

The full motion videos of Crash Twinsanity were created by Red Eye Studios, who previously created the full motion videos for Crash Nitro Kart. The soundtrack of Crash Twinsanity was composed performed, arranged and produced by a cappella band Spiralmouth, while Gabriel Mann recorded and mixed the soundtrack at Asylum Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Crash Twinsanity marks the debut of Lex Lang as the voice of series antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex. When Lang was called in for an audition to replace previous voice actor Clancy Brown, the voice director described Doctor Cortex to him and had him listen to signature samples of Brown's performance. When Lang was given the freedom to develop the character with the director, they eventually created a depiction of Cortex that was "master evil with a bit of a childish feminine side that leaks out in his tirades" that had everyone laughing at the lines and the character. As a result, that depiction of Cortex stuck.[1] Other voice roles include Mel Winkler as Aku Aku and a tribesman, Michael Ensign as Doctor Nefarious Tropy and a tribesman, Susan Silo as Madame Amberley and Nina Cortex, Debi Derryberry as Coco Bandicoot and Neo Cortex as an eight-years-old, Alex Fernandez as Uka Uka and Farmer Ernest, Dwight Schultz as Dingodile, Rusty Walrus, a tribesman and Papu Papu and Quinton Flynn as Doctor N. Gin, Victor, Moritz and a penguin.

Reception

 Reception
Review scores
Publication Score
PS2 Xbox
1UP.com B[2]
Electronic
Gaming Monthly		 3.5/10[3] 3.5/10[3]
Eurogamer 7/10[4]
GamePro 7.5/10[5] 7.5/10[5]
GameSpot 7.3/10[6] 7.4/10[7]
GameZone 6.9/10[8] 7.5/10[9]
IGN 7.7/10[10] 7.7/10[11]
Official PlayStation Magazine (US) 5/10[12]
Official Xbox Magazine 7.3/10[13]
Play Magazine 8.3/10[14] 8.3/10[14]
PSM 6/10[15]
TeamXbox 7.5/10[16]
Aggregate scores
Metacritic 64[17] 66[18]

Crash Twinsanity received mixed reviews from critics upon release. Play Magazine declared that "Traveller's Tales has delivered a 60 fps cartoon epic without sacrificing expanse, dwarfing boss encounters or vivid effects by skillfully balancing model and environment integrity with performance."[14] James B. Pringle of IGN said that "Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around."[10][11] Andrew Wooldridge of 1UP.com said the game "is funny, fun to play, and is a definite improvement on the claustrophobic linear levels of games past."[2] Chris Stead of GamePro described the game as "great fun for our gaming youth and a humorous piece of nostalgia for veterans keen to spank their bandicoots, one last time."[5] Brent Soboleski of TeamXbox crowned the game as "one of the best Crash titles to have been released since its earliest inception on home consoles, and it’s creative use of combining past enemies as partners is what gives Twinsanity a new lease on life."[16] Nick Valentino of GameZone said that the game "rises above the game’s original roots to bring a game that’s both refreshingly humorous as well as downright enjoyable."[9] However, Louis Bedigian of the same site described the game as "double the insanity for all you psychopath-loving gamers out there, but it's half the fun for gamers."[8] Ryan Davis of GameSpot concluded that "it's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well."[6][7] Official Xbox Magazine declared that "even if you're frustrated by dying on a jump for the 50th time, you'll still think it's funny as hell."[13] Kristan Reed of Eurogamer said that "the gameplay variation is there for all to see, and when it hits the mark it - believe it or not - is every bit as enjoyable as the very best the genre has to offer, with some true high points to look back on."[19] PSM Magazine praised the graphics and controls but criticized the level design, saying that it was "designed to kill the player in as many cheap ways as possible."[15] A reviewer for Game Informer finished with "While it pains me to say this, maybe Crash should make like the entire cast of Blossom and disappear."[4] Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine described the game as "a bummer" and "a tragic tale of missed opportunities, as a funny, engaging platformer shines through the me-too muck."[12] Electronic Gaming Monthly decided that the "funny writing (courtesy of an ex-Ren & Stimpy scribe) can't save this uninspired rehash of antiquated Crash antics with lackluster visuals."[3]

References

  1. ↑ Interview with Lex Lang. Crash Mania (March 10, 2009). Retrieved on September 1, 2010
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Andrew Wooldridge (October 14, 2004). Crash Twinsanity Review from 1UP.com. 1UP.com. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “This game is funny, fun to play, and is a definite improvement on the claustrophobic linear levels of games past.”
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Crash Twinsanity". Electronic Gaming Monthly 185 (December 2004): 170. 2004. "Funny writing (courtesy of an ex-"Ren & Stimpy" scribe) can't save this uninspired rehash of antiquated Crash antics with lackluster visuals." 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Crash Twinsanity". Game Informer (November 2004): 146. 2004. "While it pains me to say this, maybe Crash should make like the entire cast of "Blossom" and disappear." 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chris Stead (July 12, 2004). GamePro | Crash Twinsanity - Australian Review. GamePro. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “Great fun for our gaming youth and a humorous piece of nostalgia for veterans keen to spank their bandicoots, one last time.”
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ryan Davis (October 5, 2004). Crash Twinsanity Review for PlayStation 2 - GameSpot. GameSpot. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “It's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well.”
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ryan Davis (October 5, 2004). Crash Twinsanity Review for Xbox - GameSpot. GameSpot. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “It's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well.”
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Louis Bedigian (October 10, 2004). Crash Twinsanity Review - PlayStation 2. GameZone. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “It's double the insanity for all you psychopath-loving gamers out there, but it's half the fun for gamers.”
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Nick Valentino (October 8, 2004). Crash Twinsanity Review - Xbox. GameZone. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “Rises above the game’s original roots to bring a game that’s both refreshingly humorous as well as downright enjoyable.”
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 James B. Pringle (October 5, 2004). IGN: Crash Twinsanity Review. IGN. Retrieved on June 25, 2009 “Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around.”
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 James B. Pringle (October 5, 2004). IGN: Crash Twinsanity Review. IGN. Retrieved on June 25, 2009 “Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around.”
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Crash Twinsanity". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (November 2004): 124. 2004. "A bummer - it's a tragic tale of missed opportunities, as a funny, engaging platformer shines through the me-too muck." 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Crash Twinsanity". Official Xbox Magazine (December 2004): 73. 2004. "Even if you're frustrated by dying on a jump for the 50th time, you'll still think it's funny as hell." 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "Crash Twinsanity". Play Magazine (October 2004): 69. 2004. "Creating a gamer's game through and through, Traveller's Tales has delivered a 60 fps cartoon epic without sacrificing expanse, dwarfing boss encounters or vivid effects by skillfully balancing model and environment integrity with performance." 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Crash Twinsanity". PSM Magazine (December 2004): 78. 2004. "Though the game looks and controls well, levels appear to be designed to kill the player in as many cheap ways as possible." 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Brent Soboleski (October 7, 2004). Crash Twinsanity Review (Xbox). TeamXbox. Retrieved on June 27, 2009 “One of the best Crash titles to have been released since its earliest inception on home consoles, and it’s creative use of combining past enemies as partners is what gives Twinsanity a new lease on life.”
  17. ↑ Crash Twinsanity (ps2: 2004): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on August 14, 2008
  18. ↑ Crash Twinsanity (xbx: 2004): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on August 14, 2008
  19. ↑ Kristan Reed (October 6, 2004). Crash Bandicoot: Twinsanity Review // PS2 /// Eurogamer - Game Reviews, News and More. EuroGamer. Retrieved on August 14, 2008 “The gameplay variation is there for all to see, and when it hits the mark it - believe it or not - is every bit as enjoyable as the very best the genre has to offer, with some true high points to look back on.”

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