I was and I'm still am a huge fan of the original Crash Bandicoot series on the PS1. They were great, challenging games that never managed to be repetitive. I knew about this game beforehand, seen stills of it, some gameplay videos, and the cover looked very promising, since both Crash and Cortex are on it, both are crazy in their own manner: what more do you need? Well, a better game for sure. Is it that bad? Yes, and I'll explain why:
-The character design: it's not only different, but absolutely horrible. They look like bland, soulless plasticine puppets who are the originals' poor man's copy-paste work. Cortex looks arguably the worst. But it's OK...skip the cut-scenes, play the game, and realize: Crash moves differently as well. Why? Well, it might not be how he moves, it might be because of the design, but he unarguably looks different, when he runs and spins. "Different gen, different design, idiot" OK, then tell me why do I feel like the whole character's dynamism, which maybe could have single handedly give life to an original Crash game, if it didn't have fun characters, levels, humour and other great stuff, is completely gone? He runs and spins like he doesn't want to do all this. Why should I go fight Cortex for the sixth-billion time? Why should I spin at enemies, when I can just go home and chill, do I care about all this stuff? No, he doesn't. The Crash character was definitely re-designed by one of the creators who had the same attitude towards the game he was programming, and put his personal feelings into the character.
-The levels: I can imagine the programmers' boss: "Ok, we are done with the game, we just need some levels there. Anyone to do the levels? Matt, could you do the levels, please? Just do the levels please, and then you can go home. Just try to do something that looks like the original games. But please put no effort into it. What? Oh yeah they were some snowy levels in the second game, just put some snow on the levels. What you have an idea of a Mine Cart level? Yeah, it probably gets boring after a while. When it happens make him jump out of a cart, and put that half-level after it, that you put in the Recycle Bin yesterday and you're done for today" I hope you understand how much passion they put into the game. The level I mentioned is actually an existing level in the game: you start off in a mine-cart (on which you can only lean left and right, there was maybe time to add a jumping and crouching option, but since there was no time, or no care whatsoever, about making obstacles or boxes, there was no need for it). After a while it gets boring, but it still goes on for like a minute (which is believe me a lot when playing a game as boring and uninteresting as this) then Crash jumps out of the cart, and you land into a......some kind of factory....or like a....something maybe related to Cortex, maybe not......who cares, just run, go forward....but hey I'm astonished by how detailed is the design of this whole levels, oh no wait they are just bland, grey walls. I always remember with a smile the Egyptian levels , the "fantasy" levels , the sewer levels. They were all very well-thought out and specific. The creators back then had something very precise in their mind, and they just made it, and gave the best out the each level. It was never boring due the dynamism, the funny enemies and details, the challenging level-design (Tomb Wader in Warped for example: went on for hours, and still never got bored even if many times frustrated). In Wrath of Cortex, the levels have no soul, and frankly I can't make a difference between any of them! It's all the same, just some background stuff, to have a level, otherwise it's an unfinished game.
The humour: something the creators clearly didn't have. The original games used tons of clichés, but used it impeccably. Killer bees, frogs that turn into prince, evil wizards and so on. They even put twists one them sometimes: a pharaoh with a flamethrower for example, hilarious. Not that I'd pause the game, and laugh for hours, but they were little jokes, that were present in each levels and it played an important role in giving the game a soul. The creators here, they have no sense of humour...a medieval castle? Let's have a dragon! Oh these tall thin Cortex henchmen guys, they were funny looking....but what should they do? Oh just .......just make them stand there and shoot.....like..........i don't know things.
-The bosses: the story, which I frankly don't care about, because it doesn't have seem to have anything interesting in it, has something to do with...like masks, corresponding each to one of the fifth elements. And like...who cares? The bosses are like....big....scary.....things each representing one of these elements. OK, why did N-Gin, Dingodile, N-Tropy and the others go on a strike the same day? The bosses are extremely boring. I don't want to go into details, it's just boring, uninteresting and far from the feeling of the epic boss battles that were set in the earlier games. Except for the last boss...Cortex! Finally we are going again against this crazy maniac ..... oh no it's that Bandicoot clone Crunch and Cortex is there but he's like... Oh, whatever.
I could go on, but it all comes down to what I've been trying to explain and convey with these points: the game has lost the dynamism, the fun, the humour, the feeling and basically its whole soul with this episode. It LOOKS like a good Crash game, but when you play you'll probably be deceived.
