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Crash of the Titans (DS)
by doriee
Crash Bandicoot is a very well established game which started out on the play station 1 game console and was released and ps2 and 3, xbox 360 psp the wii and DS. I had abandoned Crash on the ps1 so I was really happy that in 2007 this was released and I received it for Christmas from me sister. This like the other games is a platform ... game which is one of my favourite styles of games. The story of the game is that "Doctor Neo Cortex" is planning on using the substance "Mojo" to turn the creatures on wumpa island into "titans" to create an evil army. You play as Crash and your objective of the game is to go round the levels of wumpa island collecting up the mojo before the evil villain Cortex, you must defeat his evil titans along the way and by saving his sister Coco.
This is a platform game in which you control Crash bandicoot. There are several levels known as episodes that you have to complete in order to defeat Cortex. Your first mission is to rescue Aku Aku, This is the mask which helps Crash by giving him guidance throughout the game. You start with 3 lives but throughout the levels you collect Mojo which is small silver balls, a little bit like bubbles or pearls, collect 100 and these make a new life for crash so if you die, you don't have to keep re starting. Throughout the episodes you can also collect fruit to use as weapons and things such as drinks and food, these help Crash more powerful and do different things so it's best to collect everything you see.
Each episode is split into two parts and you have a traditional bonus level like all other Crash bandicoot games. Part one of each episode is a traditional level where you have to work your way through to the end by jumping over big holes, water, climbing up walls,collecting mojo, fruit and anything else you can find however along the way you have two sets of enemies one is small little pigmi type creatures which are fairly easy to beat when fighting 5 stars appear above their heads once the stars turn yellow the creature will die and Mojo will come out of it, the more you kill the more pop out of the ground until you have got rid of them all, there is roughly 4-7 in each section but they are really easy to beat. also is almost every section of each level there are the titans, these are also easy to beat and once they get to 4stars they are knocked out and when it gets to this you can do something which is known as "Jacking" this is where you basically hi-jack the creature, you jump on it's back and control it as if it was you by doing this is means you have it's powers and it's energy gets used up instead of yours.
There are boxes in this game like all other Crash games, however some are large boxes which Crash cannot open at all on his own, this is where you can hi-jack a titan not just to fight but by using their moves you can open these boxes. Different titans can do different things, there is a whale, shark and a large dog is the only way I can describe it, the large dog allows you to walk through fire and lava helping you to get to the other side with ease. There is a bonus level on each episode which consists of jumping over holes collecting boxes and mojo without setting off the tnts and the nitro's if you do this the bonus level ends but you can go and re do it again which is handy.
Part 2 of each level is really short, it is where you ride on an animal to collect as much mojo and boxes, it's more or less a large bonus round, one is similar to the wild hog levels on other games, you ride really fast on an animal to jump over holes objects and collect boxes, lives and mojo, another you walk through the sea on a shark titan to collect as many mojo as possible in a minutes and another is sliding round on a turtle's back going on it's shell to collect as many mojo as possible. This is quite fun to play as extra on the game.
There are achievements to get in this game, one of them is that you have to collect mask through out each level these are placed high above, hidden or in boxes and it is your job to make sure you get all these, you also have crystals to collect. another feature is you can use mojo as money and go to coco and she will sell you some thing that would increase your speed or abilities which is useful if you are finding the game hard to play.
The controls of this are really easy you use the cross pad to move which is pretty simple, your attack buttons are x, squire, circle and triangle they're really easy to figure out but when your fighting loads at once you sometimes find yourself flicking over them all and you can't quite see what your doing. The sound is not to bad, it has a little funky tune in the background and has the sound effects of fighting, jumping, walking through water, the bubbling of lava, splatting of fruit and more, it is all bearable I haven't had to turn the music off yet.
As for the graphics, they are not impressive, Crash looks just the same as he always has just like he should, his moves keep up with him as do the other creature, you don't get stuck on nothing like you do in ps1 and you are actually stood on the floor where a sin ps1 even after jumping over a hole it looked like you was stood in the hole still, so they have tweaked this a bit which is good, However the back ground surroundings such as landscape and creatures are really blurred and out of focus until you get up close to it. When Aku Aku talks his mouth sort of moves with his voice but not as if it was real.
Overall,the game play for this is a very low difficulty level which is a massive disappointment although Crash is a very childish game children will have no difficulty completing this, but compared to the older games which I found really hard even today this is nothing and once completed it doesn't seem like the game is long enough, you can completely this in a few hours if you play none stop, probably about 2/3 hours which isn't long at all. The levels are really easy to complete and are also short, the idea of having a different fighting style is great, being able to play and fight with another character is a nice touch to the game. I would re play this but only if I wanted to pass a little time but I wouldn't replay this for the fun of playing a game.
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Crash of the Titans (DS)
by PineappleJoe
Christmas 1995, My dad had bought me and my brother the original playstation and as we loaded it up and sony's lovable bandicoot mascot bounded onto the screen to jungle rhythms, we both knew a great game series had been created.
Fast foward to a bargin bin in summer 2009 and this travesty manages to ruin the name of all that ... is good and true (well in the crash bandicoot universe anyway).
So where did it all go wrong...?
I was originally drawn to this game as something to play in work after playing the same game on the xbox360 and enjoying it a fair amount. However, from the moment I started up the game I was dissapointed by the appalling graphics and gameplay and couldnt wait to get it finished which, even more depressingly, only took a few hours anyway.
The game is a third person platformer with the idea being that crash can now on top of his usual jump and spin attack, 'jack' enemies in the levels each of which have a different skill (Although there are really 20ish enemies broken down into 4 or so types). And he is battling through the levels to stop his enemy Dr Neo Cortex from building a giant robot that will cause untold havoc and misery.
The graphics, as mentioned, were appalling and although Crash was easy to see, the enemies and backgrounds appeared out of focus, as if someone had tried to put the graphical quality of a 360 into the DS but failed and covered it up with vaseline. The graphics also came into play when jumping, as it was difficult to determine where you would land based on your near invisible shadow.
The game was far too easy to complete with a second ending achieved by collecting all the gems scattered through the level the only reason to replay one of the previous 10 or so levels. There is also a central hub where you can play pachinko using wumpa fruit found in the levels to earn artwork, new skills etc, however one thing you can learn is cheats and they are remarkably easy to learn meaning that you can turn on invincibility early in the game removing what little challenge is already there, i'm sure this game is mainly centered towards children but all the same it's a bit odd.
Each of the main levels is split into two levels, with one level being a platformer and one level being a minigame involving a jackable beast, such as rolling down a hill or jumping over holes / obstacles on a non stop ride.
The stylus is meant to be used to control the beasts special powers, this can be done in different ways such as flicking, blowing into the mic, or tapping, this is quite a nice way of employing the stylus, however you can do the same move by pressing the B button on the DS so it seems a bit pointless.
Overall I know i've missed out a lot of plot, controls etc but this is because they honestly wont matter or make this review any better, this game is an awful use of a wonderful series, by all means enjoy the earlier games, or this game but on the ps2, ps3 or 360. Otherwise save yourself money and depression by steering well clear...
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