A great crash game (Crash Bandicoot 3 : Warped (PS))

Member Name: tomo359

Product:	Crash Bandicoot 3 : Warped (PS)
Date:	11/11/08 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good mix of levels, good graphics and sounds

Disadvantages: Some levels can get a bit annoying as you keep dying (not often though)

Crash Bandicoot 3 (also known as CB Warped) is the thirs installment of the Crash Bandicoot series and the last platformer on the Playstation.
Crash 3 follows on from Crash 2 with Neo Cortex back yet again trying to get hold of all the power crystals with the help of his mask Uka Uka. Uka Uka is alive and can speak, he is the evil brother to Crash's mask Aku Aku. Aku Aku helps Crash during the games by acting as a lifeline, if crash has the mask and gets hit he will not die. If you get 3 masks, crash becomes invincible for a short time.

Anyway, Neo Cortex and Uka Uka need to collect all the power crystals (the large pink crystals from the last crash game) but Aku Aku senses something is wrong and gets Crash to stop Neo and collect the crystals himself.

Like the previous game, there are 25 levels and each level contains one power crystal which you need to collect to complete the game. The levels are similar to the previous game in the way that you usually run forward with the camera behind you and you have a set path to follow but the levels are very different to the previous game. The themes are all different, there are underwater levels where you move right and left, and some flying levels where you can fly all over, and some where you are on water on a little boat. Another thing that is different in this game is the fact that in some levels you play as Crash's sister Coco.
There are some levels as well where you can ride different things like motorbikes, biplane, jet ski and even a young dinosaur and in some of these levels, like the biplane episode, you have to shoot down a bad guys blimps before you receive the crystal.

When you first start the game, you are put on a large island type platform. There is a centre platform with a save/load screen, then around the edge are 5 entrances to smaller circle platforms. Then in these 5 sections are 5 small pads. These are the level entrances. At the beginning of the game there is only one of these small rooms (i will call them warp rooms) open and you must complete all the 5 levels before you can move onto the next warp room. But it isn't as simple as that, once you have completed the 5 levels, you have to face a boss. The difficulty of the bosses gets increasingly harder as you progress.

Once you have beaten the boss, you can move onto the next warm room and complete the next 5 levels. In the warp rooms you can complete them in any order as long as you do complete them and get the pink crystal.

Once you have completed all 5 warm rooms and collected all 25 crystals you finally face Neo Cortex himself, along with his evil mask Uka Uka. In this boss level you have to avoid being hit by things thrown by Neo, all the while the two maska (Uka and Aku) are battling in the middle. You have to avoid being hit, and when you have the chance you have to spin into Neo. He starts off with 3 lives so once you hit him three times that is the end. But it isn't as simple as it may sound. You can't just go to hit him at any time, you have to wait till the right times, and each time you hit him, it gets harder and harder.

Once you manage to defeat Neo, you are free to go back to any levels you maybe did not complete fully or you can just have a play around, or of course you can just turn the game off.

I really enjoyed this game and i loved the way it was different to the last one in the way you can play as Coco, and you can use things like motorbikes ans jet skis in some levels.

The quality of the game, like the last one is very good, the graphics are really good, colourful and a bit cartoony but not over the top so it is only for young children. I believe anyone any age can play this game and enjoy it. The sound is also good, it has a good mix of music and good voices which fit the characters perfectly.

If you haven't already, i advise you to try to play this game if you have the chance, i think you will enjoy it.

Summary: A good all round crash game