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> Results: Crash Bandicoot & the Wrath of Cortex
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In his latest adventure, Crash Bandicoot jumps, spins, and belly flops around five levels, collecting fruit, and destroying bad guys in an effort to save the world. After each five levels, you fight a boss using an elemental power, ultimately going up against Dr. Neo Cortex and unlocking five bonus levels. Same basic premise as many, many other console games. What made Crash different for me was that the graphics make it a watchable game. The soundtrack doesnﾒt annoy, even after repeated nights of playing. There are different features in most levels: driving a giant hamster ball around a track (my favorite), flying a plane and sinking ships, driving a racecar, controlling a sub. On some levels you play as Coco, Crashﾒs sister. Itﾒs not just level after level of the same jumping from box to box. You can play the game a number of times. Once you have completed a level, you can go back and replay the level in timer mode. The game saves the top three scores for each level, so a parent and child can play together and compete for the top score. My husband and a friend played one level for five hours one night, trying to shave a few seconds off a time (editorﾒs note: Your kids will do the same). You get an extra gem for destroying all the boxes on a level, and you get a special gem on a few levels for getting to a hidden area. The only real drawback is that the camera perspective sometimes makes it difficult to see where you need to jump. This is frustrating, but since you can always go back to an earlier level and earn a bunch of extra lives, it doesnﾒt make the game unplayable.  Crash Bandicoot is a game that isnﾒt annoying to be around while someone else plays it (something I wish were true of more console games). Itﾒs okay for almost all ages and doesnﾒt expose kids to anything they wouldnﾒt see in a Road Runner cartoon. And you may even get non-console playing people to play it. Ages: 5+ ESRB Rating: Everyone Developer: Traveler's Tales Publisher: Vivendi Universal 
Crash is now a Platinum X-Box title (similar discounts for the PS2 version), which makes it affordable. Load times are quick, so a level is easy to fit in when you find the time (say between feedings). The ESRB rating has the disclaimer of ﾓMild Violence.ﾔ When Crash gets rid of bad guys by spinning into them, they go zipping off the screen. So the game definitely does not promote violence. The animators did have some fun with Crashﾒs deaths in the style of a Road Runner cartoon. When a spinning blade hits Crash, his feet keep on walking while his upper body stays still. Crash can die by being electrified (flashing skeleton appears through body), being eaten by a fish (fins and snorkel left floating), or being incinerated (turns to ash, eyeballs fall on pile of ash). Thereﾒs no blood, but some of the animations may be disturbing to young children. If they can handle Road Runner, they should be fine with Crash.
Kid Factor by Dana Onstad
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