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> Results: Crash Twinsanity
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Crash Bandicootﾒs arch-nemesis, Dr. Neo Cortex, has returned to wreak havoc on Crashﾒs home island. He kidnaps Crashﾒs sister Coco, and lures Crash into a trap. But just as the bandicoot and the doctor have a tussle, two evil alien twins from another dimension appear and threaten to take over the island. Now Crash and Dr. Cortex must team up (rather unwillingly) to foil the evil alien twinﾒs plans.And so begins yet another Crash Bandicoot game. The gimmick this time is that since Crash has teamed up with Dr. Cortex, you can control both characters. Although it still feels very much like a Crash game. In some levels, Crash and the doctor are fighting over a crystal, and you control Crash dragging the doctor as you go. Sling around the evil doctor to bash crates, or toss him to trigger switches or snatch long distance items. Other times Crash and Cortex canﾒt take it anymore and start fighting each other. All you see is a cloud of smoke and fists and feet flying everywhere, like a Popeye cartoon. When theyﾒre fighting, you control them like Super Monkey Ball or Marble Madness, rolling the pair around obstacles. In other places, Dr. Cortexﾒs vision gets impaired by something likeﾅsay, a beehive, and you control Crash has he clears a path for the panicked villain (like Lemmings). On snow levels, Crash uses Cortex as a makeshift snowboard. On solo missions, Crash does his typical spin attack bandicoot thing, Cortex uses his laser gun, and youﾒll even get a chance to play as Cortexﾒs niece, Nina, during the adventure. This is the first Crash game to have free-roaming, 3-D worlds, but in order to progress youﾒll still go through those linear Crash style levels that weﾒve all seen before. The team aspect allows for some new gameplay ideas here and there, but itﾒs still mostly Crash. That means bashing enemies and crates with your spin attack, collecting ﾑwumpa fruitﾒ for extra lives, and leaping over precarious pits. One cool aspect is that you can collect hidden gems that unlock goodies like game concept art, storyboards, and other behind-the-scenes treats. Unfortunately, like other Crash games, Twinsanity is very unforgiving. Crash and friends are one hit kill characters, and the slightest touch from an enemy sends them to pieces and you have to start the level over. Luckily, extra lives are easy to come by and checkpoints are frequent, but itﾒs still annoying.  The fun graphics are bright and colorful and the music is typical Crash game jungle beats. Play control is decent but the camera angles can be problematic sometimes (what 3-D game isnﾒt fraught with camera trouble?). The best part of Twinsanity has to be the humor. The animations and dialogue of Crash and Cortex bickering throughout the levels is HILAROUS, and so are the cutscenes. At the tutorial level where Cortex kidnaps Coco, he dresses up as herﾅvery badlyﾅto guide Crash through the tutorial level and into his trap. All though the level heﾒll show you what to do and what not to do, very humorously. My favorite was when a log knocked Cortex into a pit and he said ﾓItﾒs okay, Iﾒm okayﾅluckily the spikes broke my fall.ﾔ Another time a minor enemy skunk stopped the action and the camera zoomed in on him as he complained about his plight of being a minor enemy character! VERY funny stuff, and this game is full of it. If they made a Crash Bandicoot Saturday morning cartoon like this, Iﾒd definitely watch it. Unfortunately, the game itself is so frustrating with all the frequent instant deaths that it doesnﾒt make seeing all the humorous situations quite worth it. Kid Factor: Kids should love the cartoony characters and humor. The game has Tom & Jerry/Road Runner style violence but itﾒs nothing serious or anything. Characters fall to pieces when they get hit, lots of TNT antics, and itﾒs OK when Crash uses Dr. Cortex as a hammer or snowboard since the doctor is a villain anyway. Thereﾒs not too much reading required since everyone has a voice (very funny ones) anyway. Stay away from this game if your child gets frustrated easily, though. Slogging though levels losing lives at every turn requires a kind of patience that even I donﾒt seem to have anymore. But if your kids donﾒt mind, theyﾒll probably like this humorous game. Reviewer Recommended Ages: 8+ Genre: 3-D Platformer ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Reviewer: Cary Woodham Producer: Vivendi Universal Developer: Travelerﾒs Tales Score: 3 stars Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Crash Twinsanity |
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