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Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (JP) was originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, but was ported to the GameCube and Xbox in 2002.
Plot[]
Following the events of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, in a space station above Earth, the villains of the series are having a meeting. Uka Uka is angry at the rest of the them for the falling productivity of evil over recent years. Dr. Neo Cortex blames Crash. Uka Uka says that they must destroy Crash. N-Tropy mentions that Cortex has been creating something in his laboratory. Cortex announces he's planning a bandicoot warrior against Crash. He then says that he needs a power source. Uka Uka suggests an ancient group of masks called The Elementals being unleashed again. Meanwhile, on Earth, strange things are happening. Thunderclouds have appeared out of nowhere, an extinct volcano is erupting, and a tsunami struck on the beach. Aku Aku suspects that Uka Uka is up to 'his no-good tricks again'. Aku Aku then teleports himself to an intergalactic (but rather small) temple. Aku asks Uka about latest scheme. He says it's nothing new. The Elementals then appear. Aku Aka warns Uka Uka about the possible consequences. Py-Ro then orders the other elementals to energy blast Aku. Aku Aku dodges and gets away. When Aku Aku gets home, he tells that about The Elementals and says that they need the 25 crystals to re-imprison them. Aku Aku then ask Cocoabout the new warp room she's working on. She replies that she's nearly finished. Coco then sets up the warp room. Through hologram in the Warp Room, Cortex tells Crash about the weapon, Crunch.
In his space station, Cortex is angry that he's been beaten again. Uka Uka blames Cortex and tries to blast him, Cortex dodges and it hits a vital part of the space station. Crunch realises he's out of the villains control. Aku Aku then persuades Crunch to join the good. Crunch, Aku Aku and Crash dash to the hangar, only to find no ships. A ship, piloted by Coco, appears outside the hangar. Coco offers Aku Aku, Crash and Crunch a ride. When they arrive back on Earth, Crunch asks Aku Aku if that's the last they'll see of Cortex and Uka Uka. Aku Aku says that he'd like to think so, but probably no. Meanwhile, Cortex and Uka Uka's escape pod has crashed in Antarctica. Uka Uka blames Cortex and chases him round and round on a small glacier.
Gameplay[]
The Wrath of Cortex is a platform game in which the player controls Crash Bandicoot and Coco Bandicoot, who must gather 25 Crystals and defeat the main antagonists of the story: Doctor Neo Cortex, his new superweapon Crunch Bandicoot and Crunch's power sources, the renegade Elementals. Much of the game takes place in a "Virtual Reality (VR) Hub System" created by Coco to help Crash gather the Crystals. The VR Hub System is split up into five "VR Hubs"; initially, only the first VR Hub is available. Each VR Hub has five teleportation portals to different levels. The goal in each level is to find and obtain the Crystal hidden in the area. In some levels, the Crystal will be located at the end of a level or must be earned by completing a specific challenge. Most levels contain a "Bonus Platform" that leads to a special bonus area, where the player must navigate through a maze and collect everything in sight. Once a bonus area is completed, it cannot be played again unless the level is replayed. After completing all five levels in a VR Hub, a sixth teleportation portal to a boss fight with Crunch will appear. By defeating the boss, the next VR Hub will become available for play. When all 25 Crystals are collected and Doctor Cortex and Crunch are defeated, the game is won.
Development[]
The Wrath of Cortex was originally intended to be designed by Mark Cerny, who had designed all the games in the series thus far, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game under Cerny's direction was to be a free-roaming title with puzzle elements that would see Crash travelling between different planets. In early 2000, when Universal approached Traveller's Tales to be the development team behind the game, they produced a 3-D rendered demo of Crash running through a volcanic level. Development of the game's engine began in mid-2000. It was originally titled Crash Bandicoot Worlds.
Reception[]
The Wrath of Cortex received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Reviewers felt that the game was a non-challenging repetition of the formula set by the previous games, with Ben Kosmina of Nintendo World Report summarizing the game's structure as "a carbon copy of Crash 3". Louis Bedigian of GameZone, however, declared Wrath of Cortex to be better than the preceding games, as well as the hardest game in the series, and welcomed the new levels, abilities and vehicles.
External links[]
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex at GameFAQs
| Crash Bandicoot series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | The Wrath of Cortex • The Huge Adventure • N-Tranced • Purple: Ripto's Rampage • Crash of the Titans • Crash: Mind Over Mutant • Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy • It's About Time |
| Racing/Spin-offs | Crash Nitro Kart • Crash Tag Team Racing • Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Crash Boom Bang! • Skylanders: Imaginators |
| Related | Crash Bandicoot • Dr. Neo Cortex • Spyro Sony • Activision • TT Games • Vicarious Visions • Radical Entertainment • Toys for Bob |