Crash of the Titans (360)

Crash of the Titans – now for many of you who played the Playstation original the name will bring back vague but happy memories of what was some of the best platforming ever devised. Then Naughty Dog screwed up the formula and instead of reviving the series sold Crash and all his entities. However this isn’t the end of Crash’s story because he moved around a lot from here, Universal Studios (who now owned the IP) would go on to enlist developers such as Eurocom, Travellers Tales, Vicarious Visions and Dimps before Sierra Entertainment bought Universal Studios and tasked Radical Entertainment with reviving the Crash series.

However, with a departure from the original creators came disappointing effort after another and Crash looked ready to be retired to the gaming scrapheap. That’s where Crash of the Titans comes in. This is the best shape I have seen Crash in for at least five years and that fact alone puts a smile on this reviewers face.

The first thing I should mention is that this game is still aimed at the kids and you won’t find the frustratingly hard difficulty found in the first games. Putting that aside the game play has been completely changed to fit the new “Titans” scheme (more soon) and visually Crash has entered a whole new area.

Story wise Crash remains in the same realm where he always has and I guess that that’s acceptable because this is for the kids. Once you’ve got that under your belt it’s easier to understand the “baddie gets girl (or sister in this case) and wants to destroy a) you and b) the world” cliché that has haunted the world of gaming since The Legend of Zelda rocked our NES’s.

On the other hand a nice new game play element has been infused and I have to say that I’m impressed. If the “Titans” aspect wasn’t added then this would be a bog standard brawler (like Marvel Ultimate Alliance) dressed up now and again as a platformer. The “Titans” aspect I keep ranting on about is actually quite simple and thus makes for quick and simple game play. During play, Crash will fight a small group of pathetically easy (but funny) enemies only to be confronted by a larger, scarier enemy. This is a Titan – an enemy that has to be weakened before he can be beaten. However, once weakened, Crash can utilise Aku Aku (the weird mask) to capture the Titan and ride it like a donkey on Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Each Titan has a unique ability, and the stronger they are the harder to capture they are. The very first Boss requires you to capture a Spike. Using this, the player must then capture a Goar and using this the player must then capture the Boss – the Yuktopus

Rinse. Wash. Repeat game play, which is exactly what a game targeted at kids should do so have some points there. This game is quite easy, in fact it very easy and the only time when you might actually die is when your working out the patterns of a new Titan and it kills you quickly or during the first boarding sequence whilst the controls are new to you.

That’s right, there are boarding sections to contend with, horribly made messes of game play intended to break up monotony (which they do, the just leave you lusting back for monotony), that play horribly. The basic premise is that when Crash reaches a section of the level (which are more linear that fire exit signs) that is too steep to continue down (which also happen to be half pipe shaped as well), Crash will ride Aku Aku – who is face down so we can only presume he’s getting friction burns – until everything levels out again. In applaud of this the developers have at least continued the ethic of this game in that Crash is riding things.

In spite of this though the game play isn’t bad. This review is based upon the Xbox 360 version for those who are considering buying it for the Wii be warned, as developers seem to mess up the Wii controls of ported games making fun game play history. To continue, Crash moves around nice and fluidly, if a bit slowly for my liking, and will earnestly repeat his battle animations is you hit the X button. Hitting it multiple times will result in a combo and as Crash collects Mojo he will periodically learn new combos for you to dish out against the progressively bigger and stronger enemies on show. One of the first moves that Crash learns is a spin dash, that if used for too long results in him stopping and staggering on the spot with a Loony Toons style stars circling him temporarily. For the older fans this is also a nod to the originals and this little detail goes a long way. Jumping is also handled well, players can jump, double jump and then spin in the air to get that extra bit of distance. Players can also master a backwards jump used to escape large numbers of flocking enemies and to occasionally get to out of reach platforms.

Capturing a Titan results in some bullet time animation as Crash leaps up onto the enemy (who is dazed and has the same Looney Toons stars), he slams Aku Aku onto the enemies face and normal game play returns as you now control a lumbering giant. When playing as a Titan the health scheme changes. Usually the player has a health bar that fades out whilst inactive, that has small portions removed unlike previous Crash platforms that used Aku Aku as a gage for how much health you have. Instead, the bar becomes two bars, one green one that displays the health of your Titan (this is always bigger than yours) and a purple one. This purple bar acts as a charge bar for a special move that can be pulled of when its filled. Playing as Titan is satisfying, they move nicely and have unique animations that give them character and purpose. They are all stronger than Crash, utilizing the same X button to melee and charging down Y for a power move, the exception to the rule being that when you press A as Crash you jump and as a Titan you use your special move.

Radical Entertainment have completely changed the graphical styling of Crash. Crash is now fully rendered with cel shading. Crash has been re-styled as well, his hair style now rider down his back like a horses mane, he has tattoos on his arms (is that even possible what with the fur) and he has because even more of a blithering idiot. Crash is cool for the kids, thankfully the trademark denim shorts have been retained, as have the pair of dark red Converse. To be honest I think they have ruined hi, gone is the big black nose, and just like Sonic did during the mid nineties, his eyes have been changed from black to green.

Animation wise Crash is technically sound, I never exposed any glitches and the control scheme never led me to my doom. In fact some of the detail in the animation is quite nice, only of the larger Titans, a mammoth that wiggles its bum as it walks forward. This kind of tongue in cheek comedy adds depth to the game. In terms of location the game draws on all the stereotypical jungle, beach and lava themes that plat formers have become famous for, and does them quite well.

To try to boost the longevity of the game, Radical have added a cooperative multi-player mode and whilst it works on theory is fatally flawed. Both characters must share the camera, and this becomes frustrating so quickly the co-op mode is quickly dismissed. The second player becomes “Carbon Crash”, a white-furred blue shoed Crash that certainly didn’t win me or my friend over. With this distraction in mind, dedicated gamers can look forward to five or six hours of game play, and double that for young children.
-Bright colours make a good looking but slightly bland title
-Nice bouncy music
-Good level of control
-Lots to unlock
-Plenty of Titans to play with -Co-Op is pretty poor
-Not the longest game ever
-Not that hard, even for fairly young children
-Some minor glitches
Crash is still caught up in an identity crisis; the game wants to be a mix of everything but falls short of the mark. Crash of the Titans is certainly a step in the right direction, and this is a good basis to build on but in the next title Sierra need to makes some leaps and bounds. This is a good game, it delivers everything a kids game is supposed too and for that its congratulated, but a better multi player mode, more actual platforming and puzzle solving is what’s required. It’s my opinion that Sierra should make a handheld game that replicates the bliss of Crash 1, with some new locations and ideas. Take Crash back to his roots and there’s a venerable success to be had.