Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (2001 Video Game) User Reviews

Rather Underrated

[robynh-4 · 7/10 · 7 January 2009]

"Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex" is a rather underrated title. While it's not in the same rank as the far superior Naughty Dog "Crash Bandicoot" games (that is, the first "Crash Bandicoot", "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back", "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped" and the non-linear "Crash Team Racing"), "Wrath of Cortex" is a good, fun and enjoyable game that is far better than the newer "Crash Bandicoot" titles, and, to boot, introduced one of the most popular characters in the series: the muscle bound Crunch Bandicot.

Taking place after the events of "Crash Bandicoot 3", "Wrath of Cortex" starts off with Uka Uka ranting at Dr. Neo Cortex and his minions at a bad guy convention in outer space. Uka Uka is steaming mad at the attendees (Cortex, Dingodile, N. Tropy, Tiny and N. Gin) because evil's productivity is significantly down and that Crash Bandicoot is constantly defeating them. However, both N. Tropy and N. Gin imply that Cortex has a trick up his sleeve and the mad doctor confesses- over the past few years, Cortex has been working day and night on a new secret weapon: a perfectly tuned super-bandicoot named Crunch, whose only objective is to destroy all that is before him and, most importantly, eliminate Crash Bandicoot. However, Crunch is lacking in power, but Uka Uka gets an idea: awaken the dormant Elementals- a group of renegade masks of immense power over the elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air-who ravaged the planet thousands of years ago. Using the Elementals, Rok-Ko (element of Earth), Wa-Wa (element of Water), Lo-Lo (element of Air) and Py-Ro (element of Fire) to power Crunch, Crash, his little sister, Coco, and their guardian witch doctor mask, Aku Aku set out stop Cortex, Crunch and Uka Uka by traveling the planet (and outer space) via Coco's Virtual Reality Hub System to seek the Elemental Crystals.

Basically, the objective of the game is to collect the crystals, putting the Elementals back into hibernation (each Elemental can be defeated and put back to rest by getting a total of 5 crystals for each Elemental and battling Crunch in that Element) and, ultimately, bring Crunch and Cortex to their knees.

While "Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex" is fun game, it has two major downfalls that marked it with a mediocre-bordering-negative image. Downfall Number 1: The game and warp room in particular is an obvious copy of the Naughty Dog "Crash Bandicoot" games- especially "Warped"; the warp rooms are very much the same (there's even a secret warp room a la "Warped", only it's at the top of the main warp room than under it). Downfall Number 2: the graphics. While rather somewhat good, "Wrath of Cortex"'s biggest criticism is it's bulky, funny looking graphics. Also, Crash and Coco move pretty slow in the game, even while running faster with Crash Dash. The character's slow movement is especially slow when Crash is dangling from over head mesh or wood panels. Ironically, on the back of the case, it boasts about having "The most dazzling special effects ever seen in a Crash game".

While "Wrath of Cortex" is caught between its mediocre image, one of the good things that came from it was the introduction of Crunch Bandicoot, who is now one of the series most popular characters- so much in fact that Tara Cross created the amazing "Outcast Bandicoot" series with Crunch as the main character of it all. On the other hand, "Wrath of Cortex" was also a sign of things to come. That is, the even worse deterioration of the "Crash Bandicoot" series- "Crash of the Titans" being the final nail in Crash's coffin.

To conclude while it's far from the best in the series, "Crash Bandicoot" The Wrath of Cortex" is an enjoyable and recommended game to play, "Crash Bandicoot" fan or not.

Want To Play A Good Video Game? Play This.

[Movieman4950 · 7/10 · 27 January 2014]

One of the many sequels to the hit games by the name of 'Crash Bandicoot'. This is a great game, with comedy, action, and most of all, adventure. The story tells of all Crash's enemies all coming together, and summoning all of the ancient spirits. The spirits come and bewitch Crash's brother, Crunch, turning him evil. This game came out to the original Xbox and PlayStation 2. You should be able to play these games with an original Xbox, an Xbox 360, a PlayStation 2, or PlayStation 3. This game actually has better graphics than games such as 'Just Dance 4' (2012), 'Skate 2' (2010), and 'Temple Run 2' (2013). So, if yo find one of those consoles cheap or already have one, GET PLAYING!!!

Good game!

[Swyni · 8/10 · 8 October 2022]

Crash Bandicoot 4, the wrath of Cortex, is a game ported for playstation 2, Gamecube and XBOX, released in 2001, by traveler's tales. The first factor that stands out in this game is the generation gap, for obvious reasons. However, that does not take away from the game its problems with the quality of the graphics... This point is based on the character designs, because these are really bad... However, I must say that the scenarios look really good.

Let's go with the gameplay. Crash Bandicoot 4 has a huge variety of levels. I know this may sound positive, and in part it is. The problem with these levels is mainly the controls. The levels that present these problems are those of water. Except for that, most of the levels are enjoyable, especially the ball ones.

The last point I want to expose is the musical section... And it's great! Many people have problems with this, and I understand why, which is why this point is based on my opinion. This game provides us with electronic music, which makes sense when seeing what time it was released.

Conclusion: This game is highly underrated by critics. The problems that I can see are its OBVIOUS inspiration to Crash Bandicoot 3, the character design and the aquatic levels. Therefore, this one gets an 8/10. Thank you for taking the time to read to the end.

Looks and sounds good, I suppose.

[StormSworder · 19 March 2005]

In the days of the original Playstation, Crash Bandicoot was an unofficial mascot for the machine. Indeed, the three 2D/3D platform games he was in were of the highest quality. The transition to the Playstation 2 was successful, but not instantly so, as this game demonstrates.

Wrath of Cortex reminds me of a lot of big budget follow-ups, such as the new Star Wars films, in that it's great to look at and listen to, but it has very little else to recommend it. The story concerns Cortex creating a new evil bandicoot and using the four elemental masks to power it. This means you must gather all the crystals to stop him, facing the villainous bandicoot Crunch and one of the masks every five levels. The graphics and music in this game are what make it really worth playing, especially as Coco is now playable in platform levels for the first time. Unfortunately, the collision detection is erratic, the camera angles often make simple jumps a total chore and there's nothing much here that hasn't been done before. It's more like 'The Best of Crash' than a new game in its own right. Though Cortex's vocals are as witty as ever, the new villains are uninteresting. The masks in particular lack the individual characters of the bosses in 'Warped' and just seem like loud oafs. The long between-level loading screens are also a pain. You seem to spend half your time watching Crash floating in a giant bottle of Tizer.

To sum up, if you'e looking for a PS2 follow-up to the PS1 Crash plat-formers then you'd be better off with the far superior 'Twinsanity'.

One Of The Best Crash Bandicoot Games In The Franchise!

[vengeance20 · 9/10 · 9 December 2022]

This was one of my first Crash Bandicoot Games I played when I was a boy on PS2 & became addicted to it instantly from playing it!

The story in this entry, sees Uka Uka release the Elementals (Earth, Water, Fire & Air) as part of Dr. Cortex's plan to destroy the planet with them along with his new mentor, Crunch, & so, Crash Bandicoot & (for the first time in the series) Coco & Aku Aku set off to return the masks to the habitats & defeat Dr. Cortex & Crunch!

I found the game to be ace from the word go! The graphics for one are insanely good & even today, still hold up! They're so crisp, especially with the Crystals & Gems visuals being so gleaming & sharp! The levels are great & epic & are more varied this time around!

The idea for the bosses (the first 4 platforms) to be elements was a great idea & a great way to shake the game series up a bit as they often used Cortex's henchmen, which by the way we see in certain levels, i.e Dingo Dial & N Trophy in Eskimo Role!

The music in this game is pretty ace too & memorable! The boss levels are pretty great too as with the hidden levels you get for the hidden gems! The controls can be a bit of a pain & the deaths Crash & Coco can be somewhat cheap & unrealistic, but, it's a great game nonetheless despite its slight flaws!

Overall, it's a great game! It's pretty good & still holds up today! The graphics are great, the levels are varied, the music is spot on & the visuals overall are just dazzling along with the boss levels, especially the final one! If you haven't played this game, you should! For a PS2 Game, it still holds up in a PS5 2020's era!

9/10.

A very lackluster follow up to a distinguished series

[davewithstevens · 6/10 · 10 June 2015]

Travelers Tales tries to take up the mantle of Crash Bandicoot after Naughty Dog's well received first 3 Crash games and does a much worse job due to the use of gimmicky and rehashed game mechanics. Everything in this game feels so phoned in, first being the enemy AI(if you can call it that). Its a sharp downgrade compared to the previous titles, most enemies function on preset commands for their attacks which makes the game quite easy when the only major difficulty arises from the platforming and inaccurate hit-boxes. I cannot tell you how many times I died in this game due to a nitro box or enemy attack nearly touching me but still doing damage, which becomes very frustrating in the later levels. The level design is also a downgrade; most levels focus on platforming but sometimes splice in annoying vehicle sections, some of which ripped directly from Warped(the air plane ones). I guess that's my main problem with this game, it feels like the development team modeled the game completely after Warped. Don't get me wrong Warped is my favorite in the series, but if anything there's definitely a "been there done that" feeling when playing this game. The boss fights are also a disappointment, instead of different interesting bosses Wrath of Cortex would rather you fight the same enemy 5 times with different powers while using the old(more interesting) bosses as easily passable obstacles in the ball rolling levels. In summation ff your a fan of classic PSX Crash Bandicoot you will be in for some disappointment. There is still fun to be had but it seems to me that this is just a case of Naughty Dog being the more competent developers when it comes to Crash.

not the greatest of th CB series but another fair title

[tommypezmaster · 6/10 · 11 September 2007]

My next Movie/Game review after a more underappriated title, "Doogal".

This Crash Bandicoot Gameis barely OK. I rarely liked some of the games like: CTR: Crash team Racing, Crash Nitor Kart, & Crash Twinsanity There are a LOT of bad and Boring movies like Shark Tale, Disney/Pixar's Cars, & I am Sam. As a Crash Bandicoot fan.I think that they should keep up with more games that should have everything right like the ones I like. This Game will get a C. Here the results: Voice-acting: E 3.0/10.0 Garbage. Gets my ears a Head-ache.

Animation: D 4.0/10.0 Low-quatily Drawn. Could have fixed it up a bit.

Graphics: C-- 5.0/10.0 Mediocre. It's barely better then the Animation.

Dialouge: D+ 4.9/10.0 Poor plot and script.

Lasting Appeal: C+ 6.8/10.0 Can be fun for some people.

Overall: C 6.4/10.0 They could have made it less stupid and better but this is however it's one of my favorite video gamesand, but the changes are not worth my cup of tea like i said before. That's the end of my review. Good Night Everybody!

It's OK

[Josephpr1990 · 6/10 · 17 May 2023]

I used to have this Crash Bandicoot game on Nintendo GameCube and Sony PS2. First I got the GameCube version for Christmas in 2002 when I was twelve years old and then I got the PS2 version for Christmas in 2004 when I was fourteen years old.

It is also for Microsoft Xbox.

I've beaten it about few times. It's OK for myself but it's not quite good as the other Crash Bandicoot games especially the PS1 era. It appears to have far too many vehicle levels Why can't it have normal levels more than just vehicle ones? Speaking of money bar speed, it is very slow unlike in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. All boss battles are basically just Crunch himself with using elemental masks except the final one.

It's probably one of the most underrated Crash Bandicoot games in the series of all time.

One of my biggest video-game deceptions...a poor and uninventive clone of the original games

[redrum_9 · 3/10 · 19 December 2013]

I was and I'm still am a huge fan of the original Crash Bandicoot series on the PS1. They were great, challenging games that never managed to be repetitive. I knew about this game beforehand, seen stills of it, some gameplay videos, and the cover looked very promising, since both Crash and Cortex are on it, both are crazy in their own manner: what more do you need? Well, a better game for sure. Is it that bad? Yes, and I'll explain why:

-The character design: it's not only different, but absolutely horrible. They look like bland, soulless plasticine puppets who are the originals' poor man's copy-paste work. Cortex looks arguably the worst. But it's OK...skip the cut-scenes, play the game, and realize: Crash moves differently as well. Why? Well, it might not be how he moves, it might be because of the design, but he unarguably looks different, when he runs and spins. "Different gen, different design, idiot" OK, then tell me why do I feel like the whole character's dynamism, which maybe could have single handedly give life to an original Crash game, if it didn't have fun characters, levels, humour and other great stuff, is completely gone? He runs and spins like he doesn't want to do all this. Why should I go fight Cortex for the sixth-billion time? Why should I spin at enemies, when I can just go home and chill, do I care about all this stuff? No, he doesn't. The Crash character was definitely re-designed by one of the creators who had the same attitude towards the game he was programming, and put his personal feelings into the character.

-The levels: I can imagine the programmers' boss: "Ok, we are done with the game, we just need some levels there. Anyone to do the levels? Matt, could you do the levels, please? Just do the levels please, and then you can go home. Just try to do something that looks like the original games. But please put no effort into it. What? Oh yeah they were some snowy levels in the second game, just put some snow on the levels. What you have an idea of a Mine Cart level? Yeah, it probably gets boring after a while. When it happens make him jump out of a cart, and put that half-level after it, that you put in the Recycle Bin yesterday and you're done for today" I hope you understand how much passion they put into the game. The level I mentioned is actually an existing level in the game: you start off in a mine-cart (on which you can only lean left and right, there was maybe time to add a jumping and crouching option, but since there was no time, or no care whatsoever, about making obstacles or boxes, there was no need for it). After a while it gets boring, but it still goes on for like a minute (which is believe me a lot when playing a game as boring and uninteresting as this) then Crash jumps out of the cart, and you land into a......some kind of factory....or like a....something maybe related to Cortex, maybe not......who cares, just run, go forward....but hey I'm astonished by how detailed is the design of this whole levels, oh no wait they are just bland, grey walls. I always remember with a smile the Egyptian levels , the "fantasy" levels , the sewer levels. They were all very well-thought out and specific. The creators back then had something very precise in their mind, and they just made it, and gave the best out the each level. It was never boring due the dynamism, the funny enemies and details, the challenging level-design (Tomb Wader in Warped for example: went on for hours, and still never got bored even if many times frustrated). In Wrath of Cortex, the levels have no soul, and frankly I can't make a difference between any of them! It's all the same, just some background stuff, to have a level, otherwise it's an unfinished game.

The humour: something the creators clearly didn't have. The original games used tons of clichés, but used it impeccably. Killer bees, frogs that turn into prince, evil wizards and so on. They even put twists one them sometimes: a pharaoh with a flamethrower for example, hilarious. Not that I'd pause the game, and laugh for hours, but they were little jokes, that were present in each levels and it played an important role in giving the game a soul. The creators here, they have no sense of humour...a medieval castle? Let's have a dragon! Oh these tall thin Cortex henchmen guys, they were funny looking....but what should they do? Oh just .......just make them stand there and shoot.....like..........i don't know things.

-The bosses: the story, which I frankly don't care about, because it doesn't have seem to have anything interesting in it, has something to do with...like masks, corresponding each to one of the fifth elements. And like...who cares? The bosses are like....big....scary.....things each representing one of these elements. OK, why did N-Gin, Dingodile, N-Tropy and the others go on a strike the same day? The bosses are extremely boring. I don't want to go into details, it's just boring, uninteresting and far from the feeling of the epic boss battles that were set in the earlier games. Except for the last boss...Cortex! Finally we are going again against this crazy maniac ..... oh no it's that Bandicoot clone Crunch and Cortex is there but he's like... Oh, whatever.

I could go on, but it all comes down to what I've been trying to explain and convey with these points: the game has lost the dynamism, the fun, the humour, the feeling and basically its whole soul with this episode. It LOOKS like a good Crash game, but when you play you'll probably be deceived.

Pretty much the worst of the 3

[michael_manley_426 · 5/10 · 6 May 2006]

I remember when I got a PS2 for Christmas, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was the first game I played on it. Besides the long load times, it was pretty good. Of course, after I got a Gamecube 2 years or so later, I decided to buy it again, and I must say I was a bit... disappointed. Here's the lowdown on things...

GRAPHICS: 6/10 The biggest disappointment in this game is the graphics. For one, the frame rate is slower. This is most noticeable in the opening cinema, where the frame rate frequently drops significantly. It doesn't bring the game to a crawl, but for a Gamecube game, it's a real put-down, and it's a sure sign of laziness among animators. Another thing is the degraded graphics. Is that flat blue and white surface Crash is water-skiing on SUPPOSED to be water? Fans of Super Mario Sunshine will be angered. Also you can clearly see a large red ring around Uka Uka's red aura that shouldn't be there. Plus, the graphics overall are rough, and the polygons are few, and pretty noticeable.

SOUND: 4/10 Another disappointment is the sound; the volume of each character's voice seems completely random: they'll be completely normal at first, but then go down to a whisper for a few seconds, making it almost inaudible with the music drowning them out, but then the voices will go back to normal again. Don't even bother adjusting the volume on the TV; doing so will only get you broken eardrums the next moment. There's a problem with the sound effects too. They're often louder than any piece of dialouge in this game. In fact, on the first plane level in the game, there's this annoying, sourceless clunking noise (that clearly wasn't in the PS2 version) through the entire time you play that level, sucking out all the fun of shooting hapless victims out of the sky. Other than that, the sound effects are okay, but they can do better.

GAME-PLAY: 5/10 The game-play here is pretty much the exact same as the first 3 games in the series, without any twists or surprises, giving us the same boring valleys, corridors and tunnels all over again. They could at least have Crash talk this time, but it looks like that Traveller's Tales's philosophy when they were making this game was that "anything that's different from the usual Crash Bandicoot mold is sacrilege and blasphemy, and cannot be released to the public." A little bit of trivia: A concept that was announced during the production of the game was that they would put in special Elemental Crates that would appear if you re-enter a level. Activating the Crates would unlock a secret area, reveal a mini-boss, etc., but apparently, the idea was scrapped due to Traveller's Tales's little philosophy. I take points off the game-play for unoriginality.

OVERALL: 5/10 I recommend buying an Xbox, then buying Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex for Xbox. I hear that Crash actually has fur in that one. The Gamecube version is only worth a rental.