Crash is back in what is most definately his greatest platform adventure to date. Picking up three years after The Wrath of Cortex left off, Twinsanity begins with the evil Dr. Cortex and his sidekick Uka Uka frozen solid in a block of ice and washing up on the shore of Nsanity Island, home to Crash and his sister Coco. Cortex is no doubt wanting some major payback,
but in a strange twist of fate he becomes ‘entangled’ with his enemy, bound by a common goal: survival. If you have been a fan of the Crash Bandicoot franchise over the past decade then you are in for a breath of fresh air with some new twist and turns in this latest release.

Without straying too far from the fast paced, action packed formula that has made Crash a success, Vevindi Universal has added a really clever plot twist to this title. Crash and his arch enemy and creator, Dr. Neo Cortex, will have to team up and work together to defeat an alien invasion from the 10th deminsion that not only threatens Nsanity Island, but their very existence! These alien, parrot looking twins announce their plans to enslave Crash and remove Dr. Cortex’s brain, all the while coming off as a very funny pair themselves. The result is pure comedic genius; the cut-scenes alone will have you laughing out loud and playing for hours just to see the next clip. So get ready for a brand new adventure that will take you on a side-splitting journey that will begin at Nsanity Island and bring you through many worlds until you finally make it to your final stop, Twinsanity Island.

Gameplay

Twinsanity is still an Action/Adventure platformer, and has all of the same elements that the other Crash titles do. There are still thousands of crates to be smashed and wumpa fruit to be collected, plenty of jumping puzzles to be solved and lots of explosives to dodge. Only this time around you will have the luxury of roaming free throughout the many, totally 3D environments instead of being confined to the old rail style gameplay of the former titles. This luxury, though a great one, does come with a pricetag in the form of the occasional poor camera angle or control, but the free roaming totally 3D ride is well worth the cost.

There are six multicolored gems to find in each level which unlock special items in six different categories: Boss Extras, FMV Extras, Enemy Extras, Character Extras, Level Storyboards, and Unseen Extras. This is a cool feature but some of these gems are a pain in the butt to get to so this will definately add some extra replay value to the game. I foresee alot of people giving it another playthrough to try and retrieve that gem or two they missed the first time.

Crash and Cortex have to work together in alot of these levels but keep in mind that they still hate each other with a passion, this is where most of the comedy comes from. Sometimes they are rolling down mindshafts and chutes in a mode tagged as ‘RollerBrawl’ collecting wumpa fruit and avoiding nitro while fighting each other the entire time. Other times Crash can use Neo as a hammer and bash objects with his big head or spin him to accomplish certain goals. Crash can throw the evil Dr. across big gaps or even use him as a makeshift sled in a couple of downhill levels. Don’t get the wrong impression, while in the RollerBrawl mode Cortex gets some good licks in also, banging Crashes head into the ground or spanking the crap out of him is laugh out loud funny.

You will even get the chance to play as Cortex himself, which is a first, fun, and long overdue. We are also introduced to Neo’s gothish, bucked tooth cybernetic niece, Nina, who has spring-loaded, steel-trap hands and extendable arms that come in very handy, (pun intened). We will no doubt be seeing more of Nina in the future, at least I hope so. This mixture of players is another thing that seperates Twinsanity from the repetitious style of the earlier titles.

Overall the gameplay, while still familiar, is a leap ahead of the previous Crash titles, with the totally 3D free roaming, the mixture of characters and the clever plot twist. I know this game is geared for the younger generation but it is no cakewalk by anyone’s standards; gamers of all ages will enjoy this comedic adventure. It’s still a little repetitious, but not as much as before since you can literally get off the right track because of the free roaming, so you may just have to use your brain a little more this time around.

Control / Playability

The controls are the same as they have always been for Crash and very user friendly for the other characters as well. The 3D camera does help you make some jumps by getting a better look from higher viewpoints and different angles. I will not list a control configuration since there are four different ones: Crash, Dr. Neo Cortex, Nina Cortex and of course the Crash & Cortex combo configuration.

Graphics / Presentation

This is the best looking Crash Bandicoot ever made, it takes on more of a cartoon feel with more attention to facial expressions and contortions, the animation in general is very well done. In addition to being hilarious the cut scenes are visually outstanding , although the inability to skip most of them did get annoying at times. The backgrounds are not as vivid as we would like but they do make good use of color to compensate for the lack of detail.

Crash Twinsanity Screenshot Crash Twinsanity Screenshot

Crash Twinsanity Screenshot

View all Crash Twinsanity Screenshots in the Gallery

Audio

Aside from the music, which is the same ole, same ole, the audio was exceptional. Since most of the dialogue was from Cortex, we really get to feel like we’re getting to know him better this time. The voice acting was really funny and well done, and is the backbone of the comedic aspect of the game. The twin parrot-like alien birds are also very well spoken and written, as well as being a really funny comedy team themselves.

Replay Value

There is some replay value depending on your age and what you like, with the game itself taking 8 to 10 hours to finish for the average gamer (and that will probably be without getting all six gems on every level). The extras that you unlock with the gems will give you a certain amount of replay value but overall I’d say I’m pretty much done with it, but I’m practically an old man; my son would play it forever if I would let him, but I won’t.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 7.6/10 [not an average]

Additional Comments

Vivendi Universal and Traveller’s Tales have done a really good job breaking this game out of the box of repetition. This is by far the funniest Bandicoot game that I have ever played, due mostly to the story and hilarious dialogue from award-winning animator Jordan Reichek (Ren & Stimpy, Animaniacs, and The Simpsons), good call there guys. Even if you’re not a fan of the series you should at least give this game a rent, if you have kids, you might as well go ahead and buy it.

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