I think the real triumph of this game is that the difficulty is actually reasonable! Ok, that's a bit harsh, and I don't want to throw Crash 1 under the bus too hard. If you just want to play through the game casually, collecting the 25 crystals and nothing else, you'll experience a pretty reasonable escalation of challenge. The level design and gimmicks are stronger, and the game hands out a pretty large buffer of extra lives. Going for 100%, on the other hand, feels like playing an entirely different game at times. You gotta run through stages without dying once, search every nook and cranny for all the crates, backtrack through entire chunks of levels (this part sucks actually), seek out the elusive colored gems, and use them to access even MORE alternate routes and collectibles. The important bit is that the hardcore challenge is there, and having a pool of lives to throw away makes me eager to actually try and show the game what I'm made of.
A cursory glance shows how much more vibrant and expressive Crash 2 is in comparison to its predecessor. The newly introduced nitro crates are hopping in place, just waiting to burst. Crash does a goofy dance when you clear a level with a gem in tow. The titular bandicoot has a couple dozen death animations, and is generally more fluid to control due to how smooth his animation is. He's also just got a few new moves, like a slide and high jump, and both help immensely for keeping the pace up. They're still reusing level themes pretty often, but the actual level design carries each reuse, usually with a notable gimmick to keep things interesting.
I didn't really touch on Crash 1's music in my review due to it being more atmospherically driven, but a certain name caught my eye in the credits: Mark Mothersbaugh. Lead singer and composer of Devo, and founder of Mutato Muzika, a music production studio that was all over the 90s. The other lead composer for Crash, Josh Mancell, composed the theme to Clifford the Big Red Dog, one of the many cartoons I watched on PBS Kids while growing up. That's a tangent and a half, but I'm trying to say that I recognize these musicians, I know this instrumentation, and I can hear their familiar composition style. The sounds they use perfectly match each stage's atmosphere and mood. You got the twanging guitar symbolizing Crash's unhinged demeanor, but you've also got the xylophone representing mischief. Stages like Sewer or Later have a sick bass track filling the background, and echoing metal clangs in place of standard percussion, it all just flows so well. I also love when you access a death route, and the music escalates into a faster, more aggressive version of the song you were already vibing to. (before and after)
The plot of this game is silly. The title of the game already implies that Cortex is the villain (where there's Cortex, he strikes back), but even the manual is playing up how Cortex is tricking Crash into collecting all the crystals. That is, Cortex thinks he's in control. I like to think that Crash Bandicoot is an agent of chaos, animal instincts from head to toe. He does what he wants for himself and no one else (except maybe his sister, Coco). Smashing things, eating fruit, and collecting shiny things. Anything that happens along the way is merely a byproduct.
After years of clowning on Crash fans (sorry, you guys are constantly desperate, you make it easy) and claiming to "not get" the appeal of the series, I'm surprised that Crash 2 clicked so well with me. Happy to have enjoyed this entry leagues more than the first one. Some sequels are just built different.
A cursory glance shows how much more vibrant and expressive Crash 2 is in comparison to its predecessor. The newly introduced nitro crates are hopping in place, just waiting to burst. Crash does a goofy dance when you clear a level with a gem in tow. The titular bandicoot has a couple dozen death animations, and is generally more fluid to control due to how smooth his animation is. He's also just got a few new moves, like a slide and high jump, and both help immensely for keeping the pace up. They're still reusing level themes pretty often, but the actual level design carries each reuse, usually with a notable gimmick to keep things interesting.
I didn't really touch on Crash 1's music in my review due to it being more atmospherically driven, but a certain name caught my eye in the credits: Mark Mothersbaugh. Lead singer and composer of Devo, and founder of Mutato Muzika, a music production studio that was all over the 90s. The other lead composer for Crash, Josh Mancell, composed the theme to Clifford the Big Red Dog, one of the many cartoons I watched on PBS Kids while growing up. That's a tangent and a half, but I'm trying to say that I recognize these musicians, I know this instrumentation, and I can hear their familiar composition style. The sounds they use perfectly match each stage's atmosphere and mood. You got the twanging guitar symbolizing Crash's unhinged demeanor, but you've also got the xylophone representing mischief. Stages like Sewer or Later have a sick bass track filling the background, and echoing metal clangs in place of standard percussion, it all just flows so well. I also love when you access a death route, and the music escalates into a faster, more aggressive version of the song you were already vibing to. (before and after)
The plot of this game is silly. The title of the game already implies that Cortex is the villain (where there's Cortex, he strikes back), but even the manual is playing up how Cortex is tricking Crash into collecting all the crystals. That is, Cortex thinks he's in control. I like to think that Crash Bandicoot is an agent of chaos, animal instincts from head to toe. He does what he wants for himself and no one else (except maybe his sister, Coco). Smashing things, eating fruit, and collecting shiny things. Anything that happens along the way is merely a byproduct.
After years of clowning on Crash fans (sorry, you guys are constantly desperate, you make it easy) and claiming to "not get" the appeal of the series, I'm surprised that Crash 2 clicked so well with me. Happy to have enjoyed this entry leagues more than the first one. Some sequels are just built different.