Crash Twinsanity

Crash Twinsanity
Crash Twinsanity PAL cover art
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal Games
Distributor(s)	Vivendi Universal Games Sierra Entertainment
Producer(s)	Kirk Scott David Stalker (executive)
Writer(s)	Jordan Reichek
Composer(s)	Spiralmouth
Series	Crash Bandicoot
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release date(s)	NA October 1, 2004 EU October 8, 2004 JP November 9, 2004
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E OFLC: PG PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	DVD

Crash Twinsanity is an platform video game published by Vivendi Universal Games and developed by Traveller's Tales, for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox. It was released in North America on October 1, 2004, in Europe on October 8, 2004 and in Japan on November 9, 2004. An Nintendo GameCube version was planned but canceled for undisclosed reasons.

Twinsanity is the 11th installment in the Crash Bandicoot series, although this is the fifth chronologically in the main series. The game's story takes place three years after the events of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and follows the main protagonist and main antagonist of the series, Crash Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex, as they are forced to work together to stop the Evil Twins, a duo of mutant parrots who seemingly have a connection to Dr. Cortex, from destroying the Wumpa Islands.^[1]

Gameplay

Crash Twinsanity differs significantly in gameplay from its predecessor Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. The game is largely played in a free-roaming style, although the linear path based gameplay of the previous installments occasionally reappears. The game's plot is now pushed forward by going through levels, instead of collecting crystals. Gems littered throughout the levels can be collected to unlock extras such as concept art.^[2] Crash's control style is pretty much the same as previous games, although he does have various new moves. Like the Jak and Daxter series, Crash is occasionally accompanied by a second character, in this case his arch-nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex.

Crash can use Cortex as a hammer,^[3] perform a spin attack while holding on to him,^[3] throw him across gaps to activate switches,^[3] and can even use him as a HumiliSkate.^[4] While most of the time Crash could happily swing Cortex to his doom and have him return safely, in other sections of the game, Crash must clear a path for a disoriented Cortex to prevent him from blundering into deadly obstacles.^[4] In the earlier levels, Crash and Cortex will get drawn into a RollerBrawl. The player must steer the scrapping pair around obstacles to reach their goal.^[4]

In some areas of the game, such as the Academy of Evil, Cortex will go solo, armed with a raygun and a limited amount of ammo.^[3] Another controllable character is Cortex's niece, Nina Cortex.^[3] She fights through the levels using her mechanical arms and wall-climbing abilities.^[3] At the very last part of the game, Crash goes into the robot known as Mecha-Bandicoot. He is the final playable character and can shoot plasma blasts.

Plot

The game takes place three years after the conclusion of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, in which Crash destroys Doctor Neo Cortex's space station and rescues Crunch Bandicoot. Cortex and Uka Uka escape and are preserved in ice in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Crash's sister, Coco Bandicoot, while chasing a harmless butterfly, is paralyzed by Cortex. Poorly disguised as Coco, Cortex lures Crash over to a bay, where he attacks Crash with the Mecha-Bandicoot, a gigantic bandicoot-like mech. After this fails to defeat Crash, the robot falls in a cave, taking Crash and Cortex with it. Cortex, infuriated over losing to Crash again, attacks him, and the duo fight roll all the way to the cave's exit.

Crash fighting Mecha-Bandicoot

After getting out of the cave, Crash and Cortex are confronted by a pair of odd, turquoise parrot-like creatures who self-proclaim themselves as "The Evil Twins", who have come to destroy the Wumpa Islands. When it is learned that the they come from the Tenth Dimension, Cortex proposes that he and Crash travel the islands in search of crystals needed to power the Psychetron, a machine which will allow them travel to the Tenth Dimension. Crash faces many of his old enemies during this crystal-gathering quest, including Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nefarious Tropy.

However, after retrieving enough power crystals, Cortex is confronted by Coco Bandicoot, who believes he kidnapped Crash. Coco kicks Cortex on the crotch, jettisoning the crystals onto the Psychetron, breaking it and paralyzing her again. In order to fix it, Cortex and Crash travel to Madame Amberley's Academy of Evil in order to fetch Nina Cortex, the only person who could do so. It is later revealed that the Evil Twins are actually Neo Cortex's former pet parrots, mutated by the radiation present in the Tenth Dimension. Once Nina fixes the Psychetron, she, Crash and Cortex travel to the Tenth Dimension, a bizarre and gloomy mirror universe version of Earth, where they defeat the Evil Twins, who escape and are subsequently eaten alive by Evil Crash, the Tenth Dimension's version of Crash. The game ends with Cortex using the Psychetron to get rid of Crash, only to have it malfunction and travel Cortex into Crash's mind.

Development

The full-motion videos of Crash Twinsanity were created by Red Eye Studios, who previously created the full-motion videos for Crash Nitro Kart.^[5] The soundtrack of Crash Twinsanity was composed, performed, arranged and produced by a cappella band Spiralmouth,^[6] while Gabriel Mann recorded and mixed the soundtrack at Asylum Recording Studios in Los Angeles.^[6] Crash Twinsanity marks the debut of Lex Lang as the voice of series antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex. When Lang was called in for an audition to replace previous voice actor Clancy Brown, the voice director described Doctor Cortex to him and had him listen to signature samples of Brown's performance. When Lang was given the freedom to develop the character with the director, they eventually created a depiction of Cortex that was "master evil with a bit of a childish feminine side that leaks out in his tirades" that had everyone laughing at the lines and the character. As a result, that of Cortex stuck.^[7] Other voice roles include Mel Winkler as Aku Aku and a tribesman, Michael Ensign as Doctor Nefarious Tropy and a tribesman, Susan Silo as Madame Amberley and Nina Cortex, Debi Derryberry as Coco Bandicoot and Neo Cortex as an eight-year-old, Alex Fernandez as Uka Uka and Farmer Ernest, Dwight Schultz as Dingodile, Rusty Walrus, a tribesman and Papu Papu and Quinton Flynn as Doctor N. Gin, Victor, Moritz and a penguin.^[5]

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score PS2 Xbox 1UP.com B[8] Electronic Gaming Monthly 3.5/10[9] 3.5/10[9] Eurogamer 7/10[10] GamePro 7.5/10[11] 7.5/10[11] GameSpot 7.3/10[12] 7.4/10[13] GameZone 6.9/10[14] 7.5/10[15] IGN 7.7/10[16] 7.7/10[17] Official PlayStation Magazine (US) 5/10[18] Official Xbox Magazine 7.3/10[19] Play Magazine 8.3/10[20] 8.3/10[20] PSM 6/10[21] TeamXbox 7.5/10[22] Aggregate scores Metacritic 64[23] 66[24]

Crash Twinsanity received mixed to positive reviews from critics upon release. Play Magazine declared that "Traveller's Tales has delivered a 60 frame/s cartoon epic without sacrificing expanse, dwarfing boss encounters or vivid effects by skillfully balancing model and environment integrity with performance."^[20] James B. Pringle of IGN said that "Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around."^[16][17] Andrew Wooldridge of 1UP.com said the game "is funny, fun to play, and is a definite improvement on the claustrophobic linear levels of games past."^[8] Chris Stead of GamePro described the game as "great fun for our gaming youth and a humorous piece of nostalgia for veterans keen to spank their bandicoots, one last time."^[11] Brent Soboleski of TeamXbox crowned the game as "one of the best Crash titles to have been released since its earliest inception on home consoles, and its creative use of combining past enemies as partners is what gives Twinsanity a new lease on life."^[22] Nick Valentino of GameZone said that the game "rises above the game's original roots to bring a game that's both refreshingly humorous as well as downright enjoyable."^[15] However, Louis Bedigian of the same site described the game as "double the insanity for all you psychopath-loving gamers out there, but it's half the fun for gamers."^[14] Ryan Davis of GameSpot concluded that "it's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well."^[12][13] Official Xbox Magazine declared that "even if you're frustrated by dying on a jump for the 50th time, you'll still think it's funny as hell."^[19] Kristan Reed of Eurogamer said that "the gameplay variation is there for all to see, and when it hits the mark it — believe it or not — is every bit as enjoyable as the very best the genre has to offer, with some true high points to look back on."^[25] PSM Magazine praised the graphics and controls but criticized the level design, saying that it was "designed to kill the player in as many cheap ways as possible."^[21] A reviewer for Game Informer finished with "While it pains me to say this, maybe Crash should make like the entire cast of Blossom and disappear."^[10] Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine described the game as "a bummer" and "a tragic tale of missed opportunities, as a funny, engaging platformer shines through the me-too muck."^[18] Electronic Gaming Monthly decided that "the funny writing (courtesy of an ex-Ren & Stimpy scribe) can't save this uninspired rehash of antiquated Crash antics with lackluster visuals."^[9]

References

1. ^ Crash Twinsanity Instruction Manual. Vivendi Universal Games. 2004. p. 4. 
2. ^ Crash Twinsanity Instruction Manual. Vivendi Universal Games. 2004. p. 9. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Crash Twinsanity Instruction Manual. Vivendi Universal Games. 2004. p. 7. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Crash Twinsanity Instruction Manual. Vivendi Universal Games. 2004. p. 8. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Crash Twinsanity Instruction Manual. Vivendi Universal Games. 2004. p. 11. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Crash Twinsanity Instruction Manual. Vivendi Universal Games. 2004. p. 10. 
7. ^ "Interview with Lex Lang". Crash Mania. March 10, 2009. http://crashmania.net/?page=interviewlex. Retrieved September 1, 2010. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Andrew Wooldridge (October 14, 2004). "Crash Twinsanity Review from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3135624&did=1. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "This game is funny, fun to play, and is a definite improvement on the claustrophobic linear levels of games past." 
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Crash Twinsanity". Electronic Gaming Monthly 185 (December 2004): 170. 2004. "Funny writing (courtesy of an ex-"Ren & Stimpy" scribe) can't save this uninspired rehash of antiquated Crash antics with lackluster visuals." 
10. ^ ^{a b} "Crash Twinsanity". Game Informer (November 2004): 146. 2004. "While it pains me to say this, maybe Crash should make like the entire cast of "Blossom" and disappear." 
11. ^ ^{a b c} Chris Stead (July 12, 2004). "GamePro | Crash Twinsanity - Australian Review". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com.au/index.php/id;1311063014;fp;2;fpid;36. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "Great fun for our gaming youth and a humorous piece of nostalgia for veterans keen to spank their bandicoots, one last time." 
12. ^ ^{a b} Ryan Davis (October 5, 2004). "Crash Twinsanity Review for PlayStation 2 - GameSpot". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/crashtwinsanity/review.html. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "It's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well." 
13. ^ ^{a b} Ryan Davis (October 5, 2004). "Crash Twinsanity Review for Xbox - GameSpot". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/crashtwinsanity/review.html. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "It's a little rough around the edges, and it doesn't break new ground for 3D platformers, but it gives the series the shot in the arm that Wrath of Cortex failed to, and what it does, it does pretty well." 
14. ^ ^{a b} Louis Bedigian (October 10, 2004). "Crash Twinsanity Review - PlayStation 2". GameZone. http://ps2.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r23742.htm. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "It's double the insanity for all you psychopath-loving gamers out there, but it's half the fun for gamers." 
15. ^ ^{a b} Nick Valentino (October 8, 2004). "Crash Twinsanity Review - Xbox". GameZone. http://xbox.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r23742.htm. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "Rises above the game's original roots to bring a game that's both refreshingly humorous as well as downright enjoyable." 
16. ^ ^{a b} James B. Pringle (October 5, 2004). "IGN: Crash Twinsanity Review". IGN. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/554/554364p1.html. Retrieved June 25, 2009. "Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around." 
17. ^ ^{a b} James B. Pringle (October 5, 2004). "IGN: Crash Twinsanity Review". IGN. http://xbox.ign.com/articles/553/553738p1.html. Retrieved June 25, 2009. "Publisher Vivendi Universal and developer Traveller's Tales have infused so much humor and likeability into the game that you will literally laugh out loud. You'll look forward to defeating each boss not just because you're that much closer to beating the game, but to witness some of the best in-game dialogue and funniest voice acting around." 
18. ^ ^{a b} "Crash Twinsanity". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (November 2004): 124. 2004. "A bummer - it's a tragic tale of missed opportunities, as a funny, engaging platformer shines through the me-too muck." 
19. ^ ^{a b} "Crash Twinsanity". Official Xbox Magazine (December 2004): 73. 2004. "Even if you're frustrated by dying on a jump for the 50th time, you'll still think it's funny as hell." 
20. ^ ^{a b c} "Crash Twinsanity". Play Magazine (October 2004): 69. 2004. "Creating a gamer's game through and through, Traveller's Tales has delivered a 60 frame/s cartoon epic without sacrificing expanse, dwarfing boss encounters or vivid effects by skillfully balancing model and environment integrity with performance." 
21. ^ ^{a b} "Crash Twinsanity". PSM Magazine (December 2004): 78. 2004. "Though the game looks and controls well, levels appear to be designed to kill the player in as many cheap ways as possible." 
22. ^ ^{a b} Brent Soboleski (October 7, 2004). "Crash Twinsanity Review (Xbox)". TeamXbox. http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/810/Crash-Twinsanity/p1. Retrieved June 27, 2009. "One of the best Crash titles to have been released since its earliest inception on home consoles, and its creative use of combining past enemies as partners is what gives Twinsanity a new lease on life." 
23. ^ "Crash Twinsanity (ps2: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/crashtwinsanity. Retrieved August 14, 2008. 
24. ^ "Crash Twinsanity (xbx: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbx/crashtwinsanity. Retrieved August 14, 2008. 
25. ^ Kristan Reed (October 6, 2004). "Crash Bandicoot: Twinsanity Review // PS2 /// Eurogamer - Game Reviews, News and More". EuroGamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_crashtwinsanity_ps2. Retrieved August 14, 2008. "The gameplay variation is there for all to see, and when it hits the mark it — believe it or not — is every bit as enjoyable as the very best the genre has to offer, with some true high points to look back on." 

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