Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (PlayStation 2)

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Description

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is the first Crash Bandicoot game for a system other than the original PlayStation. The story is set sometime after Warped: Dr. Cortex wants revenge after being defeated by Crash (again). For this purpose, he creates Crunch, a super-bandicoot who can destroy everything that crosses his way. Crunch's power source is a set of magical masks known as the Elementals, each representing a different element, including Earth, Water, Fire, and Ice. The warp room splits levels into their respective elements, with the boss of each section being a battle against Crunch influenced by the Elemental mask of said section.

The game is a typical jump and run, with some other action passages, like air combat and a sequence where Crash is trapped inside a giant sphere rolling around in some sort of rollercoaster. All graphics are in 3D, and the sound is typical for cartoon games like this. The whole game is pretty straightforward in design, getting stuck on a puzzle is not really possible.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Crash Bandicoot: L'Ira di Cortex" -- Italian title
• "Crash Bandicoot: La Vengeance de Cortex" -- French title
• "Crash Bandicoot: La Venganza de Cortex" -- Spanish title
• "Crash Bandicoot: De Wraak van Cortex" -- Dutch title
• "Crash Bandicoot: Der Zorn des Cortex" -- German title
• "Crash Bandicoot 4: Sakuretsu! Majin Power" -- Japanese title
• "Crash Bandicoot 4" -- Informal title
• "CB: WoC" -- Common abbreviation
• "クラッシュ・バンディクー4 さくれつ！魔神パワー" -- Japanese spelling
• "크래쉬 밴디쿳 마와의 부활" -- Korean spelling (Hangul)

Part of the Following Groups

• Crash Bandicoot series
• Gameplay feature: Game completion percentage
• Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
• Gameplay feature: Time Trials
• Nintendo Player's Choice releases
• PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits releases
• PlayStation 2 Platinum Range releases
• Xbox Best of Classics releases
• Xbox Classics releases
• Xbox Platinum Family Hits releases
• Xbox Platinum Hits releases

User Reviews

Nothing really Original about it	Mario Duenaz (32)
Not as good as Warped	qwertyuiop (38572)

Critic Reviews

PSX Extreme	Nov 11, 2001	8.4 out of 10	84
Meristation	Nov 14, 2001	8.1 out of 10	81
GameZone	Dec 03, 2001	8 out of 10	80
Peliplaneetta.net	Dec 27, 2001	78 out of 100	78
Futuregamez.net	Dec 23, 2001	76 out of 100	76
VicioJuegos.com / uVeJuegos.com	Jan 04, 2005	75 out of 100	75
IGN	Nov 01, 2001	7.4 out of 10	74
GamePro (US)	Oct 30, 2001	3 out of 5	60
ITavisen	Dec 20, 2001	3 out of 6	50
Electric Playground	Nov 13, 2001	4 out of 10	40

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Trivia

PlayStation 2 version

The PlayStation 2 Greatest Hits version has quicker load times than the original release.

References to the game

The game didn't sell as well as Universal expected: Eventually the company would reference this in Crash Twinsanity when Dr Cortex confronts a hoard of angry penguins and says "It's been a difficult couple of years Wrath of Cortex didn't sell as well as we'd hope and....Fish?" This is followed by one of the penguins firing a laser gun at Cortex.

Development

The game was originally to be designed by Mark Cerny, who had designed all the previous Crash games and intended the game to be a free-roaming title similar to Crash Twinsanity. However, after handing development of the game over to Traveller's Tales and granting Konami the right to publish the game in Japan, the developers were given only a year to complete the game, resulting in the design change to a standard Crash game.

Voice Cast

The game has a lineup of celebrity voice talent, including Mark Hamill, the voice of Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, and Clancy Brown, the voice of Mr Krabs from SpongeBob.

Comedic Elements

The game, whilst not strictly having a comedic narrative, does feature some comedic elements; for example, the character Uka Uka, who is nearly always seen screaming at Dr Cortex and never talks "normally". This is emphasised almost immediately as the first cutscene for the game begins with him yelling "Imbeciles! Fools! Nincompoops! Can't you idiots do anything right?!" at Cortex and his henchman.

Konami

All versions of the game were published by Konami in Japan and Universal Interactive elsewhere. The PlayStation 2 version erroneously displays the Konami logo both in-game and on the cover in regions outside of Japan. This was fixed in the Xbox and GameCube versions.

Regional differences

The game has a different title theme in the Japanese version, which uses a light-hearted, lyrical song; this can be compared to all other versions of the game, which use the warp room song.

Loading Screen

The game has a different loading screen on different versions; the GameCube version had the word "LOADING" on a plain black background, the Xbox version has Crash falling through a green, 3D space and the PS2 version has Crash falling through a purple space whilst facing the camera.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2002 – #2 Best Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Chris Chidester

Related Web Sites

• Official website (Official website)
• Wikipedia: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Information about Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex at Wikipedia)