Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

O melhor da trilogia original e um dos melhores plataformas 3D de sua geração.

Refinou todos os aspectos possíveis do antecessor e adicionou mais um sem número de elementos interessantes. Pontos mais cruciais, o humor e o gameplay encontraram um balanço excelente aqui, cada qual com seus méritos.

Crash 2 is a game that brings back lots of memories, I remember having this on PS1 not long after it came out, I believe my parents got the game for me. My first game on PS1 was Crash Bandicoot and I got this not long after and played both those games to death as a kid. 2 was always my favorite of the trilogy, it had the most memorable levels, the best secrets, the best music, and everything just stood out. Crash 2 was a huge step in the right direction for the series, the first game was a bit hard and unpolished, but this fixes the problems, and more levels have you moving forward rather than sideways. Crash 2 had a greater variety of level design than the 1st, it had additional abilities like sliding and belly flop, it had more well-designed and less frustrating bonus stages, plus you got the really fun polar bear stages.

Crash 2 is just a fun platformer that is a bit easy, but at the same time just has tons of great levels. Sure its not a perfect game, the boss fights are still pretty damn easy and a bit bland outside of the N Gin fight, the game does reuse a few level designs a bit too much (I mean how many snow levels are in this game?), and there are some really obscure secret gems that you'd never be able to get unless you looked up a guide (which as a kid I was lucky enough to have the strategy guide for this). Also the final 2 areas were a bit more bland to me than the first 3, maybe its just me but I really did not like those levels where you are in complete darkness or the levels where you are chased by bees. And let's not forget the final boss in this game just sucks, there's no forgiving this poor excuse for a final boss, he's just way too easy and short.

Still, this game is still a lot of fun and has 30 levels, plus collecting the gems in this isn't difficult like the first game and actually offers a secret true ending. Coco makes her first appearance in this too, and while she doesn't have much a role, its still a nice addition, and the voice acting in this is pretty solid compared to the first game. I just really enjoyed the improvements this made over the 1st game from the addition of the nitro crates, the improved controls and platforming, the music, level design, and overworld hub. Sure there were a few levels I found annoying and awkwardly designed and the game is fairly easy and has no extra content, but its a game I enjoyed and played a lot as a kid growing up and still find it enjoyable to replay today. Sure there have been better platformers to come since then, but Crash 2 will for me be one of the best games on PS1 and will always bring back great memories of my childhood, and also the best designed of the original Crash trilogy on PS1.