Crash Bandicoot Warped

Rather unsurprisingly Crash Bandicoot: Warped has stuck to the winning formula of the original two titles. The action is still mainly 'into the screen', there are bonus sections viewed from the side and Crash has retained all his spinning, body-slamming abilities from his previous outings. A new addition is Crash's sister Coco as a second playable character, plus a few more adventurous bonus stages, such as a bi-plane flying section which gives Crash the opportunity to have a lot more freedom in his 3D environment. But, despite minor tweaks and some new additions, the gameplay presents nothing fundamentally new - which is no bad thing in itself as the game is immensely enjoyable to play.

Visually, Warped maintains the fine heritage of its predecessors. The 3D graphics look fantastic with the underwater stages being particularly noteworthy. Crash retains his lovable actions and the humorous 'ways to kill Crash' are still in there. Well implemented music and sound effects round off an attractive game which is one of the most beautifully presented this year.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped is certainly a very enjoyable title - if you've never played any of the Crash games then this is definitely worth checking out, and if you own the previous titles you'll probably know whether or not you fancy a bit more of it. There are some new tweaks and gameplay elements, but it's still similar to the other two titles. If you're a big fan of the Crash series then you'll love this. The bottom line is that great presentation and compelling gameplay will win this game many friends, although more 'serious' gamers may feel that games should be more original. A fun game, definitely worth a look.