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Crash Twinsanity

Just picked this up the PS2 version for 20$.

I hear it's the best 'pure platformer' this generation. Probably not saying much, though.
 
I thought it was awesome, but yeah you probably did pick the wrong day to post this thread :lol

Here's my thoughts from an older thread:

Crash: Twinsanity - Gosh, this game was a lot of fun. I haven't tried the Crash Bandicoot series since the first one, but I enjoyed the demo on the OPSM MGS3 demo disc so I picked up the Xbox version. All the stages are distinct, unique, and have lots of platforming challenges. You get to play as multiple characters (one with grappling hook action), and there's a multitude of imaginative play styles. I particularly liked the 2.5D sections where you watch Cortex moving through the background and you have to run around in the foreground, manipulating devices to save him from traps and stuff. There's also Super Monkey Ball-style levels where Crash & Cortex roll around together as they fight each other, and snowboarding segments where Crash rides on Cortex. When the two team up for platforming sections, it creates an interesting dynamic that is somewhere between Ratchett & Clank and ICO (Cortex is very useful as a tool, but he also needs to be protected).

The music is also excellent, and really catchy. There's no lyrics, but the tracks are vocals that are done in a sort of scat/a capella style. Some of the humor is really bizarre, and it seemed a little weird that Crash is portrayed as a few IQ points short of mentally handicapped. I was used to the snarky, sarcastic Crash from Sony's old advertising campaigns.

Since everyone seems to agree that the very linear, very focused platforming sections of Super Mario Sunshine were the best bits, I am surprised that more people haven't tried out games which replicate that sort of thing. Instead they either give up on platformers since Nintendo "blew it".....or they go on buying dull exploratory platformers from artistically impaired Sony subsidiaries. In Crash Twinsanity you aren't hunting down trinkets (though you can find special things if you wanna), you just make your way to the end of the level.....pretty refreshing.

The only major drawback is that the game is short, and feels kind of abberviated. It ends almost as soon as it feels like it is getting started (just after the 3rd playable character is introduced)....I get the sense that Traveller's Tales must have run out of time, or that they are considering this a "side project" to the regular Crash series. Vivendi didn't release it with much fanfare or marketing, and the resulting sales have been subpar.

I wish there were more games like this.....I would definitely rank it alongside Sly Cooper in the "linear 3D platformer" genre, so if you liked SC then Crash Twinsanity is defintely worth a try.
 
Thanks for the impressions border, didn't realize it had some of those gameplay elements. One thing you mention that sounds good in particular is the straightforward, get from A to B nature of the game.

Some of the other platformers nowadays are so open ended I can't be bothered to remember what I have to do :D
 
I might have to pick this up, it looks fun!

I just tried playing Ratchet and Clank a couple of days ago, and I wasn't too fond of it. It was quite dull, and switching between weapons was needlessy frustrating, especially during boss fights. Are the other Ratchet and Clank games significantly better than the first one?
 
This post makes me want to open my copy. I picked it up cheap at a Toys R Us that was closing down. Sounds good. I'm a sucker for just plain FUN platformers.
 
Some copies of the Xbox version come with a certificate for a free subscription to EGM, so it's got that going for it too :D

Either version is pretty easily worth twenty bucks.
 
The last two Ratchet&Clanks have one major improvement: the action pauses while you switch weapons. This improves the games immensly. I agree with you that R&C hasn't held up well(and it hasn't even been three years yet).

As for Twinsanity, I thought it was a very quality, underrated game, although i've only played it for a short time-the pricing here is atrocious. It costs 40$ Canadian USED.
 
R&C3 has the nice bonus of offering Dual analog control/aiming. No more camera babysitting.

A non-gamer friend of mine was extremely plussed by Crash Twinsanity when he rented it for his rarely used PS2. Between his praise and Border's writeup above, I'll hit the bargain bin sometime, couldn't be worse than Sly 2!
 
Ugggh, when I saw that they had changed Sly 2 up to some exploratory treasure hunt platformer I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach. Sony already has two big franchises like that -- why'd they have to fuck up Sly?

Sonic and Crash are really the only ones keeping the linear platformer alive.
 
border said:
Ugggh, when I saw that they had changed Sly 2 up to some exploratory treasure hunt platformer I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach. Sony already has two big franchises like that -- why'd they have to fuck up Sly?

Sonic and Crash are really the only ones keeping the linear platformer alive.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat and Klonoa.
 
Those're 2D games......and mega-bombs that will never get sequels.

After Lego Star Wars and Crash Twinsanity, I proclaim Traveller's Tales to be the most underrated underrated developer.

The Collective is now the most overrated-underrated developer.
 
Yea, what hurts most is that reviewers and critics flocked to that pititful design philosphy of Sly 2, the glory days are truly over.
 
border said:
Those're 2D games......and mega-bombs that will never get sequels.

After Lego Star Wars and Crash Twinsanity, I proclaim Traveller's Tales to be the most underrated underrated developer.

The Collective is now the most overrated-underrated developer.

Lego SW is good?
 
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