Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
Reviewed by Dogg
As if Sega bringing Sonic the Hedgehog to Nintendo's
Game Boy Advance wasn't enough, now Vicarious Visions
(the fine people who made Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
and 3, not to mention that awesome Spider-Man game)
is bringing Sony's former mascot, Crash Bandicoot, to
the small screen in the form of Crash Bandicoot: the
Huge Adventure . Adventure stays true to the classic
Crash Bandicoot formula, which consists of trial and
error gameplay.
In the game Crash's nemesis Neo Cortex is revitalized
yet again, as is his masked friend Uka Uka. Now
Cortex and Uka Uka make a plan to boot up a powerful
machine that will shrink the earth to the size of a
grapefruit. This machine then goes into full power
thanks to the pumped machinery of Cortex's space
station. Soon the Earth gets shrunk to the size of an
apple, and now no one can do anything about it.
Following this attack Aku Aku (the masked brother of
villain Uka Uka) bows to help put down the evil
Cortex with his most trusted pals, Crash and Coco
(two bandicoots who always foil Cortex's plans).
Crash then must go through the most prestigious of
levels and then must collect powerful crystals that
will help put a stop to Cortex's plan. As he is doing
this his sister, Coco, will get the crystals he has
collected and will make a machine to put the Earth
back to its original shape.
Theoretically the game offers 20 levels that are
broken down into 4 worlds. Once you beat 5 of the
levels in one world you will fight the boss for the
specific world. There are 4 bosses in this game and
each boss uses a different strategy in order to be
fully taken care of. What's actually cool about this
game is that you can pick which level you want to go
to, similar to what was seen in past Crash Bandicoot
games. All of the levels are different in every
sense. The jungle levels are the easiest. The jungle
levels are filled with some tough obstacles and small
maze-like puzzles that will surely confuse you, but
they should be taken care of fast. The underwater
levels are a bit different. Here you must avoid
puffer fish, squid, sharks, and pneumonic eels (never
an easy task!). The ice levels are the areas that are
very similar to those in Crash Bandicoot 2. Here you
go on slippery paths filled with nitro boxes and
after you clear half of the level you will engage in
a chase scene. The chase scenes are very simple. You
just accelerate and jump, while avoiding the big
polar bear that's in back of you. The only problem I
found with these scenes is that avoiding some
obstacles is difficult thanks to you not being able
to see what's in front of you. The jet pack levels
are also in this game. The jet pack levels simply
have you flying around, while avoiding all on-coming
obstacles. After you rid the area of enemies you will
have to target down a blimp. Take down 2-3 more
blimps and Crash will clear the area. There are very
few sewer levels in this game, but those levels are
still fun. In the sewer levels you can rappel from a
high corridor, and here you must avoid all obstacles
(such as rats, spiked enemies, and hard ooze). The
last sets of levels are the futuristic space age
ones. These levels pit you in a techno-themed world,
in which you must avoid heat rays, spinning pod
discs, and spiky horned enemies.
The control in all of these levels is spot-on, and it
should make every Crash veteran feel right at home.
Moves like Crash's belly flop, his turbo run, his
trademarked spin, and his patented zany jumps are all
right here. In fact you can get more moves by beating
each one of the four bosses. Moves like the Super
Belly Flop, the Double Jump, and the Continuous Spin
are just 3 of the 4 you can get.
In every sense, the Huge Adventure is not much of a
big game, nor is it much of a difficult game. The
first time playing it will take you no less than four
or five hours. However, what really make this game
stand out are its collective activities, which you
can do after you beat the game. You see, Adventure
follows the same thing Crash Bandicoot: Warped had, a
time-trial mode. The time-trial mode kicks off after
you beat a level once. After you beat that level you
can later choose to play it again, except you will be
timed. The timer starts after you hit the small clock
found in the beginning of the level. After you hit
the clock you must avoid all obstacles and make it to
the end of the level with your given time. During the
process you will see crates with numbers on them. By
hitting these crates you will slow down time by a
couple of seconds giving you a chance to make it in
time. By getting a good time you will get a relic, or
a sapphire. Then you can replay the level again, if
you want to so you can get the golden relic, or
sapphire. However, it doesn't end there. To still get
the better ending you will also need all of the gems
(this is similar to what was seen in Crash Bandicoot
2). To get a gem you must hit or destroy all of the
boxes or crates in the given level. These boxes also
include detonating TNT and nitrous oxide crates.
There are also hidden gems in various levels that
require the best of skills to be unlocked, and these
hidden gems are vital for pure continuation of your quest.
What can really ruin this game can be its save
feature. This can be a problem because many will
probably forget to press Start on the over-world map,
and will then lose all their memory of the game. What
could have been really useful would have been an
auto-save feature or a save-anywhere-anytime feature.
Hey it is just my opinion. What could have also been
more varied would have been the levels. The variety
between the levels is low and what could have been
better would have been more difficult levels (like
the Tomb levels in Crash Bandicoot: Warped). Another
thing that would have been great would have been if
Coco had her own levels like she had in Warped. A
jet-ski level would have been great, the same with
her tiger riding. Another thing that comes in mind
when you hear Crash Bandicoot are one-hit kills.
These one-hit kills miraculously return in this game
and to put more simply, they are just as annoying as ever.
Graphically, Crash Bandicoot: the Huge Adventure is a
winner. Combining excellent detail in the
environments and well-done character sprites, there
is nothing bad that you can possibly say about this
game's graphics. The pseudo 3-d stages also look good
and the explosions of TNT boxes and nitrous oxide
crates look great for the Game Boy Advance. Also all
of the animations done by Crash and his fellow foes
is well-mapped and well-designed for a cart game.
Audibly, the game is either good or bad. While many
of the background themes are a little bland, if you
may say, everything else is wonderfully done. All of
the thuds, shwooms, and explosions that came straight
out of the PlayStation titles are all here, and
there's nothing you can do about it.
Overall, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure is a
good game that should please all Crash veterans and
rookies alike. While it does have its share of
problems like its lack of variety, or even its
difficulty, Crash still pleases, even on the small
screen.
What I should like Adventure for-
+ Classic Crash Bandicoot action
+ Simple remissive story
+ 20 Levels of pure Crash fun
+ Control is simple to learn and easy to master
+ Lots of Replay Value
+ Awesome Looking Graphics
+ Brazen Sound
What Adventure can simply go to Hell for-
- Lack of Variety
- One-Hit Kills are still a pain in the butt
- No auto-save feature
- Not Enough Quality in Levels
- No Coco Levels
- Some of the audio is a little Brandish and Bland
Also Try-
Crash Bandicoot (PlayStation)- The first game in this
land-marked series. This game features witty puzzles
and a zany plot that will hinder anyone's expectation
of a good platform game.
Crash Bandicoot 2 (PlayStation)- The second game in
the series. Crash 2 featured top-notch gameplay and
in every way Crash 2 reinvented the series, and most
importantly it redefined the genre.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (PlayStation)- The third
game in the malevolent series. This game brought new
levels and provided a challenge never seen in past games.
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (PlayStation 2,
X-Box)- While it was a brand new Crash game, The
Wrath of Cortex, however, was action-packed with problems.
Overall: 8 out of 10