Published by Vivendi Universal Games
Developed by Traveller's Tales
Release Date: Out Now
Price : £39.99

A one time Sony exclusive title, Crash Bandicoot has long been one of the better platform games out there. I still remember buying the first game on the PlayStation and spending many months playing through it again and again. Some of the levels (such as Hog Wild) were so hilarious that I kept returning to them. Of course nowadays Crash is a multiplatform character and the games are no longer programmed by Naughty Dog but by Traveller's Tales. The latter Crash Bandicoot titles have been good but have never really captured the magic of those early Crash Bandicoot titles. Here we look at the latest in the Crash Bandicoot series, Crash Twinsanity.

Anyone who has played a Crash Bandicoot title will tell you that his arch enemy is Dr. Neo Cortex who loathes Crash. In Crash Twinsanity though you're in for a big twist as Crash and Cortex have actually teamed up to face a greater evil. Wicked Twins have come from another dimension and are invading the island where Crash lives. The reason behind this is that they want all the Wumpa fruit that is used as fuel for their technology. Only as comrades and not enemies, can Crash and Cortex defeat these Wicked Twins. The game doesn't begin with the two as allies though and Cortex tricks Crash into walking into a reunion with all the enemies he's defeated in previous titles.

If you enjoyed the previous Crash Bandicoot titles the chances are you will like Crash Twinsanity. The reason I say this is because the game controls are just like the others and there is very little that is different in terms of the games mechanics. The main difference of course is having Cortex with you and you get to use him in a variety of ways. You can use him as a weapon or even as a mode of transport as you get to use him as a snowboard. In fact there are some parts of the game where it doesn't seem like a Crash Bandicoot title at all and you'll more than likely recognise influences from other games out there such as Super Monkey Ball. That said though there are good doses of typical Crash Bandicoot game play. Spinning enemies out of the way, jumping large drops, avoiding swinging logs and triggering TNT explosions etc., it's all here and all the same as it ever was.

Despite being released a couple of years after The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Twinsanity doesn't represent a graphical improvement over that game. In fact the game doesn't look as good as other titles such as Ratchet and Clank 3 and Jak 3. The frame rate does dip occasionally too, which is unfortunate. One improvement that has been made over The Wrath of Cortex is loading times. You could actually go and make a cup of tea whilst the levels loaded up on The Wrath of Cortex because they were that long. Thankfully this is not the case with Crash Twinsanity and the load times are much more acceptable. It is disappointing to find that camera issues are present in the game. You can control the camera with the right analogue stick but there are times when your view is blocked and it makes those tricky jumps all the more awkward.

The last PlayStation 2 Crash Bandicoot title that we reviewed, The Wrath of Cortex didn't have any subtitles for the games cutscenes and unfortunately Crash Twinsanity doesn't have any either. This kills any hope you would have had of enjoying the games story which is a shame. You can't even skip the cutscenes so you'll forced to watch them whilst being unaware of their verbal content. There are a few humorous comments in the game but deaf gamers will miss out completely on these. The only text that appears is the tutorial messages and even with these, not as much detail is given in text as it is in speech although there's just enough for you to learn the basics of the games controls.

Crash Twinsanity is another good Crash Bandicoot game but sadly it's no more than that. Pairing Crash up with Cortex is a twist that many Crash fans would not have anticipated and it certainly helps to give the game a different story although deaf gamers won't be aware of this story. On the positive side of things it's good to see plenty of variety in games levels but it's disappointing to see that there is frame rate issues and that the cutscenes are not subtitled. Crash Bandicoot fans are sure to like it though.

Overall Game Rating: 7.0/10
A mix of classic Crash Bandicoot and new style levels that works well. However there are frame rate issues and the game isn't subtitled. Overall though it's a solid platformer.

Deaf Gamers comment:
You'll have no idea of the games story and to make matters worse you can't even skip the unsubtitled cutscenes.