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Crash of the Titans Wii
User Score
6.6 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 2 out of 9

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  1. ShaanK.
    Oct 14, 2007
    8
    Ah, Crash Bandicoot. We remember your days on the PS1. The platforming, the comedy, and the ridiculous spin-attack, we miss them all. But since Naughty Dog left the franchise, it just hasn’t been the same. The lovable former-Sony mascot has come so close to being driven into the ground for so many people. But surprisingly, after numerous attempts at revitalizing the franchise, developer Radical Entertainment has finally found a formula that works. And boy, does it work. We now have Crash of the Titans. Crash, welcome back! Right from the get-go, you’re given a neat little intro presented in a wonderfully stylized shadow-puppet performance. Basically, the sinister Neo Cortex and his niece, Nina, have perfected the very technology that turned a tiny little bandicoot into Crash, and are using it to “create a huge army of dangerous mutants!” From this point, Crash’s sister, Cocoa, has been captured, and it’s up to him and the mystical Aku-Aku to get her back. This “save your (insert form of emotionally-invested individual) and save the world” concept is far from original, but there’s more than enough creativity and fun had here that you just don’t care. From the start, you’ll find plenty of moments where you’ll just break into laughter, whether it’s due to the 7 000+ lines of pre-recorded dialogue, or the off-the-wall, wacky and colorful cast of characters. Whatever the case, there is an undeniable charm to be found here that is very hard not to enjoy. Crash of the Titans is, in simplest terms, a fun game. The game sacrifices a bit of the series’ focus on platforming, and instead, balances itself as a platformer and an action game. The result is quite satisfying. You’ll be running, jumping, and sliding through jungles, temples, caves, beaches, and factories, pressing the A-button to jump around, followed up by beating up plenty of evil minions by using combinations of the B and Z-triggers. Crash can also hover while in the air after a jump by simply waggling the Wii-remote. However, for those who don’t enjoy waggle, repeatedly tapping B will do the job just as well, if not better. You can also unlock new abilities, including Crash’s classic spin-attack, as you progress through the game. You’ll also be riding through half-pipes on the back of Aku-Aku like a snowboard. The entire experience comes close to being formulaic, running through levels, beating guys up, all with the occasional “snowboard” section thrown in. But the game manages to avoid it by keeping the environments fresh, and constantly evolving within each level. One area may have you in a lush, cool tropical paradise, but then transition into a bland, deforested area surrounded by all sorts of machines of destruction. The game keeps moving forward, and progresses quite nicely. You could be in a confined, metallic string of hallways one level, but then the next, find yourself running along a beautiful cliff-side at sunset. Each level feels like a new experience, and one you can’t wait to explore. The game features a fixed camera throughout all the levels. It never really proves to be a problem throughout the game, always managing to follow the action quite well. There are plenty of really cool shots the camera reveals, sometimes trailing behind Crash as he climbs stairs to an enormous and menacing temple, or coming close to help emphasize the claustrophobic feeling as Crash runs along a conveyer belt. It isn’t flawless, sometimes now allowing you to see behind a rock if you’re being attacked, but that’s a very rare occurance. Combat is fun, and simple. The minor opponents never prove to be a real challenge, taking only a couple hits to defeat. However, when it comes to the “Titans”, fighting proves a bit more of a challenge. These Titans are the very animals that Cortex has mutated, and are where the main hook of the game comes in. After you beat up one of the mutants and manage to leave them stunned, you’ll be able to “jack” them by pressing down on the D-pad. This will result in Crash leaping onto back of the creature, and giving you control of the enemy. At this point, you can walk around, defeating other enemies with the strength and abilities of the Titan that you’ve captured. Each one feels and controls quite differently. The enormous Shellephants (spike-covered elephants) feel slow and extremely powerful, whereas the Parafoxes feel very nimble and fast. There are about 15 monsters to be found in this game for you to control, and each time you see a new one, you can’t help but be excited to try out their unique abilities. This is another example of where the Wii-remote plays a role. When your purple Titan Meter is filled, by performing a unique motion for each of the monsters, you can unleash each one’s special attack. For example, with a swift swing downward on the Ratcicle, you can send ice running along the floor, freezing all the enemies in the path. On the back of the Scorporilla, you have to beat your chest with the Wii-mote and nunchuck, and then pound down, making the behemoth hit the ground, causing a huge shockwave. Sometimes, though, they are nice and simple. Some of the lighter Titans will be able to shoot projectiles, allowing you to aim with the Wii-mote’s IR and fire with the B-trigger. These attacks prove to be incredibly fun to do, and the attacks themselves make the combat much more engaging and add a bit of strategy. A personal favorite is with the creature, Sludge, who is…well…sludge! By crouching with C, he will shrink into a puddle that can move around. When you approach an opponent in this form, pressing B will make Sludge perform an uppercut as a nice little surprise attack. The game tries to cheat a little bit with the creatures, though. You will notice that while on the back of a Titan, you will be unable to jump. This makes some obstacles impossible to cross while on the back of the creature, forcing you to get off if you want to progress. This is a real shame since you really want these Titan sections to go on for a lot longer than they prove to be. Sometimes you can just end up needing the Titan to break one barrier and you’ll have to get off his back. This is strange since Crash can hop on the back of a giant bat, but he can’t even fly over these obstructions. As a result, the opportunity provided by the Titans feels somewhat wasted. The Wii controls feel good throughout the game. But despite how well they work, they don’t do anything absolutely mind-blowing. It feels nice to be more interactive with the experience, and thankfully that experience isn’t just tacked-on. The control feels appropriate if anything, doing what it needs to, when it needs to. The game’s visuals are nothing short of outstanding. While generally an upgraded PS2 game with plenty of jaggies, the game pulls a Metroid and manages to hide its technical limitations with a fantastic art-style. There are hand-painted backgrounds and textures everywhere, each one sporting enormous attention to detail and magnificent lighting. The lighting is fantastic overall, actually. The overall style is very rounded and alive. Everything feels like something out of a Pixar or Tim Burton film. The characters are very expressive, they look great, and everything has such a wonderful life to it that simply hasn’t appeared in past Crash games. This is without-a-doubt the best looking game in the franchise. Crash has even been redesigned. His new look making him look more animalistic, and at the same time, far cuter. His new design finally allows him to be so much more expressive with his face, as well as his body. One of the best additions to the game is definitely the two-player drop-in, drop-out co-op play. Simply by pressing +, a second player can drop in as an albino version Crash. In co-op mode, the game’s fun factor increases significantly, reminiscent of the old-school Ninja Turtle arcade games. There are two forms of co-op in the game. One will allow you both players to be able to switch between one another while the other sits in a backpack, alternating simply by jumping. The other form is traditional, run alongside each other. Unfortunately, there really is no penalty if one player dies while the other survives, making the game unfortunately easy at times. Crash of the Titans is quite possibly the best surprise of the year. With gorgeous visuals, a wonderful comedic charm, wonderful little details in the mechanics, and solid gameplay, this is the first genuinely great Crash game for nearly a decade. However, it isn’t perfect. The title misses a few opportunities with the Titans; the entire game can be beaten in only 8 hours, and sometimes, the music can feel inappropriately cheery. Also, during the cutscenes, your Wii cursor will sometimes take the shape of funny-looking lips or something along those lines, unintentionally ruining the experience at times when all you want to do is watch the scene. Despite this, though, the game still manages to effortlessly pull you and a friend in for a great gaming experience. The game may be short, but Crash of the Titans is a fun game while it lasts, and proves to be a great platformer on the Wii.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. SimonG.
    Oct 4, 2007
    8
    To me, Crash Bandicoot always has been in good games, apart maybe the Bash Party ones. I never understood complains about the Wrath of Cortex and Twinsanity. I taught they were as good as the first ones on the PSX. I’m saying this because I wasn’t waiting for the series’ saviour like many other people. I’ve tried both the Wii and PS2 versions and both versions are really nice games. I personally think it’s a shame that none of the media paid attention to it. I mean Crash of the Titans has been release 2 days ago and it’s basically impossible to find any review on it on the web. They’re all too busy babbling about Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy… like these games needed any more exposure. Now, comes a good game that will completely be left unnoticed. First I was sceptic about the new beat’em up style putting aside the platforming I always loved about Crash. On the other side, knowing that Radical was developing it, I wasn’t really worried. The beat’em up direction works just fine. The level design is neat. The co-op in the main story mode is a lot of fun. And Crash’s makeover with tattoos is fun too! If you’ve always been a fan of Crash and always played on Sony’s consoles, I recommend you buy the PS2 version. The Wii one is good too, but the controls are fun 10% of the time, for the rest you’ll be missing your dual-shock!… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. NilsK.
    Oct 11, 2007
    8
    Crash of the titans is a very decent platformer. It does what you expect from it and it actually does that pretty good. Finally a game where not all actions are mapped to a "Waggle your wiimote" kind of thing. Attacks are mapped to regular buttons and that works just fine, I'd rather do that than constantly waggle the wiimote ( witch actually just triggers like pushing a button ). Hijacking the monsters works great and feels good, all t he monsters have a special attack witch you trigger by performing a special motion with the wiimote. Funny enough, this is actually extremely satisfying. Imagine you're jacked onto a huge creature but you're surrounded by other creatures witch are completely owning you. In all your frustration you raise up both wiimote and nunchuck, and then slam them down. Earth begins to rumble, the ground is cracking up and everyone around you just falls down. So basicly the wiimote controles are simple but still extremely satisfying. The graphics are what you would expect them to be, not great but they do the job. The gameplay itself is divided into 3 main elements, witch are jacking creatures, platforming and surfing ( you kinda glide off a hill on a surf board causing mayhem while you're at it). Only downside is that the camera is very very stiff. It realy doesn't move with you, but it doesn't realy matter because this game is as linear as you can get anyways. All and all a good game for the kids, and for elders who are in to this… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Nintendo Power
    65
    A fixed and unforgiving camera also makes the platforming experience frustrating. [Nov 2007, p.105]
  2. NintendoWorldReport
    70
    A satisfying platform brawler that should easily please younger gamers while providing enough action and humor to keep older gamers interested.
    Read full review
  3. Nintendo Gamer
    68
    If this was any more generic, it'd be...er, something really generic. [Dec 2007, p.51]
See all critic reviews »