When I saw this game I didn't think it would be that great, but it's a good game. If you liked the racing in Crash Team Racing, you'll also like the various scenarios in this game. You get to ride a tiger, a motorcycle, and you even get to ride some sort of sword fish underwater. In addition, various other Crash-only stages are added. For the price of the game, I would definitely recommend adding this one to your collection of titles.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:

Crash's best game  Aug 21, 2006
By B. E Jackson
I am shocked and *very* pleased to report that Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is a DRASTIC improvement over the original Crash Bandicoot.

As you may have heard, I am definitely NOT a fan of the very first Crash Bandicoot game released for the Sony Playstation in 1996. I am, however, incredibly surprised to find that Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is actually a really fun adventure game that may have been slightly overlooked at the time of its release because of the seemingly never-ending amount of wonderful games released for the Playstation in 1998.

Just so you know, I can't compare Warped to Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back because I haven't played that one. I can only compare Warped to the original Crash Bandicoot.

Before playing Crash 3, I was almost CERTAIN that Crash Bandicoot was an overrated video game character because my first and only exposure to Crash was the very first game. I thought for sure Crash Bandicoot was either a Mario or an Earthworm Jim rip-off, and didn't deserve all the attention it got.

For 10 years the original was the only Crash Bandicoot game I knew, and truth be told, it was a pretty average game because every stage featured basically the same uninspiring, repetitive island environment where the object was to run to the end of every stage collecting berries and smashing all the boxes as a way to earn more lives and receive a better overall percentage.

Simply put, Crash's very first outing was BORING. It desperately needed variety. Walking through island/jungle stages all the time can only provide so much fun before it inevitably gets boring. The creators of Crash Bandicoot must have realized how boring this formula was because Warped does just the opposite- Warped features nothing BUT creativity. In Warped every stage certainly does NOT have the same feel. You will encounter something drastically different in every stage. I like that.

The main objective of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is to find the purple gem found in each of the 25 stages of the game. You HAVE to find all 25 purple gems otherwise the game won't allow you to fight the boss at the end of the world you're in. For example, if you're in World 4, and can't find the purple gem in stage 3, you won't be allowed to face the boss at the end of that world. You're stuck there until you find that darn purple gem. Once you find the gem, and face and defeat the boss, you move on to the next world and repeat the process of collecting one purple gem per level and face the boss. By the way, there's 5 worlds total and 5 stages in each world. That comes to 25 stages total.

The amount of creativity that went into each of the 25 stages is simply incredible. Unlike the first Crash Bandicoot game where you mainly just spin around through a jungle environment breaking boxes and jumping over cracks in the ground, Warped offers a LOT more in the way of variety. In Warped you will encounter a few motorcycle racing stages (where you're required to get first place so you can receive the purple gem), a couple underwater stages (with VERY neat-looking backgrounds and deadly, puffy fish swimming about), a couple levels where you're steering an airplane and required to shoot down blimps and other airplanes, and not to mention those tricky, tiger-riding stages.

Oh, and I HAVE to mention the ultra-cool futuristic robot stages (which require near-perfect jumping patterns in order to complete). The Jet Ski stages are really fun because you're located on top of the ocean and I guarantee you will have the time of your life jumping over ramps while avoiding those floating bombs. Yup, it's awesome. This is what makes Crash Bandicoot 3 so great- you won't know WHAT to expect until you enter the level.

Probably the worst thing about Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is the fact that the game offers little in the way of challenge. That's not to say the game is a cakewalk, either. People who think Warped is an easy game are only comparing the challenge to the previous two Crash Bandicoot games. If you compare Warped to say, I don't know, Spyro the Dragon, it's not such an easy game then. It's definitely not a hard game either. You WILL beat it. I think the challange is comparable to Super Mario Bros. 1, the old NES classic.

The one thing I find challenging in Warped is the boss battle in World 3 where you're required to jump over bombs and laser beams heading in your direction. This is one case where practice doesn't necessarily make perfect. Also the second airplane stage can be a challenge if you don't bother shooting down the enemy planes.

One thing about Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped that IS incredibly easy is the object of finding those purple gems. Most of the time you can NOT miss those gems, because you basically walk right into them on your way to reaching the end of the stage. I mean, they are always RIGHT THERE. RIGHT in front of you!

After you complete a stage, you can always go back to it and the computer will then give you a new option to complete the level in a certain amount of time. Finishing the stage in a certain amount of time is actually quite hard. It means you *really* have to take off running and not stop for a single moment to smash a box or spin-attack an enemy or ANYTHING. It means you have to run run RUN! Just so you know, completing the stages under a certain time is NOT a requirement. It's entirely up to you if you'd like to accept the challenge. I'm too much of a wimp to accept it, personally.

I like how you can save your game after you complete a stage. You can actually complete one stage and go to the save room, if you wish. Very convenient. Oh, and get this- if during the middle of the game you decide you want to stop playing and shut off the Playstation, when you come back to the game later all the lives you collected up to that point will STILL be there! I can't think of any other game that will save all the lives you collect. Speaking of lives, they are *so easy* to find in Warped that you probably can collect up to 45 of them. That's a lot, and you will probably need them because, even though the challenge ranges from low to medium, your first time through the game won't be THAT simple.

When Crash gets hit or smashed by something, I think it's funny the way he yells "whoa!" It reminds me of that comedian Carrot Top.

The reason Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped isn't going to receive a 5-star rating from me is because of the same problem found in Spyro the Dragon- in the flying stages (in this case, the airplane stages) when you hit down on the D-pad the airplane flies UP, and hitting up will make the airplane go DOWN. The game company made the direction the wrong way! Oops. At least when you steer the airplane left, it will go left. The same with right. Unfortunately, many game makers have made, and continue to make, the same mistake. It needs to be corrected once and for all.

I realize having your airplane fly up when you hit "down" on the d-pad is an example of realism since that's more or less how REAL airplanes operate, but the thing is, Crash Bandicoot isn't supposed to be about realism since it's just a platform adventure game, and furthermore, it still doesn't change the fact that up and down are reversed. This adds unncessary frustration and challenge in learning something that definitely feels backwards.

There's a toxic underwater stage in Donkey Kong Country 3 where the controls are reversed as a way to add challenge, and in my mind at least, having the controls reversed when trying to operate the airplane in this game definitely falls under the same category of unnecessary challenge.

I hope you buy this game for your Sony Playstation and experience a fun time.

24 of 30 found the following review helpful:

Fun, FUn, FUN!  Apr 04, 2002
By L. Powles "mpowles"
The original Crash game was very hard to beat. It was still classic. Then Crash 2 came out, with several hard levels and tough bosses. Then out came this one, Crash Warped. This is the cult classic of the series. I have beaten the entire game, and never once been disappointed because of too much or too little challenge. I even managed to get a 104% file with the help of my brother and a twerp i know. There are two secret levels. They are Eggipus Rex and Hot Coco. To get to Eggipus Rex, you go into time trails in the Dino Might! level. Then, board the yellow gem platform. Keep running until you find the second pterydactyl (the triceratops will be already chasing you) and let it take you away. To get into the Hot Coco level, simply crash into the road sign with an alien on it in the Road Crash level. This game is a classic and every PS One or PS2 owner needs to have it. Was this review helpful? OF COURSE IT WAS!

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