| Crash Bandicoot was one of the original PlayStation's first--and indeed only--mascots, and though he was never quite as important to Sony as Mario and Sonic have been to Nintendo and Sega, he nevertheless provided PlayStation gamers with some quality platforming fun, as well as a couple of spin-off titles shamelessly "influenced" by Mario spin-offs. Now the lanky orange marsupial's made his way onto Game Boy Advance in an adventure that's suspiciously similar to Crash 3 and in many ways is superior to his recent PlayStation 2 appearance. The gameplay's classic Crash, mainly involving running, jumping and spinning through 2-D platform levels, with the odd bit of scuba-diving and jetpacking thrown in and occasional towards-the-screen bear-avoiding escapades. There are four lots of five levels; in order to face each section's boss and collect a swanky power-up you'll only need to get to the end of each level and collect a pink crystal, but to finish the game completely each level must be completed at least twice, once with all the boxes being collected and once beating a pre-set speed. There are also hidden bits of certain levels that can only be unlocked by collecting coloured gems hidden in other levels. As ever, there's no shortage of extra lives to pick up, and there are mid-level checkpoints and protective voodoo masks to collect, all of which prevent too much repetition, and you can save onto the cartridge after every level. The graphics and sound are great--Crash fans will be surprised at how smooth the transition from home console to handheld has been--and the gameplay is as polished and addictive as ever. All this adds up to another worthy hit for Crash; the GBA is a perfect new home for him. --Rikki Price |
