Crash Bandicoot 2 is a solid improvement over it's predecessor and is a great platforming title.
User Rating: 8.5 | Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex no Gyakushuu! (PlayStation the Best for Family) PS
The objective of Crash Bandicoot 2 is to collect twenty-five power crystals across five warp rooms in order to power up Dr. Neo Cortex’s ‘Cortex Vortex’ in order to save the planet. While the storyline of Crash 2 is pretty much what you would expect of it, there’s praise given to Naughty Dog for actually involving the players more into the game, unlike the original Crash Bandicoot where there was virtually no story or meaning to the game. One of the main problems with the original Crash Bandicoot was the terrible save system which was unfortunately the game’s biggest downfall. Fortunately, this problem has now been fixed in Crash 2 and you can now save or load any of your Crash 2 save files while in any of the five warp rooms in the game. There’s a big sigh of relief at this problem being fixed as a lot of frustration occurred to gamers who had to continuously replay through the same levels over and over again because the save system was only accessible through bonus rounds which were even quite hard to gain access to. There’s other improvements made in the sequel too, like the lighter difficulty level and the choice to choose the order in which you would like to play the levels (out of the five in each warp room). A lot of players complained about the tough difficulty in some parts of the original game and for better or worse, Crash 2 has taken down the difficulty level a notch meaning that your controller is less likely to be thrown across the room with frustration. There are some parts of Crash 2 that can offer a challenge, particularly in the levels at the end of the game, but you should breeze through the game fairly easily with no major problems occurring, if any that is. This time round no longer will you have to suffer the same level over and over again as Crash 2 allows you to choose the order in which you play the five levels within each warp room. This is a very solid improvement in the game as it makes the gameplay not seem so linear and also allows players to ‘pass’ a level and come back to it. However, the gameplay is not without it’s flaws. As mentioned in the official GameSpot review for the game, some of the levels are cheaply designed as they really are more of a memory test as you must memorise where obstacles appear in front of you as you travel to the south of your TV. There are a total of five boss fights in Crash 2 this time and all of them are very easy to the point of them being laughable, which is a shame as it takes away some of the game’s value. Also, you do not have to finish all of the levels in order to reach the final boss as once you have obtained a crystal in a level, (which sometimes are only half-way through a level) you can play through a past level and only have to get to the exit of the level, return to the warp room and then you have the crystal for the level that you have not even finished. Again, this problem unfortunately takes away some of the game’s value. Graphics-wise, Crash 2 is very impressive for the time of its release. The characters designs and environments are nicely done and quite attractive and the game has no issues with it’s frame-rate (although sometimes problems occur when stuck in corners etc in the Crash jet-pack levels). As for the sound, the game has fairly good sound effects and great voice-acting for the characters which bring out their personalities well, but the game does lack the memorable Background Music it could do with. Crash 2 wont take you very long to finish and it should take the average gamer a few hours. There are items to go back for in every level in order to see a secret ending, there are five secret levels and there is the enjoyment factor of playing through the game again so Crash 2 does have a decent amount to offer. Overall, Crash Bandicoot 2 fixed all the problems that truly mattered in the previous game and manages to be a very enjoyable and entertaining 3D Platformer while it lasts, despite it’s minor problems. If you’ve played any of the Crash games before (particularly Crash Bandicoot & Crash 3), then you should definitely find some familiar experiences within this game as it remains to be a classic platformer. 
