Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex: A Disappointing Mess 

Still can't get over Cortex's eyebrows in this game. I wouldn't be shocked if they could just climb off his face and leave like their own species

As far as Weathering Heights goes, there’s been cut content found over the years that shows originally you were going to fly in on the plane from Level 2 and have to try and damage the airship before entering it. That would also explain why it’s on fire when you look out from the window. It must’ve been cut late in development, hence why it’s the only lab level without a vehicle opening

For some reason, I find the idea of a bad ending involving Cortex accidentally killing his daughter trying to kill Crash hilarious to think about. In a series that's never really taken itself that seriously, such a grim and traumatizing event for both Crash and Cortex seems laughably out of place. Reo: I'm sorry... Dad... Crash... I... l... love... *dies* Crash: *sad whoas* Cortex: Crash! What have you done?! You've killed my daughter! Coco: No he didn't! *You* did! Cortex: I... No! I couldn't have! Not my only daughter... *Slow and somber sounding version of the Crash theme plays. Complete with violin and piano.*

This and Enter the Dragonfly. This shows how Naughty Dog and Insomniac were miricle workers dealing with a crappy publisher like Universal Interactive. Damn imagine Wrath of Cortex and Twinsanity if they weren't rushed and had a better budget Crash 4 spoilers...... The one person Uka Uka could ask is Female N Trophy since she actually killed Crash and Coco in her and Tawna's universe.

Although all colored jems being in the order you need to collect them is new to wrath, dying after a death route or dying after collecting a jem for collecting no boxes or finishing in time so you can come back and get the box jem without leaving the level has always been a thing in crash 2 and 3.

I remember being so hyped for this game as a kid. Then I got the PS2 with Jak & Daxter, saw the Naughty Dog logo and even then I knew that the Bandicoot's best years were behind him. I still enjoyed The Wrath of Cortex quite a bit, even though it definitely felt like a "second-rate" product compared to the likes of Jaks, Ratchets, and Marios; it didn't help that the Spyro series was also going through a rough period, it just felt like those two franchises were way past their prime. Nowadays, I think that The Wrath of Cortex is a pretty decent 7/10 game with the graphics being its worst aspect. Seriously, even as a kid, I thought that the game was ugly as sin. Is it better than the new Crash 4? Not really, but at the same time, I think that when Nu-4 gets grindy and annoying it's way less fun than the OG 4.

1:40:05 fun fact: this lab was meant to be preceded by a cut stage where you had to pilot a plane with the aiming of the "that sinking feeling" stage (i think we dodged a bullet) and damage the flying ship's turrets before entering it in the stage we got. That's why during the stage you can see fire on the ship in the background when there are windows. So yeah, you assumed something was scrapped and you're right

I always assumed that the Sneak powerup and the Invisible crates were hints towards some kind of scrapped and repurposed stealth mechanics, personally. Sleeping enemies you had to tiptoe past? Enemies you had to evade while invisible? Who knows.

i get it, they were "crunched" for time

I can’t wait to see more episodes of this series, I hope that you cover sly.

Two hours for a crash bandicoot video? Didn't expect this lol

My relationship with Wrath of Cortex has always been a very strange one that I don’t think I’ve had with any other game. Usually I fall in line with the general consensus on whether a game is good or bad, but even fully being aware of all this games flaws and why people don’t like it… I can’t bring myself to not like it. Growing up, Wrath of Cortex was one of my favorite games of all time. It was my first Crash game ever, so I didn’t see it as a downgrade from what came before; I could only judge it on it’s own merits. When you’re in that bubble, it’s really not a bad game like you pointed out. It’s flawed sure, there’s a lot that even as a kid annoyed me (the monkey bars, the sub etc) but compared to say, Pac Man World 2, it’s a similar quality. It had such an entrancing atmosphere with its music and art direction (yes I find the Y2K graphics somewhat charming) and hey, a game based around Crash 2/3 is still going to carry a solid structure when you haven’t played the those games. As an adult who now has played the original trilogy and understands what makes those games work, I’ve still for some reason never been able to reconcile this game with the trilogy. I understand everything this game does worse, but my nostalgia and having played it in that childhood bubble I described leaves me unable to directly compare them in my mind; they’re two separate entities to me. I fully agree with everything you and a lot of other reviewers say about it, and while for a time the intense criticism this game gets has always bothered me, I’ve accepted now that it’s just going to be one of those “bad games” that I (and perhaps only I) unironically love, faults and all. I think it also helps that this is the last “traditional” crash game we ever got (besides the gameboy games, which I also quite like… well at least the first one). The series went in such an odd direction after this that I never really vibed with quite as much, even Twinsanity which a lot of people seem to enjoy. I know we got Crash 4, but the lack of the warp room structure, crystals, and the overall grind-heavy nature of it (as well as the art style I’m not a fan of) leaves me still waiting for a proper follow up to WoC/original trilogy. I hope one day we get that. To leave off, there’s actually two big positives this game has above the original trilogy that keep me coming back to it. For one, the level variety is SO much better in WoC. Look I love Crash 3 as much as the next guy, but when you get to that last warp room and it’s ALL just reused levels, it’s a bit anticlimactic. Same with the 4/5 identical motorcycle levels. In Crash 2 most of its levels feel the same; some variation of jungle or snow, with space added in at the very end and the odd sewer level here or there. In WoC, pretty much every level is unique, with its own aesthetics and music tracks. Even when they reuse aesthetics, they always mix it up with a vehicle or something to give it a totally different vibe. Right up until the end you’re experiencing new things (for better or worse), and that’s something I’ve always really appreciated that’s always made me feel a bit underwhelmed by Crash 2/3, despite being better games. The other big positive is the soundtrack. This might be the biggest thing that keeps me coming back, it just has such a cool and unique vibe that’s very nostalgic to me. I like the OST in the original trilogy, but none of it is music I’d listen to outside of playing the game. Ideally one day I’d love to see a game that perfectly emulates Crash 2/3, with the level design and flow of Crash 4 (sans the dickishly hidden boxes) and the unique level variety of WoC. Unfortunately the vibe can probably never be recaptured, seeing as it’s very “Y2K”.

I really hope they bring back Crunch in a future Crash Bandicoot because I really liked the character as a kid

27:28 bro this was so unexpected i laughed Hella hard and loud and played back multiple times 😭

I believe it was actually stated in the instruction manual of the game that Pyro is the strongest of the 4 elemental masks so I think he’s meant to sorta be kind of the leader of the elementals. So I don’t think you were off at all about him being the leader

I don't know what's sadder: How rushed it was, or the fact that this was my first Crash game as a kid. I'm just so happy to have finally played the OG/N-sane trilogy and that my first Spyro game wasn't Enter the Dragonfly (it was The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, if you're curious).

I wish we were in the alternate timeline where the whole game wasn’t scrapped and was forced to be thrown together in a year

Le Owl Strikes Again... Let the Hoot Party Begin

I don’t understand the hate man, this game was one of the best!

The Wrath of Cortex is one of the Crash games of all time. It's got levels, it's got gems, it has eyebrows, what more do you need?

Love your videos Dylan, always such hard work put in and high quality out 😍

This was actually a really well made video. Definitely subbed.

Your "new move" is straight up lifted from crash 4

Honestly I’ve always loved this game growing up

Finally!!!!! Someone who doesn’t suck at the second boss. I always thought it was a simple boss and never understood why people have so much trouble with it? It’s literally Junp and duck under obstacles and move forward…..

Aww yeah, Crash! Let's go! Love your videos, man. 😎 My favorite Crash games are the ones on GBA, those are so good.

What a wonderful video! Easily one of my most nostalgic videogames. Loved going to my aunts before she died and playing on her xbox

The second boss is demanding to some because the timing in the first sec is vital. If your timing is wrong, u need more accurate platforming or slide jump. In reality if you rhythm with the waves it’s super easy

Nice video here. Really explained Wrath of Cortex in detail, especially with stuff like initial design concept. Also your new ability suggestion is interesting, since I think that's the core concept of the new slide mechanic in Crash 4 but without the spinning part. Although I'd say the colored gems remained collected even after dying is a trait that exists in Crash 2 and 3, not just this game. Any gems, in fact. Like for instance in "The Eel Deal" of Crash 2 or "Flaming Passion" from Crash 3, you can get the colored gems and then kill yourself to quickly teleport to the last checkpoint and you'll still get the gems. Or "Turtle Woods" of Crash 2, where you can get the blue gems by not breaking the boxes on the get go and die afterwards, so you can get the box gems simultaneously. And if you wonder, yes this trait is retained in the N Sane Trilogy as well. From what I think why this is the case, is because some gems are pretty frustrating to get and requires a degree of backtracking (like "Diggin It" from Crash 2 where some of the boxes for the box gem are in the death route) that if dying resets the state of the collected gems, may results in players need to recollect the gems from the Death Route again. So I can safely say this is not an oversight from Wrath of Cortex, it is intended.

I have an idea on what to do instead of the sneak shoes, A Charge Dash by holding the same button you do for the sneak shoes crash charges up A Burst of Speed with Rock trailing Behind him that Crystallizes Nitro And Prevents it from exploding by encasing it in rock along with creating a temporary platform when used over an Edge. (The theme of each time crash defeats an elemental mask He's Able to absorb the power they'ed given to crunch) Though unlike the Sprint power the Dash is a burst of speed that requires charging as opposed to a boost in speed (this adds a dynamic of charging dashes which can allow you to cross gaps and jumps that usually require the tornado spin to your arsenal, Leans on the element aesthetic and would enable speed tech that would be excellent in a speed run like charging a dash and using it at a platforms edge into a slide jump(since it creates Temporary platforms of solid rock beneath you that will fall when the Dash Ends but can still be used as a platform) and death Tornado to Cross a gap.

Funny how you mention the villains being minibusses. In tornado alley and any of the glider levels, those small airships that chip your hp that you shoot down as mob fodder. The villains pilot them including N Tropy though it's hard to see except when you complete the level where the camera is held still and you can see it if they were behind you.

Fun fact: Coco can also use the super stomp ability that's obtainable on Banzai Bonsai's red gem route. But all it does is increase the damage radius, and i guess landing speed Edit: PS: Protip: i should watch the video to the end before commenting

Amazing work as always! =D i'd love to see a retrospective on crash twinsanity or its about time, in the future

2:02:14 - This is the only thing I disagree about. These five bonus levels are not mandatory for progress and they are here for the players who chase 100%, so therefore I think they should be looked at with that in mind. When you are going for all the boxes, it's actually a clever puzzlish level where you have to calculate the route to make sure that you'll pass through every area.

Can we appreciate how hard work Dylan puts into his videos for us and he never fails us to entertain us and he always makes our day or night even better 💜

Pretty damn good video. Fun fact, the first youtuber to review Wrath in this level by level format was TheStimpyLand.

You can actually die and keep the gems in the original trilogy as well, being able to collect all of a levels collectibles in some cases. That being said, I do prefer the secret exits of the originals over this. Also I'm only less than halfway though this video and this is great man! Instant sub

it’s insane how this is regarded as the worst crash when it’s the only one i’ve played and i loved it as a kid… maybe it’s time to play the remaster trilogy

I gave this one a listen at work and the Cortex impression went over better. I think you’ll get good at it and it’ll become a signature

The atlasphere stages are actually so good

I find it kinda interesting that Clancy Brown, who originally voiced cortex, makes a return to voice uka uka

the new move that you create is very nice man love it also love the vid

41:09 you can do the same thing in crash 2 in the n sane trilogy, if you get the blue gem then die you can get the box gem as well, you can do this in a few other levels too I think Pretty sure the green and purple gem work

Great video. Just sat through it. The thing about the minecart level is, there is no substantial reward to winning the race really. At that point you're only after gems so destroying the boxes is basically the sole purpose of that level. Like yeah, you can win by doing nothing but...it doesn't really achieve anything in regards to completion. Which by that point is your focus. I just see that complaint come up a lot and I don't really think it's a big deal. Game is still bad though.

A crash move thought: The ultra bellyflop-a version of the bellyflop that is strong enough to actually break metal crates but leaves crash vulnerable after using it To perform this move, press the usual button in the air for a bellyflop. But if you spin before crash falls down, he will actually start spinning before he drills straight to the ground at a very fast speed. As i said, this move is able to destroy metal crates and can be used to break open metal crates that are blocking regular crates, reveal secrets or even the path forward or reveal an iron exclamation crate that reveals the path forward. It leaves crash vulnerable though as he is left dizzy for a short moment.

Crash Bandicoot is a really weird franchise It's cursed that every time he tries to get a new rival, a new lover, another nemesis or a new stage, the wicked dirty company gets in the way, and every time he's remade into a silly battle between Cortex and him. seems to have reached and the cortex as well Trying to acquire new minions and allies, as well as a spin-off title and his rival scientist will be cancelled. Only his niece Nina's idea of ​​being the same "villain kid" trope as bowser jr, sage, etc. against Cortex came to fruition. Crash was supposed to be a hero like looney tunes, but he can't get as many enemies and allies as Bugs Bunny

This was unexpected but I love it. Crash is my favorite series. Crash 2 is my favorite game. Also the power up suggestion is pretty neat and creative but I believe warped mastered the movement sets.

Was searching for retrospectives this came up 😮👀

Something you didn't mention is that Night Time is literally a copy of The Gauntlet, except played as Coco and it's dark. I feel like that sadly adds to the overall rushed feel of the final 5 levels

in regards to crunch talking, if after every boss defeat he was essentially begging Cortex to let him just go and pummel Crash with his own two hands, saying he doesn't need the Masks and growing more and more fed up with their promise of imbuing him with elemental power, I think that would've helped to flesh him out again. Then, during each level of the final hub, hes just taunting, excited, even giddy to finally lay his hands on Crash. With an actual bossfight to boot.

Dylan forgot to mention this but there is also no reason given to collect gems in this game. I also feel that Coco's different style of gameplay was kinda like how Mario & Luigi have a different style of gameplay. I didn't even think about Coco being a girl with that gameplay until Dylan brought that debate up XD.

I will always have a soft spot for wrath of cortex since it was the first Crash game I ever played, that being said my nostalgia can’t change the fact that wrath of cortex is not as good as the OG trilogy and 4

That bit where Cortex is talking about the story was hilarious XD

I remember playing this. Thinking back I only remember rage quitting because I sucked at it and not really having fun. Not really a fan of that game.

Another great crash retrospective can't wait for you do Twinsanity at some point anyway I'm subscribed.

Yes! Love this video! Hope you cover Twinsanity and the other Crash games!

I'd just like to point out that the music you said for Weathering Heights was great, the music you actually played was the Droid Void soundtrack. Nevertheless, a great video.

1:01:30 I liked the sneak move but I love your spine slide idea, it's the SM64 long jump but still, so why not taking inspiration from other moves from that game ? a side jump, a wall jump, a backward jump, or wathever... Another thing could be to give Crash the ability to glide in the air with his jet for a small time, jump after a slide while *in the air* !

Coming back to this video suggestion for the 1st powerup could be the spin punch which is sorta like like the scrapped spin punch that was in Twinsanitys demo. Except you can hold it to change the distance it travels and it can even function as an air dash(just like cortex's airdash in 4) when you hold it for a short moment. You can even use it yo travel across the lines of nitros or tnt crates to outrun the explosion to where it doesnt hurt you. If that doesnt work, the 2nd function can be that it can function as a homing attack except you aim it on airborn crates and enemies.

Finally have the time to watch this! Lets GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What's Sucks We Have Louise As The Only Mini Boss In Crash 4 IAT.

One thing I noticed is that even though they got most of the original voice actors back, they both messed up their unique voice effects (most noticably on Uka Uka) and gave them worse voice direction, so the drop in performance is noticable.

I don't know what it was about Wrath of Cortex growing up but i remember renting this from a blockbuster for ps2 when I was about 6 years old and the copy I rented was like corrupted I think cuz some warps would take me to completely different levels than said and the cutscenes had a lot of dialogue switched around such as uka uka saying someone else's lines or repeating the same line. For the longest time this game felt like some fever dream I had until replaying it again when I was 13.

the loading screens were absolute hell in this game. a number of the games psychics such as the floaty jumps can cause some unfair deaths. Coco's kick absolutely sucks. and crunch being every boss battle does lack verity. that being said i still have quite fond memory's of this game and the soundtrack i still fondly think of to this day. hey at least its not Enter the Dragonfly.

Apparently Jess Harnell did not play Crash in It's About Time. I don't remember the name of the guy who did, though.

Let the retrospective… begin.

I think it's interesting that they have two types of between-levels cut scenes. One in the hub world save screen 53:03, like Crash 2. And one during the transition screen, 52:45, like Crash 3.

'Intro song by Astrophysics' that caught me offguard haha, lovely.

oh on the topic of getting gems and backtracking by killing yourself, crash 2 and 3 had that too, look up how speedrunners do it. for the purple gem in c2, they get it at the beggining of the challenge part and then die, because it keeps it in their inventory

That Gem collecting oversight was also in Crash 2 and 3, plus the N Sane Trilogy.

I remember when Crash's face was changed for the Japanese releases because they thought he looked scary, and I never really understood that. Now that I've seen this thumbnail though yea I can see it Also dang the intro samples the main Omori song

What's the actual name of the intro song in this video? This retrospective is excellent along with the first one, definitely subbed, can't wait for the retrospectives for the rest of the Crash Bandicoot series!

If it were up to me, I think I would have written the true ending final encounter to have a section where Cortex (for whatever reason the plot allows) gets a chance to stab Crunch in the back and takes it without hesitation, and Crash saves him instead of immediately stopping Cortex, with the betrayal and subsequent compassion of Crash being enough to break Cortex's grip on Crunch's mind for them to destroy the machine and team up for a boss fight that's Crunch and Crash against a (potentially fleeing) Cortex

It’s funny how they dedicated a whole game to getting krunch and put him in later games only for him to be replaced by tawna in 4 and basically be made non canon

Whats funny is the boss fight with crunch and Py-ro have both voice actors of the joker. crunch is voiced by Kevin Micheal Richardson and py-ro is voiced by Mark Hammil.

Bro the elements thing genualy sounds like a really cool idea, especially with that consept art. But then they downgraded it into masks of wich with water and air i sometimes confuse wich is wich.

I love this game, even with all its flaws, this game has a special place in my heart

A spitfire could NEVER defeat an F22.

First game I ever played. I have to say I love it even when I understand its flaws and criticism, I remember my mother playing it with me. Good video.

Love your content dylan. Just a question I’ve wanted to ask - is the irate gamer internet fables video still coming?

*Tries the slide jump.* Well that was a good time, I’m just gonna play something else now

Bro just spawning hours long videos out of thin air 👑

This is the first Crash Bandicoot game to be released on other consoles that are not just Playstation. On the Xbox version of the game, there is a cheat where you can beat the game in full 100%. When you start a new game, you'll be told to type in a name. Type in "WOMBAT" and the cheat will be activated. This is also the first Crash Bandicoot game where Coco has combat moves when you play as her. This game was originally going to be a free roam game, but the concept of that idea was later scrapped and the idea wasn't used until Crash Twinsanity (2004) was released.

I remember feeling excited about a new Crash game on PS2 and watching my Uncle (who skipped the previous gen) play Wrath of Cortex alongside Jak & Daxter and MGS2 that holiday season. It was all equally impressive to him given his prior lack of exposure to 3D games, and I was able to appreciate it through his eyes. Deep down I could tell that Wrath of Cortex was a little "off" compared to the prior games in the series, but the overall good vibes of the moment overshadowed that notion. Even today I have a soft spot for this one. In fact, i still consider it a personal favorite of mine. Despite it being kind of a mess.

While Mark Cerny was certainly involved with Crash, I don't believe he "designed" the PS1 games - not on his own, anyway. The basic concept was put together by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, Cerny was brought on later into the development of the first game.

Replayed it And yeah a lot of things aren't too fondly aged nor Memorable

40:52 Thats not really an oversight so much as that is an intended game mechanic. That feature was in both 2 and 3, specifically so you dont have to do the stage in one life, as if they didnt save then you would have to restart the entire level to grab the collectibles. The reason it is so easy in this game compared to 2 and 3 is how the game hides the color gems, 2 and 3 hid some color gems in certain ways where you couldn't pick it up on a normal run and required you to come back in a new way. TWOC has all the colored gems be hidden behind the death routes so it is very easy to just grab the colored gems, die and then continue on from there to get the crystal and clear gem. Additionally that idea of dying and keeping the color gem was something that was possible in 2 and 3 just not for every level. In Crash 2 you could do that in Turtle Woods, simply run through the stage without breaking any boxes, picking up the crystal, then collect the blue gem, go back and die and then break all the boxes and bam you get both gems and the crystal In Crash 3, Tomb Wader the blue gem is on the death route and that route has no boxes, so you can break all the boxes up to the death route, go on the death route and get the blue gem, die and then continue on from there and you also beat the stage with both gems and the crystal. And there are plenty more examples for 2 and 3 so my point is that its not really a mistake more just a result of how samey the requirements to get the colored gems are.

first ever game i had on the ps2 growing up, i love it to death

1:01:20 how about a version of the spin that vacuums enemies and crates towards you. With some crates requiring the use to collect. As for the issue of TNT and nitro either those don’t get pulled towards you or the vacuum version requires holding another button

Damn, Naughty Dog's ps1 models and environments looking better than this crap on ps2

Do not say "Taste issues" when I say this is one of my favorite Crash games along with Titans, N. Sane Trilogy, Nitro Kart, Twinsanity, 4: IAT and Twinsanity.

Now that was long….but fun

I love this and your other crash vid. Will we be seeing a twinsanity video?

21:09 I think you meant to say Uka-Uka instead of Aku-Aku 😂

I grew up playing this crash game the most so I’m really angry they never rereleased it or something because I don’t play pc 😣

Broooooo wtfff, i thought of that slide spin idea aswell. Ive tried to give it as feedback for TFB so they can add it to Crash 5. Exactly how you described it, only instead of crash laying horizontally during it, he stays vertical like the death tornado, but he wouldn't be as tall (only crouch heightand probably wider) 1) We can implement multi hit enemies, ie enemies with armor 2) Different ways to platform, you press L1 + Square to start the slide spin, and you can glide of ledges without gaining or losing verticality, and you can still do one more jump at the furthest point you can maintain the spin 3) You got to becareful as you can spin erratically and hit TNT Why does crash get to keep double jump but not death tornado in IAT, this is a non op and fun way to implement it into crash

The mine cart part of Compacter Reactor gave me DK64 flashbacks

Do you intend on doing sonic someday? I know he is literally the most discussed game character on the platform but I somehow never get tired of hearing a new person give their take. Even if it does end up being the same as everyone else.

Dang, this was my first experience with crash and I understand why people don’t mention it as it really was a washed down version of what it was supposed to be and overall just a not so good experience compared to others makes me actually want to try the trilogy considering I got it on sale. Definitely won’t say I didn’t have fun with it cuz I was like 5 but it was something to keep me busy. If anything it keep me interested in the universe of crash bandicoot

what is the intro song?