Same here even as a kid I notice some of it’s issues (Coco was horrible to play as for example) but it was never as bad as nostalgia blinded people say
You have the same feelings to woc as mine with MoM, both hated but we love them cuz it's what introduced us to crash (and the entirety of console gaming for me)
“Game killed Crash bandicoot” Ah yes The wrath of cortex,when the game came out it was the best selling Crash game of 2002. Broke records for the series in terms of sales when it released on GameCube and Xbox. Got rereleased in 2005 in a bundle with Crasg nitro kart on Xbox’s family platinum hits..one of the few Xbox games you could buy on 360 store. Plus this game was noimated at Kids choice awards in 2001. This game didn’t kill Crash at all lmao. Game was very successful and people loved it..critics and purists hated on it but they’re clearly the minority. Casuals still remember and love this game.
Yeah to be honest, there was no specific game that “killed” crash to speak (or more accurately, put it on the back burner.) it was mostly thanks to publisher decisions, be it over saturation with yearly releases, or phasing out mascot series in favor of broadening accessibility to more mature genres like fps games to the broader public, since that’s where the money ways. (& let’s be honest: Sonic has put out far, far worse games than even the more controversial Crash titles (or the rare bad title like Crash Boom Bang on the DS), yet that franchise still endears and is still going relatively strong, so some games just have a special resilience I guess.
I think the main problem people have with the Wrath of Cortex was that it was basically a lesser Crash 3, and the first three games were such a tough act to follow. That, and the long loading times on the initial release. I'm in the middle on this. It's definitely not as bad as some people say, but at the same time, playing this just kind of makes me want to play Crash 3 instead.
Loading times come from Universal not being able to use the PS1 trilogy's load technique created by Andy Gavin at Naughty Dog. He patented this technique and it got used for Jak and Daxter. Wrath loads entire stages into memory at once before they start.
@@tmq1072but we remember those games 20 yrs later. Crash 4 kinda feels like a flavor of the month instead of a great game. I mean...the game is only 4 yrs old and has been forgotten about by 2021 lol
Awesome video! I'm glad my Crash footage came in handy 😀 Wrath of Cortex definitely deserves more praise than it gets, especially considering some of the games that came after. Plus this is where Crunch made his debut who one of my cats is named after so I think it deserves some brownie points just for that 😂
I somehow vividly remember Crash 2 and 3, but had no memory of Wrath of Cortex despite having also owned it...at least until I saw the ball levels. I do remember those, and not in a good way, but I don't remember hating the game as a whole. Unrelated, I'm glad to see where your channel is now, I remember binging your early videos about 3 years ago and thinking "these are so well edited and funny, why doesn't he have more subscribers?" So it's really cool to see your subscriber count in the thousands. That's awesome, congrats!
I began replaying Wrath of Cortex recently and I honestly love the ball levels more than I remember when I was a kid. They’re really fun to try and get the platinum relic on too, and I never go for those.
I think it’s because to me for some reason. Wrath of cortex just feels like a ps2 iteration of crash 3. Very similar feel, honestly the first time I played it as a kid I could hardly tell the difference.
Wrath of Cortex was the first Crash game I bought and beat myself without my brothers’ help. I love Crunch and the Elementals, especially Rocko the Earth Elemental
I liked WOC as well!! I grew up with this game!! Thank you for making this video to give the game credit where credit is due while also pointing out both positives and negatives!! People give this game more hate than it deserves, I feel like at least...
I've had such a long affair with Crash. I love him and his games so much-- baby nostalgia. I remember playing WOC with my cousin in his parents room with their massive CRT. We were so into it at the time. Then, in like 2019, after my cousins and I got ADDICTED to playing the Crash remakes together, we went bavk to WOC and couldn't stand the plane sections. Majorly sad we couldnt get into it like we had back then. Im interested in going back again.
As someone who grew up playing the original trilogy, there are times when I wish that Naughty Dog still had the rights to the series. Even so, I love Wrath of Cortex. Yes, some of the writing wasn't perfect, the visuals weren't exactly the 6th Gen's finest, and it was very repetitive of Warped. However, Warped was a great game, so why mess with perfection?
Flaws and all I have fond memories playing WoC with my younger sister, something I'll always be grateful for. That and the game is nowhere near as bad as folks make it out to be. Great video, really enjoyed it!
I speedrun this game, and I’ve been defending it from blind haters for years at this point on my livestreams. A lot of the points you made are things I typically bring up as well when discussing TWoC, such as the vehicle/underwater level ratio and the fact that nothing in the game is fundamentally bad, just different. Thanks for that, it’s very reassuring. This was my first ever Crash game (got it back in 2002 when I was only 5), and after a few years I eventually got my hands on all the classic PS1/2 games, and I never look down on any of them. Every single Crash game has something about them to love, and TWoC being the way it is, is almost like a test to find out what you value in a Crash game. Me personally, I’ve always vibed with the general atmosphere of the levels, quality voice acting, the soundtrack, and yes, even those infamous black label PS2 loading screens. Over the years, I’ve grown attached to the game in ways I’ve never even thought possible through speedruns, analyzing beta ROMs, and other general trivia that have enlightened me to how much this game has to give. It’s without a doubt the most interesting Crash game outside of Crash 1.
I get comment after comment over on my channel from people saying that I hate the game and I need to stop playing it. I actually really like the game, I wouldn't have covered so much on it if hated it :) I think that the game has a lot of flaws, but there's also a lot to appreciate and be thankful for. Great video Greg ♥
As a kid I played Wrath of Cortex so damn much!! I understand it’s many flaws but it definitely doesn’t deserve to go in the same category as the later crash games
I'm not sure I entirely agree with the idea that Wrath of Cortex killed the franchise, but it definitely stagnated the series as we then got Crash Nitro Kart which was a lesser CTR, along with the GBA titles. Crash Twinsanity imo was a step in the right direction in terms of innovation, borrowing the more open approach of Jak and Daxter, but Crash of the Titans is where the franchise truly died if you ask me. I remember seeing the previews for it as a teenager and being like "look how they massacred my boy" Regardless, this was a great video dude! Wrath of Cortex still has some charm to it and you raised a good point about it's commitment to level variety! 🙂
I also remember seeing the Titans redesign for the first time as a child, and having that exact same reaction lol. I didn't even see any ads, I just saw it on the shelf at a game store one day and instantly knew the bandicoot was cooked.
Titans games were my favorite Crash games as a kid. Like y'all glorify the first trilogy a bit TOO MUCH. Like let's be real, those games were equally mid.
@@kawaiimika7974 the titans games do not belong in the same franchise as the originals. The main reason anyone who grew up with a PS1 found them insulting is that the developers thought these were a good way to follow up the series. It's honestly the same argument i make about Paper Mario. Sticker star and Color splash may or may not be fun on their own, i don't wanna have that debate, but they do not belong in the same franchise as 64 and ttyd, and are not an acceptable substitute
Growing up with the original trilogy and most if not all Crash games and I remember really liking it despite being a "lesser Crash 3" but even that is still good in my book cuz you could be a Crash Boom Bang or Crash Purple
Despite being introduced to the PS1 trilogy + CTR first, this is my favorite Crash game and imo this games’ soundtrack is the best in the series. I can vividly remember whistling Arctic Antics music all the time as a kid. I just recently got another copy of WOC for ps2 as my greatest copy that I’ve had for 16 years didn’t work anymore. I don’t think any one singular game killed the franchise, developers were trying to find a new direction and along the way lost what made the trilogy special.
If you ever feel useless, just remember the 'brand new invisibility crate' in TWOC. It only appeared twice and was completely pointless 😄 but I love that game, the classic Crash 3 style and the nature themed levels are awesome ♥
I just wish the game felt better to play. I think the thing that held the game back was how weirdly stiff the mechanics felt to engage with. Banging soundtrack honestly
This game is my childhood, as well as the 1st Crash Bandicoot game I’ve ever played. I remember getting all the Colored gems for the 1st time as a kid and loving that I’ve unlocked a bonus world! I’m forever nostalgic for this game and wish it got a sequel even!
The hate for WOC is one of the most ridiculous crap I've ever seen online, and it makes it seem like the haters are not really fans of OG Crash when they praise games like Twinsanity for just been different despite it being a lot worse than WOC in quality, being unfinished, plus a huge deviation from what Crash is about. The hate never makes sense and always feels unwarranted. I wanna blame the big youtubers who started the hate bandwagon for it.
It's not really hate, but indifference. WOC lives non the shadow of It's older and better brother Crash 3 Warped. Most of WOC content It's a copycat of Crash 3 but worse and that's why most prefer Twinsanity over that.
@@TornaderX It is hate when there are several big youtubers being overly negative towards it when it's not even bad, which causes more negativity in the forms of people obsessively telling others that it's bad, sucks, or the weakest in the series cause you know the haters are always the loudest online. If it was indifference then people wouldn't be so dramatic about how bad they think it is and just acknowledge that it was average & rushed due to publisher meddling, and acknowledge that the game has good as well as bad in it, but no people prefer to trash it as much as possible when it's objectively better made than Twinsanity which they don't want to share the same energy with. I still see people being confuse on the game's negativity when they thought the game was simply a fine continuation of the OG gameplay that even the haters claim they love in the originals. People are overly nitpicky and harsh towards WOC.
@@TornaderX It's crazy that people claim Warped is the best or they love it so much, yet treat WOC worse than Twinsanity which is not only majorly unfinished, buggy, badly designed but very untraditional to what people claim to love the originals for plus started the trend of more unnatural changes to happen to the series. WOC may be subpar but to say it's worse than the unfinished and worse made Crash game(Twinsanity) that took lots of liberties that the series got mocked for makes me think they're not really fans of OG Crash. The irony is that they complain that WOC copies Warped, but don't share that same energy to Warped literally copying Crash 2 but just making it bigger. Another irony was people liking Twinsanity only cause it's different, but hate the titans games for that exact same reason just to say it's too different from the originals, yet give WOC a hard time for being too similar to the originals. Yea this fanbase is crazy and hypocritical.
My childhood friend was introduced to crash through me and my PS1 but he had to move far away and he didn't have a PS1 or knew that it was backwards compatible. I learned about the wrath of Cortex from him because at the time he told me about it and showed me the case on Skype, years later I got to try the game for myself and I think it's okay, but gasp, sometimes I prefer to play it over Warped 😆 anyways, that's my comment.
I agree, this game is overhated for no reason. I'm not saying that it doesn't have it's flaws but, I can guarantee that if you liked 3, you'll like this one. If I have to criticize one thing is that, at least in the PS2 version, the loading times were pretty awful.
I agree, Crash 4 may have better gameplay flow and polish but I didn't even finish it. Every single level is designed to troll the player and the 100% completion requirements are so immense that it turns the game into a grind.
@@GregCubedi like to think they amped the difficulty due to the fact they targeted their audience more towards the same people who were playing as kids that became adults.
Adults do not have all of that free time nor have the lack of stress kids have. That is stupid to make such a difficult game to play without a guide. Much less execution. Might as well say they took the difficulty of Crash Bash and threw it in there.
I have fond memories of Wrath of Cortex though I never was able to beat it. I always thought the second Crunch fight was too hard, I think I only ever barely got to the third warp room. Lots of level themes that I’m seeing for the first time in this video. I want to revisit it now. It’s funny, all these years later I’m about to 106% Crash 4, the game people say is the hardest, and yet I found WoC most difficult lolll. I’ve got all the N Sanely Perfect runs in 4, got all the flashback tapes, and I’vr got over half the platinum time trial relics, the other half I got gold in.
This game will always be one of my favourites and i kept that opinion before and after the criticisms, also the music is so FUCKIN GOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD, great review btw, absolutely agree with all your points.
Great video! I definitely agree! This game is definitely solid. I've 100% completed it like three times and I enjoy it just as much as the original trilogy. Yes, it has its flaws, but I think it gets way too much flak for no reason. It is also in my top 10 video game soundtracks of all time. The music is incredibly good! Honestly, I'd rather replay this game for the umpteenth time than Crash 4 since the pacing just feels better. My only real gripe is that I'm not a huge fan of some of the vehicles (like the car or submarine), but they're not dealbreakers of my enjoyment. Honestly, I wish Toys For Bob would remake this game on modern hardware. Add some graphical polish, maybe a new level or two, smooth out the controls...just as long as they keep the soundtrack intact!
Its not my go to Crash game but I still enjoy it I often use Wrath of Cortex's ost as background music in my own videos They're always handy and always a great listen
@@MagcargoManmore specifically if you have the first version of the PS2, not the greatest hits/platinum version. The reason why it had long loading times was due to data being left over from a mini game that was supposed to get played during the loading times. Think of something like the mini games in the DragonBall Budokai and Tenkaichi games. It got taken out, it was taking up too much of the PS2's memory
@@TailsGamer290What are you smoking? IAT has the best controls, level design and bosses in the series. WoC is imprecise and sloppy and is bogged down by way too many vehicles.
I'm actually disappointed that they didn't have Crunch team up with one of the other bosses for each Mask, Rocko could of had him and Tiny working together, Wa Wa could of seen Crunch and N Tropy or N Gin take control of some battle ship with crash having to dodge missiles while firing back at the same time, for the Py-ro boss fight I'm not really sure what they could of done for Crunch and Dingodile, or what they would of been able to do for the wind mask.
First of all, I find it fascinating that you have Wrath on GameCube. I never noticed that it came out on that console. Anyway, I just bought an original Xbox earlier this week and I've been playing some Driver and Gauntlet. I have a few more games coming in the mail and YES, WoC is one of them. Should be here this weekend. It definitely isn't my favorite of the first few (Cortex Strikes Back is my PIPING cup o' tea). I was obsessed with the trilogy when I was a kid and I remember being super stoked when Wrath came out. So my parents eventually bought it, I tried it and I had a lot of really memorable fun with actually. I can't wait to play it dude, just a couple more days. I will say this, they could make an entire entry that was JUST the Bamboozled rolly ball mechanic and I would totally buy it. Me and my little sister thought that was the coolest thing ever. I loved the rolly ball levels. So yeah, I've always lumped all of those games together. Like, "The first four" is how I regard them. I will admit that the graphical PS2 style just felt really off. Not in a bad way but just in the sense of like... feeling unfamiliar. So I have the N. Sane trilogy and Wrath is near so I'm happy to own them. It's really refreshing that you didn't just piss all over this game like everyone else does. I agree with you, it's super underrated and even more misunderstood. Good video. 👍🏼 P.S. I'm getting Twinsanity too. I don't even care what people say, I liked it. lol
WoC was my first Crash game like a lot of other people here too, and I loved it. I thought Crunch was such a cool character, and it's so disappointing to see how they just didn't know what to do with him after WoC. People liked to pick on him just because of his annoying Mr. T personality in the later games, but I thought he was as cool as Knuckles from the Sonic series was. At least in WoC and CNK. Knuckles and Crunch have a lot of similarities, actually. Both are the older brother/tough guy character, unintentionally worked with the bad guy, are red colored, and got flanderized so hard that they no longer resembled the smart but gullible or naive characters they once were. (Sonic Boom and Crash's Radical Entertainment era games, especially.) They got dummied down to total idiots. Thankfully, Knuckles has been recovering a bit thanks to the Sonic movies making him a bit more intelligent, he just lacks knowledge which makes him do anything dumb. There's sense to Movie Knuckles' "idiocy," because it's just that he doesn't understand certain things like Earth customs or advanced technology, but he's quick to learning. There's sense to it. I just hope Crunch comes back someday in the new Crash timeline and he gets some justice done for his character there, too. I'd love to see him get his own kind of gameplay style. Like more of a brawler focused platformer kinda thing. Or even just to see him be a supporting character in cutscenes protecting or fighting would be nice. Idk, I just wanted to rant, I really like Crunch as a character. In any case, thanks for listening, whoever reads this!
I was very young during the Crash Boom, but all I can remember from the original trilogy was all of the cool animal-riding stages from Warped. Especially with the success of Crash Team Racing, I'm not surprised they leaned into more vehicles.
I personally hated Wrath of Cortex, even considering all the good points you brought up, but I’m glad you find a lot to appreciate about it. I also don’t like Crash Bandicoot that much anymore admittedly, and I grew up with the PS1 trilogy. I just don’t find them very interesting compared to a majority of 3D platformers, so a game that followed the same formula as closely as possible like Wrath of Cortex really doesn’t do much for me.
I would say the game's main problems would be its lack of identity. It seems like a game that doesnt know what it wants to be. The level design is a little too expansive at times, with enemies that do very little to actually be a threat. Vehicle controls that arent explained very well, or control horribly. In the case of underwater levels, unfair enemy placement/movement. About the only "vehicle segments" i didnt mind in TWOC was the rollerball, as it actually felt like it had weight to it, and was fun to move around quickly in. I will at least appreciate them removing backtracking though, as thats one of the only real issues i have with the classic trilogy. While i definitely wouldnt say this game killed the franchise, it certainly was the start of its downfall, and the poor scores this game received were a little harsh, but in part were justified imo.
Kinda sounds like Wrath of Cortex has the same issue that Sonic Superstars has (for me, at least): it's fine, but playing it just makes me want to play its predecessor (Crash 3 / Sonic 3&K) instead.
I recently played wrath of cortex after the trilogy and if crash 3 was 50% vehicles and gimmick levels, then wrath of cortex was 85-90% vehicles and gimmick levels. I was actually slightly disappointed with the lack of actual platforming but i still had fun.
I don't know about killed. It has its issues, but what do you expect for the devs who never made a Crash game? Sony never owned Crash, but Universal at the time. Sony didn't aquire Naughty Dog until Jak and Daxter.
This video is prolly the most r/crashbandicoot take of all time: -No, Wrath of Cortex is not good. Your revisionism will not be accepted -Crash 4 is hard but it’s not unfair. Hate using the term ‘skill issue’ but here it’s definitely appropriate. It’s easily the best Crash game in the series, warts and all
1-collecting wumpas and lives was fun and important in the original. Crash 4 made that optional which kinda make collecting them pointless (i know there is a gem for 3 death max but still lame). 2-breaking all the boxes were fun and needed for the gems. Crash 4 made that worse by literally hiding at least 1 box in every level. Boxes are no longer fun like they used to be. You will most likely miss 1 in every level. 3-levels are waaay too long for the relic. It make no sense. 4-people complained that the 4 and wrath has too many vehicles when crash 4 force you to play 4 different characters! Oh and lets not talk about playing with cortex… 😤😤😤. 5-lame power up for time trial. When time trials introduced in crash3, they gave you a shoes power up to boost your spd. Even WOC still have the same power up! But in crash 4 they decided thats spinning 3 times to get sod boost is better 🙂. Its crash bandicoot not love live ffs! Also, the spinning power up im 100% sure it was inspired by players from crash 3 remake where players were using coco with spinning to get more spd. They thought it would be cool to add that as power up 😒. 6-they had the nerve to call it a sequel when all they did is introduce time travel and multiple + make a game that doesn’t resemble the original and is more of spin off like twinsanity. Dont get me, i know things change and people might enjoy it. But it doesn’t resemble the original at all. Calling it 4 is bad. Should have been cradh bandicoot its about time 1. And then make its about time 2.
I really like Twinsanity despite it being a very different Crash game - still a very fun one to play imo. And I also like Crash 4 and I think the developers did a wonderful job in many aspects. But I think you summarised my feelings of WOC really well when you said that Wrath of Cortex understands what made completing the past games over and over so fun. I love Crash 4 but many times I'd prefer to replay WOC and get all the gems. Great video!
I would definitely say this is the game that "killed" Crash Bandicoot. But it was still a good game. It was the first game that wasn't great (with the exception of Crash Bash), but it was probably the last game that was good or average (Twinsanity can be argued but I've never played it).
Wrath of Cortex was my first PS2 Game. I love playing Wrath of Cortex even though it’s not my favourite. I think Wrath of Cortex has too many vehicle levels but I like the game nonetheless. My Favourite will always be Crash Twinsanity. Crash Twinsanity is an Unfinished Masterpiece that doesn’t get enough love ❤️ The game has it’s flaws but that is what makes me love the game even more. Crash Twinsanity had so much potential considering how rushed the game was with a lot of cut content and the OST is Beautiful ❤️
I grew up and loved the original trilogy. But I never saw WOC as a bad game. I can see where they are coming from. Yes the story makes no sense. And for some reason. Between crash 3 and WOC. Crash forgot all of his new moves. And had to learn them all over again. The only new move. Was 'sneek' and that was only ever used in a handful of levels and bonus rounds. I 106% run the game a few months ago. And it certainly wasn't boring. But some of the vehicle levels.. Yes I can see where they are coming from. However they did put crash in a gyro ball for 4 levels of the 30. The medieval theam is featured 3 times. Not twice. But that's because the gyro ball is 1 of the levels. And is very well polished and fun.
3:44 who else used to think crash is holding 2 swords 🗡😭😭😭? And personally, i think crash got killed bc no one actually want to fund it thinking it wont make money compare to other games.
More peeps are gradually sharing this sentiment, myself included. I wanted to like it more, but I can’t help shake this feeling of shallowness or superficiality around it. Lacks staying power.
Definitely agree with you. I personally think they shouldn’t have the right to call it crash 4. At most it should be counted as a side game kinda like ctr or crash bash or twinsanity.
Hopefully Crash Team Rumble didn't cause too much damage.. From the moment that game was announced, it made me fear that another Crash winter would come.
Well we know Crash 5 was cancelled now, and there's been the whole Microsoft merger... so I'm not too hopeful for the future of the series lol. Would love to be proven wrong though!
It is honestly my main issue with the game. If they put a "press button to do x" on screen with every new vehicle, perhaps in an unused corner, it would help this game a lot
What Killed WOC for me was Load times. I think I spent more time waiting for levels to load than it took me to beat said levels. a few minutes per load to and from the hub and levels was infuriating.
Just recently replayed this for the retroachievements lol Honestly Wrath is a solid game imo, I didn't like a few of the gimmicky level formats - though I can say the same for Crash 3 too - and the control's a bit floaty and not as good as Crash 1/2 but it's still better than the overwhelming majority of platformers.
Wrath of Cortex was my second Crash game after the original and i loved it. It came with my ps2 and i played it alot. I feel like it is overhated and many of the issues people had (besides load times and overly open levels) weren't an issue to me. Even the gimmick levels were enjoyable to me. I do see some people thinking its too easy compared to older games.
Ball stages were the only good vehicle levels in this. In Crash 3 PS1 at least all vehicles control well. It comes down to whether or not you get excited for the bike levels. I do, a lot don't. The boat levels don't excite me and are the only ones that kinda feel like a drag since they take a few minutes. Plane levels are 1-2 minutes which is fine. I like to skip getting the relic on the warp 4 boat level and instead do the secret dinosaur 2D platforming section which isn't considered a separate level, but still gives a gem and relic that can easily be done together even platinum. Then you get an extra relic that can replace the need to do a normal level relic to unlock secret warp room levels.
Yes the hate is deserved. As a huge fan of the series back then it just felt… off. Graphics were weird and it felt weird. And then loading times were horrible. I still have nightmares of him falling down an endless well.
The graphics are kind of bad for ps2 and its floatier and you go slower on the monkey bars. I dont even think the floatyness is a bad thing this game is easily a 7.5 out of 10 its pretty great.
Crash 4 about time is much better than wrath of cortex. The 100% requirement is egregious, some of the side characters are not for me (especially the half crash half side character redo levels), and not every mask power is equally fun, but the core level design is so good with a tight moveset, excellent difficulty level (if you play with the infinite lives your first time) and a generally higher volume of high quality content. That said i enjoyed wrath of cortex when it came out, the bosses are some of the best in the franchise, the orb levels are great, and it looks like a crash game. Its just too easy, clunky, and littered with junk to be as good as even the most recent crash 4. In my opinion most of the vehicles in the game really do suck, but i didnt like planes in 3 either. Orb levels and the car chase levels are exceptions to this.
Happy I'm not the only one who this was their first Crash game xD it's not perfect of course but I really enjoyed it as a kid and it was my first introduction to Crash so I'm happy I played it ❤ I still feel really nostalgic about it and even if the game kinda struggles in some places I always find myself going back to the OST at the very least! There's so many good tracks!
Wrath of Cortex was meh to me. It could’ve been so much better if it had more love put into it. Though I’d rather play this game than Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. Also, I LOVE your axolotl squishmallow! 😊 I wanna hug it!
