Why Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is BETTER than you remember! Follow me on Facebook: / kaptainklassic #CrashBandicoot #Crash25before25 #Crash25
As much as I loved Twinsanity's story writing and comedy, I do find it baffling that people will defend its incomplete/broken at times gameplay, yet bash wrath of cortex so hard when it's actually complete in full form. And when it's about time came out, it only further made people disregard woc which is honestly rather sad IMO.
The reason why a lot of people look at Twinsanity much more favorably as opposed to Wrath of Cortext despite the incompleteness/brokeness is because at the very least, Twinsanity felt 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡 and 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. You have to udnerstand that if you were one of the fans who were around during the first 3 games before there were any other Crash games, we all got used to the formula of the old games and how the last ND Crash platformer felt complete (despite the vehicles). In terms of style, Crash was at his peak in Cortex Strikes Back and/or Warped. But then Wrath of Cortex comes along it just felt like a watered down Warped. Yeah it did try to make the plot more engaging by having Crunch be a more serious integral character but aside from that, the game just felt bland. Like it's not bottom level garbage but it wasn't a shiny gem neither, it was just "meh" for those of us who grew up with the original trilogy and for a lot of us, the game felt underwhelming. But then we get Twinsanity that offers an open world and some funny character writing and it just felt exciting. Like this was what a lot of us from the 90s were expecting Crash to go after Warped. That or It''s About Time which took the tried and true Crash Bandicoot formula and made it feel fresh and new but still familiar. WOC unfortunately was the product of when there was still trial and error when it came ot the PS2's hardware. I just have to bring this angle up because in recent years when I've seen people speak high praise for this game and not understand why a lot of people found it underwhelming, it's usually people who are at least below the age of 30 and who's first Crash game was either Warped and/or this game and because they played it while young, they essentially grew up with the game and find it a little harder to understand the other side of the coin when it comes to this game.
@@KaptainKlassic yeah, as someone who recently got into the series last year and has this as one of the first crash games I've played(along with warped, twinsanity, and cortex strikes back) I like to give WOC credit where its due seeing it not just endlessly hated on. And I'm pretty sure it's about time was called crash 4 just for marketing reasons given the N sane trilogy had just came out two years prior and It likely being too time consuming to remake wrath of cortex and twinsanity as well, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it was secretly also to disregard and pretend they never existed too.
@@decadentgamer3108 intresting breakdown and while I wasn't born in the 90s when the ps1 trilogy initially came out like you were, I understand where your coming from. Wanting more of a fresh experience rather than more of the same. so while I may like WOC and twinsanity equally, since they're two of my first crash games(along with crash 2 and warped), I get why people would prefer twinsanity over wrath of cortex. It was at least strong in the writing and comedy for me, and it had some fun gameplay, it just sucks that both wrath and twinsanity were rushed due to universals poor management, with the latter getting the short end due to how much was cut for time.
Yeah it seems possible it could have been for both reasons. I have Mind over Mutant for ps2 but haven't tried it yet because I'm afraid I might not enjoy it.
This was and still my favourite crash game alongside twinsanity, I grew up playing both games and I’ve replayed them both a countless amount of times in my youth. It holds a special place in my heart.
Wrath of cortex was an amazing game. Sure it was one of the first 3 games I ever played, but the only thing I dislike about it is the submarine's clunkiness. Also, Wrath of cortex is the cannon crash timeline, it's about time is just an alternate timeline. That or its about time is crash 3.5. Because I said so.
This was my first Crash game I played and it became my favorite Crash game, so when I looked it up on the internet I wondered why it got so much hate, this is a good game.
It is good. Idk why so many ppl jack themselves hating WoC. I mean I had some complaints, like the levels having NOTHING to do with the elementals they're supposed to represent, or the really abrupt ending, but it was really fine other than that...
Yeah I wondered about the stages not representing the elemental masks as well and that kind of bothered me. For example all the snow levels should have been on the snow mask world and fire levels should have been on the fire... And so on. Glad you liked the game like I did though. Thanks for watching!
Wrath of cortex and onwards take place in a different timeline. A different part of the multiverse. Crash 4 from a story perspective didn’t retcon any of the other games. Plus a digital image of the the evil twins appear on Crash 4. Also carvings into a few rocks throughout the prehistoric dimension in Crash 4 show the Elemental masks, which are main villains in The Wrath of Cortex.
@@jack-he7fvI wouldn't say it's the best. But certainly one of the best Crash games imo. I Played most of the main console Crash games growing up and TWoC ended up being my 2nd favorite once I got the hang of it (Crash 1 being my fav). Is the game perfect? No. However, the game has a charm that no other Crash game has. Crash 4 as great as it was, did everything to erase TWoC from history only to be forgotten about within a year after release while ppl are STILL talking about TWoC 20+ years later lol. Every level in TWoC was a true adventure unlike previous games such as Warped which over-recycled the same gimmicks, multi-platforming was introduced and hasn't been done better til 20 freakin yrs later in Crash 4 and actually has good music worth listening to unlike EVERY other Crash game. Even the loading screen was iconic to the point it was dam near worth sitting through the long loading times. Me and everyone else who's not a nitpicking reviewer struggles to believe these are the attributes of a "bad" game
In my opinion, The Wrath of Cortex will always be the true Crash Bandicoot 4. This old game needs a remake and it needs to be retitled "Crash Bandicoot 4: The Wrath of Cortex" and completely ignore Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. It's About Time sucks. It's not as good as The Wrath of Cortex.
@@KaptainKlassic You also complained that The Wrath of Cortex has really long load times. Well, good news: the Greatest Hits version of the PS2 version of The Wrath of Cortex has shorter load times.
@@TheRealDustinNunn Even when compared IAT with WOC standard version the loading times in IAT were way worse due to how the game demands you lots of tries and restarts for completion, and overall i agree, Crash 1, 2, 3 and WOC were way better than overrated IAT.
Looking back, I can't help but to agree. Crash 4 is a great game. But after a year, it's been pretty much forgotten about while TWoC is fondly remembered to this day. I think the biggest issue with Crash 4 is that it's too long. The game length seems to overstay it's welcome, despite how fun the game is or how cool it looks. TWoC is fun and cool to play much like Crash 4, minus being too lengthy. If a game is too long even on regular play, you'll grow tired of the game faster at least imo
The only thing i genuinely disliked about the game is how they completely disregard characters like Tiny, Dingodile, N'Tropy etc. They went from bosses to standard enemies you can just avoid by...walking around them. Apart from that this game was pretty good!
Yeah I agree. I wish it had 5 different bosses instead of the same boss every time but it was kind of interesting how he changed each time. Glad they at least made an appearance but yeah you're right
Nice review Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex was actually my first Crash Bandicoot game. I didn't start playing the original PS1 trilogy until 2013. I still think Crash 4 It's About Time is a better game in terms of a 4th installment in the Crash Bandicoot franchise but I still love Wrath Of Cortex this game was part of my childhood. In my opinion it's one of my favorite Crash games and its very underrated.
You know what would've been really cool? If they added timeline levels in It's About Time that are from Wrath of Cortex. For example, Bamboozled would be a level in the N. Sanity Beach, level 8 (I forgot the name) would be in Tranquility Falls, Arctic Antics would be in the 11th Dimension, and one of the space station levels would be in Bermugula's Orbit.
I nevered hated wrath of cortex. I actually like it. I wish they remake it that way people can like it. That way the developers can do what ever they want. I had fun with this game and I still do.
All the reasons you give for it being different to warped are present in warped? The only new powerup is tiptoe which while interesting is only used once. Also the new world with relics being required is present in warped too
Wasn't aware it was only on the 1st version. What exactly do you mean by 1st? Because as you may have noticed in the video, I have the greatest hits which wouldn't be an original first pressing.
@@KaptainKlassic the original Xbox version got a 60fps upgrade, some graphics updates like crash fur being more detail, and shorter load times. It’s the best one. Never played the ps2’s versions but the GameCube one sucks
@@KaptainKlassic so was the running and the tornado spin lol, and also flying levels which were quoted at another point in the video as being a new thing. I almost thought this video was a sarcastic joke lol
@@connemignonne TWoC is like Warped if we're judging the game solely on TWoC having 80% of the same PowerUps as Warped, which is a bad thing for some. But if we're going by TWoC as a whole, TWoC had far more variety than Warped bc of almost every level being different. Warped had a few cool new gimmicks. But over-recycled those few new cool gimmicks and then finally added a cool Future Frenzy level near the end of Warp room 4. Warped is lazily developed. Let's be real
@@homeoftek5844 I think the moment-to-moment level design of Warped shows a lot more care than TWoC. Like, what the hell was the "tiptoe along nitro" powerup? Very bad game design, pointless gimmick.
@@connemignonne I don't necessarily blame anyone for not liking TWoC of it's flaws. But most of the complaints I hear about TWoC sound like nitpicks from ND b00tlickers tbh. TWoC was the most groundbreaking game in the series til Crash 4 came out 2 yrs ago. It's about time (pun intended). We're talkin about multi-platform levels with music and visuals you would see in a sci-fi movie. No game in the series prior had multi-plat levels, including Warped. I doubt even Crash 4 is a more popular game bc it's been only 2 years and I already don't hear anyone talking about it anymore lol. Meanwhile, there are still alot of Crash fans who favor TWoC. And while the trilogy has it beat, TWoC likely outsold every game in the series that came out afterwards, including Twinsanity. Wrath of Cortex didn't do as well as we've hoped, huh? Well neither did Twinsanity lol
Ngl I prefer crash 4s crash design over the wrath of cortex design, I’m not hating but you can also change it to the old low poly model of the og crash which supports old fans
I always find it funny coming across videos of people defending horrible games 😂 always nothing objective, and they make up points to rebuttal. “The game starts with a snow map so it’s bad” who has ever said that? literally hours of videos with in-depth explanations of what we all know about this game explaining why it’s bad but the fan boys pop up “I think it’s good so it’s good”
Yet everyone defends Twinsanity, which couldn't even sell a million copies 😂😂😂. You can Google the stats yourself. Twinsanity is the worst selling main console Crash game in the series and everyone defends it. Funny how "Wrath of Cortex didn't do as well as we hoped" just for Twinsanity to end up doing worse 😂 Also what I find strange is some of the contradictory complaints about TWoC by Naughty Dog extremists. For example, they complain about TWoC having too many vehicle or gimmick levels. Yet they claim Crash 1 isn't their favorite game out of the trilogy, which has LEAST vehicle levels.....and yet Crash 1 outsold both Crash 2 and Warped
I just re played this for the first time in 20 years. I agree I enjoyed it and got 106 percent. I wanted to say in regards to the power ups all of them besides the nitro walk was in Warped.
3:34 the graphics here all looked like from an unfinished Beta and with Twinsanity, the graphics there has shown what Crash could have actually looked like in next gen hardware. Plus there are games in 2001 that had better graphics than WOC. A good example would be Devil May Cry and Silent Hill 2.
Hey as long as you like it, that's all that matters. I've never played this on Xbox or GameCube so I had no idea there was a difference with the loading. Thanks for letting me know!
I have a soft spot for this game partially due to nostalgia, but its flawed game. It’s not entirely the fault of developers considering the development cycle for the game was crazy since the original idea was scrapped over a traditional Crash style game needing to be made in less than a year so I give it a pass. Personally, I think it’s a decent game and deserves more credit than what some people have said about it even though I mostly agree with their criticism. I do disagree with you calling the game the best of the PS2 era with Nitro Kart and Twinsanity being way more enjoyable in my opinion. Good video nonetheless
Hey thank you for watching! Glad you always have some love for this game. It's personally my favorite of the ps2 Era because I think it feels the most like the original trilogy as opposed to twinsanity but yeah, that doesn't mean it's better.
For the looks of it I can see why people dislike the game I never played it but the game looks bland ngl why people love about time cause the game not only looked apeeling to look but also a solid fun game plus Crash bandicoot hasn't had a new game for decades explains the game called About time
You pretty much got it. The game was not horrible by any means, it was passable at most but compared to the previous Crash games, it just felt quite underwhelming as the "new" generation of Crash back in 2001. It's About Time was what Wrath of Cortex should've been but sadly wasn't. It was almost there since it did give more plot but only barely. Everything else unfortunately felt bland.
@@KaptainKlassic Fair enough! It is the design that put him on the map after all! But I personally judge each design on its own.. and I feel all of the redesigns hold up pretty well!
@@botesystems I did like the way they made him look in the remastered trilogy because he looked the same as his original look just in higher quality and more detailed.
I'm not even 3 seconds in and i'm questioning if this will be worth my time, there are no retcons in IAT. Correct me if i'm wrong, they said everything is canon, just in different universes/timelines or whatever other bs fits them. Because ofc they'd make another game after the original trilogy instead of continuing from MOM, the cowards, playing it safe with the storytelling and not taking advantage of the fact that it takes place across the multiverse, opportunity gone. At least WOC tried to do many different things, the experience is mediocre because of it but i still prefer it over Warped, the levels themed around natural disasters is just too epic and the atmosphere in some of them like Droid Void is simply unmatched. Edit: Aight good vid, but wouldn't call it the best on PS2, jesus non existent christ. If i put my biases aside i'd say COTT is worthy of that and i'm one of the few that likes MOM more because of its more in depth and improvements in combat, which is way more important to me than the mediocre story they tried to tell. (Radical's writing was god tier though, no dev would have the balls to write a Crash game like that nowdays) All that BS aside, i can sleep comfidently knowing that no other Crash game will ever do what Crash 2 did better or CTR or Twinsanity. Unless they get the dev team of Twinsanity back for a remake i will only be expecting just "good" games from now on. Except Rumble, i'm skipping that one
Of course it's good, people only hate it because all they do is complain, they whine, they nitpick, and they're blinded by nostalgic and obnoxious fanboys.
Really?! You think Twinsanity was bad? (You probably didn’t word it that way but still) Twinsanity was IMHO the LAST good Crash game as far as being a post-naughty dog era, Twinsanity was the last to really capture the old feel of the original trilogy. As far as I’m concerned, it all went downhill with Tag Team Racing in 2005, I knew when that came out, Crash was never the same afterwards, Those two abominations “Crash Of The Titans” and “Mind Over Mutant” were the fatal blow to it. Twinsanity is no doubt a unfinished game and loaded with unpatched Glitches, However, I still love WoC and Twinsanity both together.
I can't remember which one of the 2 I own (mind over mutant or crash of titans) for PS2 but yeah it's not good. As for twinsanity I didn't play it as much but it's more the art style I noticed starting changing in that one. Not necessarily that it was bad. I need to play it again honestly, it's been years.
Finally a reviewer who isn't a Naughty Dog cultist ND fan: TWoC is just a watered down version of Wapred Me: Really? Because almost every level in TWoC is different while all Warped did is over-recycle the same couple new gimmicks
Yes exactly. Plus this one had that extra world you could unlock if you collected enough of the gems. It was awesome. Thank you for watching and glad you enjoyed the video!
@@KaptainKlassic Warped had that extra world too. Which was cool. But WoC still has more variety. And it's funny how Twinsanity took a jab at WoC when WoC actually actually sold more lol
Theres just too many damn vehicle levels, and they are terrible, if this wasnt an issue i'd like it way more, but I can never disregard the game ever, because its my childhood and nostalgia
@@KaptainKlassic its mainly the fact that if we consider levels that only include platforming and no vehicles what so ever, in warp room 1, there's 2 platforming levels, the next warp room, literally has 0 levels that are only platforming, warp room 3, has 1 level, again with warp room 4, there's only 1, and 5 and 6 have like 2 in total, that's like under 10 levels that are all platforming out of 30.
The bazooka and tornado spin are literally in the third game, in fact most of the things you credited the game for were in warped anyway…. You’re on something man
