Ballistix

Ballistix is a genre of minigames in Crash Bash. In Ballistix levels, the player must use their hover ship to block and deflect steel balls into the opponents' goals. The balls are released into the arena and gain speed as the level progresses. When playing in team mode, players are still able to deflect balls into their partner's goal.

The gem challenge of Ballistix generally involves the player starting with less points (for example: in Crashball players start with 9 instead of 15 points). In two-player mode, points are shared between teammates, with the CPU team starting with more points that the human team.

In battle and tournament modes, the Ballistix minigames are available from the beginning.

Character Abilities

 * Crash Bandicoot / Coco Bandicoot / Fake Crash  -
 * Doctor Neo Cortex / Doctor Nitrus Brio -
 * Tiny Tiger / Koala Kong -
 * Dingodile / Rilla Roo -

Playing the Game

 * In Ballistix, the last player standing wins the event, meaning the winner is the final player who has not let their goal count drop to zero. Whenever a player's points reaches 0, an electric discharge will zap through his/her pod, causing it to explode and kill the character riding it (that character's angel will promptly rise to heaven, even if that character is a villain). For the rest of the round, any balls that hit the electric discharge will simply be deflected off until a player/team wins.
 * When playing on the top or bottom goals, the player must move their character with the left and right directional arrows or by moving the left analog stick left and right. When playing on the left or right goals, the player must move their character with the up and down directional arrows or by moving the left analog stick up and down.
 * To give an extra kick to a deflection, the player must activate a power pulse by pressing at just the right time. If a power pulse is activated, and there are no balls to hit, the power pulse deactivates for several seconds.
 * To make the hover ship move faster, the player must press and hold the R1 or L1 button to maneuver from side to side, which makes it much easier.
 * In Beach Ball, the player may use an electromagnetic pulse to draw in up to four balls and shoot them with extreme speed all at once. This is done by holding to catch and hold balls, and then releasing  to shoot them. But holding the balls too long will disable the electromagnetic pulse, causing the balls to drift away from the hover craft.
 * Each contestant of a Ballistix game begins with a set number of points. One point is subtracted every time the player allows a ball into their goal. When a player's points hit zero, that player's hover craft will explode, causing the player to be out for the rest of the game.
 * In the N. Ballism arena, the player has the opportunity, although small, to grab a force field power-up from one of the four corners of the arena, allowing the player to repel balls away from their goal.  It is still possible for balls to go in even with the force field, but it helps.
 * This is the only type of minigame in which there are no time limits.

Ballistix Arenas

 * Crashball - Crashball is the most basic of the Ballistix arenas, having no special obstacles included within the arena. In challenges, the player will usually have a lesser amount of points than the other opponents or they will not be able to use their power pulse. With a teammate, the player will have to share points, which are lower than the opponents' shared points.
 * Beach Ball - Beach Ball, like Crashball, is a level arena, with no special obstacles. However, on this stage, the player (and the opponents) are allowed to use an electromagnet to cause balls to "stick" and be shot off at high speeds. In challenges, the player will have to play opponents who possess temporary force fields, or they, again, will have to start with lower scores, like in Crashball. With a teammate, the player will have to share points, which are lower than the opponents' shared points.
 * N. Ballism - N. Ballism functions like the Crashball arena, in that it is a flat surface arena with no electromagnets. However, in N. Ballism, there are force fields, which allow the user to deflect most balls directed towards their goal with minimal effort for a short period of time. Periodically, N. Gin himself will enter the center of the arena, shooting steel balls in all directions. In the challenges, the player will start with a lower score than an opponent, or N. Gin will attack their goal and their goal only. With a teammate, the player will have to share points, which are lower than the opponent's shared points.
 * Sky Balls - The arena's four turbines, which keep it adrift, occasionally blow out, causing the whole arena to tilt, altering the play of the game. In the challenges, the player will either start with a lower score, or will have to avoid red balls, which kill the player immediately and cause them to fail the challenge. These balls are used again in the final boss battle against Oxide. With a teammate, the player will have to share points, which are lower than the opponent's shared points.


 * Oxide Ride (Final Boss - Second Half) - Oxide Ride's second half is slightly different than a regular Ballistix arena, in that in single player, it is only a head on, one-on-one match between the player and Oxide. The player will have a slightly larger hovercraft, and instead of losing points, having a ball knocked into their goal will cause them to lose health. There are also missiles, which occasionally shoot off at the player, as well as red balls, which will kill the player immediately. With a teammate, the game functions quite the same, except that both players share the first person goal.

Trivia

 * In each arena, players start with the following number of balls remaining:
 * Crashball: 15
 * Beach Ball: 12
 * N. Ballism: 20
 * Sky Balls: 20 (10 in the crystal challenge)

Ballistix