User:Kiriria/Sandbox

CRYSTAL'S... WRATH!

After years of having no official Crash Bandicoot game, fans of Crash have become desperate in hope of new developments. While the original Crash developers are helping on "Crash Bandicoot: The Untold Story" in attempts to reveal the true origins of Crash Bandicoot and to share experiences with fans, for nearly 3 years, fan studio Jump Button Studios have been developing what is now being widely acknowledged as the next Crash Bandicoot game. Crystal's Wrath has still not had its plot revealed after this time, which is leaving fans in suspense as they await news of what adventures the world's most famous marsupial will be partaking in next.

A Background on Crash Bandicoot
In 1996, Naughty Dog released the original Crash Bandicoot game for the PS1, which revolved around a failed lab experiment called Crash (conveniently also a bandicoot) aiming to find his love interest, Tawna. After saving her, she largely left the series only to come back in brief cameos at most. Crash followed his adventure in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back just over a year later, while this game is arguably the glitchiest, this game pioneered new developments within the Crash world including the warp room model which would be used in many Crash games in different variations on different consoles. For its time, Crash Bandicoot games were very appreciative of the limited storage on PS1 game discs and even today hold up very well. The rights were taken over by a number of companies throughout the years, until eventually ending up with Activision for the titles Crash of the Titans and Mind over Mutant, which due to the drastic change of style, and overall decrease in quality of the games, in part due to Crash no longer being the one we know and love, led to the series ending.

But all is not lost!
Amid heavy rumours that a new Crash Bandicoot title will be officially announced soon, a lot of unofficial projects have been announced. The only one that is truly being counted, simply due to the comparative quality and having the feel of a true Crash game is Crystal's Wrath, however a remake of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped has been demonstrated on YouTube, a movie has been made, as well as plenty other smaller games which have proved that a market is still out there for Crash. Many people are unaware of these developments though.

Level design
Like any truly great game, a multitude of ideas have been passed through Jump Button Studios, of which few have been published, including two virtually complete prototype levels which have been cancelled however with further development would not look out of place in any solid game. Toxic Waste and Abandoned Castle are their names. The latter has shown to be using a new feature which has been used in earlier Crash Bandicoot games however without a timer. The fireflies are now set to automatically disappear after varying periods of time as set in the coding of the game. From a personal standpoint, I am a fan of this new development as the player is aware of how long they have to get to the next firefly box, which is also a change as in previous Crash titles the player was required to touch the firefly in order to obtain its guiding light which would allow them to progress through the level with far more ease.

As well as this, videos have been released showcasing the assets, most of which will be cut from the final edition however Jump Button Studios may elect to bring them back at a later date. They are keeping largely secretive which, as aforementioned, has led to suspense which will make the final game, should it ever be released properly, very exciting to explore.

Music
The music within Crystal's Wrath has largely been revealed already. Some of it has not made it past prototyping however has still been completed which can be viewed on developer PatStrikesBack's Bandcamp. Unfortunately, it looks like the boss battle music for Neo Cortex, who based off previous Crash titles is most likely to be the primary antagonist of the game, will be changed despite the prototyped version containing a fantastic melody as well as throwbacks to past Crash games. Personally I feel it is the best song within the game, and that Crash fans would appreciate if this soundtrack was in the final game. Taking nothing away from the other soundtracks however, because all of the songs are fantastic as they mix classic Crash Bandicoot songs with a modern twist which has truly showcased the evolution of Crash Bandicoot and how it has adapted to the current age of gaming audiences.

Last Words
I personally cannot wait for the release of Crystal's Wrath - it will be an exciting game with controller support so that non-PC gamers are not excluded from playing what promises to be a masterpiece if developed correctly and not rushed like many high-potential video games have in the past. Hopefully the game will not be cancelled, and the signs are looking good as a video was released by the official YouTube channel last week, which makes a huge hint that Crash may even get to become a superhero in the game, should the feature not be cut later on.

I am sure that along with the rest of the Crash and gaming community alike, we wish the developers the best of luck with completing the game.

Crash Bandicoot: The Untold Story
I had to get this in somewhere! A few Crash superfans and former Naughty Dog employee Dave Siller have teamed up to help uncover the truth about the classic Crash games. They have a Facebook page open for enlightening discussion regarding these developments, and the showcasing of rare unseen collectibles that may be of interest, which has been very interesting to view. It revolves around Dave Siller's almost criminal exclusion from having any credit regarding the original games and he has revealed all inside, from the true story to what the future may hold...