Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (Japanese: クラッシュ・バンディクー4 さくれつ!魔神パワー/Crash Bandicoot 4: Majiin Power) is the sixth Crash Bandicoot game, but the fourth chronologically, and it was the first game to feature Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. On the 4th of December 2007 the game was released onto the Xbox Live Marketplace as a downloadable game on the Xbox Originals Service.

Gameplay
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is a platform game in which the player controls Crash and his younger sister Coco, who must gather 25 Crystals and defeat the main antagonists of the story: Doctor Neo Cortex, his new super weapon Crunch Bandicoot and Crunch's power sources, the renegade Elementals. Much of the game takes place in a "Virtual Reality (VR) Hub System" created by Coco to help Crash gather the Crystals.

The VR Hub System is split up into five "VR Hubs"; initially, only the first VR Hub is available. Each VR Hub has five teleportation portals to different levels. The goal in each level is to find and obtain the Crystal hidden in the area. In some levels, the Crystal will be located at the end of a level or must be earned by completing a specific challenge. After completing all five levels in a VR Hub, a sixth teleportation portal to a boss level will appear. By defeating the boss, the next VR Hub will become available for play. When all 25 Crystals are collected and Doctor Cortex and Crunch are defeated, the game is won.

Crash and Coco start the game with four lives. Crash and Coco lose a life when they are struck by an enemy attack or suffer any other type of damage. More lives can be earned by instructing Crash or Coco to collect 100 Wumpa Fruit or break open a special crate to collect a life. Crash and Coco can be shielded from enemy attack by collecting an Aku Aku mask. Collecting three of these masks allows temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers such as enemies and Nitro Crates. If Crash or Coco run out of lives, the game is over. However, the game can be continued by selecting "Yes" at the "Continue?" screen.

Each level (except vehicle levels) contains a "Bonus Platform" that leads to a special bonus area, where the player must navigate through a maze and collect everything in sight. Once a bonus area is completed, it cannot be played again.

Besides crystals, gems and coloured gems can be collected for 100% completion. Gems are rewarded to the player if all of the crates in a level are broken open or if a secret area is completed. Colored Gems are found in special levels and lead to hidden areas.

Relics can be won by re-entering a level where the Crystal has already been retrieved. To obtain a Relic, the player must initiate the Time Trial mode and race through a level in the per-designated time displayed before entering a level. To begin a Time Trial run, the player must enter a level and activate the floating stopwatch near the beginning of the level to activate the timer; if the stopwatch is not touched, the level can be played regularly. The player must then race through the level as quickly as possible. Scattered throughout the level are yellow crates with the numbers 1, 2 or 3 on them. When these crates are broken, the timer is frozen for the number of seconds designated by the box.



As no lives are lost in the Time Trial mode, the level can be played through as often as the player desires. Sapphire, Gold and Platinum Relics can be won depending on how low the player's final time is. The first five Relics the player receives unlocks access to a secret level. Every five Relics thereafter open up another level in the Secret Warp Room. The levels in the Secret Warp Room must be won before the game can be 100% completed.

However, the percentage system gives 1% for every boss, crystal, gem, and relic. There are 25 crystals, 30 relics, 46 gems, and 5 bosses, which gives a total of 106%- so a truly 100% game is 106% on the game screen. Once the game has been completed with the true ending, Crunch cannot be fought again.

"Do We Have A Plan?"
After the events of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, somewhere outside of Earth's orbit, Uka Uka holds a "bad guy convention" in a new space station that currently acts as the base for Doctor Neo Cortex and his friends Doctor N. Gin, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, Tiny Tiger and Dingodile. Uka Uka denounces the group as "imbeciles, fools," and "nincompoops" and questions their ability to do anything right. Unveiling a line graph moving heavily downward, Uka Uka announces that the group's track record for spreading evil is "pathetic". Doctor Cortex proclaims their innocence and that Crash Bandicoot is really at fault. Irritated, Uka Uka declares that he will not let anything stand in the way of evil, especially not a "brainless orange marsupial". He concludes that Crash must be eliminated. As he speaks, Tiny attempts to clutch a hologram of Crash Bandicoot that has appeared over the middle of the table, only to have it disappear in his hand. Doctor N. Gin nervously reminds Uka Uka that Crash always finds a way to defeat them and contemplates the possibility that Crash may be just too good for them. However, Uka Uka at this point will not take excuses and threatens the group into thinking of one good plan on the spot. As Doctor Cortex disgustedly laments his situation, Doctor Nefarious Tropy recalls a secret weapon Cortex has been working on in his laboratory. Although Cortex denies anything of that sort, Doctor N. Gin doesn't catch on and reminds Cortex that Tropy is referring to the super-secret weapon Cortex has been laboring over day and night since the last time Crash defeated him, ignoring all of Cortex's non-vocal attempts to tell him to keep quiet on the subject. Uka Uka impatiently ends the discussion and asks the group what they have planned. With no choice at hand, Cortex decides to reveal the existence of his genetically-engineered weapon, which he claims possesses unbelievable strength. However he reports that the weapon is missing a power source. In a scene only present in the instruction manual for the game, Uka Uka tells the group a story about a battle that happened thousands of years ago between the Ancient Ancestors and the Elementals, a group of renegade masks who controlled the natural elements of earth, water, fire and air and used their powers to ravage the globe. The Ancient Ancestors were able to imprison the Elementals through the use of the Crystals, putting the Elementals in a state of hibernation. Cortex deduces that if they unleash the Elementals' destructive energy, they'd have enough power to bring the secret weapon to life. The weapon would be capable of crushing mountains, demolishing entire cities and, as Uka Uka hopes, wiping Crash Bandicoot off the face of the Earth forever. Cortex laughs sinisterly as he prepares for Crash Bandicoot for his wrath.

Climate Changes
Meanwhile, Crash and Coco are jet-skiing near N. Sanity Beach as Pura and Aku Aku soak up the sun's rays. Suddenly, they are all startled by a loud rumble, which draws their attention to an erupting volcano in the distance (Py-Ro and Rok-Ko). Clouds begin to flood the sky (Wa-Wa and Lo-Lo), and Aku Aku seems to suspect something. Coco warns Crash about an incoming tidal wave (Wa-Wa attacks), which sweeps them both onto the shore with the others. Aku Aku immediately blames Uka Uka for the strange weather occurrences and disappears to find out what he is planning.

Meet The Elementals
Aku Aku arrives at a temple in the middle of hyperspace, where Uka Uka has been waiting for him. Aku Aku demands him to reveal his schemes, but Uka Uka claims "just some old familiar faces dropping by for a visit," at which point Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro and Lo-Lo appear. Aku Aku is shocked and reminds him of the chaos the masks are capable of, telling him that their release could spell disaster for them all. Py-Ro orders an attack on Aku Aku, who manages to escape to tell Crash and Coco.

Coco's VR HUB System
Elsewhere, Crash is drying off after his encounter with the tidal wave while Coco is on her laptop. Aku Aku suddenly bursts inside and tells them about the Elementals, instructing them to collect the crystals to imprison the masks and save the Earth. Coco delivers a status update on her VR HUB System she'd been working on, announcing that it is nearly complete. Aku Aku happily decides that it is time to test it out in order to retrieve the crystals. The group enters a workshop where Coco's device is located, and with a tap of a few keys on her laptop, Coco activates the VR HUB System, allowing Crash to collect the first five crystals.

The End?
Cortex moans over his defeat then Uka Uka comes up and tells him Crash may have collected the crystals but he doesn't have the gems and with the gems they can bring The Elementals back once again.

The True Ending
Cortex moans over his defeat. Then Uka Uka furiously attempts to attack Cortex, but misses and inadvertently releases Crunch from his mind control by damaging the machinery in the space station. Crunch wakes up dazed, but has no time to get his revenge on Cortex as Uka Uka's blunder causes a critical power overload that could destroy them all. Cortex suggests that they use the escape pods, but Uka Uka is angry at Cortex for ducking out of the way. Meanwhile, Coco arrives in a spaceship just in time to pick up Crash, Aku Aku and Crunch. Later, Crunch expresses his gratitude to Crash, Coco and Aku Aku for believing in him. Coco then wonders if that was the last time they'll see Cortex and Uka Uka, which Aku Aku has a hard time believing. Elsewhere, having blasted off in an escape pod and landed in the middle of an icy wasteland, Cortex is chased around an iceberg by Uka Uka, declaring that he will get his revenge on Crash.

VR HUB System and Levels
There are five chambers in the warp room, twenty-five main levels, five boss arenas and a bonus room with five more. (Boss fights are in bold)

Sales
Despite mixed reviews, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex sold quite well especially the PS2 version which made the Greatest Hits and sold over 3 million copies. The Gamecube and Xbox versions sold fairly well too but not as much as the PS2.

Boss fights

 * Crunch & Rok-Ko: In a style of the atlasphere levels with Crunch in a much larger atlasphere made of rock.
 * Crunch & Wa-Wa: Crunch is in water form and can attack using power beams.
 * Crunch & Py-Ro: In a style of chase and mech levels with Crunch throwing flaming boulders at you, he needs to 'cool' down.
 * Crunch & Lo-Lo: Crunch is a tornado and has a lot of power moves Crash is in his glider.
 * Dr. Neo Cortex, Crunch & the Elementals: Cortex does not attack you, but, Crunch jumps on four buttons of an Elementals colour sending their powers: Rok-Ko sends flaming rocks raining down, Wa-Wa just sends a few ice cubes that freeze Crash for a second, Py-Ro sets the floor on fire so watch your feet, Lo-Lo uses electricity that come from the front and back.

Vehicles
This game has more vehicles than before, in fact, most of the levels in the game involve riding vehicles, and there are lots of variants;


 * "Crash-Glider/Coco-Ship": The glider is playable in Tornado Alley and the boss Atmospheric Pressure while the Ship is only playable in Crashteroids. Both can Barrel Roll like planes from Warped but the Ship can shoot lasers where as the Glider can shoot Flaming Wumpa Fruit in Tornado Alley and lasers in Atmospheric Pressure repetitively.


 * "Atlasphere": A large blue hamster ball big enough to fit Crash, this vehicle only can move and it has no attacks but is strong enough to break crates and fling away small enemies (like penguins), just by simply running over them.


 * "Minecart": This is used in Compactor Reactor and for the race in Ghost Town, its moves from side to side to smash crates on those sides, down to go slower and up to go faster.


 * "Jeep": A camo coloured Jeep which is driven in to escape a herd of rhinos in Jungle Rumble and and to race in Smokey and the Bandicoot, the Jeep can't stop in the chase in Jungle Rumble, but can oddly stop in Smokey and the Bandicoot. Also the Jeep has no attacks.


 * "Submarine": A yellow sub is used to navigate the depths of the sea in Seashell Shenanigans, H2 Oh No, and Coral Canyon, the sub can drop mines and shoot Torpedoes.


 * "Firefly": This flying firefly-like plane is only playable in That Sinking Feeling, the firefly has a lock on target missile system.


 * "Scooter/Snow Board: The scooter is only used in Tsunami, it has no attacks. The snowboard controls just like the scooter and is used in Avalanche and Forces of Nature. Both are only used by Coco.


 * "Heli-Pak": A helicopter pack which control just like the jetpack from Crash Bandicoot 2 used maneuver the volcano in Fahrenheit Frenzy and race through rings Ice Station Bandicoot just like Rings of Power from Warped only there's 10 more rings in this course, Crash can spin while using this.


 * "Mech": There are two mechs; a red one only used in the boss Crashes to Ashes and the yellow one that is playable in Droid Void and Crate Balls of Fire, the red one can spray water, and the yellow one can shoot wumpa.

Trivia

 * You can finish the game 106% by making a new game and typing in the name, Wombat (Xbox and GameCube versions only).
 * This is the only game in the Crash series that makes you battle the same exact boss over and over again.
 * This the only game in the main continuity that introduces masks other than Aku Aku and Uka Uka.
 * This is the only main Crash game in which a cheat code (In form of the Wombat code mentioned above) can be entered or utilized. (The racing games are not main continuity games and therefore, don't count.)
 * If Crash is left alone for long enough, he will start to juggle a Wumpa Fruit.
 * Switch Crates and Nitro Switch Crates now count towards the crate count.
 * On the back of the case, it says that Coco is playable for the 'first time ever on foot', she was playable on foot in Warped before riding Pura and was playable on foot in Crash Bash while in the Warp Room and the Crate Crush games.
 * In Arctic Antics and all other snow-themed levels, whenever Crash stands on the moving Bonus Platform, he will start shivering after a few seconds.
 * Py-Ro is voiced by Mark Hamill. Hamill is best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise and the voice of The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, marking the first celebrity voice roll of a character in Crash history.
 * Lo-Lo was voiced by Jess Harnell who was once the voice of rival mascot Spyro the Dragon in Spyro: A Hero's Tail and Spyro: Shadow Legacy and is now the voice of Crash Bandicoot.
 * In Twinsanity, Cortex says: "Well the past few year were rather slow, Wrath of Cortex didn't do as well as we'd hoped."
 * Coco is voiced by Debi Derryberry who also voices Jimmy Neutron in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and the Little Green Alien in the original Toy Story.
 * In Crash's house during the opening cutscene to the game, a ringtone-esque recording of the Wrath of Cortex theme plays in the GameCube version before Aku Aku makes his appearance. In the PS2 American version, the music does not play, however, it does in the European PS2 one.
 * In Tornado Alley, Coco can be heard saying "Looks like Neo's using them to make the tornadoes!" this marks the first and only time that Dr. Neo Cortex is mentioned by his first name.
 * Originally, there was going to be a Dreamcast version of the game.
 * This is the first Crash Bandicoot game ever to verbally mention Aku Aku's name.
 * The music published in the game does not loop smoothly. It only has a track with an end that loops. This is different to most video games who have the music loop in time with the beginning and the end.
 * On the NTSC PS2 version of the game, pressing SELECT as you grab the Stopwatch on Wizards And Lizards will teleport you to the end of the level. This does not work on any other level on the X-Box/GameCube versions or PAL PS2 versions of the game.
 * Many returning characters received a dramatic makeover; Pura has whiskers; Uka Uka and Cortex are shorter; Tiny's eyes show only pupils; Aku Aku got more feathers on the top and is shaped like a trapezium/trapezoid, instead of a rectangle.
 * Error: When Aku Aku arrives at Crash's house in the introduction, he opens the door, but you hear the door open about one second later.
 * In Crash Tag Team Racing, the first Battle Arena is called Jungle Rumble, possibly a reference to level 6 from this game.
 * Levl 13 is titled Smokey and the Bandicoot. This is a reference to the movie Smokey and the Bandit.
 * Level 28 is titled Ice Station Bandicoot, which is most likely a reference to the movie, Ice Station Zebra.
 * This game was often criticized for copying Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.