Originally released on the Playstation 1 in 1998, Crash Bandicoot : Warped, would serve to be the final title of the traditional Crash Bandicoot Trilogy.
Whilst Crash Bandicoot 2 didn't really seem to make massive strides in terms of differences to Crash Bandicoot 1, there are much more noticable differences within Warped compared to Crash Bandicoot 2.
The level design is the most notable of these, with a host of new types of level dynamics added to the game that go beyond the traditional platforming Crash Bandicoot was known for. Levels within Warped now include dynamics such as road racing, underwater platforming, flying and hanging, and allow for much greater level variety than previously seen.
The trophy list remains consistent with the prior 2 installments, with a moderately sized list checking in at 27 trophies in total, and the approach being exactly the same as before in terms of strategy.
The "Cortex N.Carcerated" trophy, awarded for Defeating N.Cortex, caps the game off after the now standard protocol of collecting 25 crystals has been achieved, along with beating the relevant boss for each area. One of the other notable changes within Warped compared to it's predecessors is that the levels are grouped into 5 across 5 different time-zones, each of which is relevant to a specific era in time and contains it's own themed levels, providing more of the variety mentioned above on top of the new game dynamics.
As before, you'll also earn a series of progression-based trophies for each of the bosses you defeat as you make your way through the 25 levels that award crystals, and it's still an incredibly easy journey up to this point if you're simply looking at just beating the game and defeating Dr. Neo Cortex to reach the conclusion of the story.
Naturally, the greater challenges come from going back though these levels and earning the gems and relics, which serve exactly the same purposes as before.
The "Bringing Down the House" trophy, awarded for Earning 42 Gems, is where most of the post-game work will come from.
As before, gems are awarded for either collecting all boxes within the levels, but in some instances where a level contains 2 gems, the second gem is awarded for a secondary requirement, depending on the type of level it is. For example, if it's a road race, the gem will be awarded for beating the other competitors to first place within the level, or if the level is set within a futuristic theme, the gem will be awarded for having to backtrack from a future starting point to collect certain boxes that were not previously available first time round. There are also 5 coloured gems which have to be earned in order to unlock specific routes within other levels which will also award a secondary gem in some instances.
It is also important to note that, once you beat the original 25 levels within the main game, a bonus zone is unlocked that not only contains 5 fresh levels that award their own gems which will count towards this trophy too, but there are also an additional 2 gems awarded within a couple of secret levels which can only be found through performing certain actions that can take you to these levels, though these are attached to a couple of the secret trophies on offer. This is also the only way to achieve 102% completion, upon the achievement of which will award a further trophy.
The "Boo-Yah, Grandma! Boo-Yah!" trophy, awarded for Earning 30 Relics (gold or better), sets the same requirements as previously outlined within the other Crash Bandicoot titles, and despite still being the most challenging trophy in the list, isn't actually as tough as it was in comparison to the previous games.
The main reason for this is the fact that you unlock the run ability once you've collected all 25 crystals and beaten Zone 5, which subsequently makes speedruns for relics much easier, if required. It is important to note though, I did actually manage to achieve the gold relics as I went through each zone, and didn't have to rely on the benefit of the run ability in order to succeed here, even with a couple of the more slightly challenging time trials, of which there are literally only a few.
Some of them took a slight degree of mastery and multiple attempts, but there was nothing to stop me in my tracks, and progression was still relatively seamless throughout the journey. I did opt to come back to a couple of time trials at the end once I'd cleared everything else, but that was the only extent to which the troubles went.
The list does also contain a handful of secret trophies, some of which already alluded to are tied to unlocking additional levels you'll need the Gems and Relics from in order to fulfill the requirements of other trophies within this list. The others are for just for fun, and reference a couple of cool Easter eggs along the way.
Despite the fact the game itself does have some obvious differences in game advancement compared to the previous 2 Crash Bandicoot titles, the trophy list has remained consistent to such a degree that it can be hard to produce a fully elaborate review without feeling like you're repeating much of what has been said before. Maybe this is just a trend to expect for Naughty Dog games in general, but it has the same feeling as the Uncharted series, trophy list wise.
What I will say is, I actually felt like Warped was the easiest out of all 3 games contained within this trilogy. One of the obvious things that stuck with me about the other 2 games was how challenging some of the time trial requirements for a gold relic were, where I didn't have any real issues with this during Warped. The trilogy peaks at Crash Bandicoot 1, and if you can get the Platinum trophy for that, you'll be absolutely fine the rest of the way, though that's not exactly suggesting that Crash 1 is challenging and the difficulty just drops off a cliff for the subsequent games, but more the suggestion that if you find Crash 1 manageable, it's all downhill from there and should get easier.
However, the trophy list is so similar to the previous games, and the game itself still does not have set difficulty levels to voluntarily increase the challenge on offer, which is by default very casual. This Platinum trophy also took me somewhere within the region of 20-25 hours in total, which also fits in line with the standard completion time based on the previous titles.
With all of these similarities considered, it just makes the most sense to be consistent with the rating and complete a full house for the trilogy by giving Warped a 5/10 too.
Notable Trophies -
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| Cortex N. Carcerated - Defeat N. Cortex. Bringing Down the House - Earn 42 Gems. Boo-yah, Grandma! Boo-Yah! - Earn 30 Relics (gold or better). |
Hardest Trophy -
Boo-yah, Grandma! Boo-Yah!
Earn 30 Relics (gold or better)
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