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Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, more commonly shortened as Crash Bandicoot 2 or Crash 2, is a PlayStation 3D platforming game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game was released in late 1997 in North America, Europe, and Japan. In 2007 and early 2008, the game was re-released on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable via PlayStation Network. For some reason, Crash 2 was taken off the European PlayStation Store and was later re-released again in 2011.

Plot[]

The game opens up where the first game left off. After being defeated by Crash, Doctor Neo Cortex plummets off of his airship. He lands on an island where he discovers the Master Crystal and concocts a new scheme. A year later, Cortex has built himself a gigantic space station with Doctor N. Gin serving as his new right-hand man. He plans on harnessing the Master Crystal's power but he is missing 25 slave crystals needed to reach full power. Cortex decides to recruit his old nemesis Crash Bandicoot to help him collect the crystals. He leads Crash to the Warp Room which is filled with rooms that lead to levels with a location of a crystal. Cortex convinces Crash that he needs the crystals in order to save the planet from a mysterious planetary force.

As Crash progresses through the game, his sister Coco Bandicoot and Doctor Nitrus Brio will often contact Crash. Coco expresses doubt in Cortex's "good intentions" and conducts a little research of her own. N. Brio contacts Crash and urges him to collect the gems in order to truly save the world. He also sends forces to try and hinder Crash's crystal hunt.

After collecting enough crystals, N. Gin is sent to collect them from Crash. However, he tries to take them by force which leads Crash to believe that he is one of N. Brio's minions. Crash defeats N. Gin and eventually gives Cortex the crystals. Coco hacks into the warp room again to tell Crash of Cortex's true intentions but it is too late. Crash then pursues Cortex in space with a jetpack in order to prevent Cortex from reaching the Cortex Vortex, the machine that he plans to harness the crystals' powers with, with the crystals. Crash successfully defeats Cortex and sends him flying into the space.

After collecting all the gems, N. Brio uses his laser cannon to destroy the space station and the Cortex Vortex.

Characters[]

Gameplay[]

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a platform game in which the player character is the titular Crash Bandicoot. The goal of the game is to gather 25 crystals for Crash's nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex. The game takes place in a series of "Warp Rooms", which act as the hub areas of the game. Each Warp Room contains five doors leading to a level. The goal of each level is to obtain the crystal placed somewhere along the path. A level is cleared by collecting the crystal and reaching the end of the path, which returns Crash to the Warp Room. The retrieved crystal will then appear in the slot above the level's doorway in the Warp Room. When all five crystals in a Warp Room are obtained, the player must ride the platform in the center of the room to move to the next Warp Room. When riding the platform, the player must fight and defeat a boss character before gaining access to a new Warp Room. The player is given a certain amount of lives, which are lost when Crash is attacked by an enemy or falls into water or a pit. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, the "Game Over" screen will appear, in which the player can continue from the last level played by selecting "Yes".

Crash has the ability to jump into the air and land on an enemy character, spin in a tornado-like fashion to knock enemies off-screen, slide across the ground, and perform a body slam to break certain objects. Crash can jump higher than he normally can if he jumps immediately following a slide. All of these techniques can be used as offensive measures against most enemies, which serve to deter Crash's progress. Enemies with deadly topsides cannot be jumped on, while enemies that attack from the front or have side spikes must be jumped on or undergo a body slam. Enemies with sharp necklines (such as frill-necked lizards or long-legged robots with heated circumferences) can only be defeated if Crash slides into them.

Boxes play a prominent role in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and can be broken with all of Crash's techniques. Most boxes in the game contain "Wumpa Fruit", which give the player an extra life if 100 of them are collected. Some boxes contain an Aku Aku mask, which shields Crash from one enemy's attack while it is in his possession. If three of these masks are collected in a row, Crash is given temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers. If jumped upon, boxes with arrows pointing up propel Crash further into the air than he can ordinarily reach, and such boxes can be broken only with Crash's spin attack. Boxes with an exclamation mark (!) on them cause previously intangible objects in the area to solidify. TNT Boxes explode after a three-second fuse when jumped on, while Nitro Boxes explode upon any physical contact. All of the Nitro Boxes in a level can be detonated at once if a green-colored box with an exclamation mark (!) on it is touched. Check Point boxes allow Crash to return to the point where the first Check Point box has been opened upon losing a life. If more than one Check Point box has been opened in a stage, Crash returns to the last Check Point box that has been opened.

"Bonus Paths", signified by platforms with a question mark (?) on them, lead Crash to a secret region of the level. In these areas, numerous Wumpa Fruit and extra lives can be earned if the player successfully navigates to the end of the path. If Crash falls off-screen or is otherwise killed off, the player is unable to keep whatever was collected in the Bonus Path and is returned to the level from which the Bonus Path was accessed.

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