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Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back for PlayStation 1
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back for PlayStation 1 sends you searching for 25 crystals at Dr. Neo Cortex's request. He claims they can save the world, but his intentions are not as clear as his explanation. From Warp Rooms, you step through portals into jungles, snowy mountain paths, sewers and other courses. Within each room, you choose which available level to attempt first, letting you leave a difficult route for a while.
Crash can still jump and spin, but now also has a slide attack, a high jump from a crouch and a downward body slam. These moves help with low passages, sturdy crates and distant platforms. Along the way, you ride the polar bear Polar and hang from grids above dangerous ground. Besides crystals, you can hunt for gems by breaking crates and completing hidden routes or special tasks.
This is an adventure for one player with one standard PlayStation controller; analogue controls are also supported. Coco appears in the story, but is not a freely selectable playable character in this original instalment. In every Warp Room, you can manually save to a PlayStation memory card using the Load/Save wall. One memory block holds four named saved games. A checkpoint inside a level does not replace that save when you switch off the console.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
The manual is missing from this copy of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back for PlayStation 1. That is why the product title says “No Manual”. You receive the game in its box, without the instruction booklet. This makes the contents clear before you order.
The original printed manual usually contains at least English and often around six European languages. The languages vary by edition; Dutch is not always included. This information describes the original booklet and does not mean that it comes with this copy. A copy with a manual is offered separately when available.
The history of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Naughty Dog developed Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back as the sequel to its 1996 PlayStation debut. Sony released the game in 1997, again within the partnership with Universal Interactive. The second instalment retained Crash, Cortex and the combination of depth-based courses and side-scrolling sections. Its structure changed substantially, however: the island map gave way to Warp Rooms containing groups of portals. This gave the series a different framework without turning its platforming into a free-roaming adventure.
The sequel expanded the first game's small set of moves. Sliding, jumping higher from a crouch and the downward slam became part of the level design. Introducing crystals separated reaching the next part of the story from the more extensive hunt for gems. Saving progress also gained a permanent home in the Warp Rooms. You no longer had to complete a Tawna bonus round first in order to save.
The cast also grew, including Crash's sister Coco and Cortex's new assistant N. Gin. The story temporarily cast the former enemy as the person giving orders, while other messages raised doubts about his plan. Warped continued the series in 1998 with time travel and more vehicle sections. Cortex Strikes Back forms the intermediate step: more elaborate than the original island adventure, but still without the relic hunt and time-trial structure with which the third game added further objectives.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
Crash Bandicoot for PlayStation 1 shares the crates, Aku Aku masks and alternation between depth and side views. It lacks Cortex Strikes Back's slide attack and downward slam, making the same kind of obstacle demand a different solution. The first instalment also follows an island map and saves progress at specific moments. Crash Bandicoot 2 lets you choose between available portals within a Warp Room and save there on a memory card without completing a bonus round first.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped for PlayStation 1 again uses portals, crystals and gems, keeping progression familiar. The third instalment, however, spreads its action across different eras and adds motorcycle rides, underwater sections and Coco's jet ski among other things. You can also earn relics in time trials. Cortex Strikes Back keeps more of its variety within running, jumping and climbing courses. Here, the extra challenge mainly concerns hidden passages and gem requirements rather than a clock.
Spyro the Dragon on PlayStation 1 shares the bright colours, animal hero and hunt for hidden collectibles. Spyro lets you move through spacious areas using fire, charges and gliding. Cortex Strikes Back more often chooses a narrow route with precisely placed obstacles. Both ask you to return for missed objects, but searching works differently: in Spyro you look for a distant ledge, whereas with Crash you investigate which crate or side path you overlooked along the course.
Rayman for PlayStation 1 also uses revisiting to reach hidden places and collecting objectives. Its world is shown from the side, and Betilla gives him new abilities throughout the adventure. Cortex Strikes Back makes Crash's sliding, jumping and spinning moves available early and changes perspective between courses. The similarity lies in precise platforming; the difference concerns how you read height and depth, and when a new move opens a previously unreachable place.
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos on PlayStation 1 combines 3D platforming with finding Gobbo friends. Like Cortex Strikes Back, it hides objectives away from the most direct path to the exit. Croc more often allows you to look around a room and choose a direction yourself. Crash uses more tightly directed camera positions and fits moves such as the slide jump to the shape of the course. Searching here therefore feels more like figuring out an obstacle course.
