This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex for Xbox Original
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex for the Xbox Original, also known in Dutch as De Wraak van Cortex, is a platformer in which Crash and Coco must stop Dr. Neo Cortex's new plan. The scientist deploys Crunch Bandicoot and the four Elementals. You travel through separate levels filled with obstacles, enemies and crates, where precise jumping and reading the route are central.
You use moves including the spin attack, slides and jumps to progress. Not every crate can be handled the same way: TNT demands timing, while Nitro requires you to keep your distance. Between on-foot sections, you control vehicles and unusual devices. The next assignment may therefore focus on steering or flying while you still collect items and avoid danger.
The campaign is for one player. You choose levels from a central room and return to collect crystals, gems or time relics. Finishing a level is therefore not always the final goal: finding every crate or setting a faster time demands another close look at the same route. The game mainly rewards learning patterns, so you increasingly know where to jump, slow down or use another move.
Region and language
Our Xbox Original 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: The Wrath of Cortex for Xbox Original. 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: The Wrath of Cortex
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex first appeared on PlayStation 2 in 2001 and reached Xbox in 2002. Traveller's Tales developed it for Universal Interactive. The series thus expanded beyond PlayStation after Naughty Dog’s earlier adventures. The move brought Crash to other hardware but retained the familiar structure of separate routes, crates, crystals and challenges you could replay for a more complete result.
Interviews with the people involved reveal that a freer Crash adventure was also considered early in development. Universal eventually chose an approach closer to the earlier games. Jon Burton described how Traveller's Tales first made an animation to show the publisher the intended look. That early presentation helped guide what became The Wrath of Cortex.
Crunch and the Elementals gave the adventure a new enemy and a theme for its hazards. Environments could therefore be built around different forces of nature alongside returning crates and vehicles. A GameCube release also appeared in 2002. The Xbox version belongs to this original multiplatform generation of Crash. The later Twinsanity would explore more connected environments and an unusual partnership between Crash and Cortex. The Wrath of Cortex instead preserves the earlier division into separate, replayable challenges.
Similar games for Xbox Original
Crash Twinsanity uses the same hero but often has Crash and Cortex tackle obstacles together. Its environments connect more closely. The Wrath of Cortex divides challenges into separate levels, which you revisit for crates, gems and time relics, learning to perform a familiar route with increasing precision.
Crash Tag Team Racing mixes car races with exploring a theme park on foot. Collecting and jumping fit between races. The Wrath of Cortex keeps platforming as its main foundation, with vehicles changing the controls in certain levels before giving way to the next route.
Vexx for Xbox Original also combines jumping and combat with collecting objectives. Its areas provide room to investigate puzzles and hidden passages. The Wrath of Cortex divides its challenges more strongly into separate routes selected from a hub. Returning in Crash often means finding every crate or improving a time, while Vexx emphasises exploration within a larger area.
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc also has you jump, fight and collect items in 3D environments. Temporary equipment changes Rayman's abilities. The Wrath of Cortex more often builds routes around a fixed set of moves and obstacles, with practice teaching you how to complete a section without mistakes.
Sonic Heroes shares the search for the right move through a series of platforming obstacles. You switch between three teammates with speed, flight and power. Crash and Coco use their own levels and vehicles in The Wrath of Cortex, where progress more often depends on timing along a predetermined route.
