Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

1997 · Platform · PlayStation

About Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997) is Naughty Dog's PlayStation sequel in which Doctor Neo Cortex tricks Crash into gathering crystals, with new moves, Warp Room hubs and jetpack and surfboard levels.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back in Depth

On a group of fictional islands near Australia, Crash is abducted by Doctor Neo Cortex, who persuades him that the world needs saving: Crash must collect 25 crystals that will let Cortex harness the power of a coming planetary alignment and stop the planet being destroyed. Crash's sister Coco and Cortex's former assistant Doctor Nitrus Brio try to warn him, Brio urging him to gather gems instead. The crystals lie across 25 levels reached through Warp Rooms, hubs of five levels each; a level is cleared by grabbing its crystal and reaching the end, and clearing all five in a room leads to a boss before the next room opens.

Crash can jump on enemies, spin to knock them off screen, slide, and body slam to break objects, and jumping straight after a slide sends him higher. Enemies call for different attacks: those with dangerous tops cannot be jumped on, spiked ones must be jumped on or slammed, and frill-necked lizards and robots with heated rims must be slid into. Boxes hold Wumpa Fruit, 100 of which earn a life, and Witch Doctor's Masks that absorb a hit, with three in a row granting temporary invulnerability. Arrow boxes bounce Crash higher, and exclamation boxes make other boxes appear. Reviewers praised the variety added by new moves and the jetpack and rocket surfboard levels, though some criticised trial-and-error play and easy bosses.

Making Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Naughty Dog began production in October 1996. Bob Rafei led concept art, art direction, level assembly and lighting with Eric Iwasaki, Erick Pangilinan, Charlotte Francis and Jason Rubin, adding sewer levels to work in some "dirty" locations, and Charles Zembillas drew the first sketches of Coco on 18 March 1997. Released by Sony Computer Entertainment, it averaged 89 per cent on GameRankings and is widely considered better than the original, praised for its graphics, controls and music; Game Informer and GamePro called it one of the PlayStation's best platformers. It became one of the best-selling PlayStation games of all time and was remastered in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy in 2017.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Trivia

It was made in 13 months on a $2 million budget, starting in October 1996.
Coco was created partly because Sony Computer Entertainment Japan was uncomfortable with the "super sexy" Tawna.
Ground fog was dropped from the jungle levels after critics accused developers of using fog to hide low polygon counts.
Andy Gavin wrote a new engine, GOOL 2, three times faster than the first game's.
It sold more than 800,000 copies in Japan by April 1998, then a record for a Western game there.