Crash Bandicoot: Warped

About Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998) is Naughty Dog's time-travelling third Crash game, in which Crash and Coco race Cortex, Uka Uka and N. Tropy for crystals across history, with plane, jet-ski and motorbike levels.

Crash Bandicoot: Warped in Depth

Immediately after the second game, the wreck of Cortex's space station crashes to Earth and frees Uka Uka, evil twin of Aku Aku. He joins Cortex and the time-obsessed Doctor Nefarious Tropy in a plan to gather crystals scattered across time and use their energy to enslave the planet, so Crash and Coco must travel through time and collect the 25 crystals first. The hub is the Time-Twisting Machine, split into five chambers with five level portals each; a sixth button appears after all five are cleared, opening a boss level, and beating the boss unlocks the next chamber.

Crystals may be at the end of a level or earned by completing a challenge, and Bonus Platforms lead to bonus areas that can be retried freely since no lives are lost there. Crash and Coco start with five lives, earning more from 100 Wumpa Fruit or special crates. Crash can jump on enemies, spin, slide and body slam, and defeating bosses grants upgrades such as stronger attacks and better jumping and running. A third of the game uses new engines: two 3D ones for aeroplane and jet-ski levels and a driving-style engine for motorcycle levels, while the rest keeps the classic Crash style. GameSpot called it "easily the best Crash yet", and Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine "the best 2.5D platformer ever released".

Making Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Production began in January 1998. Programmers Andy Gavin, Stephen White and Greg Omi built three new engines, while Jason Rubin explained that the classic style was kept because abandoning it "would mean that we would be abandoning a significant proportion of gamers out there". An arbitrary-plane z-buffer and a sky-reflecting environment map gave the jet-ski and flooded Egyptian levels fluid-looking water. Released by Sony Computer Entertainment, it received universal acclaim: GamePro called it "a very strong contender for PlayStation game of the year", Game Revolution "a barrage of good things", and critics praised its gameplay, graphics and audio. It is considered one of the best games of all time, was remastered in the N. Sane Trilogy in 2017, and was followed by Crash Bandicoot 4 in 2020.