Crash of the Titans

After beginning his career on the PlayStation in 1996, and coming to be viewed by some as Sony's answer to Mario, Crash Bandicoot now finds himself on the Wii in a new platforming adventure. Developer Radical Entertainment has taken the reins, trying to infuse a new sense of style and energy into the franchise, and play time so far shows that they're on the right track.

Crash of the Titans assumes that players have some knowledge of the character cast, but the introduction will explain a few necessary details before setting Crash on his way. The rest of the presentation is welcoming to fans and newcomers alike. The menu screens are warmly colored and easy to navigate, and the game makes an effort to be comical right from the beginning. The music and sound effects are upbeat and fitting to the situation, but nothing has struck me as memorable yet.

Crash has a different look, but the gang is still all here.

Most of the characters have voice actors who deliver their lines pretty well, although the humor so far has ranged from 'laugh out loud' funny to 'wow, this is really cheesy' funny. Even enemies get in on the act, as it's not uncommon to find cronies chatting amongst themselves in amusing dialects and then shouting cheesy lines as Crash enters their vision. Oddly enough, Crash is the only character without a voice; he speaks in a peculiar child-like gibberish. His well-done animations and expressions make him entertaining to watch, at least, and his demeanor is in line with the 'goofy yet heroic' charisma instilled by the bandicoot's original developer, Naughty Dog.

Crash of the Titans has a nice pacing from the start, letting players become acquainted with the controls through exploration of the large, colorful environment rather than isolated tutorials. The controls themselves are straightforward: the A button handles jumping, the B button handles basic attacks and the Nunchuk's control stick moves your marsupial. The A button can be tapped twice for a double jump, and pressed repeatedly in the air to have Crash spin and slow his descent, while B can be pressed multiple times to string together attacks. The C button, which gives Crash a temporarily shield, becomes more useful as the enemy encounters ramp up. Some of Crash's moves can be done by shaking the Wii Remote, but it's easier to use button presses instead.

The environments have some nice artistic flair.

Fans of platforming games will take a liking to Crash of the Titans, as the twisting and turning level design makes for all kinds of fun leaps across chasms, up precarious ledges and onto Tetris-block-shaped platforms that rotate sporadically. Springy mushrooms rocket Crash over high cliffs, and the ability to Aku Air Grind (like skate boarding, except on a talking mask named Aku Aku) becomes available about an hour into the adventure. Crash handles very well, and having visually interesting areas with tight level design simply adds to the fun of moving around.

The stages - called chapters, which have thus far taken about 10-20 minutes to complete - are entirely linear, save for the per-stage Mojo Room with its unique special challenge like kicking all of the cronies into floating bombs. Although the camera moves on its own, completely outside the player's control, it has not yet proven to be a problem. I haven't been confused about where to go, and the camera zooms in and out as necessary - whether Crash is facing a cluster of enemies, or leaping down a spiraling set of platforms jettisoned from a waterfall.

The camera rarely gets this close, and that's a good thing.

Speaking of enemies, the combat begins with simplistic punches delivered to simplistic minions, but Crash's arsenal of moves expands as players collect mojo (shiny pellet-like objects left by crates, plants, defeated enemies; most anything that can be smacked, really) and complete certain goals. In the first two hours, players will gain a tornado spin attack, the Rolling Kick and the Gyro Jackhammer. All come with explanations accessed by the (-) button, but even younger players won't have much difficulty pulling off these early moves.

The expanded moveset becomes quite useful when the Titans come out to play. The Titans are innocent inhabitants of Crash's island that have been transformed into hulking beasts. These enemies come with varied forms and abilities, and they'll make quick work of Crash if players don't use his moves to quickly stun the Titans. After taking a set amount of damage - indicated by star ratings above the Titan's head - Crash will be able to jack the foe and use the Titan's extra power to knock down large obstacles, beat on other enemy clusters and solve simple puzzles. All of the Titans have a different handling that is reflected well in the animation and controls; some are more balanced in terms of power and weight, another might be quicker and throw projectiles, and another might be bulky and slow but pack a lot of punch.

This Titan? He throws pointy, purple feathers to defeat his foes.

The Titans add some variety to combat, and involve some of the few instances of motion control found in the game so far. One Titan will have players raise the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to initiate an attack that raises spikes from the ground; another will utilize the Wii Remote's pointer function to throw projectiles; and yet another Titan can curl into a giant ball and spin around the environment with a rotation of the Wii Remote and movement of the analog stick. The motions are fun, but they apply mostly to special moves. Otherwise, the controls between Crash and the Titans he jacks are largely consistent.

Crash of the Titans leaves a solid first impression, with fun platforming, interesting combat ideas, decent humor, and a distinct sense of style. Plus, the immediate availability of three difficulty settings means both developing and dedicated gamers can enjoy the game on their own level. Will the wily bandicoot be able to hold the pace and give Mario a run for his money once again? Come back for Stage 2 to find out!