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Overview
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a 1997 PlayStation video game developed by Naughty Dog and released by Sony Computer Entertainment America, under license by Universal Interactive Studios, in the USA on November 6, 1997. The evil Dr. Neo Cortex is back with a vengeance... this time... to save the world? And he's asking for help from his arch-nemesis, Crash Bandicoot? Or is it just some conniving plan to lure Crash into a deadly trap for his own evil bidding? Find out as Crash takes on a whole new adventure that's out of this world!
Trivia & Facts
The goal of the game is to gather 25 crystals for Crash's nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex.
The crystals are scattered between 25 different levels, accessible via "Warp Rooms", which are hub areas of the game.
Enemies with sharp necklines (such as frill-necked lizards or long-legged robots with heated circumferences on their upper) can only be defeated if Crash slides into them.
The introduction of Warp Rooms, allowing players to choose from multiple levels in any order, was considered a major improvement over the linear progression of the first game, receiving praise for reducing monotony and frustration.
The reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) and Next Generation lauded the seamless, high-resolution polygons and character animations, with the latter noting Naughty Dog's mastery of the PlayStation's graphics engine.
Major Mike similarly commented "Although [the bosses] look awesome, they have easy-to-recognize patterns and present no challenge." Cooke observed that, like its predecessor, the game did not add anything to the genre and summarized that "the first Crash was dauntingly similar to the 16-bit platform games of yester-yore, only with better graphics, and Crash 2 doesn't deviate much from this formula".