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Blunt as it may seem Crash Bandicoot: Warped is a game I have spent far too much time away from. Innocent as it may seem, my first encounter with Warped was when I obtained it through a very haphazard trade with a friend during my high school years. Unlike myself, my friend was always looking towards "the next greatest thing" in video games and would always sell off his current system to help purchase the newest one. So before he traded in his PlayStation I swapped a few of my titles (ones I was getting a little tired of like Tomb Raider II and III and Resident Evil 2 which my cousin kind of ruined by leaving in his car in a rainstorm with the top down) for a few of his like Need for Speed: High Stakes, Syphon Filter and, of course, Crash Bandicoot: Warped. As clear as this event still is in my head to this day, this took place over ten years ago. Despite it being an complete unknown when I traded for it Syphon Filter and the following two games would become a huge hit with me (personally I think it's one of the most console-defining series to be found on the original PlayStation) and I remember having some fun with the Hot Pursuit mode in Need for Speed.
Still, given that it's Warped we're here to talk about there where many events that would keep me away from it for so long. After high school I moved to the city to study graphic design and brought my trusty PlayStation and armful of games to play during my downtime. I would replay a few classics (like Final Fantasy IX) and even play a few games for the first time (Mega Man Legends 2!) here and there but a few bad roommates later (who would pretty much steal everything that wasn't nailed down because I didn’t take their late-night scream-fests lying down) I would have no video games outside those for my Super Nintendo. Given my financial situation while in school, the thought of rebuilding my collection was out of the question and was something that would have to wait until later.
Free from academic commitments a few years later I would attempt to replace what was lost. The effort was honest but was eventually sidetracked by my related interest in video game soundtracks. Eventually I would disassemble what I was rebuilding and only keep a few personal classics: the first two Wild Arms titles were keepers as was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Mega Man Legends was definitely in there as was the excellent Mega Man X4. Then in 2008 everything changed. An independent video game store opened its doors in a neighboring town and the gaming floodgates reopened with their ability to stock retro games. As you can imagine, it was (and still is) wonderful not having to use the internet/eBay to track down all those titles again. Yeah, I willing to admit internet shopping has made things really convenient for all kinds of collectors out there but there are times where actually seeing the product before you buy it (e.g. I’m a condition nut = black boarders only!) is extremely helpful and relieving.
So where does Warped come in? Well, about two years ago I picked up a mint condition copy of Warped from this store for the measly price of eleven dollars. Anyways, like a lot of games I’ve reacquired with the intention of replaying Warped found its way into that massive backlog of games every gamer has hanging over their head and it probably would have stayed there if it weren't for one of the employees at this aforementioned store. See, unlike chain stores where the employees only seem versed in current video games the family that runs this store can hold their own in a gaming conversation. One of the those conversations ended up on the subject of the Star Ocean series in which I offered to lend my copy of Till the End of Time to the clerk since he enjoyed The Last Hope so much. He declined stating he had too many other games to play at the moment but I offered to whip up a list of games I had at my disposal for his reference.
Simple as it would seem to punch out a list I wanted to make this a bit more involved – or interesting. Granted it may be interesting to see what games another person is into/has played through but at the end of the day it’s still a black and white list. So with each game I decided to white a short paragraph that contained my thoughts on it - good and bad. Things when pretty smoothly but there was one entry that stood out from the rest – Crash Bandicoot: Warped. What did that entry say?
”While I have to question Sony’s sanity when they tried to rile up competition between Crash Bandicoot and Mario 64 I generally have good memories of the PlayStation Crash titles. The only negative thing I can say that’s related to those memories is the fact they are very foggy and are in definite need of revisiting. Hopefully when I play it at some point Warped will be the game I remember it being”
When it comes down to it, how could anyone write something like that and just ignore it? After reflecting back on that small group of sentences the game was literally beckoning me. So I did what any sane person would do and I busted that puppy out. How did things go? Did those decade old memories live up to current reality? Yes, yes they did.
But how? How did Crash Bandicoot: Warped not only live up to those distant remnants but utterly surpass and (quite frankly) destroy them? I’m not entirely sure. What I do know is the gameplay in Warped is polished to the point of near-perfection and it took a purchase and romp through the first two games to prove it to me. Now, I’m not here to rain on the first two games in the series – I’d think only a fool would overlook how important they were in the scheme of things as far as the original PlayStation’s success is concerned – but in no way are they as refined as Warped. Now in saying that I would expect some to point out that the best features in Cortex Strikes Back are the basis for Warped and that’s no lie. The earlier games are not made worthless because of this but to say that don’t lose out because of it would be another lie.
Still, while I try to candy coat the leap in quality as to not offend its predecessors if I was going to pick one area where Warped scores big with a simple idea it would be time trails. I’ll be honest, unless it’s a racing game (a genre I very rarely indulge in) I generally hate the idea of time trails and I’ve seen the concept crash and burn when used outside of racers like in Tomb Raider Anniversary. The last thing Tomb Raider should be about in the overall sense is speed. Yeah you might need some speed to outrun a giant boulder per say but given the puzzle aspect of the game that is far from the entire picture. However, given the beautiful simplicity of the gameplay in Crash Bandicoot time trails fit the game like a glove and really add a sense of challenge to the proceedings. Again, this is another feature that was fooled around with in certain levels in the second game but like so many other ideas it has finally come to fruition and makes a great game that much more of a complete product.
I know to some the endless stream of praise of above may put into question my overall objectivity but I haven’t played a game this good in quite a while and it’s been some time since I've wanted to share and shout my love for video game title in the streets like that classic commercial for Mortal Kombat. Warped simply delivers – it was worth its asking price when it debuted and is still worth it now and it was an insanely grievous offense that I left it on the back burner for so long. If you enjoyed what it had to offer and haven’t played it in a while do yourself a favor and give it a quick whirl, you won’t regret it!
