Crash of the Titans Review

3D platformers are nothing new. Indeed, they have been around for two console generations. Among the names one thinks of when one thinks of 3D platformers, Crash Bandicoot is probably somewhere on the list. Despite having launched with a 3D platformer as the frontrunner title, 3D platformers actually are less than plenteous on that system. However, Crash Bandicoot has finally made an appearance in a 3D platformer on the system, Crash of the Titans. Is it a game worth playing? Read on to find out.

Graphically, Crash of the Titans is okay. I actually think Super Mario 64 DS a couple years ago looked better than this game did, however. Crash looks like Crash, and everything else looks fine also, but this game lacks the graphical polish that you’d get from a first-party game or other high-class title. Still, the graphics do not make the game, and, in this case, they don’t break it.

On the sound front, I must say the same thing. The game is average. It is not overly impressive, but it is not unbearably bad either. The music is neither going to make you sick or have you stopping in the middle of the level just to be able to listen to it without distraction. The sound effects are a typical generic lot as well. Overall, just do not expect that much from the aesthetics in this game.

In terms of gameplay, anybody familiar with the Crash Bandicoot series should be right at home. Crash of the Titans is a linear 3D platformer, just like, to my knowledge, every console game in the series. Crash can move, he can jump and double-jump, and he can attack. Yep, we have got everything we need to make a generic 3D platformer right here. However, there are a couple other features to this game that are not quite so generic.

First of all, you have upgradeable abilities. Granted, upgradeable abilities have been around since the original Super Mario 64 (in the form of the wing, metal, and invisibility caps), but they have not been present in every 3D platformer since then. Anyway, in this game you collect money (called Mojo) to buy upgrades as you go through the levels, and upgrades can be purchased in six different categories. This may give you incentive to go through a level you’ve already beaten again if you need better abilities to get through a difficult part, but the game is easy enough for the most part that such is not too likely.

Second, you have the ability to control monsters using Aku Aku. When you take control of a monster, Crash will jump up on the back of the monster and you will make your way through the level with the monster using the abilities of the monster and even the lifebar of the monster. At some points in the level, though, if Crash is on a monster, he will lose that monster. Crash can switch monsters at any time by switching which monster the mask is on. The only restriction is that a monster has to be sufficiently beaten up before Crash can take control of it.

This does add a bit of a search feeling to the game, as each monster has its own unique attributes and its own unique special move, many of which are necessary to get at boxes or other items in particular places. However, most of this stuff is self-explanatory and intuitive, so you will rarely be scratching your head wondering exactly which monster you should use to get at something.

Regarding the game itself, the levels are reasonably lengthy with reasonably long sections between checkpoints, but the overall quantity of levels is low, making this a fairly quick game to play. The game can last longer if you decide to try to collect all the gems available if you complete certain objectives in all of the levels, but even then it would not be significantly long. Also, it is impossible to change the camera angle in this game manually, which will make some jumps in some of the later levels more difficult than they should be.

Overall, this game is exactly what it sounds like, namely, a fairly generic and straightforward linear 3D platformer. That is not all bad, but this game does not stretch the boundaries of 3D platformers at all or even reach the edges already set. Still, if you are dying to have a new 3D platformer for your DS, this game may be enough to suit your fancy for a few hours.