Reviewed: July 20, 2002
Reviewed by: JoLene Lark

Publisher
Universal Interactive

Developer
Vicarious Visions

Released: February 28, 2002
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone

7
6
9
7
8.0

Supported Features:

  • GBA Link Cable

    		•
    Crash Bandicoot is back again to save the earth from being permanently shrunk in this GBA game. Your role as Crash Bandicoot is to recover enough crystals and gems to save earth from being permanently shrunk. During your quest you are presented help in the form of wumpa fruit which resembles an ordinary peach, Aku Aku who helps protect Crash from enemy hits and finally the Crash crate where you can obtain an extra life. It is with the help of these aids that you will be able to clear each hub and the enemies it contains.

    Your primary objective in this game is to collect the crystals and gems. In each level of the game a purple crystal is hidden, it is your job to collect all twenty of them. Once these are collected Crash’s friend Coco will be able to restore Earth back to it’s proper size.

    There are many areas of game play in Crash Bandicoot the Huge Adventure. Crash can access these areas via the warp hub. There is only access to a hub if the crystal has been collected. The hub total in this game is four and each of these hubs has five levels plus one boss character to defeat.

    Each of these hubs can provide a good deal of gaming time. However be warned that some levels can be completed in less than three minutes while others can go much longer. Each boss was relatively easy to defeat once you are able to figure their movement patterns. Also found in this game were many, many, many crates of all types. All together there are sixteen differing crates that range from giving you an extra life, aiding in building a bridge and finally of course…being capable of blowing you up.

    This game also supports saving your progress, a feature I like to see in GBA games. In order to save a game however you must leave the level you are playing and return to the warp room. There are four save game slots available and it is also easy to reload this game the next time you play. Another feature in this game is the ability to share your saved game with other Crash Bandicoot gamers via the GBA link cable. You will be able to see your game on the other GBA system as the linked game.

    Overall graphics were good for this game. At times the graphics darkened so much that seeing your enemy was difficult if not impossible. Overall animation quality was great for a GBA game. I experienced no glitches in the graphics and Crash seemed to respond promptly to the controls every time.

    Crash is given many types of areas to play in such as tunnels, open areas, water and ice caverns. In each of these areas the graphics were exactly what I thought they should look like except the ice area. It was in the ice area that the game’s graphics seemed to not keep up with how fast Crash was moving across the screen. Also of note is that the Aku Aku character kept up with Crash’s movements quite well.

    Catchy tunes help make this game all the more appealing. I caught myself at times humming along wile playing the game. Sound quality for this game was also excellent as there was very little distortion while playing this game full volume via the GBA speaker. Originality is the key in gaming audio and Crash Bandicoot is definitely original. Sound effects were also amusing at times, especially when the Aku Aku is accompanying Crash.

    This GBA game is rather lengthy with twenty unique levels as well as boss levels that you have to complete in order to unlock the next hub. Each level of play also lasts for times varying from a minute to several minutes. A decent saving function is also available in this GBA game. The drawback, as mentioned earlier is that you have to return to the hub in order to save your progress. The four slots available for saving were more than adequate.

    Multi-player is not an option in this game. I must say this in this game’s design there really was no way to keep the story’s plot if there was a multi-character option with this game.

    For good somewhat mindless fun Crash Bandicoot the Huge Adventure is the perfect game. Universal has successfully transformed Crash into a decent GBA environment. This game is worthy of purchase by all ages. The few flaws in this game’s graphics are no reason to stop you from either buying or renting this game. Enjoy this game and if you are successful the earth will return to normal again.