Name: Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant
Genre: Platformer
Platform: Xbox 360, PSP, Wii, PS2, DS (Reviewed on 360)

When the Crash Bandicoot series made its debut on the original PlayStation in 1996, it was an instant hit, and is still remembered as a classic from that generation. The series propelled the spinning bandicoot to stardom, making Crash a console mascot akin to Sonic or Mario, despite being a third-party character. The first few Crash games are memorable for being a lot of fun, and they hold up very well despite being two generations old. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about more recent games featuring the platform-hopping marsupial. While Mind Over Mutant is a decent attempt to try and capture some of the magic that made the franchise so great to begin with, it ultimately becomes another forgettable entry in the series.

In all honesty, this probably could have been a good game, because it does have quite a few things going for it. It looks nice, and even more surprisingly, the game features some noteworthy talent for the voices of Crash and company; many of the voice actors are video game veterans. Cut scenes are presented in different cartoon styles (ranging from old-school grainy black-and-white to full-color 3D animations), which I really enjoyed. However, as the game went on, I found more and more unpleasant aspects of gameplay, which ended up outweighing the positives.

The story is a little weak, another rinse-and-repeat from past Crash games: Crash and his sister Coco must stop mad doctors Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio from using an evil mind-control device to turn everyone on the island into crazed animals bent on Crash’s destruction. There is a bit of social satire infused in the game, and some of the dialogue is amusing and clever, giving the whole thing a humorous vibe. However, as a whole the plot is a bit boring. This isn’t too surprising given the genre, but with all of the effort put into voice-acting and cut scenes, would it have been so hard to come up with a narrative that’s a bit more compelling?

The platforming elements will take all of two seconds to master for anyone who’s ever played a game in the genre before. Some parts will require the hijacking of certain monsters, such as a telepathic creature that can use its mighty brain to toss foes aside and rearrange towers into bridges, or a rolling titan needed to access hard-to-reach areas. Additionally, subpar level design often mars an otherwise pleasant platforming experience. Most of the game consists of traveling from Point A to Point B and then back to Point A again, and many areas just feel generic and unoriginal.

As far as combat goes, Crash and his mutant counterparts can level up and acquire new abilities, but for the most part, all you will ever need to do is hit a single attack button over and over again, no matter what character or creature you are using. Combined with the repetitive objectives, this makes Mind Over Mutant kind of dull at times. Crash’s trademark spin makes a return, although for some reason it is mapped to the left thumbstick instead of a button. As a result, it’s hard to stay in one place when you need to keep spinning, and I found it easier to ignore that whole aspect of gameplay. The fixed camera also mars the overall experience, especially when you’re going backwards and sideways and can’t see the area you’re trying to reach. The camera has been an issue since the first Crash game, but at the time, that was to be expected. There’s really no excuse in this day and age for a game to not have some way to shift the point of view, and it is definitely a source of frustration while playing the game.

Control, level design, and camera issues aside, the one thing that is really missing from Mind Over Mutant is a sense of challenge. I never felt like I had accomplished anything, but rather that I had completed another menial task. This might be good for a younger gamer just being introduced to the series, but for someone who has been playing video games for twenty years, I would have much rather spent my time on something else. In fact, as I was playing Mind Over Mutant, I often thought to myself, I really wish I was playing the first Crash Bandicoot right now. The fact that I would have rather been playing a twelve-year-old game than this one says a lot not only about this entry, but the state of the entire franchise.

It’s a shame that Mind Over Mutant turned out to be just another so-so Crash Bandicoot game, because it actually did seem promising for a little while. Though I never expected it to be as memorable as its PS1 counterparts, I found myself enjoying the game some of the time. However, too many repetitive missions and redundant levels, paired with some technical issues, make this game easy to toss aside in favor of something better. Anyone old enough to have played the original Crash Bandicoot won’t find much of a challenge here, and with so many other games coming out this holiday season, there aren’t many good reasons to pick this one up. Perhaps someday the bandicoot will return to his former glory, but this is not that day.

 

Related Articles:

Activision/Blizzard Merger Puts Some Games on the Chopping Block

New Crash Bandicoot Game Announced

Crash Bandicoot - PS1