Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back- Tips N' Tricks

Welcome, people of the Hubpages! Also, welcome people of the internet as a whole! If I remember correctly, Today is Tips N' Tricks Day!Let's see what we've got here. Minish Cap? Nah, I bet you guys are getting a bit tired of hearing Zelda from me, besides, let's save that for an occasion. Spyro and other Skylanders? Nah, even though it had so much traffic, which was actually much more then the rest of my Hubs, which is shocking when I consider I didn't even expect that one get much attention, I'd rather stay genuine. On the other hand, I'm certainly not going to argue with interested readers. Crash Bandicoot! That sounds like a great idea!

I am a huge fan of Crash Bandicoot, but I've only done one review in all eight of these blogs so far. In fact, I haven't really talked about him much at all. Crash Bandicoot is a series that I grew up with. And, although I wouldn't say he defined me as a gamer, he definitely had a helping hand in making me what I am today. He is also my hero to this very day, and the only reason my room isn't loaded with Crash Bandicoot merchandise is because I can't afford any that I find. This zany little bandicoot gave Mario and Sonic a run for their money in his playstation days. But it seemed like Sony slowly began to forget about their Mascot over time. Even to the point where they claimed their previous mascot, Polygon Man, for use in Playstation All-stars Battle Royale, and Crash was reduced to being rumored DLC.

I want to look back at the Crash that I grew up with. The bandicoot who had me laughing, gasping in suspense, and occasionally rage-quitting. Back in the days of the original Playstation, Crash Bandicoot was one of the most popular figures in the gaming industry. His game began in a linear pattern, but later evolved into a much wider level choice, putting more of an emphasis on the levels themselves being linear, as opposed to the layout. We're going to talk about Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, the sequel to the original, and, in my opinion, the best of the series. And since it's Monday, we're going to be digging for some nifty little tips and tricks!

I'll start us off at the start of the game. If you watch the cutscene all the way through, with Cortex talking about using an enemy for his plans, and Crash and his completely newly discovered sister, Coco, sitting in the jungle when Coco's battery in her laptop dies, you have to go get her a new one. You walk through a small jungle level where you can experiment and get a feel for the controls. You can also get some fruit early on, and an extra life and a mask. If you want to start the game off immediately, you just have to skip the cutscene! This will help us to get to another tip. You need to get two gems in the first level, as well as a few others. This gem, however, is a bit tricky. In order to get the second gem in this level, the blue colored gem, you must first have gotten the crystal and the standard silver gem, of which some levels have two. After getting these, go back to the level, and complete it without breaking any crates, though the enemies and wumpa fruit are fair game. The blue gem will be wiating for you at the end of the level

Next you need to have access to the snow zone, which is unlocked immediately after beating Ripper Roo. Right in front of the level called “Bear It” you'll find a little polar bear cub cleverly named Polar. Say hi to him, because you'll be seeing him more than once. You can jump on his head, and he won't do anything to you! He's a helpless little cub! Also, if you jump on his head enough times, you get ten extra lives! I think it's around 15-20 times you have to jump on his head, but I couldn't say for sure. You might want to use this wisely, though, considering you can only do it once per gamesave. And trust me, those extra lives come in very handy later on, especially against the bosses!

Next, I want to talk about the secret zone that I like to call “Secret Zone!” you can only access this zone through oddly placed platforms in certain levels. They still cater to the level's theme, but they stick out entirely, having some convoluted method to getting to them, and having no other cosmetic reward once you reach them. The secret zone isn't a bad idea, but they really could have made them a bit less obvious, in my opinion.

After being teleported, A different level will be unlocked. If the level already exists, it takes you to an alternate area in the level where you can acquire what is usually the level's second gem. An example of this can be found in the level called “Hang Eight.” Around the dock of the first surfboard, you'll see a platform which leads to nothing, and has nothing on it. But you can't get to it on the surfboard, so don't get on the board just yet! Instead, stick to the right and jump on the available crates and bounce your way over there. If you already got on the board, you can't jump without the help of a ramp, so you'll have to kill Crash and start back at the checkpoint to do it all over again. There are warp points in other levels, but this one is the easiest to show you guys, and I don't want to spoil the game for you any more than I already have.

Lastly, there are two different kind of platforms scattered throughout the levels. First are what I like to call “the Death Platforms.” They don't actually kill you, though. They're also referred to as “Skull platforms” but what's so challenging about skulls? As far as challenges go, this is just that. The areas you gain access to in skull platforms are much more challenging to complete than other areas of the game, and are often much more frustrating. Not only are they themselves more challenging, but later on, just having them available is a challenge, since you can't die on your way over to them, or they disappear and become a little white outline of failure. Don't try to jump on the outline of failure, though. It's not something safe for bandicoots. Then again, not much in this game is safe for a bandicoot.

Then there's the gem platforms, which aren't nearly as difficult or dangerous most of the time, but are harder to access and are usually required to get all of the items in a level. Sometimes, there will be a second gem at the end of the level. Other times, there will simply be another platform for you to jump on, and immediately be taken back to the level to complete your crate smashing quest. In order to access these gem platforms, you need to have the colored gem specific to the color of the platform itself. You know, Blue gem for blue platform, red for red, That kind of stuff. Similarly to the death platform, if you don't have the correct color gem, you get an outline of failure, or in this case, an outline of mediocrity. The biggest difference here is that the outline is also colored, so you know which color gem to go after in order to get what you want from the particular level.

I think that's enough tips for today. It felt good to go back to the guy who I've idolized before any other. As a character, he was incredible, and I'm incredibly disappointed that Sony would just drop him like that. But, at the same time, I'm glad he had the run that he did, and I feel entirely confident that He'll be picked up again, and made into a popular series once more someday, just like his business buddy, Spyro. Of course, it could just be a bunch of rambling on my part. But, in any case, leave some form of feedback if you enjoyed the blog. If you think I could improve, let me know how in the comments.

For the review on Wednesday, I'll be touching base on a game that immediately drove me into the series, and turned me into a big fan. I'll be playing a game for the Game Boy Advance called Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral town. See you guys soon! ^^