Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced
“The good guys have gone bad!”
Genre(s): Platform Platform(s): Game Boy Advance Release Date: NA: January 7, 2003 EU: March 14, 2003 Developer(s): Vicarious Visions Publisher(s): Universal Interactive Series: Crash Bandicoot Predecessor: Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced is a platform game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Universal Interactive and Vivendi Universal Games for the Game Boy Advance. The game is the sequel to Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure.

Why It's N-Tranced

1. The game features a new villain: the (literally) hypnotic N. Trance.
2. Coco and Crunch Bandicoot are now playable and have their own stages with their own abilities and gameplay styles.
3. Levels are longer and a little more difficult than The Huge Adventure.
4. While some level themes are reused from the PlayStation Crash games again, there are more original level themes.
5. The game has many different gameplay styles, similar to Crash Bandicoot: Warped. It also brings some mechanics from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, like the atlasphere.
6. A new collectible, Gem Shards, is introduced. Most levels have one of these hidden, if you collect all the Gem Shards of a specific color, you unlock a secret level where you can find the respective Color Gem.
7. Just like its predecessors, every level includes a Time Trial to obtain a Relic as a reward.
8. Some of the powerups Crash obtains after defeating a boss are completely new.
9. Awesome soundtrack, some of them are improved versions of its predecessor. There is also a CD which has the soundtrack of the game extended and in higher quality.
10. Much more detailed graphics than its predecessor.
11. For the first time in the series, you don't have to get all collectibles to unlock the secret ending, Gem Shards are enough.

Qualities That Should Go Bad

1. While it does have more levels than XS/The Huge Adventure, the platforming levels have less variety as they'll mainly be set in either Ancient Egypt, Arabia or Volcano levels.
2. The Rocket Jump powerup is not very useful and tends to accidentally activate during Time Trials.
3. There were two unused themes in the game, such an improved version of the Future levels from The Huge Adventure and a new theme based in the Motorcycle levels from Crash Bandicoot: Warped. These can be listened through the CD of the soundtrack.
4. The atlasphere levels feel like a downgrade in comparison to the ones from The Wrath of Cortex due to awkward controls.
5. The bosses are easy to defeat overall.

Reception

Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced received generally positive reviews from critics.

Trivia

• From the 0:26 to the 0:32 mark, the volcano song sounds exactly like Sonic 1's Marble Zone.

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