Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Crash Bandicoot: Warped is a platform game in which the player controls Crash and Coco Bandicoot, who must travel through time and gather 25 crystals scattered across time before Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka do so. Much of the game takes place in the Time-Twisting Machine, which acts as the hub area of the game. The Time-Twisting Machine is split up into five chambers; only the first chamber is initially available. Each chamber has five buttons that open portals to different levels. The goal in each level is to find and obtain the crystal hidden in the area. In some levels, the crystal will be located at the end of a level or must be earned by completing a specific challenge. Some levels contain a "Bonus Platform" that leads to a special bonus area, where the player must navigate through a separate area and collect everything in sight. As no lives are lost in the bonus areas, the bonus areas can be played through as often as the player desires until the bonus area can be cleared. After completing all five levels in a chamber, a sixth button that opens a portal to a boss level will appear. By defeating the boss, the next chamber will become available for play. Crash and Coco start the game with five lives. A life is lost when they are struck by an enemy attack or suffer any other type of damage. More lives can be earned by collecting 100 "Wumpa Fruits" or breaking open a special crate to collect a life. If the player runs out of lives, the game is over. However, it can be continued by selecting "Yes" at the "Continue?" screen. These abilities can be expanded on by defeating boss characters, often resulting in more powerful attacks or increased jumping and running prowess. Besides crystals, gems, both regular and colored varieties, can be collected for extra accomplishment. Gems are rewarded to the player if all of the crates in a level are broken open or if a secret area is completed. There are a total of 45 gems in the game. Colored gems are found in special levels and lead to hidden areas. There are 5 colored gems in the game. "Relics" can be won by re-entering a level after its crystal has been obtained. To obtain a Relic, the player must initiate the "Time Trial" mode by touching the floating stopwatch near the beginning of the level and race through a level in the designated time displayed before entering a level. The first five Relics the player receives unlocks access to a level in the "Secret Warp Room". Every five Relics thereafter open up another level in the Secret Warp Room. The levels in the Secret Warp Room must be won before the game can be completed. ==Plot==

The shattered remains of Doctor Neo Cortex's space station crash-land on Earth and set free a powerful entity known as Uka Uka, the mastermind of Cortex's previous schemes. He regroups with Cortex and additionally recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy, the inventor of a device named the Time Twisting Machine which will allow Cortex's minions to collect the Crystals and Gems from their original places in time. At the home of the Bandicoots, Aku Aku senses Uka Uka's return and informs the Bandicoots that Uka Uka is his evil twin brother, whom he had locked away long ago to defend the planet. He then leads the Bandicoots to the Time Twisting Machine, which they can use to collect the Crystals and Gems before Cortex does so. Crash and Coco venture throughout time and defeat adversaries such as Tiny Tiger, Dingodile and Doctor N. Gin. The defeat of N. Tropy causes the Time Twisting Machine to gradually fall into disarray. Upon the defeat of Cortex and Uka Uka after collecting all the crystals and gems, the Time Twisting Machine implodes and traps Uka Uka in a timeless prison with Cortex and N. Tropy who have been turned into infants. ==Development and release==

Production of Warped began in January 1998, with Naughty Dog given only ten and a half months and a budget of over $2 million to complete the game. Programmers Andy Gavin, Stephen White and Greg Omi created three new gameplay engines for the game. Two of the three new engines were three-dimensional in nature and were created for the airplane and jet-ski levels; the third new engine was created for the motorcycle levels in the style of a driving simulator. The new engines combined make up a third of the game, while the other two-thirds of the game consist of the same engine used in the previous games. Jason Rubin explained that the "classic" engine and game style was preserved due to the success of the previous two games and went on to say that "were we to abandon that style of gameplay, that would mean that we would be abandoning a significant proportion of gamers out there." An arbitrary plane z-buffer was created for the jet-ski and flooded Egyptian levels of the game. A real shadow was given to the Crash character at the request of the Sony Computer Entertainment America producers, who were "sick of that little discus that's following him around." To create an "arcade" experience in the airplane levels and to differentiate them from flight simulators, the enemy planes were programmed to come out in front of the player and give the player ample time to shoot them before they turn around and shoot the player rather than come up behind the player and hit them from behind. The Relic system was introduced to give players a reason to return to the game after it has been completed. American Exitus artist Charles Zembillas, who was a character designer for the previous two games, reprised his role for Warped. Uka Uka was created as a presence that would cause Doctor Neo Cortex to cower in fear. The emotion sketches depicting Cortex begging for forgiveness inspired the shot design and animation for the game's cinematic introductory sequence. Because the game's plot involved time travel, the time-traveling Doctor Nefarious Tropy was conceptualized. Zembillas drew the first sketches of Tropy (and the doodle he created as Naughty Dog was describing the character to him) on January 22, 1998. Tropy's wearable time-traveling device was conceptualized early on in the character's design evolution and initially appeared as a belt-like contraption that featured a digital read out displaying the year Tropy intended to travel to. Tropy's piston-driven, smog-generating time machine was made to reflect his unhealthy obsession with time. The Dingodile character was conceptualized by Naughty Dog employee Joe Labbe II, who requested a character that was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile. At certain points, the character alternatively wore an Australian style hat, had a "mop of scruffy hair" and walked on all fours. Naughty Dog initially wanted Dingodile to be a fire-breathing character before Zembillas suggested giving him a flamethrower to make him "much more interesting". The final sketches of Dingodile were drawn on February 12, 1998. When conceiving Coco Bandicoot's companion in the Chinese levels, it was decided that a "cute and huggable critter" that fit the Chinese theme was needed. A panda was originally considered but was rejected due to its similarity to the polar bear seen in Cortex Strikes Back. A tiger cub, Pura, was chosen as an alternative. When creating the Triceratops chase sequences in the prehistoric levels, a minion of Doctor Cortex was initially animated riding the beast. Whenever the triceratops got stuck, it would thrash the minion around. The rider was ultimately removed for technical reasons. The Tyrannosaurus hatchling that Crash mounts in the prehistoric levels was drawn with chicken-like proportions by Rafei. The shark seen in the game's underwater levels was one of Jason Rubin's first Alias PowerAnimator models. The model was originally built for the first Crash Bandicoot game, but was not used until Warped. The soundtrack of the game was produced by Mark Mothersbaugh and composed by Josh Mancell of Mutato Muzika. The sound effects were created by Mike Gollum, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears of Universal Sound Studios. Clancy Brown voiced the dual role of Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka, while Brendan O'Brien voiced the dual role of Doctor N. Gin and Tiny Tiger. Additionally, Michael Ensign voiced Doctor Nefarious Tropy, William Hootkins voiced Dingodile and Mel Winkler voiced Aku Aku. A small sampling of the game's levels was prominently displayed at Sony's Electronic Entertainment Expo booth in Atlanta, Georgia. and in Europe on December 11, 1998. The game's release was accompanied by marketing campaigns by Sony and Pizza Hut. A playable game demo of the Insomniac Games game Spyro the Dragon is available in the final product and can be accessed by entering a cheat code at the title screen. ==Reception==

Warped received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic. By February 1999, 2.9 million copies of Warped had been shipped to retailers worldwide; the NPD Group reported sell-through of 862,506 copies in North America alone by the end of January. At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, it took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €15 million in the European Union during the previous year. By 2002, Warped had sold over 5.7 million units worldwide, making it the thirteenth best-selling PlayStation video game of all time. The game's success resulted in its re-release for the Sony Greatest Hits lineup on August 23, 1999, and for the Platinum Range in 2000. Crash Bandicoot: Warped was a bestseller in Japan, and was the first non-Japanese PlayStation title to receive a "Platinum Prize" in Japan for selling over 1 million units. In 2024, Christopher Cruz of Rolling Stone ranked Warped as the #4 best PlayStation game of all time; he described it as "the Platonic ideal of a Crash game", citing its improved controls, level design and graphics. ==References==