The Crash Bandicoot family of games has certainly fallen from grace when compared to its heyday on the PSX. Once thought to be the next big company mascot, the franchise has become a bit tired, and is now under the control of Universal's interactive division, of all places. Despite this, Ntranced, the new GBA title in the series, is a solid platformer in all respects, and a good bit of fun for the platform junkie on the go.
As per the usual, Crash has to collect crystals to stop a mean villain-type thing from taking over the world, or some such. If the story hasn't evolved, neither has the gameplay, as Ntranced is essentially more of the same: box smashing, avoid nitro, do a plane/boat/hamster wheel mini game every so often, repeat. The game is well designed, and quite a bit of fun, but it's nothing truly extraordinary that we haven't seen numerous times. It's a bit on the easy side, and those not enthralled with old-school platforming as a genre may even see it as mediocre.
If nothing else, the graphics are the best a GBA platform game has seen this side of Rayman Advance, retaining all the charm and brilliance of the console titles. Sound is also both familiar and faithful to the license, which helps to make Ntranced feel more like a handheld continuation of the marsupial's antics, and not some watered down port. If you just can't get enough of Crash – or platform games in general – Ntranced comes highly recommended.
-George
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