Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

This section of the guide covers the fundamental controls and gameplay mechanics for Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.

Controls:

• Up: Move forward (Away from screen)
• Down: Move back (Towards screen)
• Left: Move left
• Right: Move right
• X: Jump
• O: Crouch (While standing) / Slide (While running)
• Triangle: Inventory
• Square: Spin
• R1: Same function as O
• Start: Pause
• O/R1+Directional Buttons: Slide and then jump (When running) / Crouch and jump (When standing)

Getting Started:

From the title screen, you can start a new game or load a saved game. Loading a game displays four save slots, showing the player's name, completion percentage, lives, crystals, and gems. Choosing 'Cancel' allows for a new save file.

Starting a new game presents the intro (skippable) followed by an introductory level. The goal of this initial level is to reach the Warp Room. In the Warp Room, you can access five levels. Collecting a crystal from each level allows you to face the boss and progress to the next Warp Room. Games can be saved by interacting with the 'Load/Save' wall.

Pressing 'Start' pauses the game, offering options to view status, quit, or change settings. The pause menu displays your crystal count (out of 25) and gem count (out of 42, including colored gems), along with your overall completion percentage. You can also resume the game, adjust options, or quit to the title screen (from Warp Room) or return to the Warp Room (from a level).

Playing the Game - Introduction:

Gameplay involves progressing through levels, defeating enemies, and collecting items. The primary collectibles are Wumpa Fruit (floating, apple-like items that grant an extra life for every 100 collected) and various types of boxes.

Box Types:

• Normal Box: Contains a Wumpa Fruit.
• ? Box: Contains extra lives or Wumpa Fruit.
• Bounce Box: Bounces Crash upwards, often to other boxes. Each bounce yields a Wumpa Fruit. They break after multiple bounces. Jumping on them again as you bounce increases height.
• Aku Aku Box: Reveals an Aku Aku mask. These act as health. One mask allows one hit, two masks allow two hits, and three masks grant temporary invincibility. They do not protect against instant-kill hazards.
• C Box: Creates a checkpoint when broken.
• Crash Box: Reveals a life.
• Arrow Box: Bounces Crash upwards. Jumping again as you bounce increases height. Can be broken by spinning.
• Reinforced Box: Made of wood with metal reinforcement. Must be broken by body slamming.
• TNT Box: Red box with TNT. Explodes if spun into, or after a 3-second timer if jumped on.
• Nitro Box: Green box with Nitro. Explodes on contact and cannot be broken by the player.
• Green ! Box: Destroys all Nitro Boxes in the level when activated.
• ! Box: Made of metal with an exclamation point. Activating it reveals white outlined boxes and platforms in the level.
• Metal Box: Indestructible metal boxes that can crush Crash.

Alright, let's talk about Warp Rooms in Crash Bandicoot 2! Think of these as your central hubs, the places where you'll pick which levels you want to tackle next. You'll find five main Warp Rooms, plus a secret one if you're feeling adventurous (we'll cover how to get there in its own section!).

Each of the main Warp Rooms acts as a gateway to five different levels. The cool thing is, you can jump into any of these levels whenever you feel like it. Just look above the entrance to a level; you'll see if you've snagged the Crystal for it and what Gems you've collected. Once you've collected all the Crystals for the levels in a Warp Room, a boss will appear. To face them, just stand on the platform in the middle of the Warp Room and press UP. Easy peasy!

After you've beaten a boss, you can actually fight them again! The trick is to hold down all the shoulder buttons on your controller while you move UP onto the platform. If you've opened up multiple Warp Rooms, you can zip between them by standing on that central platform and pressing UP or DOWN. Super handy for hopping back to an earlier area.

Sometimes, when you first enter a Warp Room, a hologram will pop up. They usually give you a bit of story or some info. Honestly, they're not super critical to the gameplay, so if you're in a hurry to get back to the action, feel free to skip them!