All The Tropes

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (view source)

Revision as of 01:54, 26 February 2018

18 bytes added ,  6 years ago
no edit summary
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 24:
* [[Man-Eating Plant|Bandicoot Eating Plant]]: There are carnivorous plants in the river levels Hang Eight, Air Crash and Plant Food which can snap up Crash and swallow him whole.
* {{spoiler|[[Batman Gambit]]: Cortex tricks Crash into believing that he's a good guy and that he was forced to assist Nitrus Brio in "his" plot for world domination. He tricks Crash into gathering the crystals, all needed to power a ray that will turn the Earth's populace into his slaves, by convincing him that the crystals will be used to contain the energy of an upcoming solar flux}}.
* [[Big Bad]]: {{spoiler|It's not Brio, whatever Cortex says}}.
* [[Blackout Basement]]: There are three levels which function as this, two of which are secret levels that can only be reached in the special warp room. Fortunately, the levels are a big improvement over the last game's [[Blackout Basement]] levels.
* [[Blatant Lies]]: Considering N. Brio's [[Heel Face Turn]] after two years have passed, he had some balls trying to tell Crash Bandicoot himself NOT to collect the crystals - when in reality it was pretty much impossible to beat the game ''and'' collect new gems without these.
Line 33:
* [[Bottomless Pits]]: In all the levels, even the jetpack ones, there will be some pits down which Crash should not fall.
* [[Brains and Brawn]]: Komodo Joe and Komodo Moe, [[Informed Attribute|apparently]].
* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: {{spoiler|Cortex's true goal is to brainwash everyone on the planet in one shot, thus bringing them under his control.}}.
* [[Brilliant but Lazy]]: Crash is implied to be this at the beginning and the end of the game - he's capable of tremendous feats of acrobatics, [[Bottomless Bladder|has insane amounts of stamina]], can beat an explosives-crazed kangaroo, a pair of samurai Komodo dragons, an insanely strong thylacine, a [[Humongous Mecha]] piloted by a cyborg genius, and pretty much anything the woods, rivers, glaciers, mountains, ruins and space station can throw at him, and yet he'd much rather lie down on the beach and take a kip.
* [[But Thou Must!]]: Sort of an inversion: Cortex tells you to give the crystals you've gathered to N. Gin, but there is no option of actually doing so - N. Gin just demands you give him the crystals and then attacks you when you don't.
Line 47:
* [[Covers Always Lie]]: Done intentionally and not quite noticeably at first. Noticed that Crash doesn't have gloves on the cover? Well, this is the way Naughty Dog wanted to show that [[Visual Pun|the gloves are off]] with this game.
** The rest (excluding Cortex), however, was done without any clear intention: not only there is no blue warp room with Greek ornaments in the final game, but yet it also seems that it's actually mishmashed with the [[Book Ends|teleport rooms you always start and end the levels with]]. For example, the hologram heads never appear on the spot where you're supposed to ''teleport''. Plus, while the ingame warps look no different to each other, having the same "twisty and twirly" look, one warp on the cover has the same door the teleport rooms usually have, along with the jetpack.
* [[Crate Expectations]]: New crates are added to this game, including one which cannot be opened except by a body slam. The Nitro crate, a crate so volatile that even touching it causes an explosion, also saw its debut in this game. They all reappeared later in ''[[Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped]]''.
* [[Cute but Cacophonic]]: The giant mice in the Road to Ruin and Ruination levels make horrible screeching sounds when you get close.
* [[Cyborg]]: N.Gin is one of the minor examples, since his cyborg customizations are restricted to the right side of his face, courtesy of an industrial accent which is explained in the manual.
Line 56:
* [[Down the Drain]]: Mostly averted with the sewer levels, though they could be difficult on the Hidden and Skull Routes.
* [[The Dragon]]: Tiny Tiger is this to Brio. Dr. N. Gin replaces Brio as Cortex's supporter for the penultimate boss, where he tries to take Crash's crystals by force.
** {{spoiler|It is worth noting there is some ambiguity over Tiny's allegiance, only Cortex states him to be an ally of Brio, and the majority of what he told Crash throughout the game was [[Blatant Lies]], he fights Crash in a personalized lair in what seems to be Cortex's space station after all. This would at least give some logic as to why Tiny is suddenly converted to Cortex's most loyal minion in ''[[Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped]]''. This ties into the fact that [[Batman Gambit|Cortex has secretly been planning to take the crystals]] this whole time.}}.
* [[Dumb Muscle]]: Tiny is powerful enough to rip through metal, and dumb enough to fall for Crash's trick three times.
* [[Early-Bird Cameo]]: Remember that penguin enemy from the ice levels? Well, right after another cameo in ''3'', he would get in to become a [[Ascended Extra|standalone character]], Penta the Penguin.
* [[Enemy Mine]]: Cortex asks Crash for help in order to gather enough crystals to avert an [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]. Later, N. Brio tries to recruit Crash to his side. Both of them claim to be working for the common good, but this trope fits N. Brio best because he ''hates'' Cortex and would rather side with his own arch nemesis (Crash) than work for his former employer.
* [[Eternal Engine]]: The Piston It Away, Rock It, Pack Attack and Space Out levels look awfully like this.
** These level types all seem to take place in satellites orbiting the Earth. Why the Power Crystals would be there, though...
* [[Everything's Better with Penguins]]: Nope - the penguins are actually enemies in the [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]] levels, though their [[Spin Attack]] looks quite cute.
* [[Everything's Better with Spinning]]: Crash, by default. Penguins as well.
* [[Everything's Worse with Bears]]: [[Advancing Wall of Doom|Gigantic polar bears]] ambush Crash in the Un-Bearable level, chasing after him and smashing up everything else in their way. Get caught by one and it's a [[One-Hit Kill]]. Subverted with Polar, the baby bear you get to ride in that level and in three others. {{spoiler|There's also a secret level barricaded off [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|until a polar bear smashes into it.]]}}.
* [[Everything's Worse with Bees]]: Diggin' It and Bee-Havin' contained swarms of bees which pursued Crash if he ran past their hive, and stung him if he wasn't quick enough. Judging from his reaction, Crash is allergic to bee stings.
** Then again, Crash [[Non-Lethal KO|"dies"]] from many [[Cherry Tapping|non-lethal things]] in the series.
* [[Exploding Barrels]]: TNT and Nitro crates.
* [[Extended Gameplay]]: You can claim to have 'beaten' the game after collecting the crystals and defeating the final boss, but after that the player can go back and find the gems as well.
* [[Fake Trap]]: In one of the "bee" levels, there's a ladder-like structure made of metal boxes and the normally lethal Nitro boxes. However, this time they don't blow up and the Nitro boxes don't wobble and jump like the normal ones. Climb them, go on, {{spoiler|teleport to a secret area.}}.
** ''Crash 2'' loves to toss those little hints at you. Here's another one for this particular kind of [[Fake Trap]]: Why are Nitro boxes randomly placed off to the side of the main path? Also in the Un-Bearable level after the bear crashes through the bridge - that "bottomless pit" isn't as bottomless as you may think.
* [[Five-Bad Band]]: Ripper Roo, the Komodo Brothers, Tiny Tiger, N.Gin, and the final boss. Played with, since they're not actually all on the same side.
** {{spoiler|Either way though, they are all allies of [[The Man Behind the Man|Uka Uka]] in later titles.}}.
* [[Fluffy the Terrible]]: Whoever gave Tiny his name had an ironic sense of humor.
* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: N.Gin's initial line of offense in the penultimate boss fight is to fire laser beams from his [[Humongous Mecha]]'s arms. Near the end of the fight, the stomach opens up to release a larger green laser blast that can melt metal in seconds. In the Rock It and Pack Attack levels, laser beams will occasionally fire across the pathway, connecting two pairs of receptors in a predictable pattern. {{spoiler|In the final cutscene, Brio has an [[Wave Motion Gun|enormous laser]] which, with the help of Crash, he uses to blast Cortex's space station}}.
* [[Friend or Foe]]: Whether Cortex has really done a [[Heel Face Turn]] or not is not revealed until the end. Brio is also slightly suspicious until the end.
* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: N.Gin, the [[Mad Scientist]] who pilots a [[Humongous Mecha]] when facing Crash, is one of these.
* [[Game Over Man]]: Cortex. This was later reused in the sequel. It is never quite explained why he is the [[Game Over Man]], though. {{color|white| Until you learn of his plans to conquer the world.}}
* [[Get Back Here Boss]]: The final boss.
* {{spoiler|[[Good Is Dumb]]: Crash is [[Gullible Lemmings|gullible enough]] to be fooled by Cortex into collecting the crystals for him, though to be fair it's not like he can just walk home if he doesn't want to continue. Coco is the opposite.}}.
** {{spoiler|Also note he is seemingly suspicious enough to refuse handing the crystals to N Gin despite Cortex's orders.}}.
* {{spoiler|[[Good Is Not Dumb]]: Coco is a computer genius, first hacking into Cortex's holographic projector, and then accessing Cortex's computer files to expose his plans. Crash is the opposite.}}.
* [[Goofy Print Underwear]]: Several of Crash's death sequences reveal he wears pink polka-dot boxers.
* [[The Goomba]]: Those armadillos in the Turtle Woods, The Pits and the introductory level are easy enough to beat.
Line 90:
* [[Green Hill Zone]]: The introductory level, Turtle Woods, and The Pits act like this.
* [[Ground Pound]]: Crash gains a Ground Pound attack in this game, with which he can belly-flop onto unsuspecting enemies or bust open metal-enforced crates that would otherwise seem impenetrable.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: The secret areas in this game are this moreso than any other game in the series, often requiring extreme acrobatic feats and/or [[Violation of Common Sense]] to reach. One requires you to {{spoiler|fall down into a pit the polar bear chasing you recently opened, despite just about every video game ever telling you that ''pits are bad''.}}. Another has you {{spoiler|jumping on top of a stack of Nitro crates, which you have been taught up to this point to avoid like the plague.}}. Yet a third has you {{spoiler|passing through an innocuous-looking fake wall.}}. With bizarre requirements like these, it's no wonder future secret areas were basically relegated to Gem and Skull Routes.
** You're going to swear even more after you run into [[Camera Screw]]-based traps. For instance, ever was wondering where you got those two boxes in Un-Bearable lost even despite you obviously got through {{spoiler|its' secret area}} as well? They both were off-screen all that time! In the same area, actually. ''Surprise''!
* [[Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal]]: Tiny has [[Shoulders of Doom]], an animal lioncloth, and red sneakers.
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Cortex wants Crash to believe that he has seen the error of his ways.
Line 97:
* [[Hub Level]]: Crash can access five levels from each of these hubs, or Warp Rooms, and the platform in the centre of the room takes him up to the next boss fight. There is also a load/save screen in each one. This was the first game to introduce the Warp Room concept, which became a staple in the Naughty Dog series after that.
* [[Humongous Mecha]]: N.Gin pilots one of these for the penultimate boss battle. It looks good, but see [[Rock Beats Laser]] below.
* {{spoiler|[[Idiot Hero]]: Crash is either the victim of circumstances or duped very easily.}}.
* [[Idle Animation]]: Evident - leave Crash for a while and he reverts to his old Crash 1 animation. Now, leave him alone in one of the snowy levels.
* [[Indy Escape]]: Crash's response to the [[Advancing Wall of Doom]]. Since you are running into the camera, this makes what should be easy-to-dodge obstacles really tricky. Also an example of [[Fake Difficulty]].
Line 105:
* [[Jungle Japes]]: See [[Green Hill Zone]], since these two overlap.
* [[Killer Rabbit]]: The giant mice, the penguins, the turtles and those gophers that lurk in The Pits.
* [[Knight Templar]]: According to the manual, to emphasize the unknown morality of the people Crash faces, N Brio will do anything to get back Cortex, even if he blows Earth's only chance of survival in the process. {{spoiler|Of course, it turns out Brio was telling the truth and Cortex is a big fat liar.}}.
* [[Large Ham]]: Doctor Neo Cortex, thanks to [[Hey, It's That Voice!|ClancyBrown]].
* [[Last Lousy Point]]: If you don't know what is in the secret warp rooms, some gems will act like this, but it is mostly averted thanks to a user-friendly display above each Warp Room gate, which shows you what items you have collected from the level. The slots accept each crystal and gem when Crash collects them and gets to that level's end point, and any empty slots will mean that there is still a crystal or gem yet to be recovered.
Line 111:
* [[Law of One Hundred]]: As usual, collecting one hundred wumpa fruit will earn Crash a new life.
* [[Leitmotif]]: Cortex, N Brio and Coco all have distinct themes play during their projection cutscenes. Cortex and N Brio's themes (along with Ripper Roo's boss music) are remixed from their boss music from the original game, making it something of recurring Leitmotifs for the characters.
* [[Lost in Transmission]]: Type 1a example. Coco has some vitally important message to give to Crash, except that [[His Name Is--|each time she tries to warn him]], the holographic projection cuts out at a critical moment. It noticeably gets better as the game progresses, so by the time Crash has collected all the crystals [[Devil in Plain Sight|she can finally give him the full warning]]. {{spoiler|By then, of course, she is too late, and Crash has to chase down Cortex.}}.
** {{spoiler|It is never made clear whether the boss battle was to stop Cortex from collecting the crystals or just Crash deciding to whoop his ass for tricking him.}}.
*** Probably the former, judging by {{spoiler|the evil laugh heard if Cortex flees.}}.
* [[The Lost Woods]]: Totally Fly, where your only sources of light are the fireflies whirling around.
* [[MacGuffin Delivery Service]]: This is what Cortex has recruited Crash for.
Line 122:
* [[Mook Maker]]: The beehives in Diggin' It and Bee-Havin', which respawn a swarm every time Crash passes a certain point.
* [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]]: N.Gin is the replacement second-in-command. ''Dr'' N.Gin.
* {{spoiler|[[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Crash almost hands the crystals over to the [[Big Bad]] and dooms the planet, and following this near miss detonates Cortex's space station, inadvertently leading to a chain of events that are revealed in the following game to lead to the release of Uka Uka, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped]]''. Coco arguably plays [[The Hero]] role more straight in this title.}}.
* [[Non Lethal Bottomless Pits]]: See [[Fake Trap]] above for a hint. Go on, go have a look.
* [[Noodle Incident]]: It's [[All There in the Manual]],; otherwise, you would never know what happened to N.Gin to make him a cyborg.
* [[No OSHA Compliance]]: Piston It Away, Rock It, Pack Attack and Spaced Out look like various parts of a large engine or machine. It has walkways, sure, but the places are so unsafe it's obviously a [[Death Course]] in disguise.
* [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom]]: Crash can only proceed along a linear path with the occasional bonus stage along the way. He can also progress to the next warp room only if he has collected all five crystals for the levels in it. At least the Warp Room levels can be tackled in any order.
Line 133:
* [[Piranha Problem]]: The mechanical piranhas in the river levels leap out of the water.
* [[Plot Coupon]]: The game almost entirely revolves around collecting crystals and gems. Still, that does not make it any less fun.
* [[Power Crystal]]: Obviously the crystals themselves, which will fuel Cortex's Cortex Vortex so that he can capture the solar flux energy, but Brio also wants the gems {{spoiler|so that he can focus a laser on the space station and blow it to bits.}}.
* [[Powerup Mount]]: The polar bear that appears in several levels moves very quickly and can make really long jumps.
* [[Puzzle Boss]]: Ripper Roo and his exploding crates. [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
Line 145:
* [[Secret Level]]: There are two secret levels and two secret level sidepaths which can only be accessed by a secret Warp Room, which itself can't be accessed except via secret routes in the main level.
* [[Seldom-Seen Species]]: Bandicoot, of course, but also Komodo dragon and thylacine. Think also of some of the enemies encountered in the levels.
* [[Sequel Hook]]: {{spoiler|Cortex is still at large and the space station has been blown to bits. Not to mention that creepy [[Evil Laugh]] heard during the credits.}}.
* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: [[Establishing Character Moment]] in the opening cutscene: Crash is [[Brilliant but Lazy|laid back and idle]], while Coco [[Rapid-Fire Typing|pounds furiously on the keyboard]] and gets him off his back to fetch a new battery for the laptop.
* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: Snow Go, Snow Business and Cold Hard Cash are the obvious ones, but Naughty Dog evidently liked snow because they included the Polar levels Bear It, Bear Down and Totally Bear, and added snow features to decorate Crash Dash, Crash Crush, Un-Bearable, Diggin' It and Bee-Havin'.
** In fact, ''Crash 2'' overall seems to be taking place during winter, as snow is a common feature on the islands (see [[YouArtistic FailLicense Geography Forever]] above). Notably, quite a few snow levels have a gorgeous sunset coloration.
* [[Space Zone]]: The theme for the last Warp Room, and for four of its five levels. Three of the five boss battles occur in space, apparently on Cortex's space station.
* [[Speech Impediment]]: Doctor Nitrus Brio has an obvious stutter and an apparent inability to control the volume of his own voice.
Line 154:
* [[Stock Scream]]: The Howie scream is heard whenever Crash kills the floating scientists in the jetpack levels.
* [[Super Drowning Skills]]: Yes, he can ride a jet board, but don't let him fall into the water!
* [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]: All of them are guilty of this to some degree. To give you an example, Ripper Roo lays down TNT and Nitro crates and then deliberately detonates them, knocking himself out long enough for Crash to exploit the opening. [[Too Dumb to Live]], considering he supposedly [[Dumbass No More|Took A Level In Smartass]] during the interim between ''Crash 1'' and ''2''.
* [[Techno Wizard]]: Coco can hack into Cortex's holographic projector, a skill [[Chekhov's Skill|which becomes useful later]].
* [[Temporary Platform]]: The collapsing towers in the ruins levels.
* [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works]]: The Komodo Brothers, Joe and Moe. They are throwing swords at one another, catching them, before they see that Crash has arrived. Once the fight is started, Joe is spun at Crash, while Moe tosses his magically respawning blades at him.
* [[Time Limit Boss]]: {{spoiler|Dr. Neo Cortex}}.
* [[Transformation Ray]]: In the Piston It Away and Spaced Out levels, if Crash gets hit by a blue ray (activated by a pressure pad in the floor), he will [[Incredible Shrinking Man|shrink down into nothing]], losing him a life.
* [[The Unfought]]: {{spoiler|N. Brio never makes it as a boss, despite Cortex insisting that he is the true enemy. This is because Cortex is the true [[Big Bad]]}}.
* [[Victory Pose]]: For the first time ever! Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you ... the Crash Dance!
* [[Video Game Lives]]: The rules of the last game carry on over to this one.
* [[Wasted Song]]: N Brio and Coco's [[Leitmotif|Leitmotifs]] are only heard during their intermissions drowned out by their dialogue (Cortex also has a theme play during his intermissions {{spoiler|though it plays during his boss battle}}). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX3lVsCKwX0 An alternative track for the snow levels] was also made but never used.
* [[Where the Hell Is Springfield?]]: Where exactly is Crash going whenever he enters a level? The locations look completely different from the ones in the original game, so they don't seem to be parts of the peninsular, but where are, for example, the snowy levels and the Piston It Away and Spaced Out levels?
* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: An awful lot of the level names are puns.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1577191"