Crash of the Titans (GBA)

Synopsis
Crash of the Titans is the fourteenth installment in the Crash Bandicoot video game series, although it is the sixth chronologically. The game's story centers on the discovery of a substance known as mojo, which the antagonist of the series, Doctor Neo Cortex, plans to use to turn the inhabitants of the Wumpa Islands into an army of loyal mutants known as "titans", or mutants in later games. The protagonist of the series, Crash Bandicoot, must stop Cortex by using the technique of "jacking" to take control of and destroy Cortex's titans while collecting mojo. A sequel, titled Crash: Mind Over Mutant was released on October 7th, 2008.

Plot (Console Version)
In the beginning of the game, Crash Bandicoot aids Coco with a butter-recycling device. Doctor Neo Cortex arrives, captures Coco and Aku Aku and encases Crunch in ice. Crash throws Coco's machine at Cortex's airship, severing the chain holding Aku Aku's cage, which causes the cage to fall into the nearby forest. After Crash rescues Aku Aku, they discover that Cortex and Uka Uka are stealing mojo from a nearby temple and decide to stop them. On reaching the temple, Cortex reveals his plot to use the stolen mojo to create an army of loyal mutants, which will be used to build a robot known as the Doominator, that will crush the Wumpa Islands and take over the world. After failing to defeat Crash with his Yuktopus robot, Cortex boasts that Crash will never find his base and flies off, leaving Crash and Aku Aku to follow him.

At Cortex's base, Uka Uka told Cortex about failing to destroy Crash, and replaces Cortex with his niece, Nina Cortex, despite protests from Neo, N-Gin and Tiny Tiger. Nina has Coco brainwashed and makes her participate in the construction of the Doominator. Throughout the course of the game, Crash and Aku Aku interrogate Tiny Tiger, Doctor N-Gin, and Uka Uka on the whereabouts of Coco to which they all tell parts of Nina's plan.

When they confront Nina Cortex inside the Doominator robot, Nina summons her Arachnina robot and fights Crash. Crash eventually destroys the robot, liberating Coco and disabling the Doominator. The Doominator collapses and barely misses the Bandicoot home (and Crunch), sparing much of Wumpa Island. Escaping from the collapsed Doominator, Cortex praises Nina for betraying him, and promises to be more evil in the near future, though saying he was still going to "spank her stupid". The Bandicoots decide that it is time for celebration, leading Crash to shout his first word in the series and the object of their celebration: "pancakes"!

The DS version of the game largely follows the story of the home console versions, but with minor alterations such as Nina Cortex having a greater role and the inclusion of Dingodile.

The Game Boy Advance version also includes Dingodile and some plot differences, such as the Arachnina (referred to by its old name, "Spiderbot") not being the last boss, and Cortex being reinstated after Nina's defeat on N-Trapment Island.

Plot (GBA Version)
The game starts off with Crash relaxing on his hammock until an illusion of Aku Aku appears and begs for him to wake up, telling him Dr Cortex stole and corrupted ancient tiki masks that altered the wildlife into his titan servants. The screen then cuts to Cortex introducing plans for the Doominator alongside Uka Uka.

As Crash goes to save Aku Aku he's ambushed by Cortex but manages to defeat him without a problem. As a result of his failure, Uka Uka replaces him with Nina who forces Coco to help build the Doominator.

Now with Aku Aku safe, he teaches Crash how to jack the larger titans and they soon make it to Dingodile and battle him. Once he's defeated, Aku Aku discovers he's been sending oil barrels to Tiki Island, where Tiny Tiger is holding Crunch hostage and they both make haste to save their friend.

Once Crunch is rescued, the duo discover Nina was put in charge of the Doominator project and is holding Coco captive. Along the way to rescue her they come across N Gin who is angered that Nina was promoted over himself and that Coco is on N-Trapment Island in Nina's Twisted Treehouse, Aku and Crash then agree to let him go after he promises to go back to his old job at a stapler factory.

Once arriving they take down Nina and her Spiderbot, unfortunately she manages to get away with Coco still in tow to the Floating Fortress. At this point Uka Uka fires her and reinstates Cortex when she fails to stop Crash as well, leading to himself, Nina and Tiny all fighting Crash at once, only to end in failure.

The game ends with the Cortex family fleeing to obtain their old jobs at the stapler factory while the heroes return to Wumpa Island. Upon their arrival, Crunch decides it's time for a celebration with pancakes, leading to Crash's first full sentence: "PANCAKES?!? I thought you'd never ask!!!"

Why It Rocks (GBA Version)

 * 1) It's a sidescroller in the same vein as The Huge Adventure and N-Tranced
 * 2) The controls are fluid for both Crash and the mutants he jacks
 * 3) The titans are able to jump in this version while they couldn't in the console releases (Excluding Battler)
 * 4) Speaking of Battler, by holding down the A button the player can slow Crash's fall while jacking it
 * 5) Dingodile returns as the first boss of the game
 * 6) All the characters still act like their past selves even with the redesigns not everyone liked
 * 7) Wumpa fruits are still the main collectable as well as a way to replenish the health bar and grants extra lives after collecting a set number at a time
 * 8) Meanwhile the Mojo is relegated to defeated enemies, a plus for those who didn't like how the fruit were replaced by it in the console releases
 * 9) The music is catchy (Especially the Twisted Tree stage)
 * 10) The purple power crystals (As invincibility powerups), clear gems (As currency for titan vending machines throughout the levels), TNT crates and tiki masks all return
 * 11) Collecting all the tiki masks hidden in each level stages will reward the player with a battle arena stage
 * 12) After completing the game, the player is able to buy bosses from the titan vendors
 * 13) The game includes a beaver and a frog titan who weren't in the console games

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some of the level layouts can seem confusing
 * 2) The mystery box crates can sometimes spawn Doom Monkeys instead of something useful
 * 3) The hit detection with some of the obstacles can seem off
 * 4) The Goar, Shellaphant, Stench, Rhinoroller, Magmadon, Scorporilla, Sludge and Yuktopus titans are absent in this port
 * 5) The surfing/jet skiing/motorboating/gliding sections at the end of the first four worlds can be tedious to some players