And just like that, our collaboration with Dr. Cortex has reached it’s conclusion. Despite the forces marshaled against us and our bandicoot friend, we have collected every last crystal and gem. And thanks to our friends and opposition, we can finally see through the good doctor’s plans for world domination.
Lucky us, we’re just in the right position to put an end to his plans.
While I am aware that talking about “the story” in a PS1-era platformer is kinda silly, I remember being extremely confused about what was going on during the Dr. N Gin boss fight when I was a young child. Eventually it clicked sometime in my many, many playthroughs. And yet, it took me a while to deduce that Crash had figured out what was going on and started the fight. I was taken off guard when N Gin threw the first punch and killed me, but fortunately after that I realized I was in a boss fight.
Of course, they could also be chalked up to my younger self’s naivete. However, there probably could have been something showing Crash’s implied agency in this scene more directly. This might have been a lot to ask in the old days, with a PS1 time crunch and budget. For the remake though, it would have been a nice touch.
The other way the limited resources was more obviously felt in that “final boss” with Cortex. Even my stream chat was surprised at how simple it was. There’s no denying that it was rushed, and they needed to make something before time ran out and it had to ship. They add the detail that he’s got the crystals and we can’t let him escape to at least give us a justification in the remake, but there’s only so much they could do with what they were given.
It feels great to wrap up Cortex Strikes Back, and I look forward to seeing you guys back in the Dragon Realms with Spyro 3.
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