NIDZUMI+

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Crash games. Stemming from playing them on the original Playstation pretty much through to the disappointing 4th game. By then the formula was getting stale and a bit repetitive. Now that Activision are in control of the IP you’ll notice the game is very much a game aimed at a younger demographic. Luckily Crash Mind Over Mutant has enough for older players to get some enjoyment out of it as well even if it is slightly minimal. 

Crash Mind Over Mutant is very much a platformer that has been inspired by certain elements from Rachet and Clank albeit mainly the camera angles and the larger scale environments. The levels aren’t that imaginative but don’t get too tedious although they do include a lot of unguided backtracking. The game is seemingly open-ended but that doesn’t seem to play to the strengths of the game. Although it tells more of a story than previous renditions I was left felt missing the warp room with each level having it’s own personality and unique challenges while here you are left feeling that the whole world slowly morphs between environments thus reducing the drastic change between areas.

Crash Mind Over Mutant has a crazy amount of collecting questions that almost appear to be akin to a Role Playing Game. You’ll find upgrades to jump higher or run faster. You’ll also find loads of different collectible elements that mostly seem unwanted. You’ll find new items too often, so you never feel like you’ve earned anything.

You can now take over different mutants throughout the game and these offer a change from the core game but they really serve as a key to many of the puzzles. Talking of puzzles most of them can be solved, if not by mutants, by spinning. You have to take into consideration that this is a kids game but compared to some of the other areas of the game these just seem mundane.

The game isn’t perfect but the 2 player co-op mode is surprisingly fun and it really just goes to show that platformers can work brilliantly in co-op. Some elements of the game require you too work together to collect some upgrades but you rarely have to work together to really progress. It’s a shame that they couldn’t include a few mutliplayer only levels that require you to work together because apart from the odd optional collection task you don’t really have to.

Granted it’s not the same game that you used to play but it is decent and provides genuinely funny in moments. The adult only pixar-ish references are all over the game during the many quirky and interesting cut scenes. You’ll also notice a few things you might not want to from these cut scenes and that the game is very much a kids game and still is. Although saying that as far as kids platformers go you can’t really go too wrong with Crash Mind Over Mutant despite it’s minor flaws that you run into all too often.