User:Wikiman103/sandbox

Kevin Smith

Personal information
Born	(1992-03-03) March 3, 1992 Huntington Beach, California
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Kevin Carlos Smith (born March 03, 1992) is an American professional Freestyle and Street skateboarder, and is one of the relativley new pro's selected for the 2012 true new skateboarding

Early Life

Kevin Carlos Smith was born and raised in Huntington Beach, California he is of White Hispanic descent. he got into skateboarding at the age of 5, and he recently moved to Los Angeles, California to join the the 2012 true new skateboarding tour

Sean Thompson

Personal information
Born	(1994-07-20) July 20, 1994 Baltimore, Maryland
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Sean Lane Thompson (born July 20, 1994) is an American professional Freestyle and Street skateboarder, and one of the relativley new selected pro's in the 2012 true new skateboarders.

Early Life

Sean Lane Thompson was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and he got interested in skateboarding at the age of 10, he filmed 2 skateboarding video's in Baltimore between 2008 and 2009, he recently moved to Los Angeles, California to join the true new skateboarding tour and became a pro skateboarder, based on the 2 videos he made.

de:Chad Muska fr:Chad Muska pl:Chad Muska pt:Chad Muska sv:Chad Muska

Mitchell Reede

Personal information
Born	Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Mitchell Harley Reede (born September 31, 1996) is an American amateur Freestyle skateboarder, and he is one of the perticipents of the 2012 true new skateboarding.

Early Life

Mitchell Harley Reede was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia born to two English American parents. He got intrested into skateboarding at the age of 9, he recently moved to Los Angeles, California to join the true new skateboarding tour. He still hasn't became pro yet, but he's real close to becoming a pro.

Edward Jones

Personal information
Born	Liverpool, England
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Edward von Jones (born November 11, 1991) is an English-American professional Freestyle Street skateboarder.

Early Life

Edward von Jones was born and raised in Liverpool, England he got intrested in skateboarding at the age of 7, and he recently moved to Los Angeles, California for the true new skateboarding tour, and became a professional skateboarder. He also obtained American Citizenship from the state.

Jasper Moore

Personal information
Born	(1994-09-15) September 15, 1994 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Jasper Lee Moore (born September 09, 1994) is a Canadian professional Freestyle skateboarder, and he is one of the perticipents of the 2012 true new skateboarding.

Early Life

Jasper Lee Moore was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to Sandra Moore, an Irish Canadian, and Philip Moore, an English Canadian. Jasper was also raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Jasper got into skateboarding at the age of 8, and he recently moved to Los Angeles, California to join the true new skateboarding tour, in which he also recently became a professional skateboarder, he still awaits to obtain American Citizenship.

Una Ella Farrar

Personal information
Born	(1994-05-20) May 20, 1994 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Una Ella Farrar (born May 20, 1994) is a Canadian professional Freestyle skateboarder, she is one of the perticipents in the 2012 true new skateboarding, she is also Jasper Moore's cousin.

Early Life

Una Ella Farrar was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada to Illiana Farrar, an English Canadian, and Samuel Farrar, a Danish Canadian. She was also raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada she got intrested in skateboarding st the age of 6, and she recently moved to Los Angeles, California with her cousin Jasper Moore to join the true new skateboarding tour, in which her and her cousin became professional skateboarders, she still awaits to obtain American Citizenship. And her cousin still awaits as well.

Shane Thomas O'neill

Personal information
Born	(1991-04-25) April 25, 1991 Brooklyn, New York
Occupation	Skateboarder
Website	themuska.com

Shane Thomas O'neill (born April 04, 1991) is an American professional Street skateboarder, he is also one of the perticipents in the 2012 true new skateboarding, and is the the selected # 1 skater in the tour.

Early Life

Shane Thomas O'neill was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York he is of Irish Descent. He got intrested in skateboarding at the age of 4. And aside from skateboarding, he has had some Street gang problems in Brooklyn, he has also been involved in/been a member of a Street gang with other caucasions and African Americans from the age of 13 to 17. He also recently moved to Los Angeles, California to join the true new skateboarding tour, in which he became a professional skateboarder.

Pokémon
Pokémon: Indigo League DVD Box Set
ポケットモンスター (Poketto Monsutā)
Genre	Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy
Anime television series
Directed by	Masamitsu Hidaka (1997-2006) Norihiko Sudō (2006-2011)
Produced by	Satoshi Tajiri, Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori
Written by	Takeshi Shudō, Hideki Sonoda and Junki Takegami
Music by	Shinji Miyazaki Hirokazu Tanaka (openings)
Studio	OLM, Inc.
Licensed by	United States: 4Kids Entertainment (1998–2005) United States: The Pokémon Company (2005-present)
Original network	TV Tokyo
English network	First-run syndication (1998-1999) Kids WB! (1999-2006) Cartoon Network (2003-2004, 2006-present) Boomerang (2005, 2010-present)
Original run	April 1, 1997 – present
Episodes	743+ (Japan) 725+ (United States)
Movies (Total 15)
5 Original Series movies 4 Advanced Generation movies 4 Diamond & Pearl movies 2 Best Wishes! movies
Specials
8 TV specials (3 full-length, 5 normal-length) 25 side-story episodes 7 Winter Vacation shorts 8 ANA flights shorts

Pokémon (ポケモン, Pokemon), abbreviated from Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā), is a Japanese-Canadian children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the international television markets. It is based on the Pokémon video game series and a part of the Pokémon franchise.

The Pokémon metaseries is split up into four chronologically sequential series in Japan, split up by the version of the video game series the anime takes inspiration from: the original series (split up into the Orange Islands and Gold-Silver sub-chapters), the Advanced Generation series, the Diamond & Pearl series, and currently the Best Wishes! series which is to get a Season 2 chapter in June 2012. In the international broadcasts, these four series are split into 15 separate seasons. These anime series are accompanied by spin-off programming, consisting of Pokémon Chronicles, a series of side stories featuring characters in the anime that are not its current cast of main characters, and the live action variety and Pokémon-related news shows of Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, Pokémon Sunday, and the current incarnation of Pokémon Smash!.

Plot

See also: List of characters in the Pokémon anime series

The series follows Ash Ketchum and his friends (both human and Pokémon) that he makes on the way as he travels the world catching new Pokémon, battling Pokémon trainers, winning Gym Badges to enter tournaments, and thwarting the attempts of criminal organizations. The anime adapts a fair amount of video game logic from the original games, such as multiple lookalike characters in different regions and Ash being unable to carry more than six Pokémon with him at a time.

Seasons 1-5 (original series)

Ash Ketchum (Satoshi (サトシ)) has just become a Pokémon trainer in the Kanto region. He picked Pikachu as his starter because, after breaking his alarm clock, Ash was late for his appointment and all the conventional starter Pokémon (Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle) were gone. He has a childhood rival, named Gary Oak (Shigeru (シゲル)). Ash accidentally destroys a bike belonging to a girl, named Misty (Kasumi (カスミ)); she starts to follow him to get her bike back, but soon becomes his friend. Misty endeavors to be a great water Pokémon master. Shortly thereafter, Ash battles Brock (Takeshi (タケシ)), the leader of the Pewter City gym. Ash initially loses to Brock's Onix, but wins the Boulder Badge in a rematch. Brock then turns over his Gym Leader duties to his estranged father and accompanies Ash and Misty on their journey with the goal of becoming the world's greatest Pokémon Breeder. He also followed by the villainous Team Rocket trio, Jessie, James and their talking Meowth, who are intent on stealing Ash's Pikachu.

Ash's journey in the Kanto region culminates with him collecting the necessary eight badges to compete in the Indigo League Pokémon Tournament held annually in the Indigo Plateau, near Viridian City. He passes through all qualifying matches, and qualifying for battling in the Indigo Stadium. There, he loses in his fifth match to Richie, a new rival and friend, who uses many of the same Pokémon as Ash, including a Pikachu named "Sparky".

After the Indigo League, Ash returns briefly to Pallet Town before setting out on a new journey to the Orange Islands, where he will compete in the Orange League, beginning the "Orange Islands Chapter" (オレンジ諸島編, Orenji Shotō Hen) in the Japanese series. Brock eventually parts company with Ash and Misty to pursue Pokémon research with Professor Ivy. At this point, a new character, Tracey Sketchit (Kenji (ケンジ)) joins Ash. Ash collects four badges and competes against the Orange League champion, Drake, an experienced trainer who uses a Dragonite. Drake's first 5 Pokémon do not cause much trouble to Ash, the battle coming down to 4 Pokémon for Ash and Drake's Dragonite. However, Dragonite defeats Ash's Charizard, Squirtle and Tauros. The battle comes down to Drake's Dragonite and Ash's Pikachu. After a short battle, Pikachu knocks out Dragonite with a devastating Thunder attack, giving Ash the victory and earning him a spot in the Orange League Hall of Fame.

Victorious in the Orange League, Ash again returns to Pallet Town where he and Misty are reunited with Brock, who rejoins the group. Tracey decides to stay in Pallet Town to work with his idol, Professor Oak, while Ash, Brock, and Misty head west to Johto. Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, or the beginning of the "Gold-Silver Chapter" (金銀編, Kin-Gin Hen) in Japan, marks the introduction of a new series of Pokémon beyond the original 151 named and frequently seen throughout the Kanto and Orange Islands regions.

In the fifth season, after Ash has collected the 8 required badges from Johto, he competes in the Silver Conference. He makes it through the qualifying matches, getting into the Victory Tournament. He then makes it to the Top 8, defeating his childhood rival Gary along the way, but loses to a trainer named Harrison from the Hoenn region. Ash decides to head there next, after a visit home. However, before returning Pallet Town, Misty receives a message from her sisters requesting that she return to Cerulean City to take over their duties as the Cerulean Gym Leader while they leave on a world tour. Brock's family then requests that he return home to help out, and the three friends part way.

Seasons 6-9 (Advanced Generation series)

The Advanced Generation (アドバンスジェネレーション, Adobansu Jenerēshon) series begins with Ash's return to Pallet Town. He receives a new set of clothes from his mother and sets out for the Hoenn region with only Pikachu, choosing to leave his other Pokémon with Professor Oak, like Gary, going for a "fresh start".

In Hoenn, Ash meets May (Haruka (ハルカ)) and her younger brother Max (Masato (マサト)), who join him on his journey. May is excited by the Pokémon Contests that take place in Hoenn, while Max joins the group to gain experience so that one day he will have his own Pokémon and become a Gym Leader like his father Norman, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City. Having solved his family issues, Brock returns to accompany Ash. In this season, Gary leaves his promising career as a Pokémon Trainer to become a Pokémon researcher, like his grandfather. Misty shortly visits the group and takes Ash, Brock, May and Max to the Togepi Kingdom. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has been sent by their boss to try to establish a branch of the organization in Hoenn. Along their journeys, Ash and his friends also come into contact with the villainous teams that are in Hoenn, Team Aqua and Team Magma. Finally, Ash participates in the Hoenn League and May in the Grand Festival.

In Season 8, after Ash completes the Hoenn League and places in the Top 8, he returns home to Pallet Town, as do May and Max to Petalburg City and Brock to Pewter City. Ash meets up with Misty, Tracey, Professor Oak, and his mother at his homecoming celebration. Professor Birch and Max arrive in Pallet Town that same evening, and May and Brock arrive the next day. Ash and May learn of the Battle Frontier and the new contests in the Kanto region and decide to travel together again to compete. Brock, Max, and Misty decide to join them on their new journey. Season 8 ends with Ash, May, Max, Brock, and Misty setting off to participate in the Battle Frontier.

After passing Mt. Moon, Misty returns to the Cerulean Gym to continue training. Ash, May, Max, and Brock travel around the Kanto region, with Ash defeating the seven Frontier Brains and May competing in the Kanto Pokémon Contests.

After Ash defeats the Battle Pyramid Frontier Brain, Brandon, and declines the offer of becoming a Frontier Brain, May reveals that she and Max are returning to Hoenn, but she decides to travel to the Johto region for the Johto Pokémon Contests alone.

Seasons 10-13 (Diamond & Pearl series)

The main characters from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl series (from left to right): Brock, Ash and Dawn

The Diamond & Pearl (ダイヤモンド&パール, Daiyamondo Ando Pāru) series begins with Ash on his own, again. He learns of a new region called Sinnoh, where he embarks on a new journey. Ash planned to bring only Pikachu, but his Aipom snuck on the boat. Brock comes back a few days later in Sinnoh and they both meet Dawn (Hikari (ヒカリ)), a new Trainer who hopes to become a great Pokémon Coordinator, like her mother. Ash meets a new rival, Paul (Shinji (シンジ)), who prefers to capture the strongest Pokémon, leaving the weak who are released, in strong contrast to Ash's methods. During the journey, Ash encounters the Elite Four of Sinnoh in different places respectively, he carries on battles with them, and also receives their instructions about battle techniques. Ash, Dawn, and Brock encounter Ash's old rival Gary several times throughout the series, and even run into May, who are visiting Sinnoh, at the Wallace Cup competition.

Ash and his friends also come in contact with Team Galactic, an evil organization that wants to control the Pokémon universe. Team Galactic has also recruited an evil Pokémon Hunter, known only as J, to help them capture powerful Legendary Pokémon to advance their goals. With the help of the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, as well as a detective named Looker, Ash, Dawn, and Brock manage to defeat Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic.

After the Sinnoh League, the gang prepares to go their separate ways; Brock is returning to Pewter City to become a Pokémon Doctor, Dawn is returning to Hearthome City to model Buneary in a photoshoot, and Ash has decided that to become a Pokémon Master, he will continue training and someday enter the Champion League, and become the Champion Master. Ash and Brock wave goodbye to Dawn and Piplup as they take a ship home to Kanto. When reaching the familiar crossroad, Ash and Brock shake hands one last time, and split up; Brock goes back to Pewter City, and Ash goes home to Pallet Town.

During the airing of the Best Wishes! series, there are two special episodes focusing on Dawn and Brock respectively. Dawn is seen continuing her journey to become a top Pokémon Coordinator in the Hoenn region and Brock's younger brother Forrest is officially made the Pewter City Gym Leader to allow Brock to continue his studies to become a Pokémon Doctor.

Seasons 14-present (Best Wishes! series)

The Best Wishes! (ベストウイッシュ, Besuto Uisshu) series begins with Ash, his mother, and Professor Oak making a trip to the faraway Unova region where Ash plans to compete in their new Pokémon league and Professor Oak meets up with his colleague Professor Juniper. After meeting new trainer, photographer, and rival Trip (Shooty (シューティー, Shūtī)), he sets off on his journey, meeting Dragon Master in the making Iris (アイリス, Airisu) and Pokémon Connoisseur and one of the three Striaton City Gym Leaders Cilan (Dent (デント, Dento)).

Team Rocket takes a back seat in this series, spending several episodes working up to a confrontation with Ash and his friends and the Unova region's local crime syndicate Team Plasma. However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami these episodes have been indefinitely postponed from broadcast. Team Rocket continues to sporadically appear throughout the series, although they are not in every episode as they were for the previous three series.

The Japanese broadcast of Best Wishes! is split into two seasons, with Best Wishes! Season 2 (ベストウイッシュシーズン2, Besuto Uisshu Shīzun Tsū) starting broadcast on June 21, 2012. The promotional material for Season 2 features returning characters Cynthia, Dawn, and Giovanni, along with the Pokémon Meloetta and Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus in their recently revealed Reijū Formes which will be featured in the upcoming Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2 video games.

Media

TV series

Main article: List of Pokémon episodes

In Japan, Pocket Monsters has been broadcast under its original title and under three subtitled titles, with the subtitled versions denoting a change in the setting matching the different versions of the video games, rather than being divided into distinct seasons (a change in season is usually denoted by a change in the theme songs, but the title never changes). The current series being broadcast is Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes!. In its international broadcasts, Pokémon's episodes have been split up into smaller seasons for the international releases, running a fixed number of episodes, using a specific opening sequence for each new season, and a new subtitle. The current season airing is Pokémon: Black & White: Rival Destinies.

Pocket Monsters Series	Pokémon Season	No. of Episodes
Pocket Monsters	Indigo League	80 (82 in Japan)
	Adventures on the Orange Islands	36
	The Johto Journeys	41
	Johto League Champions	52
	Master Quest	64 (65 in Japan)
Advanced Generation	Advanced	40
	Advanced Challenge	52
	Advanced Battle	52 (53 in Japan)
	Battle Frontier	47
Diamond & Pearl	Diamond and Pearl	51 (52 in Japan)
	DP: Battle Dimension	52
	DP: Galactic Battles	52 (53 in Japan)
	DP: Sinnoh League Victors	34
Best Wishes!	Black & White	48
	BW: Rival Destinies	36
	Best Wishes! Season 2	2

Movies

During each season of the main series, a Pokémon Feature Film (劇場版ポケットモンスター, Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā, Pocket Monsters Movie) starring the main characters from the TV series has been released. As of 2011, there have been 15 movies and one feature length TV broadcast (released outside Japan as a direct-to-video movie titled "Mewtwo Returns"). The plot of every movie has involved an encounter with a Legendary Pokémon, although some may not conform to a strict definition of the word. The movies are also used to promote new Pokémon that appear in new versions of the game and series.

Movie #	Japanese title	English title	Released	Featured Pokémon
1	Mewtwo Strikes Back (ミュウツーの逆襲, Myūtsū no Gyakushū)	Mewtwo Strikes Back	July 18, 1998 (Japan) November 10, 1999 (North America)	Mewtwo, Mew
2	Revelation Lugia (幻のポケモン ルギア爆誕, Maboroshi no Pokemon Rugia Bakutan, Mirage Pokémon: Lugia's Explosive Birth)	The Power of One	July 17, 1999 (Japan) July 21, 2000 (North America)	Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia
3	Lord of the 'UNKNOWN' Tower: Entei (結晶塔の帝王 ENTEI, Kesshōtō no Teiō ENTEI, Emperor of The Crystal Tower: ENTEI)	Spell of the Unown	July 8, 2000 (Japan) April 6, 2001 (North America)	Entei, Unown
4	Celebi: A Timeless Encounter (セレビィ 時を超えた遭遇（であい）, Serebyi Toki o Koeta Deai, Celebi: The Meeting that Traversed Time)	Celebi: Voice of the Forest	July 7, 2001 (Japan) October 11, 2002 (North America)	Suicune, Celebi
5	The Guardians of Altomare (水の都の護神 ラティアスとラティオス, Mizu no Miyako no Mamorigami Ratiasu to Ratiosu, Guardian Gods of the Capital of Water: Ratiasu and Ratiosu)	Heroes: Latios and Latias	July 13, 2002 (Japan) May 16, 2003 (North America)	Latias, Latios
6	Wishing Star of the Seven Nights (七夜の願い星 ジラーチ, Nanayo no Negaiboshi Jirāchi, Wishing Star of the Seven Nights: Jirachi)	Jirachi Wish Maker	July 19, 2003 (Japan) June 1, 2004 (North America)	Groudon, Jirachi
7	Deoxys The Visitor (裂空の訪問者 デオキシス, Rekkū no Hōmonsha Deokishisu, Visitor from a Fissure in the Sky: Deoxys)	Destiny Deoxys	July 22, 2004 (Japan) January 22, 2005 (North America)	Rayquaza, Deoxys
8	Mew and the Wave Hero (ミュウと波導（はどう）の勇者 ルカリオ, Myū to Hadō no Yūsha Rukario, Mew and the Wave Guiding Hero: Lucario)	Lucario and the Mystery of Mew	July 16, 2005 (Japan) September 19, 2006 (North America)	Mew, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Lucario
9	The Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea (ポケモンレンジャーと蒼海（うみ）の王子 マナフィ, Pokemon Renjā to Umi no Ōji Manafi, The Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy)	Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea	July 15, 2006 (Japan) March 23, 2007 (North America)	Kyogre, Manaphy
10	Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai (ディアルガVSパルキアVSダークライ, Diaruga Tai Parukia Tai Dākurai)	The Rise of Darkrai	July 14, 2007 (Japan) February 24, 2008 (North America)	Dialga, Palkia, Darkrai
11	Giratina and the Sky Bouquet: Shaymin (ギラティナと氷空（そら）の花束 シェイミ, Giratina to Sora no Hanataba Sheimi)	Giratina and the Sky Warrior	July 19, 2008 (Japan) February 13, 2009 (North America)	Regigigas, Giratina, Shaymin, Dialga
12	Arceus: To the Conquering of Space-Time (アルセウス 超克の時空へ, Aruseusu Chōkoku no Jikū e)	Arceus and the Jewel of Life	July 18, 2009 (Japan) November 20, 2009 (North America)	Heatran, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Arceus
13	Phantom Ruler: Zoroark (幻影の覇者 ゾロアーク, Gen'ei no Hasha Zoroāku)	Zoroark: Master of Illusions	July 10, 2010 (Japan) February 5, 2011 (North America)	Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Celebi, Zorua, Zoroark
14	Victini and the Black Hero: Zekrom (ビクティニと黒き英雄ゼクロム, Bikutini to Kuroki Eiyū Zekuromu)	Pokémon the Movie: White - Victini and Zekrom	July 16, 2011 (Japan) December 3, 2011 (North America)(Theaters)	Victini, Zekrom, Reshiram
	Victini and the White Hero: Reshiram (ビクティニと白き英雄 レシラム, Bikutini to Shiroki Eiyū Reshiramu)	Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram	July 16, 2011 (Japan) December 10, 2011 (North America)	Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom
15	Kyurem vs. the Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo (キュレムVS聖剣士 ケルディオ, Kyuremu tai Seikenshi Kerudio)	TBA	July 14, 2012 (Japan)	Kyurem, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Keldeo

Specials

See also: List of Pokémon special episodes

Except main series and movies, the anime has also shown various specials and TV shorts. In English-language broadcast, these have been played or are playing as the Pokémon Chronicles or Pokémon Sunday series, alongside The Legend of Thunder! special and several Pikachu shorts, Many of these specials centered around legendary Pokémon or one or more of the main characters that is separate from the main cast during its corresponding series, while the sporadically-made later side story episodes typically air as special episodes. Another 8 additional OVAs were broadcast on numbered All Nippon Flights, as well as sold by DVD exclusively. In addition, two 3D shorts were shown during the tour of Japanese theme park Poképark.

Full-length TV specials

The Birth of Mewtwo / The Origin of Mewtwo (ミュウツーの誕生, Myūtsū no Tanjō)

An animated adaptation of the "Birth of Mewtwo" radio drama, which was later attached to the beginning of the first movie for the Japanese video release. A small 3 minute heavily edited version was released on the US version DVDs, while the full uncut version was made available on the Mewtwo Returns DVD.

Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns / Mewtwo! I Am Here (ミュウツー! 我ハココニ在リ, Myūtsū! Ware wa Koko ni Ari)

A made for television special that followed up on Mewtwo after the events of the first movie.

The Legend of Thunder! (ライコウ 雷の伝説, Raikou: Ikaduchi no Densetsu)

A made for television special that showcased the legendary Raikou, as well as brand new trainers. It became the first three episodes of Pokémon Chronicles. This was based on the release of Pokémon Crystal and is called as such in the Japanese title.

Normal-length TV specials

The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon / The Terrifying Mirage Pokémon (戦慄のミラージュポケモン, Senritsu no Mirāju Pokemon)

An hour-long TV special commemorating the tenth-anniversary of Pokémon in the United States.it aired on Kids' WB the sister station of Cartoon Network that Had It features a variety of Pokémon as artificial and stronger "mirages", including a supposedly "most powerful" Pokémon creation. Pokémon shown to be mirages were Mew, Kabutops, Omastar, Armaldo, Aggron, Aerodactyl, Houndoom, Absol, Mightyena, Machoke, Machamp, Ursaring, Magnemite, Entei, Articuno, Zapdos, and Mewtwo.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out Of The Gate! (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 出動ポケモン救助隊ガンバルズ, Fushigi no Danjon: Shutsudō Pokemon Kyūjotai Ganbaruzu!, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Pokémon Rescue Team Ganbarus on the March!)

A special anime based on the new video games which was shown on Cartoon Network in the USA September 8, 2006. The main characters in this special are a boy who was turned into a Squirtle, who formed a team with a naturally born Charmander and Chikorita.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊・闇の探検隊, Pokemon Fushigi no Danjon: Toki no Tankentai — Yami no Tankentai)

A sequel to the anime special based on the new video games prior to the Japanese release. The English version was shown on Action Stations! in the UK on July 18, 2008. The USA airing was on September 1, 2008 (Labor Day in the U.S.) on Cartoon Network. This special opens with Grovyle stealing a Time Gear — a circular object that controls time. The story then switches to the main characters Piplup (who is really a boy turned Pokémon) and Chimchar. Together with Chimchar, they become the exploration group Poképals and work at helping Pokémon who are in need of rescue along with exploring dungeons for treasure. After completing their first mission, to help a Shinx's sister who is very sick, the show ends with an announcement that the Time Gear has been stolen again. Piplup decides to stay with the team in order to help rescue other Pokémon; recover the Time Gear; and find out why he has been turned into a Pokémon. The last scene includes the message "to be continued", as do all other episodes of Pokémon. Which seemed as if it was implying there would be a full series, but such a series was never created.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky Beyond Time & Darkness / Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Sky Expedition ~The Final Adventure Surpassing Time and Darkness~ (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 空の探検隊～時と闇をめぐる 最後の冒険～, Pokemon Fushigi no Danjon: Sora no Tankentai ~Toki to Yami o Meguru Saigo no Bōken~)

A follow-up to Explorers of Time & Darkness, this anime special sees the Poképals teaming with Grovyle to battle with Dusknoir in the Hidden Land to save the world. This was available with the DSi game on a DVD for advance purchases at GameStop in the USA, and also premiered on October 9, 2009 on Cartoon Network in the USA and the following day on YTV in Canada.

Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (ポケモンレンジャー 光の軌跡, Pokemon Renjā Hikari no Kiseki)

A set of five-minute-long special episodes based on the DS game Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs which aired as part of Pokémon Sunday, it divided into two parts (Part 1 was aired on February 28, 2010, and Part 2 was aired on March 7, 2010). It shows in Oblivia Region, a Pokémon Ranger named Natsuya, receives a mission of head for the archipelago to stop a villainous team — Pokémon Pinchers' misdeeds from poaching and selling Pokémon which tasked by Professor Hastings. During his mission, he meets Ukulele Pichu and captures it.

Winter Vacation

Pikachu's Winter Vacation (ピカチュウのふゆやすみ, Pikachū no Fuyuyasumi) is a series of winter themed Pikachu-centered shorts that went directly to video. The first two were part of the Pokémon Chronicles series. This was the only Pokémon DVD not released by Viz Video but rather 4Kids' normal way of releasing DVDs, being released by 4Kids and Funimation.

ANA flights shorts

Pikachu's Summer Festival (ピカチュウのなつまつり, Pikachū no Natsumatsuri)

The first short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2004.

Pikachu's Ghost Carnival (ピカチュウのおばけカーニバル, Pikachū no Obake Kānibaru)

The second short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2005.

Pikachu's Mischievous Island / Pikachu's Island Adventure (ピカチュウのわんぱくアイランド, Pikachū no Wanpaku Airando)

The third short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2006 and was released in the Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea DVD in the USA.

Pikachu's Exploration Club (ピカチュウたんけんクラブ, Pikachū Tanken Kurabu)

The fourth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2007.

Pikachu's Great Ice Adventure (ピカチュウ 氷の大冒険, Pikachū Kōri no Daibōken)

The fifth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2008.

Pikachu's Great Sparking Search (ピカチュウのキラキラだいそうさく, Pikachū no Kirakira Daisōsaku)

The sixth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2009 and was released in the Pokémon Ranger: Locus of Light DVD in Japan.

Pikachu's Strange Wonder Adventure (ピカチュウのふしぎなふしぎな大冒険, Pikachū no Fushigina Fushigina Daibōken)

The seventh short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2010.

Pikachu's Summer Bridge Story (ピカチュウのサマー・ブリッジ・ストーリー, Pikachū no samā burijji sutōrī)

The eighth short premiered on ANA flights on August 1, 2011.

3D shorts

Pokémon 3D Adventure: Find Mew! (ポケモン3Dアドベンチャー ミュウを探せ!, Pokemon 3D Adobenchā: Myū o Sagase!)

The first Pokémon 3D short that was shown as the PokéPark in Japan in 2005.

Pokémon 3D Adventure 2: Pikachu's Big Undersea Adventure (ポケモン3Dアドベンチャー2 ピカチュウの海底大冒険, Pokemon 3D Adobenchā 2: Pikachū no Kaitei Daibōken)

The second Pokémon 3D short, shown when PokéPark was in Taiwan in 2006.

Related spin-off

Pokémon Chronicles

Main article: Pokémon Chronicles

right|200px|thumb|Pokémon Chronicles logo Pokémon Chronicles is a 4Kids-created label used for a package collection of several as of yet undubbed specials. The vast majority of the episodes making up Chronicles were taken from what was known in Japan as Pocket Monsters Side Stories (ポケットモンスターサイドストーリー, Poketto Monsutā Saido Sutōrī), which aired as part of Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station. The remaining portions of Chronicles consisted of the Pocket Monsters Crystal TV special, and installments from the Pikachu's Winter Vacation OVA series.

Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station

Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station (週間ポケモン放送局, Shūkan Pokemon Hōsōkyoku) was a closely related spin-off series that aired with the beginning part of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. The show was presented as an animated variety show, and showed clip shows, reruns of Pokémon episodes, television airings of the Pokémon movies, cast interviews, and live action footage, in addition to the previously mentioned Pokémon Side Story episodes. The show ran from October 15, 2002 to September 28, 2004, when it was replaced by Pokémon Sunday.

Pokémon Sunday

Pokémon Sunday (ポケモン☆サンデー, Pokemon Sandē) debuted on TV Tokyo on October 3, 2004. The show is the successor to the Pocket Monsters Encore and the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station. Like the shows before it, Pokémon Sunday is a sort of variety which featuring reruns of old episodes as well as a number of 'Research' episodes involving live-action elements.

Pokémon Smash!

Pokémon Smash! (ポケモンスマッシュ！, Pokemon Sumasshu!) is the successor to the Pokémon Sunday series. It debuted on TV Tokyo on October 3, 2010. Like its predecessors, Pokémon Smash! is a variety show that features live-action segments and reruns of old anime episodes. The theme song is "Endless Fighters" by AAA.

Airing and production

The English adaptation of the series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and video distribution of the series was handled by Viz Media and Pioneer Entertainment for the TV series, Warner Bros. and Nintendo for the first three movies, the thirteenth movie, and the first television special, Miramax Films, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment for the fourth movie through the seventh, Viz Media for movies eight to ten, and Universal Studios for the eleventh and twelfth films. The series and all feature films are directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, with English adaptations originally written by Norman J. Grossfeld and Michael Haigney for the first eight seasons. However, starting with the ninth season, The Pokémon Company International (operating as Pokémon USA at that time,) and TAJ Productions, who worked with 4Kids on the show before taking leave after Season 5, replaced 4Kids as the show's non-Japanese producers and distributors. Most of the original voice cast was also replaced by TAJ for budget purposes, causing controversy among fans who admired the original voice actors. When TAJ closed their doors, they were replaced by DuArt Film and Video for the tenth movie and Season 11 of the anime series onward. In Canada, Pokémon first aired and has been airing on YTV since late 1998. YTV has been airing Pokémon longer than any other English network and is Subsequently YTV's longest running show. In the UK, Pokémon first aired on Sky1, then it was followed by airings on GMTV and CITV in the summer of 1999 including their Saturday morning show SMTV Live and proved to be extraordinarily popular, to the point were segments and sketches of the show itself were based around Pokémon (e.g. the Pokérap). As part of their relaunching of their internet site, the full first season of the anime is being shown on the Pokemon.com web site in the USA.

The show (as of September 23, 2010, in Japan) has premiered the "rebooted" series, Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! on TV Tokyo Thursday nights at 7:00 PM JST. The metaseries had been airing on Tuesday nights in the earlier seasons. In the United States (as of February 12, 2011) the series is airing its second season of Black & White, with episodes premiering Saturday mornings at 8:30 AM ET/PT. An English version of Pokémon Side Story has now been made, titled Pokémon Chronicles which premiered in the UK on Toonami on May 11, 2005 at 4:30 p.m. BST, and is currently airing the 13th season on YTV in Canada. Each season also brings forth a Pokémon feature-length film, and each film up until the seventh is preceded by a Pokémon animated short. Pokémon CDs have been released in conjunction with the anime. The tracks feature songs that have been shown in the English dubbed version of the anime. However, some CDs have been released to promote and profit the anime.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl began airing in Japan on September 28, 2006 with a three-episode arc introducing the new series' main female character Dawn (known in Japan as Hikari), based on the playable female player in the Diamond and Pearl games. The new series aired with a sneak preview on April 20, 2007 in the USA. The sneak preview aired on May 5 in Canada. A dubbed version of the 90-minute preview done in Japan, Diamond and Pearl takes place in the Sinnoh region, based on the new Diamond and Pearl games. The new series aired in prime time on Cartoon Network starting June 4 at 7:30 PM ET/PT as part of the Cartoon Network Summer 2007 programming promotion. The summer run was confirmed in the Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea DVD released on April 2, 2007. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl has also been airing on YTV in Canada since September 8, 2007. Ash and Brock are joined by a new coordinator named Dawn, and the trio travel through Sinnoh, collecting gym badges and ribbons. Gary returned in this series.

Diamond and Pearl came to an end on September 9, 2010, and two weeks later was replaced by a new series based on the games, Pokémon Black and Pokémon White. On June 9, 2010, a blog posted by the storyboard writer revealed that the first four episodes of the Pokémon: Black & White series were finished and confirmed Ash returning. Two new characters would be traveling with Ash. On July 1, 2010, the official title of the 4th series - Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! - was revealed. The series introduced two new characters traveling with Ash - Iris, whos Axew travels in her hair, and Cilan, a "Pokémon Connoisseur" ("Sommelier" in Japan) who is a Gym Leader and specializes in relationships with Pokémon and their trainers. In addition, a new rival, Trip, was introduced as well.

In the UK, the first eight series were aired on multiple channels, ITV1, ITV2, Channel 5 and Sky1. Battle Frontier and Diamond and Pearl were aired on Cartoon Network. The CITV Channel and ITV4 recently broadcast the Battle Frontier episodes for the first time on free TV, on everyday as part of Action Stations!. Battle Dimension started airing in the UK on September 6, 2008, on Disney XD (née Jetix), which is advertised confusingly as "the new home for Pokémon in the UK", however episodes airing on Jetix/Disney XD have also aired on CITV and ITV4, with ITV4 sometimes premiering new episodes. Jetix/Disney XD's various European channels also started including Pokémon in their schedules from late 2008, making it the only channel to air the newest Pokémon series in some regions. The show will air on Pop soon.

In Germany the series was shown for the first time on 1 September 1999. As collecting main the USA version serves and simply with Germans dialogues was provided. In Germany so far 12 Seasons was shown from RTL2.

In Australia Pokémon: Black & White seasons airs on Eleven on 27 February 2012 at 7am Weekdays, formerly aired between Season 1-14 from 2000 to 2012 on Network Ten, also aired on Cartoon Network from 2001 to present.

Cartoon Network's India and Pakistan services, along with their Toonami UK service, also carries Pokémon episodes. As of October 9, 2006, Cartoon Network's online service, Toonami Jetstream, featured Pokémon episodes starting at the Orange League episode "The Pokémon Water War". As from November 16, 2009, Cartoon Network India is going to air the dub of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl while Cartoon Network Pakistan is going to air it from November 9, 2009. The last season of Diamond & Pearl series and thirteenth season overall, Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: Sinnoh League Victors premiered on October 3, 2011 in India. The last episode of Diamond & Pearl series that was shown on October 25, 2011 in India, while it is set to premiere on Cartoon Network Pakistan on February 1, 2012.

Controversy

Main article: Pokémon episodes removed from rotation

Pokémon has had several anime episodes removed from the rotation in Japan or the rest of the world. The most infamous of these episodes was Electric Soldier Porygon (でんのうせんしポリゴン, Dennō Senshi Porygon). The episode made headlines worldwide when it caused 685 children to experience seizures and seizure-like symptoms caused by a repetitive flash of light. Although the offending sequence was caused by Pikachu's actions, the episode's featured Pokémon, Porygon, has never been seen again in the anime except for one brief cameo appearance in the movie, Pokémon Heroes and in one scene-bumper later in season 1. Its evolutions Porygon2 and Porygon-Z have never appeared either. On September 1, 2006, China banned the series from prime time broadcasting (from 17:00 to 20:00), similarly to Western animated series such as The Simpsons, to protect its struggling animation studios. The ban was later extended by one hour.

See also

• List of Pokémon characters
• List of Pokémon episodes
• List of Pokémon special episodes
• List of Pokémon theme songs
• Pokémon Chronicles
• Banned episodes of Pokémon
• List of television shows based on video games

External links

Japan

• Pokémon JP official website
• Pokémon anime website at TV Tokyo
• Pokémon: Advanced Generation website at TV Tokyo
• Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl website at TV Tokyo
• Pokémon TV Anime at Pokémon JP official website

United States

• Pokémon US official website
• Pokémon: Black & White website at Cartoon Network
• Archive of the 4Kids corporate page about Pokémon anime
• Archive of the KidsWB content about Pokémon
• Bulbapedia: The Pokémon Encyclopedia
• Pokémon at Curlie

ar:بوكيمون (أنمي) de:Pokémon (Anime) es:Pokémon (anime) fr:Pokémon (série) id:Pokémon (anime) it:Pokémon (anime) hu:Pokémon (anime) ja:ポケットモンスター (アニメ) pl:Pokémon (anime) pt:Pokémon (anime) ru:Покемон#Аниме sv:Pokémon (anime) tr:Pokémon (anime) zh:神奇寶貝動畫版

This page is about the media franchise. For the title character, see Naruto Uzumaki. For other uses, see Wikiman103/sandbox (disambiguation).

Naruto
Cover of the first Japanese Naruto manga volume
NARUTO—ナルト—
Genre	Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Manga
Naruto (pilot chapter)
Written by	Masashi Kishimoto
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	Canada / United States: Viz Media
Magazine	Akamaru Jump
English magazine	Canada / United States: Shonen Jump
Demographic	Shōnen
Published	1997
Manga
Written by	Masashi Kishimoto
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	Australia / New Zealand: Madman Entertainment Canada / United Kingdom / United States: Viz Media
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine	Canada / United States: Shonen Jump (formerly) Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha (currently)
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	November 1999 – present
Volumes	60
Anime television series
Directed by	Hayato Date
Written by	Katsuyuki Sumisawa Junki Takegami
Music by	Musashi Project Toshio Masuda
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Licensed by	Australia / New Zealand: Madman Entertainment Canada/ United States: Viz Media United Kingdom: Manga Entertainment
Original network	Animax, TV Tokyo
English network	Australia: Network Ten, Cartoon Network (Toonami) Canada: YTV, Télétoon New Zealand: Cartoon Network United Kingdom: Jetix United States: Cartoon Network, Toonami
Original run	October 3, 2002 – February 8, 2007
Episodes	220
Novel
Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood
Written by	Masatoshi Kusakabe
Published by	Shueisha
English publisher	United States: Viz Media
Published	2002
Original video animation
Naruto: Find the Four-Leaf Red Clover!
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Licensed by	Australia /New Zealand: Madman Entertainment
Released	2003
Runtime	17 minutes
Original video animation
Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village!
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Licensed by	Canada /United States: Viz Media
Released	2004
Runtime	40 minutes
Original video animation
Naruto: Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival
Directed by	Hayato Date
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Licensed by	Canada / United States: Viz Media
Released	August 21, 2004
Runtime	11 minutes
Original video animation
Naruto: Finally a clash! Jonin VS Genin!! Indiscriminate grand melee tournament meeting!!
Directed by	Hayato Date
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Released	December 22, 2005
Runtime	26 minutes
Original video animation
Naruto: The Cross Roads
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Released	2009
Runtime	28 minutes
Anime television series
Naruto: Shippuden
Directed by	Hayato Date
Written by	Junki Takegami
Music by	Yasuharu Takanashi
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Licensed by	Canada /United States: Viz Media
Original network	Animax, TV Tokyo
English network	United States: Disney XD (on hiatus) Australia: Cartoon Network
Original run	February 15, 2007 – present
Episodes	267
Related works
Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom Naruto Shippuden: the Movie Naruto Shippuden 2: Bonds Naruto Shippūden The Movie: Inheritors of the Will of Fire Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Lost Tower Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja Naruto video games

Naruto (NARUTO—ナルト—, NARUTO) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and dreams to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.

The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Currently, the manga is still being serialized; fifty-nine tankōbon volumes have been released so far. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002. The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since February 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed eight movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and as well as the individual volumes. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. The first DVD volume of Naruto: Shippuden was released by Viz in North America on September 29, 2009, and it started broadcast on Disney XD in October of the same year.

Naruto is one of the best selling manga of all time having sold more than 113 million copies in Japan. Serialized in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the company's best-selling manga series. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 7 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities, but have criticized it for using standard shōnen plot elements.

Plot

See also: List of Naruto characters and World of Naruto

Twelve years before the start of the series, a powerful creature known as the Nine-tailed Demon Fox attacked the ninja village Konoha, killing many people. In response, the leader of Konoha's ninja military – the Fourth Hokage – sacrificed his life to seal the demon inside the newborn Naruto Uzumaki. Konoha, however, regarded Naruto as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the current Kage, the Third Hokage, forbade anyone mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone else. This included Naruto, who was not aware of the demon inside of him. Years later, Naruto is tricked by the renegade ninja Mizuki into stealing a forbidden scroll that would teach him a secret ninja technique, but he is stopped by his teacher, Iruka Umino. When Iruka almost dies while protecting Naruto from Mizuki, who also reveals that he is the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox, Naruto uses the Jutsu he learned from the scroll that creates multiple clones of himself, Shadow Clone Technique, to defeat Mizuki.

Naruto is assigned alongside, Sasuke Uchiha, who he competes against often, and Sakura Haruno, by Iruka after his class graduate from the Ninja Academy to form a three-person team named Team 7 under an experienced and severe sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Like all the ninja teams from every village, Team 7 is charged with completing missions requested by villagers, such as doing chores or being bodyguards. After several missions, Kakashi allows Team 7 to participate into a ninja exam in which they can advance to a higher rank, and thus, take part in more difficult missions. During the exams, Orochimaru, a criminal at the top of Konoha's most wanted list, attacks Konoha and kills the Third Hokage in an act of revenge. This forces one of the three legendary ninja, Jiraiya to search for his former teammate Tsunade, who has been nominated to become the Fifth Hokage. During the search, it is revealed that Orochimaru desires to acquire Sasuke due to his powerful genetic heritage. Believing Orochimaru will be able to give him the strength needed to kill his brother Itachi, who destroyed his clan, Sasuke joins him. Tsunade sends a group of ninja including Naruto to make Sasuke return to Konoha, but Naruto is unable to defeat him and bring him back to the village. Naruto does not give up on Sasuke, however, and he leaves Konoha to train for two-and-a-half years under Jiraiya's tutelage in order to prepare himself for the next time he encounters Sasuke.

After the training period, a criminal organization called Akatsuki attempts to capture the nine powerful tailed beasts that are sealed within people - including the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed inside of Naruto. Several ninjas from Konoha, including Team 7, fight against the Akatsuki members and search for their teammate Sasuke. Although they manage to save Gaara, the host of the One-Tailed beast, Akatsuki is successful in capturing seven of the creatures. In the meantime, Sasuke betrays Orochimaru and faces Itachi to take revenge. After Itachi dies in battle, Sasuke is told by the Akatsuki founder and leader Tobi that Itachi was ordered by Konoha's leadership to destroy his clan. Saddened with this revelation, Sasuke joins forces with Akatsuki to kill Konoha's superior who ordered the Uchihas' elimination.

Meanwhile, as several Akatsuki members are defeated by the Konoha ninjas, their figurehead leader, Pain, invades the village to capture Naruto. However, Naruto defeats him and convinces him to abandon the Akatsuki. With Pain's eventual death, Tobi , as Madara Uchiha announces that he wants to obtain all nine of the tailed beasts in order to perform an illusion powerful enough to control all of humanity. The leaders of the five ninja villages refuse to aid him, and instead, join forces to confront him and his allies. This results into a fourth ninja world war between the unified armies of the Five Great Countries collectively known as the "Ninja Alliance Army" and Akatsuki's forces.

Production

Masashi Kishimoto first created a one-shot of Naruto for August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump. Despite its high positive results in the reader poll, Kishimoto thought "[the] art stinks and the story's a mess!" Kishimoto was originally working on Karakuri for the Hop Step Award when, unsatisfied by the rough drafts, he decided to work on something different, which later formed into the manga series Naruto. Kishimoto has expressed concerns that the use of chakras and hand signs makes Naruto too Japanese, but still believes it to be an enjoyable read. When asked about what was Naruto's main theme during Part I, Kishimoto answered that it is how people accept each other citing Naruto's development across the series. Kishimoto said that since he was unable to focus on romance during Part I, he was to emphasize it more in Part II, the part of the manga beginning with volume 28, despite finding it difficult.

When originally creating the Naruto story, Kishimoto looked to other shōnen manga as influences for his work, although he attempted to make his characters as unique as possible. He based it off of Japanese culture The separation of the characters into different teams was intended to give each group a specific flavor. Kishimoto wished for each member to be "extreme," having a high amount of aptitude in one given attribute yet be talentless in another." The insertion of villains into the story was largely to have them act as a counterpoint to the characters' moral values. Kishimoto has admitted that this focus on illustrating the difference in values is central to his creation of villains to the point that, "I don't really think about them in combat." When drawing the characters, Kishimoto consistently follows a five-step process: concept and rough sketch, drafting, inking, shading, and coloring. These steps are followed when he is drawing the actual manga and making the color illustrations that commonly adorn the cover of tankōbon, the cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump, or other media, but the toolkit he utilizes occasionally changes. For instance, he utilized an airbrush for one illustration for a Weekly Shōnen Jump cover, but decided not to use it for future drawings largely due to the cleanup required. For Part II, Kishimoto said that he attempted to not "overdo the typical manga style" by not including "too much deformation" and keeping the panel layouts to make it easy for the reader to follow the plot. Kishomoto said his drawing style changed from "the classic manga look to something a bit more realistic."

Kishimoto added that, as Naruto takes place in a "Japanese fantasy world," he has set certain rules, in a systematic way so that he could easily "convey the story." Kishimoto wanted to "draw on" the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this. When Kishimoto was creating the setting of the Naruto manga, he initially concentrated on the designs for village of Konohagakure, the primary setting of the series. Kishimoto asserts that his design for Konohagakure was created "pretty spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery is based on his home in the Okayama prefecture in Japan. Without a specific time period, Kishimoto included modern elements in the series such as convenience stores, but specifically excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the storyline. For reference materials, Kishimoto performs his own research into Japanese culture and alludes to it in his work. Regarding technology Kishimoto said that Naruto would not have any firearms. He said he may include automobiles, aircraft and "low-processing" computers; Kishimoto specified the computers would "maybe" be eight-bit and that they would "definitely not" be sixteen-bit.

Regarding the series' length, Kishimoto was surprised when the series reached its tenth volume as a result of its popularity. He has also stated that he has a visual idea of the last chapter of the series, including the text and the story. However, he notes that it may take a long time to end the series since "there are still so many things that need to be resolved". Additionally, he commented it would not reach a three-digit number of volumes. In February 2012 Kishimoto announced the manga was reaching its climax and wished fans to keep supporting his series.

Media

Manga

Main article: List of Naruto manga volumes

Naruto premiered in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in 1999. The first 238 chapters are known as Part I, and constitute the first part of the Naruto storyline. Manga chapters 239 to 244 comprise a gaiden series focusing on the background of the character Kakashi Hatake. All subsequent chapters belong to Part II, which continues the storyline in Part I after a two and a half year time gap. Besides the regular Naruto manga, a spin-off series focused in the character of Rock Lee started being published in Shueisha's Super Strong Jump since December 2010.

The Naruto manga is serialized in North America by Viz Media in their manga anthology magazine Shonen Jump, with the first chapter of the English adaptation published in the January 2003 issue. To compensate for the gap between the Japanese and English adaptations of the manga, Viz implemented its "Naruto Nation" campaign, where it released three volumes a month in the last four months of 2007 in order to close said gap. Cammie Allen, Viz's product manager, commented that, their main reason for the schedule was to catch up to the Japanese release schedule to give their readers a similar experience to that of Japanese readers. A similar campaign was planned for 2009, with eleven volumes from Part II of the series being released between February and April in order to catch up to the Japanese serialization. Starting with the release of volume forty-five in July, Viz will begin releasing Naruto on a quarterly basis.

As of November 2011, 58 tankōbon have been released by Shueisha in Japan, with the first twenty-seven tankōbon containing Part I, and the remaining thirty belonging to Part II. The first tankōbon was released on March 3, 2000. In addition, several tankōbon, each containing ani-manga based one of the Naruto movies, have been released by Shueisha. In Japanese, Shueisha has also released the series for cell-phone download on their website Shueisha Manga Capsule.

Viz has released 53 volumes of the English adaptation of the manga with the first being published on August 16, 2003. In addition, Viz Media released all twenty-seven volumes in a boxed set, thus constituting the entirety of the Naruto storyline before Part II on November 13, 2007. On May 3, 2011, Viz started collecting the series in format in which each volume contains three from the original format.

Anime series

Naruto

Main article: List of Naruto episodes

Is of American origin, where a group of men wanted to make an anime series based on the naruto manga, in which they created the show, and it originated in Chicago, Illinois. Directed by Hayato Date and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo, the Naruto anime adaptation premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo October 3, 2002, and ran for 220 episodes until its conclusion on February 8, 2007. The first 135 episodes are adapted from the first twenty-seven volumes of the manga, while the remaining eighty episodes are original episodes that utilize plot elements not seen in the original manga. Beginning on April 29, 2009, the original Naruto anime began a rerun on Wednesdays and Thursdays (until the fourth week September 2009 when it changed to just Wednesdays) in HDTV with new opening and ending themes under the name Shōnen Hen (少年篇, "Youth Version").

Episodes from the series have been published in DVD. The first DVD series has been the only one to be collected in VHS format. There are a total of five series, with each of the including four episodes per volume. The series has also been collected in a series of three DVD boxes during 2009. The newest DVD series is Naruto The Best Scene which collects scenes from the first 135 episodes from the anime.

Viz licensed the anime series for broadcast and distribution in the Region 1 market. The English adaptation of the anime began airing on September 10, 2005 and finished on January 31, 2009, with 209 episodes aired. The episodes have been shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami (United States), YTV's Bionix (Canada) and Jetix's (United Kingdom) programming blocks. Beginning on March 28, 2006, Viz released the series on DVD. While the first 26 volumes contain four episodes, since DVD volumes have five episodes. Uncut editions are compiled in DVD Box Sets, each containing 12-15 episodes, with some variation based around story arcs. In the American broadcast, references to alcohol, Japanese culture, sexual innuendo, and the appearance of blood and death were sometimes reduced for the broadcast, but left in, in the DVD editions. Other networks make additional content edits apart from the edits done by Cartoon Network, such as Jetix's stricter censoring of blood, language, smoking and the like. The series has also been licensed to the websites Hulu, Joost, and Crunchyroll, which air episodes online with the original Japanese audio tracks and English subtitles. The last Naruto episode aired on YTV's Bionix block on December 6, 2009 at 12:30am ET.

Naruto: Shippuden

Main article: List of Naruto: Shippuden episodes

Marquee at the Viz Media headquarters in San Francisco advertising Naruto Shippuden on Disney XD

Naruto: Shippuden (NARUTO -ナルト- 疾風伝, Naruto Shippūden, lit. "Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles") is the ongoing sequel to the original Naruto anime and covers the Naruto manga from volume twenty-eight on. The TV adaptation of Naruto: Shippuden debuted in Japan on February 15, 2007 on TV Tokyo. It is developed by Studio Pierrot and directed by Hayato Date. ABS-CBN is the first TV network outside Japan to broadcast Naruto: Shippuden; it aired the first 40 episodes of Naruto: Shippuden, running the show through March 19, 2008. On January 8, 2009, TV Tokyo began broadcasting new episodes via internet streaming directly to monthly subscribers. Each streamed episode is made available online within an hour of its Japanese premiere and includes English subtitles. Viz began streaming English subtitled episodes on January 2, 2009, on its official website for the series. The uploaded episodes include both previously released episodes and the new episodes from Japan. Since October 2009, the English dub of Naruto: Shippuden started airing weekly on Disney XD.

The series is being released to Region 2 DVD in Japan with four or five episodes per disc. There are currently four series of DVD releases divided by story arc. There is also a special feature included with the seventh Naruto: Shippuden compilation DVD based on the second ending of the series called Hurricane! "Konoha Academy" Chronicles. Besides the regular DVD series, on December 16, 2009 Kakashi Chronicles: Boys' Life on the Battlefield (カカシ外伝～戦場のボーイズライフ～, Kakashi Gaiden ~Senjō no Bōizu Raifu~) was released featuring episodes 119-120 which are set during Kakashi Hatake's childhood.

The first North American DVD of the series was released on September 29, 2009. Only the first fifty-three episodes were collected in this format that ended with the 12th volume released on August 10, 2010. Following episodes have been released as part of DVD boxes that started release on January 26, 2010 with the first season. In the United Kingdom, the series is licensed by Manga Entertainment who released the first DVD collection on June 14, 2010.

Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals

Main article: List of Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals episodes

In February 2012, Shueisha announced that the spin-off manga Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden would receive an anime adaptation. Produced by Studio Pierrot, the series premiered in TV Tokyo on April 3, 2012. Crunchyroll simulcasted the series' premiere in their website and will also stream its following episodes.

CDs

Cover of Naruto Shippūden Original Soundtrack

The Naruto soundtracks were composed and arranged by Toshio Masuda. The first, titled Naruto Original Soundtrack, was released on April 3, 2003 and contained twenty-two tracks that appeared during the first season of the anime. The second, called Naruto Original Soundtrack II was released on March 18, 2004 and contained nineteen tracks. The third, called Naruto Original Soundtrack III was released on April 27, 2005 and contained twenty-three tracks.

A series of two soundtracks containing all the opening and ending themes of the series, titled Naruto: Best Hit Collection and Naruto: Best Hit Collection II were released on November 17, 2004 and August 2, 2006, respectively. Of all tracks of the series, eight were selected and released as a CD called Naruto in Rock -The Very Best Hit Collection Instrumental Version- that was released on December 19, 2007. Each of the three movies of the first anime series has a soundtrack that was released near its release date. On October 12, 2011, a CD collecting the themes from Naruto Shōnen Hen was also released. Various Drama CD series have also been released in which the voice actors play original episodes.

The soundtracks of Naruto: Shippuden have been produced by Yasuharu Takanashi. The first, Naruto Shippūden Original Soundtrack was released on December 9, 2007. The second CD, Naruto Shippuden Original Soundtrack II, was published on December 16, 2009. Naruto All Stars was released on July 23, 2008 and consists of ten original Naruto songs remixed and sung by characters from the series. Ten themes from the two series were also collected in the DVD box Naruto Super Hits 2006-2008 released on July 23, 2008. Each of the films from the sequel also had their soundtracks, with the first released on August 1, 2007.

Original video animations

There are five Naruto original video animations (OVAs). The first two, Find the Crimson Four-Leaf Clover! and Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village!, were aired at the Shōnen Jump Jump Festa 2003 and Jump Festa 2004, respectively, and were later released on DVD in Australia under the title "Naruto Jump Festa Collection". The English localization of the second OVA was released on DVD by Viz on May 22, 2007 in USA under the title "Naruto - The Lost Story". The third OVA, Finally a clash! Jonin VS Genin!! Indiscriminate grand melee tournament meeting!!, was released on a bonus disc with the Japanese edition of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 video game for the PlayStation 2. The fourth OVA, Konoha Annual Sports Festival, is a short video released with the first Naruto movie. In North America, the OVA was included in the "Deluxe Edition" DVD from the first film. The fifth OVA, , was featured at the Jump Festa 2010. It is focused in Team 7 after their encounter with Zabuza and Haku. A short OVA was also included within the DVD "Naruto x UT Original DVD" released on January 1, 2011 as promoted by UNIQLO.

Films

The series has also led to eight films; with the first three situated during the first anime series, the remaining from Naruto: Shippūden. The first film, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, was released on August 21, 2004 in Japan. It tells how Team 7 is dispatched to the Land of Snow to protect the actors during the shooting of the new Princess Fuun movie, to whom Naruto became a fan. As a bonus, the short original video animation Konoha Annual Sports Festival was included with the Japanese release of the film. It premiered on June 6, 2007 in the United States.

It was followed by Legend of the Stone of Gelel, which was released in theaters in Japan on August 6, 2005. The film involves Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura during a ninja mission in which they are involved in a war between the Sunagakure village and a large number of armored warriors. Unlike its predecessor, Legend of the Stone of Gelel did not see a theatrical release in the United States, and was direct-to-video instead. It aired on Cartoon Network on July 26, 2008 and then was released to DVD July 29, 2008.

The third film, Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, was originally released on August 5, 2006. It shows how Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Kakashi are assigned to protect the future prince of the Land of Moon, Hikaru Tsuki. The English dub of the movie aired on Cartoon Network and was released to DVD on November 11, 2008. On July 3, 2008, Sony released a Japanese DVD Box containing the first three movies.

The series' fourth film, Naruto Shippuden: the Movie, was released on August 4, 2007, and chronicles Naruto's assignment to protect the priest Shion who starts having visions of his death. The fifth film, Naruto Shippuden The Movie: Bonds, was released on August 2, 2008. It tells how ninja from the Sky Country attack Konoha and to stop them, Naruto and Sasuke join forces although the latter has already left two years ago. The next film is Naruto Shippūden The Movie: Inheritors of the Will of Fire, which premiered in Japan on August 1, 2009. Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Lost Tower followed it in Japan on July 31, 2010, while Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison is the latest film as of 2012. A new movie, Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja will be out at July 28, 2012.

Light novels

Three Naruto light novels, written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, have been published in Japan by Shueisha, while the first two were released in English in North America by Viz. The first, Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood (白の童子、血風の鬼人), retells Team 7's mission in which they encounter the assassins Zabuza and Haku. It was released on December 16, 2002 in Japan and November 21, 2006 in North America. The second novel Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village! (滝隠れの死闘　オレが英雄だってばよ！, Takigakure no Shitō Ore ga Eiyū dattebayo!, lit. The Waterfall Village's Fight to the Death I am the Hero!), based on the 2nd original video animation of the anime, was published on December 15, 2003 in Japan and October 16, 2007 in the United States. A novel titled Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (NARUTO―ナルト―ド根性忍伝, Naruto: Dokonjō Ninden) was published on August 4, 2009. It's presented as the in-universe novel written by Naruto's master Jiraiya, and follows the adventures of a fictional shinobi named Naruto Musasabi, who served as Naruto's namesake. Novelizations of the two Naruto films, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow and Blood Prison, have also been published in Japan.

Viz has also published new novels called Chapter Books written by Tracey West, and with illustrations from the manga. Unlike the series, the novels are aimed to children aged 7 to 10 years old. The first two novels were released on October 7, 2008 and currently at least 11 novel have been published.

Video games

Main article: List of Naruto video games

Naruto video games have appeared on various consoles from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Most of them are fighting games in which the player controls one of a select few characters directly based upon their counterparts in the Naruto anime and manga. The player pits their character against another character controlled by the game's AI or by another player, depending on the mode that the player is in. The objective is to reduce the opponent's health to zero using basic attacks and special techniques unique to each character that are derived from techniques they use in the Naruto anime or manga. The very first Naruto video game was Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō, which was released in Japan on March 27, 2003, for the WonderSwan Color. Most Naruto video games have been released only in Japan. The first games released outside Japan were the Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen series and the Naruto: Saikyou Ninja Daikesshu series, released in North America under the titles of Naruto: Clash of Ninja and Naruto: Ninja Council. In January 2012, Namco Bandai announced that they have sold 10 million Naruto games worldwide.

Trading card game

Naruto Collectible Card Game (NARUTOカードゲーム, Naruto Kādo Gēmu, lit. Naruto CardGame) is a collectible card game based around the Naruto series. Produced by Bandai, the game was first introduced in Japan in February 2003. Bandai began releasing the game in English in North America in April 2006. The game is played between two players requiring players use a customized deck of fifty cards from the set, a game mat, an item to act as a "turn marker" for noting whose turn it is, and a "Ninja Blade Coin" which is primarily used to flip for making decisions. In order to win, a player must either earn ten "battle rewards" through their actions in the game, or they must cause the other player to exhaust their deck.

The cards are released in named sets, called "series" in the form of four different 50-card preconstructed box sets. Each set includes a starter deck, the game mat, a turn-counter, and one stainless steel "Ninja Blade Coin". Additional cards are made available in 10-card booster packs, and deck sets, primarily for retailers, contain all four box sets available for each series. Cards for each set are also made available in collectible tins, containing several booster packs and exclusive promotional cards in a metal box. By October 2006, seventeen series had been released in Japan spanning 417 unique cards. As of August 2008, ten of these series have been released in North America.

Art and guidebooks

Several supplementary books of the Naruto series have been released. An artbook named The Art of Naruto: Uzumaki contains illustration from the Part I manga and was released in both Japan and the United States. For the Part II manga, an interactive book called PAINT JUMP: Art of Naruto was released by Shueisha on April 4, 2008. The latest artbook was published on July 3, 2009 under the name of Naruto with its English version released on October 26, 2010.

A series of guidebooks for the Part I called First Official Data Book (秘伝·臨の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Rin no Sho Character Official Data Book) and Second Official Data Book (秘伝·闘の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Tō no Sho Character Official Data Book) were released only in Japan focusing on Part I. The third databook, Character Official Data Book Hiden Sha no Sho (秘伝・者の書 ― キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Sha no Sho - Kyarakutā ofisharu dēta book) was released on September 4, 2008, and adapted Part II from the manga. These books contain character profiles, Jutsu guides and drafts made by Kishimoto. The third book will be released by Viz on January 10, 2012. For the anime, a series of guidebook called Naruto anime profiles were also released. These books contain information about the production of the anime episodes and explanation of the characters designs. On October 4, 2002, it was released a manga fanbook named Secret: Writings from the Warriors Official Fanbook (秘伝・兵の書 ― オフィシャルファンBOOK, Hiden: Hei no Sho - Ofisharu fan book). Viz published it in North America on February 19, 2008 under the name of Naruto: The Official Fanbook. Another fanbook was released to conmemmorate the series' 10th anniversary. It includes illustrations of Naruto Uzumaki by other manga artists, a novel, Kishimoto's one-shot named Karakuri and an interview between Kishimoto and Yoshihiro Togashi.

Reception

Manga

Naruto has been well received in both Japan and the United States. As of 2007, the manga has sold over 71 million copies in Japan, while in 2008 it increased to 89 million. In April 2010, Shueisha announced Naruto sold 100.4 million copies, becoming the fifth manga from Shueisha that sold more than 100 million. During 2011, the sales increased to over 113 million copies. During 2008, volume 43 sold 1.1 million copies becoming the 9th best-selling comic from Japan. Volumes 41, 42 and 44 also ranked within the top 20, but had smaller sold copies. In total, the manga sold 4.2 million copies in Japan during 2008, becoming the 2nd best-selling series. In the first half from 2009, it ranked as the 3rd best-seller manga from Japan, having sold 3.4 million copies. In such period, volume 45 ranked 5th with 1.1 million sold copies, while volume 46 ranked 9th, having sold 864,708 copies and volume 44 at 40th place.

The Naruto manga series has become one of Viz's top properties, accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in 2006. Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Viz, noted that the volumes's sales of Naruto astonished him as the attrition on the series is relatively low. ICv2 has listed it as the top manga property from North America several times. The seventh volume of Viz's release became the first manga win a Quill Award when it claimed the award for "Best Graphic Novel" in 2006. The manga also appeared in the USA Today Booklist with volume 11 holding the title of the highest ranked manga series on the list, until it was surpassed by volume 28, which claimed the 17th rank in its first week of release in March 2008. Volume 28 also had one of the biggest debut weeks of any manga in years, becoming the top selling manga volume of 2008 as well as the second best-seller book in North America. During its release, volume 29 ranked #57, while the volume 28 had dropped to #139. In April 2007, volume 14 earned Viz the "Manga Trade Paperback of the Year" Gem Award from Diamond Comic Distributors. The manga series also became the top manga property from 2008 in the United States with 31 volumes having been published during the chart. Searches for the word "Naruto" were #7 on the Yahoo! web search engine's list of the top 10 most popular search terms of 2008, and #4 from 2007. Responding to Naruto's success, Kishimoto said in Naruto Collector Winter 2007/2008 that he was "very glad that the American audience has accepted and understood ninja. It shows that the American audience has good taste... because it means they can accept something previously unfamiliar to them."

The series has received praise and criticism by several reviewers. A. E. Sparrow from IGN noted how some manga volumes focus only in certain characters to the point the number of fans increases. He also praised the way that Kishimoto manages to make a remarkable combination of fighting scenes, comedy and good artwork. The anime and manga magazine Neo described Naruto's character as "irksome", but attributed the series' "almost sickening addictiveness" to its level of characterization. Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network (ANN) praised the designs of the characters, since every one shows their unique way of acting and appearance. He also noted how even the "goofiest looking character" can act "damn cool" when he fights. However, Kimlinger noted that in some volumes there are several fights, so the plot is not able to develop, however he praised how each of the battles were emotional. The series has also been praised for remaining enjoyable after several volumes by Javier Lugo from mangalife, who also praised the antagonists as well as the fights scenes from the manga. Kishimoto's artwork was also commented by Lugo as it makes the story "dramatic, exciting, and just right for the story he’s telling". The start of Part II has been praised in another review by Casey Brienza from ANN. She noted how well the characters were developed as they had new appearances and abilities. Brienza also praised the balance between plot and action scenes allowing the readers the enjoy the volume. However, she noted that it is not frequent that all the volumes have the same quality. Briana Lawrence from Mania Entertainment added that in Part II, the manga feels "adult" due to the growth from various of the characters. However, Viz's translations were criticized for being "inconsistent" due to the change of some Japanese terms to English, while other words were left intact.

The Spanish webcomic author Jesús García Ferrer (JesuLink) created the parody webcomic Raruto, based on Naruto. As of 2008 about 40,000 people in Spain read Raruto.

Anime

In TV Asahi's latest top 100 Anime Ranking from October 2006, Naruto ranked 17th on the list. Naruto Shippuden has ranked several times as one of most watched series in Japan. The Naruto anime adaptation won the "Best Full-Length Animation Program Award" in the Third UStv Awards held in the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. The first of the DVD compilations containing thirteen episodes, released by Viz was nominated at the American Anime Awards for best package design. It also ranked as the third best-seller anime property from all 2008. Naruto was named "Best Full Animated Program" at the USTv Student's Choice Awards 2009 held at the UST Medicine Auditorium on February 19, 2009. In ICv2's "Top 10 Anime Properties" from the first half of 2009, Naruto ranked as the second best anime franchise. The episodes from Naruto: Shippuden have appeared various times in Japanese Anime TV Ranking. DVD sales from Naruto: Shippuden have also been good, having appeared several times in the Japanese Animation DVD Ranking. The freely streamed episodes from Naruto: Shippuden have an average of 160,000 viewers a week. Naruto has also been 20th among shows and channels from Hulu in February from 2009. In Joost, it was first during the same month. In February, Naruto: Shippuden was first among the animated shows on Joost while Naruto stayed second.

The Naruto anime was listed as the 38th best animated show in IGN's Top 100 Animated Series. Reviewers noted that the primary focus of the series was on the fighting since they consider that the fight scenes are more dedicated than backgrounds. The music has also been noted to be a good match with the fighting scenes though it sometimes interferes with the dialogues. Martin Theron from ANN criticized the series for long fights, but he also noted that most of them break the "stereotypical shōnen concepts." The soundtracks have been praised for enhancing the excitement and mood of the storytelling. Although Christina Carpenter of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews considered the characters from the series as "likeable", she commented that most of them did not surpass the "stereotypics" that appear in shōnen manga. She also considered Kishimoto "an average artist at best" and derided the poor transition of his artistic style into animation. Despite this, the second reviewer from T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, Derrick L. Tucker, admitted that when the animators were at their best, they produced "artistic renderings that leave little to be desired on the part of fans of the manga", but concluded the animation was "a mixed bag". He also added that while fights were entertaining, due to the large number of them, the plot takes time to continue.

Naruto: Shippuden received a good response from Activeanime's David C. Jones who commented on the new character designs and the improved animation. Jones also felt the series to be more serious and dramatic. The series was noted by ANN to have a more serious tone, and a good balance between comedy and drama in the first original episodes made specifically for the TV series. Unlike the panned fillers from Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden's have been praised thanks to its likable storylines and connection with the main plot. While the pacing for the first episodes has been criticized for being slow, the delivery and development in the interactions between the characters has received positive comments.

External links

• Official Naruto website (in Japanese)
• Official TV Tokyo Naruto website (in Japanese)
• Official TV Tokyo Naruto: Shippūden website (in Japanese)
• Official Studio Pierrot Naruto website (in Japanese)
• Official Viz Media Naruto website
• Disney XD Naruto website
• Official Manga Entertainment Naruto website
• Official Madman Entertainment Naruto website
• Narutopedia, the Naruto Encyclopedia Wiki
• Wikiman103/sandbox (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Yoshi Tatsu
Born	(1977-08-01) August 1, 1977 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Naofumi Yamamoto Mr. Yamamoto Yamamoto Yoshitatsu Yoshi Tatsu
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight	221 lb (100 kg)
Billed from	Tokyo, Japan
Trained by	Yuji Nagata New Japan Dojo Florida Championship Wrestling
Debut	October 12, 2002

Naofumi Yamamoto (山本 尚史, Yamamoto Naofumi, born August 1, 1977) is a Japanese-Canadian professional wrestler and former boxer, who is currently signed to WWE, performing on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu.

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2007)

Yamamoto trained for his professional wrestling career in the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo before making his professional wrestling debut on October 12, 2002.

Yamamoto lost to Wataru Inoue in his debut match in the first match of a show in the Korakuen Hall. Initially Yamamoto worked low card matches for NJPW, normally on the losing side to gain ring experience. On December 27, 2003, Yamamoto lost to Ryusuke Taguchi in a match where the winner would get a match on NJPW's most prestigious show, their January 4 Dome Show Wrestling World. Yamamoto participated in the 2004 Young Lion Cup where he defeated Hirooki Goto, Aikya Anzawa, and Hiroshi Nagao to earn a total of six points, not enough to qualify for the finals. Yamamoto also participated in the 2005 Young Lion Cup where he only won one match, defeating Yujiro. In 2006 Yamamoto participated in his first G1 Climax tournament, losing all four matches. Yamamoto teamed up with Manabu Nakanishi to compete in the 2006 G1 Climax Tag League, defeating Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko to earn their sole victory in the tournament. On January 8, 2006, Yamamoto and Osamu Nishimura defated Toru Yano and a returning Togi Makabe. Over the summer of 2007 Yamamoto began teaming regularly with Hiroshi Tanahashi forming a team called "New Japan Dragons", earning a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship against the then champions, Bernard and Tomko, albeit in a losing effort. For the 2007 G1 Climax Tag League Yamamoto teamed up with Takashi Ilzuka, while they defeated three teams (Hirooki Goto and Milano Collection A.T., Togi Makabe and Toru Yano, and Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko); the team ended up in last place. On November 2, 2007 Yamamoto wrestled his last match for NJPW, teaming with his mentor Yuji Nagata in a losing effort against Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano.

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2007–present)

Developmental territory (2007–2009)

In late 2007 Yamamoto was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to a full time contract, which meant that he had to relocate to the United States. He immediately was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), to undergo assessment and training in the "WWE Style" of wrestling. Initially he wrestled as Mr. Yamamoto, then simply as Yamamoto. He briefly teamed with Sheamus O'Shaunessy under the team name "the Movers and the Shakers". Later on he changed his ring name to Yoshitatsu, before tweaking the spelling to Yoshi Tatsu, the name he currently works under.

ECW (2009–2010)

On June 30, 2009, Yamamoto joined the ECW brand under the ring name Yoshi Tatsu. He had his first match that night, defeating Shelton Benjamin, although he lost a rematch to Benjamin on the July 9 episode of ECW. On the October 20 episode of ECW, Tatsu defeated Zack Ryder to become number one contender for the ECW Championship, although he failed to win the championship the following week against Christian. On the December 22 episode of ECW Yoshi Tatsu defeated Jack Swagger to earn a spot in the ECW Homecoming battle royal where the winner would challenge Christian for the ECW title at the Royal Rumble. On the January 12 episode of ECW, however, Tatsu was not able to win the battle royal when he was eliminated by Kane. At the Royal Rumble Tatsu competed in his first Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by John Cena. Tatsu then formed a tag team with Goldust and the duo became the number one contenders for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship but failed in capturing the titles on the final episode of ECW on Syfy.

Raw (2010–2011)

After the ECW brand was discontinued, Tatsu made his debut on the Raw brand on the February 22, 2010 episode of Raw, where he teamed up with Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston to defeat The Legacy (Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes), after Orton turned on his partners. Tatsu won a 26-Man Battle Royal in the dark match to open WrestleMania XXVI by last eliminating Zack Ryder. In July 2010, Tatsu would be involved in a few backstage brawls with The Nexus to try to help John Cena get rid of them, which he failed to do. Yoshi then went to Japan to promote the new WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 video game. After months of not appearing on WWE television, Tatsu returned on the November 11 episode of WWE Superstars, defeating Zack Ryder. On the November 29 episode of Raw, Tatsu teamed with Mark Henry to defeat WWE Tag Team Champions Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater, after a distraction by John Cena. A week later, Tatsu and Henry received a shot at the titles in a Fatal-4-Way Elimination Tag Team match, which also included The Usos and Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov. Tatsu and Henry were the first team eliminated in the match. On the February 14 episode of Raw, Maryse and DiBiase were about to kiss but instead Maryse kissed Tatsu. On the 24 February episode of Superstars during the match between Daniel Bryan and Ted DiBiase, Yoshi Tatsu came out and gave Maryse flowers but Maryse hit DiBiase with the flowers before Bryan used the LeBell Lock on DiBiase, making him tap out allowing Bryan to win the match. Tatsu also had a chance to earn a World Heavyweight Championship shot in a 20 man number one contenders battle royal which he was eliminated from.

SmackDown and NXT (2011–present)

On April 26, Tatsu was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. His only appearances on SmackDown for 2011 were in the form of number one contenders battle royals for the World Heavyweight Championship and participation in the All I Want for Christmas battle royal where the winner would receive one wish.

Tatsu was a WWE Pro for the fifth season of WWE NXT, also known as NXT Redemption, with his rookie being Byron Saxton. On the April 26 episode of WWE NXT, Tatsu was attacked by Saxton after Tatsu cost his match against Lucky Cannon. This would cause tension between the two until the May 17 episode of WWE NXT, where Tatsu would defeat Saxton. On the May 31 episode of WWE NXT, Saxton was the second rookie eliminated.

After Saxton's elimination, Tatsu began a feud with fellow NXT pro Tyson Kidd, whose rookie was also eliminated. Their feud stemmed from Kidd breaking Tatsu's toy figurine of himself and stealing one of the toy figurine's legs. Both wrestlers would trade wins during their series of matches, and Tatsu claimed back the stolen figurine leg by winning a Necklace on a Pole match on the July 26 episode of NXT. After the match, Kidd brutally assaulted the right leg of Tatsu, causing Tatsu to be absent from NXT for more than a month. However, in the next few weeks, a mysterious Japanese symbol would appear on the TitanTron to distract Kidd during his matches. The symbol turned out to be the Kanji lettering for “pride” – a message from Tatsu. Tatsu returned on the September 6th episode of NXT, where he debuted black tights emblazoned with Kanji characters and the Japanese flag, had his small lock of blond hair dyed red and had half his face painted. Tatsu would go on to defeat Kidd on that episode to end the feud. Tatsu later explained that his new look and wrestling style was due to him wanting to better portray Japanese culture, Japanese pride and the aggressive style of Japanese wrestling; he also explained that his face paint was a tribute to the Great Muta. Tatsu stopped wearing his face paint to the ring by October 2011.

Tatsu formed an alliance with Trent Barreta; from December 2011, they feuded with Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks. Both teams would play pranks on each other, with Tatsu being locked in a closet and Reks' hands being superglued onto an Xbox controller. On January 18th Hawkins and Reks beat Barreta and Tatsu, culminating the feud.

On January 24 Tatsu would team up with Santino Marella to form a comical, the pair could not decide what the tag team should be known as, Santino suggested "Santoshi" and Tatsu suggested "Yoshitino". The pair took on the WWE Tag Team Champions Primo & Epico in a losing effort. On next weeks episode of SmackDown, Santino stated that the combination of the two was not suitable and therefore searched for another partner which would be Hacksaw Jim Duggan. At Over the Limit 2012, Yoshi competed in a People Power Battle Royal and was unsucsessful.Yoshi Tatsu had been a losing streak.On WWE Superstar May 29 2012,Yoshi Tatsu has power up to beat Jinder Mahal but Jinder Mahal finished Yoshi Tatsu with Punjabi Clutch.On WWE Superstar June 7, Yoshi Tatsu had been defeated by Hunico with the help of Camacho, that put Yoshi Tatsu still on the losing streak. Yoshi Tatsu had a short feud with Damien Sandow. It ended when Sandow defeated Tatsu on a Smackdown episode.

Other media

As Tatsu, Yamamoto is featured as a playable superstar for the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 and WWE '12 video games. He was previously featured in King of Colosseum II and Wrestle Kingdom 2 under his real name.

Personal life

Yamamoto is a graduate from Kokushikan University with a degree in political studies.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Roundhouse kick - 2010-present
  • Top-rope spinning heel kick - 2010-2011; used as a signature move thereafter

• Signature moves
  • Back kick
  • Double high knees to an opponent's chest in the corner
  • Japanese arm drag
  • Knife-edge chops
  • Northern Lights suplex
  • Octopus stretch
  • Roaring elbow
  • Shining Wizard
  • Shoot kick to the chest, sometimes preceded by a rolling snapmare
  • Spinning heel kick
  • Top-rope crossbody
  • Top-rope overhead chop
  • Twisting elbow drop

• Nicknames
  • "The Cardiac Kid"
  • "The Rising Sun"

• Entrance themes
  • World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
    • "J-Pop Drop" by Tom Haines and Christopher Branch (June 30, 2009–present)

Championships and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #78 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010

External links

• WWE profile
• Official Japanese Blog
• Online World of Wrestling profile
• CageMatch profile (in German)
• Puroresu Central profile

de:Yoshi Tatsu es:Naofumi Yamamoto fr:Naofumi Yamamoto ko:야마모토 나오후미 it:Naofumi Yamamoto ja:山本尚史 pl:Yoshi Tatsu pt:Naofumi Yamamoto ru:Ямамото, Наофуми th:โยะชิ ทัตสึ

Nicholas Packard

Personal information
Born	(1987-11-08) November 8, 1987 Ohio, U.S.A

Nicholas Nick Packard is an American citizen.

Early life

Nicholas Nick Packard, was born in Ohio, and raised in Hawaii in Foster Care, before moving to Oregon at the age of 23. He is of English and Scandinavian descent.

Wikiman103/sandbox

|title=Crash Bandicoot |collapsible=yes |state=expanded |show image=yes |image= |caption=North American box art |developer=Naughty Dog |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment |distributor=Universal Interactive Studios |director= |producer=Dave Siller
Mark Cerny (executive producer) |designer= |programmer=Andy Gavin
Dave Baggett |artist=Charles Zembillas (characters)
Joe Pearson (environments) |writer= |composer=Mutato Muzika (Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell) |series=Crash Bandicoot |engine=Game Oriented Object Lisp |version= |platforms=PlayStation, PlayStation Network

|released=

August 31, 1996

• PlayStation
  
  • NA: August 31, 1996
  • PAL: November, 1996
  • JP: December 6, 1996
  PlayStation Network
  
  • NA: December 4, 2006 (PSP)
  • JP: January 25, 2007
  • NA: May 3, 2007 (PS3)
  • PAL: June 22, 2007

|genre=Platform |modes=Single-player }} Crash Bandicoot is an American platform video game published by Sony Computer Entertainment, produced by Universal Interactive Studios (now the defunct Vivendi Games) and developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation. It was originally released for the PlayStation in 1996. It was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up in 1997; for the Platinum Range and Best for Family line-ups in 1998; and for the PSone Books line-up in 2001. It has since been re-released as a downloadable game for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable via PlayStation Network in North America in 2006 and in PAL territories in 2007.

Crash Bandicoot is the first installment in the Crash Bandicoot series, chronicling the creation of the titular character at the hands of the series antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and his henchman Doctor Nitrus Brio. The game's story follows Crash's effort to stop his creators' plans for world domination, clean up any pollution they have caused, and save his girlfriend Tawna, a female bandicoot also evolved by Doctor Cortex and Nitrus Brio.

Crash Bandicoot received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the game's graphics and visual style, but noted the game's lack of innovation as a platform game. The game would later go on to become one of the best-selling PlayStation video games of all time and the first installment in an equally high-selling video game series. The game sold over 500,000 units in Japan, becoming the first non-Japanese title to achieve commercial success in the country.

Gameplay

Crash Bandicoot gameplay. Breaking crates often rewards the player with Wumpa Fruit. When 100 Wumpa Fruit are collected, the player earns an extra life.

Crash Bandicoot is a platform game in which the player controls Crash Bandicoot, who must traverse the three islands of the game, defeat his creator Doctor Neo Cortex and rescue his girlfriend Tawna. The game is split up into levels, which the player must progress through one at a time to proceed in the game. The player is given a certain amount of lives, which are lost when Crash is attacked by an enemy or falls into water or a pit. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, the "Game Over" screen will appear, in which the player can continue from the last level played by selecting "Yes".

Crash has the ability to jump into the air and land on an enemy character, as well as the ability to spin in a tornado-like fashion to knock enemies off-screen. An enemy that is attacked by Crash's spin attack can be launched into another enemy that is on-screen at the same time. These same techniques can be used to open the numerous boxes found in each stage. Most boxes in the game contain Wumpa Fruit, which give the player an extra life if 100 of them are collected. Another item found inside crates is the Witch Doctor's Mask, which shields Crash from one enemy attack. Collecting three of these masks in a row grants Crash temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers. Arrow boxes (marked with arrows pointing up) propel Crash further than his ordinary jump can, while TNT boxes explode after a three-second fuse when jumped on. Boxes with an exclamation mark (!) on them cause previously intangible objects in the area to solidify. Check Point boxes allow Crash to return to the point where the first Check Point box has been opened upon losing a life. If more than one Check Point box has been opened in a stage, Crash returns to the last Check Point box that has been opened.

Special tokens can also be found inside boxes. These tokens may feature the likenesses of Tawna, Doctor Neo Cortex or Doctor Nitrus Brio. When three tokens have been collected in one stage, the on-screen action freezes and Crash is immediately teleported to a "Bonus Round". In the Bonus Round, the player must break open a large number of boxes to earn Wumpa Fruit and special items such as keys to hidden areas. If Crash falls off the screen in the Bonus Round, he is transported back to the level he came from rather than losing a life. He is also transported back to the level if the Bonus Round has been successfully traversed. The player can save their progress in the Bonus Rounds accessed by collecting Tawna tokens.

If the player completes a level without losing a life, a special "Stage Clear" screen appears in which the player is informed of how well they've done and if any special items have been earned. They are also shown how many boxes (if any) have been missed in the level. If a life has been lost during the stage, the player is simply returned to the world map. If the player manages to both complete a level without losing a life and break open all of the boxes in that level, they are awarded a gem. Gems allow the player to enter new areas in previously completed levels that were not accessible before.

Plot

Characters

Main article: Characters of Crash Bandicoot

The protagonist of the story and the player character is Crash Bandicoot, a heroic, agile and mutated marsupial who must save his girlfriend Tawna. The main antagonist is Doctor Neo Cortex, a mad scientist who was often ridiculed by the scientific community for his outlandish (but nearly workable) theories and is now motivated to prove his tormentors wrong by creating a mutated army of beasts to conquer the world. Cortex's henchman is Doctor Nitrus Brio, the insecure creator of the Evolvo-Ray. Crash's love interest is Tawna, a female bandicoot about to undergo experimentation by the Doctors. Helping Crash in his journey is an ancient witch doctor spirit named Aku Aku, who has scattered masks of himself throughout the islands to grant Crash special powers. The boss characters of the game include Papu Papu, the obese and short-tempered chief of the native village; Ripper Roo, a demented kangaroo with razor-sharp toenails; Koala Kong, a muscular but unintelligent koala; and Pinstripe Potoroo, the tommy gun-wielding bodyguard of Doctor Cortex.

Story

Crash Bandicoot is set on a trio of islands southeast of Australia, all owned by the evil scientist Doctor Neo Cortex. With the aid of his old friend and ingenious scientist, Doctor Nitrus Brio, he creates the Evolvo-Ray, which they use to evolve the various animals living on the islands into beasts with superhuman strength. One of their experiments was a peaceful bandicoot, Crash, who Cortex had planned for him to be the military leader of Cortex's growing army of animal-based soldiers. Despite warnings from Doctor Brio, Cortex subjects Crash to the untested Cortex Vortex in an attempt to put him under his control. However, the experiment proves to be a failure as the Vortex rejects Crash. Seeing Crash as unworthy of his growing army of super-animals, Cortex chases Crash out of a window of the castle, causing him to plummet into the ocean below. Following Crash's escape, Cortex prepares a female bandicoot named Tawna for experimentation.

During Crash's time in captivity, he had become attached to Tawna, and, resolving to defeat Cortex, clean up the pollution he had caused and rescue Tawna, he sets off. From the beach of N.Sanity Island, Crash makes his way through the nearby jungle and scales the wall of a giant wooden fortress, which is inhabited by the native tribe. Crash then enters the hut of tribe leader Papu Papu and is forced to defeat him in self-defense after inadvertently waking him from his nap. Riding on the back of a wild hog, Crash escapes the pursuing villagers and climbs over the opposite fortress wall. From there, Crash crosses to the second of Cortex's islands. Wumpa Island, hosting a large tree, has been long abandoned and there is nothing more than a jungle, a lizard-infested city, dilapidated bridges high in the mountains, and the ruins of an ancient temple. However, having discovered that Crash was making his way across the islands, Cortex stations another of his evolved mutants, the deranged Ripper Roo, on the island in a temple at the start of a creek. Crash manages to cross the river and, after avoiding contact with his razor-sharp toenails, knocks Ripper Roo out cold beside a waterfall due to repeated TNT explosions, and successfully makes his way through the city and the temples. He is then confronted by another of Cortex's mutants, the powerful Koala Kong, in a volcanic cave mine, but defeats him by deflecting rocks at him and finally crosses to the Cortex Island.

Crash then enters the power plant, the Cortex Power station. As well as hosting many of Cortex's industrial experiments and seeming to be the main power source for Cortex Castle, the building's operations are causing pollution, dumping radioactive waste into the sea and destroying nearby plants as well. Crash makes his way through a gargantuan indoor wall of machinery, then goes from the main factory hallways to a generator room, which finally leads into the toxic waste dumping operations. At the factory core, Crash finds and battles the CEO of Cortex Power, mutant Pinstripe Potoroo. Despite fighting with a fully loaded Tommy gun, Pinstipe is eventually knocked through the window by Crash and his stray bullets destroy the core, causing the Power Station to fall into ruin as well as the pollution to quickly vanish. Unable to get into Cortex's castle after getting there via bridge, Crash climbs the tower walls despite stormy weather and climbs in through the window he had previously smashed through. After making his way through the dark hallways and the Castle's many machines, Crash is confronted by Nitrus Brio inside his laboratory. After attacking Crash with several different chemicals, Brio resorts to mutating himself into a monster with the aid of these chemicals, but is defeated once more by Crash. The castle is set alight by some of the chemicals Brio was using but Crash manages to escape the tower passing the laboratory. As the building burns to the ground, he makes it to Cortex's airship, where he is confronted by the evil scientist. Cortex attacks him with a plasma gun, but Crash deflects his own projectiles against him and sends Cortex falling to his assumed demise. United with Tawna, they escape the burning castle on Doctor Cortex's airship. If Crash collects every Gem in the game, the final boss fight can be avoided by taking an alternate route in the Great Hall and escape from Cortex's Castle prematurely with Tawna.

Development

Andy Gavin

Jason Rubin

Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin co-created the concept for Crash Bandicoot during a cross-country trip from Boston to Los Angeles.

Conception

Before presenting Way of the Warrior to Mark Cerny of Universal Interactive Studios, Naughty Dog was signed on to the company for three additional games. In August 1994, Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin began their move from Boston, Massachusetts to Los Angeles, California. Before leaving, Gavin and Rubin hired Dave Baggett, their first employee and a friend of Gavin's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Baggett would not start working full-time until January 1995. During the trip, Gavin and Rubin studied arcade games intensely and noticed that racing, fighting and shooting games had begun making a transition into full 3D rendering. Sensing opportunity, they turned to their favorite video game genre, the character-based action-platform game, and asked themselves what a three-dimensional version of such a game would be like. Because the player would be forced to constantly look at the character's rear, the hypothetical game was jokingly codenamed "Sonic's Ass Game". The basic technology for the game and the Crash Bandicoot series as a whole was created somewhere near Gary, Indiana. The rough game theory was designed near Colorado. Soon afterward, Gavin and Rubin threw out their previous game design for Al O. Saurus and Dinestein, a side-scrolling video game based on time travel and scientists genetically merged with dinosaurs.

In August 1994, Naughty Dog moved into the Universal Interactive Studios backlot and met with Mark Cerny. The group unanimously liked the "Sonic's Ass Game" idea and debated on what video game system the game would be for. Deciding that the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Atari Jaguar, Sega 32X and Sega Saturn were unsatisfactory options due to poor sales and "clunky" development units, the team chose to develop the game for Sony's PlayStation due to the console's "sexy" nature and the company's lack of an existing competing mascot character. After signing a developer agreement with Sony, Naughty Dog paid $35,000 for a PlayStation development unit and received the unit in September 1994.

Character and art design

Before the development of Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog wanted to do what Sega and Warner Bros. did while designing their respective characters, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Tasmanian Devil, and incorporate an animal that was "cute, real, and no one really knew about". The team purchased a field guide on Tasmanian mammals and selected the wombat, potoroo and bandicoot as options. Gavin and Rubin went with "Willie the Wombat" as a temporary name for the starring character of the game. The name was never meant to be final due both to the name sounding "too dorky" and to the existence of a non-video game property of the same name. The character was effectively a bandicoot by October 1994, but was still referred to as "Willie the Wombat" as a final name had not been formulated yet. It was decided that the main character would be mute because past voices for video game characters were considered to be "lame, negative, and distracted from identification with them." The villain of the game was created while Gavin, Rubin, Baggett and Cerny were eating "mediocre Italian" near the Universal studios. Gavin idealized an "evil genius villain with a big head" who was "all about his attitude and his minions". Rubin, having become fond of the animated television series Pinky and the Brain, imagined a "more manevolent Brain" with minions resembling the weasel characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. After Gavin performed a "silly villain voice" depicting the attitude in mind for the character, the villain's name, Doctor Neo Cortex, was instantly formulated.

To aid in the visual aspect of production, Naughty Dog recruited American Exitus artists Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson and met with them weekly to create the characters and environments of the game. Because the main character was Tasmanian, it was decided that the game would take place on a mysterious island where every possible type of environment could be found, with the added reasoning that an evil genius like Doctor Neo Cortex would require an island stronghold. On creating the levels for the game, Pearson first sketched each environment, designing and creating additional individual elements later. Pearson aimed for an organic, overgrown look to the game and worked to completely avoid straight lines and 90-degree corners. In January 1995, Rubin became concerned about the programmer-to-artist ratio and hired Bob Rafei and Taylor Kurosaki as additional artists. A Naughty Dog artist sketched every single background object in the game before it was modeled. Naughty Dog's artists were tasked with making the best use of textures and reducing the amount of geometry. Dark and light elements were juxtaposed to create visual interest and separate geometry. The artists would squint when sketching, texturing and playing the levels to make sure they could be played by light value alone. Correct use of color was an important goal for the artists; for example, mutually accentuating colors were chosen as the theme for the "Lost City" and "Sunset Vista" levels. The interior of Doctor Neo Cortex's castle was designed to reflect Cortex's twisted mind.

Graphics

The PlayStation had a 512 x 240 video mode and used up video memory that would normally be used for textures, but was effective in rendering shaded (if untextured) polygons. Rubin pointed out that since the polygons on the characters were just a few pixels in size, shaded characters would look better than textured ones. Thus, polygons were emphasized over textures; this was advantageous in that it allowed the programmers more polygons to work with and allowed them to work around the PlayStation's lack of texture correction or polygon clipping. To give the game more of a resemblance to an animated cartoon, vertex animation was implemented rather than the standard skeletal animation with "one-joint" weighting; this allowed the programmers to use the more sophisticated three-to-four-joint weighting available in PowerAnimator. Because the PlayStation was unable to match this at runtime, the location of every vertex was stored in every frame at 30 frames a second. Gavin, Baggett and Cerny attempted to invent assembly language vertex compressors for this manner of animation; Cerny's version was the most successful and the most complicated.

To obtain the vast and detailed worlds seen in the game, Rubin, Gavin and Baggett researched visibility calculation in video games that followed Doom and concluded that extensive pre-calculation of visibility would allow the game to render a larger number of polygons. Following experimentation in free-roaming camera control, the team settled with a branching rail camera that would follow along next to, behind, or in front of the character, generally looking at him, moving on a "track" through the world. Because only 800 polygons could be visible on the screen at a time, parts of the game's landscape would be hidden from view using trees, cliffs, walls, and twists and turns in the environment. Because the production used an entirely Silicon Graphics and IRIX-based tool pipeline, the programmers used $100,000 Silicon Graphics workstations instead of the $3,000 personal computers that were the standard at the time. Gavin created an algorithmic texture packer that would deal with the fact that the 512 x 240 video mode left too little texture memory. Meanwhile, Baggett created bidirectional 10x compressors that would reduce the 128-megabyte levels down to 12 megabytes and allow them to be compatible with the PlayStation's 2-megabyte random access memory. The levels proved to be so large that the first test level created could not be loaded into Alias PowerAnimator and had to be cut up into 16 chunks. Each chunk took about 10 minutes to load even on a 256-megabyte machine. To remedy the situation, Baggett created the DLE, a level design tool where component parts of a level were entered into a text file, with a series of Adobe Photoshop layers indicating how the parts were combined. To code the characters and gameplay of the game, Andy Gavin and Dave Baggett created the programming language "Game Oriented Object LISP" (GOOL) using LISP syntax.

Level design

The first two test levels created for the game didn't ship in the final version for being too open and featuring too many polygons. During the summer of 1995, the team focused on creating levels that were functional as well as fun and used the Cortex factory levels to experiment on this goal; the mechanical setting allowed the team to forego the complex and organic forest designs and distill the two-axis gameplay in an attempt to make it fun. Their first two successful levels ("Heavy Machinery" and "Generator Room") utilized 2.5D gameplay and featured basic techniques previously used in Donkey Kong Country, such as steam vents, drop platforms, bouncy pads, heated pipes and enemy characters that would move back and forth, all of which would be arranged in progressively more difficult combinations as the level went on. "Willie"'s jumping, spinning and bonking machanisms were refined in these two levels. The level "Cortex Power" incorporates the original "Sonic's ass" point-of-view (behind the character and over his shoulder) featured in the two test levels. After working on those three levels, the first successful jungle-themed level (later titled "Jungle Rollers") was created from pieces of the failed first test level arranged into a corridor between trees. From that point forward, two to three levels would be created for each level theme featured, with the first level featuring an introductionary set of challenges and later levels adding new obstacles (such as dropping and moving platforms in the second jungle-themed level) to increase the difficulty.

While playing the game during development, Rubin realized that there were many empty areas in the game due to the PlayStation's inability to process numerous on-screen enemy characters at the same time. Additionally, test players were solving the game's puzzles too fast. In an attempt to remedy this, the "Wumpa Fruit" pickup was created (the fruits themselves were rendered in 3D into a series of textures), but was not exciting enough on its own. On a Saturday in January 1996, Gavin coded the "crates" while Rubin modeled a few basic crates and an exploding TNT crate and drew quick textures. The first few crates were placed in the game six hours later, and many more would be placed during the following days.

Post-production

In September 1995, Andy Gavin and Taylor Kurosaki took footage from the game and spent two days editing it into a two-minute "preview tape", which would be deliberately leaked to a friend at Sony Computer Entertainment so that the company may view it. Due to management issues at Sony, it wouldn't be until March 1996 that Sony would agree to publish the game, which went into the alpha stage in April 1996. While preparing for the game's demonstration at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the team decided to finally rename the titular character "Crash Bandicoot" (the particular name being credited to Dave Baggett and Taylor Kurosaki), with his surname being based on his canonical species and his first name stemming from the visceral reaction to the character's destruction of boxes ("Dash", "Smash" and "Bash" were other potential names). The marketing director of Universal Interactive Studios insisted that the game and character be named "Wuzzle/Wez/Wezzy the Wombat" or "Ozzie the Ottsel". The name Crash Bandicoot prevailed after Naughty Dog threatened to leave the production. The same director also objected to the character of Crash's love interest Tawna on "basic sexist principles".

The music of Crash Bandicoot was a last-minute aspect added to the game before its showing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The producer of Universal Interactive proposed that rather than conventional music, an "urban chaotic symphony" would be created by Andy Gavin causing random sound effects (such as bird vocalizations, vehicle horns, grunts and flatulence) to be randomly selected and combined. Following the rejection of this proposal, the team was introduced to the production company Mutato Muzika and its founder Mark Mothersbaugh. Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell composed the music for the game, with Dave Baggett producing the soundtrack. The sound effects were created by Mike Gollom, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears of Universal Sound Studios. The voices in the game were provided by Brendan O'Brien.

In a continuing attempt by Universal Interactive to take credit for Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog was told that it wasn’t "allowed" to go to the first Electronic Entertainment Expo. In addition, there were leaked copies of the temporary box cover and press materials for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, upon which the Naughty Dog logo, in violation of the contract between Naughty Dog and Universal Interactive, was omitted. In response, Jason Rubin drafted and printed 1,000 copies of a document entitled "Naughty Dog, creator and developer of Crash Bandicoot" to hand out in front of the Crash display at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Beforehand, Rubin passed out the flyers "for review" to Universal Interactive, angering its president. Crash Bandicoot was first shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo on May 1996 and was met with enthusiastic reactions.

Japanese distribution

In preparation for presenting Crash Bandicoot to Sony's Japanese division, Gavin spent a month studying anime and manga, reading English-language books on the subject, watching Japanese films and observing competitive characters in video games. Upon Naughty Dog's first meeting with the executives of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, the executives handed Naughty Dog a document that compared Crash with Mario and Nights into Dreams.... Although Crash was rated favorably in the graphics department, the main character and the game's non-Japanese "heritage" were seen as weak points. The renderings of the character made specifically for the meeting also proved unimpressive. During a break following the initial meeting, Gavin approached Charlotte Francis, the artist responsible for the renderings, and gave her fifteen minutes to close Crash's huge, smiling mouth to make him seem less aggressive, change his eyes from green to "two small black "Pac-Man" shapes" and make his spike of hair smaller. Sony Japan bought Crash for Japanese distribution after being shown the modified printout. Pop-up text instructions given by Aku Aku were added for the Japanese version of the game. The Japanese voice cast consists of Kappei Yamaguchi, Shōzō Iizuka and Mitsuru Ogata as Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio respectively. The Japanese version also featured new music for four boss battles: Koala Kong, Pinstripe, N. Brio, and the final battle with Neo Cortex.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	80.40%

Review scores

Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.3/10
Game Informer	9/10
GamePro	4.5/5
GameRevolution	B
GameSpot	6.8/10
IGN	7.5/10
Gaming Target	9.3/10

Crash Bandicoot received generally favorable reviews from critics, with much of the positive comments going to the graphics. Dave Halverson of GameFan referred to the visuals as "the best graphics that exist in a game" and the design and animations of the titular character as "100% perfection". John Scalzo of Gaming Target described the environments as "colorful and detailed" and mentioned the snowy bridge and temple levels as his favorites. However, he noted that the boss characters appeared to be noticeably polygonal compared to the other characters due to their large size. Nevertheless, he added that this flaw was excusable because of the game's age and that the game's graphics were near perfect otherwise. A reviewer for Game Revolution singled out the scaling technology for praise and declared it to be "the new standard for Playstation action games the same way SGI did for 16-bitters after Donkey Kong Country." Additionally, he described the texture-mapping precision as "awesome", the shading as "almost too well done" (the reviewer claimed it made the game more difficult by making the pits appear to be shadows and vice-versa), the polygon movements as "very smooth and fluid", the "quirky mannerisms" of the title character as "always refreshing" and the backgrounds as "breathtakingly beautiful (especially the waterfall stages)". However, the reviewer said that the ability to adjust the camera angle even slightly "would have been a definite plus (at times the ground itself is at 75 degree angle while Crash constantly moves at 90 degrees, putting a slight strain on the eyes)." Zach Meston of GameSpot, while comparing the game to Super Mario 64, noted that the game "may not offer the graphical smoothness or versatility of Mario's vast new world, but its brilliantly colorful and complex jungle environments boast true diversity of shape and texture - kind of a tiki room Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." A reviewer for IGN noted that "gorgeous backgrounds and silky smooth animation make this one of the best-looking titles available for the PlayStation.

The gameplay received mixed responses. Both John Scalzo and the Game Revolution reviewer compared the gameplay to Donkey Kong Country, with Scalzo describing the game as having a "familiar, yet unique" quality that he attributed to Naughty Dog's design, while the Game Revolution reviewer concluded that the game "fails to achieve anything really new or revolutionary" as a platform game. Zach Meston described the gameplay as "flat as roadkill on a four-lane highway" and noted that players may enjoy the game "purely as a test of jumping abilities". The IGN reviewer said that the game "isn't a revolution in platform game design. It's pretty much your standard platform game". However, he noted the game's "surprisingly deep" depth of field and use of different perspectives as exceptions to the platforming formula. Jim Sterling of Destructoid.com stated that the game has aged poorly since its initial release and cited the lack of DualShock thumbsticks, a poor camera as well as substandard jumping and spinning controls.

As of November 2003, Crash Bandicoot has sold over 6.8 million units worldwide, making it one of the best selling PlayStation 1 video games of all time. The game's success resulted in its re-release for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on September 15, 1997, for the Platinum Range on March 1998, for the Best for Family line-up on May 28, 1998 and for the PSone Books line-up on October 12, 2001. Crash Bandicoot was the first non-Japanese game to receive a "Gold Prize" in Japan for sales of over 500,000 units. The game spent nearly two years on the NPD TRSTS top 20 PlayStation sales charts before finally dropping off on September 1998.

Legacy

Further information: Crash Bandicoot (series)

Crash Bandicoot was followed by two direct sequels, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, as well as a kart racing game, Crash Team Racing, all for the PlayStation and all developed by Naughty Dog, with Crash Team Racing the final Crash Bandicoot game developed by the company before moving onto the Jak and Daxter series. After Crash Team Racing, Eurocom developed the final Crash Bandicoot game for the PlayStation, the party game Crash Bash. Since then, the series has had numerous developers and has become a multiplatform series and one of the best selling video game series of all time, with over forty million units sold worldwide as of 2007.

References

• Universal Staff (1996). Crash Bandicoot Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. SCUS-94244.

External links

• Crash Bandicoot on PlayStation.com

Not to be confused with Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Producer(s)	Mark Cerny Connie Booth (executive producer)
Artist(s)	American Exitus (Charles Zembillas)
Composer(s)	Mutato Muzika (Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell)
Series	Crash Bandicoot
Engine	Game Oriented Object LISP 2
Platform(s)	PlayStation, PlayStation Network
Release	PlayStation NA: October 31, 1997 EU: December, 1997 JP: December 18, 1997 PlayStation Network JP: August 30, 2007 EU: November 8, 2007 (withdrawn) NA: January 10, 2008 EU: February 2, 2011 (re-released)
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a Canadian-American platform video game published by Sony Computer Entertainment, produced by Universal Interactive Studios (now the defunct Vivendi Games) and developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation. Originally released for the PlayStation in 1997, it was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits and Best for Family line-ups in 1998, for the Platinum Range in 1999 and for the PSone Books line-up in 2001. The game was later released on the European PlayStation Network on July 26, 2007, but was withdrawn as a precautionary measure when other PSone Classics MediEvil and Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, failed to function properly. The game was released on the North American PlayStation Network on January 10, 2008 and again on the European PlayStation Network on February 2, 2011.

Taking place on a fictional group of islands near Australia, Crash Bandicoot 2 follows the adventures of the anthropomorphic bandicoot Crash. Crash is abducted by series villain Doctor Neo Cortex, who has seemingly turned over a new leaf and now wants to save the world. Crash is then thrust into several parts of N. Sanity Island in order to gather Crystals and allow Cortex to contain the power of the upcoming planetary alignment and keep the planet from being destroyed. Crash is joined by his sister Coco, who is suspicious of Cortex's true intentions, and partially by Doctor Nitrus Brio, who tries to persuade Crash to gather Gems instead of Crystals.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back received generally positive reviews from critics and was considered to be superior to its predecessor. Much of the praise went to the game's graphics, control and music, with minor criticisms varying between the trial-and-error gameplay, lack of level variety, easy boss levels and lack of innovation. The game went on to become one of the best-selling PlayStation video games of all time and replaced its predecessor as the highest-selling Western title in Japan, selling more than 800,000 units in the country by April 1998.

Gameplay

An example of gameplay in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. An Aku Aku mask, which serves to protect Crash from damage at least once, floats in Crash's general vicinity.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a platform game in which the player character is the titular Crash Bandicoot. The goal of the game is to gather 25 crystals for Crash's nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex. The game takes place in a series of "Warp Rooms", which act as the hub areas of the game. Each Warp Room contains five doors leading to a level. The goal of each level is to obtain the crystal placed somewhere along the path. A level is cleared by collecting the crystal and reaching the end of the path, which returns Crash to the Warp Room. The retrieved crystal will then appear in the slot above the level's doorway in the Warp Room. When all five crystals in a Warp Room are obtained, the player must ride the platform in the center of the room to move to the next Warp Room. When riding the platform, the player must fight and defeat a boss character before gaining access to a new Warp Room. The player is given a certain amount of lives, which are lost when Crash is attacked by an enemy or falls into water or a pit. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, the "Game Over" screen will appear, in which the player can continue from the last level played by selecting "Yes".

Crash has the ability to jump into the air and land on an enemy character, spin in a tornado-like fashion to knock enemies off-screen, slide across the ground, and perform a body slam to break certain objects. Crash can jump higher than he normally can if he jumps immediately following a slide. All of these techniques can be used as offensive measures against most enemies, which serve to deter Crash's progress. Enemies with deadly topsides cannot be jumped on, while enemies that attack from the front or have side spikes must be jumped on or undergo a body slam. Enemies with sharp necklines (such as frill-necked lizards or long-legged robots with heated circumferences) can only be defeated if Crash slides into them.

Boxes play a prominent role in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and can be broken with all of Crash's techniques. Most boxes in the game contain "Wumpa Fruit", which give the player an extra life if 100 of them are collected. Some boxes contain a Witch Doctor's Mask, which shields Crash from one enemy's attack while it is in his possession. If three of these masks are collected in a row, Crash is given temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers. If jumped upon, boxes with arrows pointing up propel Crash further into the air than he can ordinarily reach, and such boxes can be broken only with Crash's spin attack. Boxes with an exclamation mark (!) on them cause previously intangible objects in the area to solidify. TNT Boxes explode after a three-second fuse when jumped on, while Nitro Boxes explode upon any physical contact. All of the Nitro Boxes in a level can be detonated at once if a green-colored box with an exclamation mark (!) on it is touched. Check Point boxes allow Crash to return to the point where the first Check Point box has been opened upon losing a life. If more than one Check Point box has been opened in a stage, Crash returns to the last Check Point box that has been opened.

"Bonus Paths", signified by platforms with a question mark (?) on them, lead Crash to a secret region of the level. In these areas, numerous Wumpa Fruit and extra lives can be earned if the player successfully navigates to the end of the path. If Crash falls off-screen or is otherwise killed off, the player is unable to keep whatever was collected in the Bonus Path and is returned to the level from which the Bonus Path was accessed.

Plot

Following from where Crash Bandicoot left off, Crash defeats Doctor Neo Cortex and escapes Cortex's lair via airship with his girlfriend, Tawna, whom Crash rescued from Cortex's clutches in the previous game. Cortex is then sent hurtling towards the Earth, his maniacal bid for world domination thwarted. After his crash, Cortex awakens in a dark cavern filled with glowing crystals. Convinced that they hold tremendous power, Cortex takes one of the crystals and returns to his laboratory to examine it. He discovers that the planets will soon align, creating a catastrophic solar flux that threatens to destroy the Earth. Learning that the crystals are the only means of containing this force, Cortex enlists the aid of his old colleague Doctor N. Gin and they design a new, crystal-powered "Cortex Vortex" (a machine that Cortex used to control his minions in the previous game) that will capture the stellar energy. Because 25 more crystals are needed to provide the necessary power matrix, Cortex devises a plot to manipulate Crash Bandicoot into retrieving the crystals for him.

A year following Cortex's assumed defeat, Crash is now living with his sister Coco on N. Sanity Island, one of the islands owned by Cortex in the previous game. In the jungles of the island, Crash sleeps as Coco attempts to finish a new program before her laptop dies. When the laptop does die, she orders Crash to get her a new laptop battery. On his way home, Crash is abducted by a bright light and finds himself in an ancient Warp Room, where a holographic projection of Cortex instructs him to bring him the crystals by traveling through the Warp Room's doors. After Crash collects the first crystal, Cortex informs Crash of the upcoming destructive force and assigns him the task of bringing all of the crystals to him so that he may contain it. Following this, Crash is greeted by another hologram, this time of Doctor Nitrus Brio, Cortex's former assistant from the previous game who is now out to stop his plans for world domination. Brio informs Crash that the Earth not only contains crystals, but gems as well, and states that if he is to collect all 42 gems (37 clear gems and 5 colored gems), then he will be able to focus a device with the ability to fire a laser beam for the purpose of destroying the Cortex Vortex; Brio then states that if Crash continues to collect crystals for Cortex, he will do all in his power to stop him.

As Crash gathers the remaining crystals, he is attacked by Brio's henchmen, including the demented kangaroo Ripper Roo, the scimitar-wielding Komodo Brothers Moe and Joe and the musclebound Tiny Tiger. Cortex informs Crash of Brio's role in the opposition force and falsely claims that he was forced to assist Brio in "his" plot for world domination in the past. Coco, untrusting of Cortex, occasionally hacks into his holograph projector and warns Crash of the uncertainty of Cortex's true intentions. It is not until Crash has gathered all of the crystals that Coco is able to reveal Cortex's ultimate plan: with the energy harnessed from the planetary alignment, Cortex will power the gigantic Cortex Vortex built onto his space station and brainwash everyone on Earth into serving his army with its power. Crash manages to defeat Cortex before the crystals can be used, but leaves the Cortex Vortex drifting aimlessly into space. Crash decides to redeem himself by collecting all of the world's gems for Doctor Nitrus Brio, who reveals that the gems can harness planetary energy as well and invites him to the completion of his laser device. The game ends with Doctor Nitrus Brio allowing Crash to activate the laser, destroying the Cortex Vortex and breaking the space station apart. However, Cortex's laugh is heard mid-way through the end credits.

Development

Production of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back began in October 1996. For the game, Crash Bandicoot co-creator Andy Gavin programmed a new engine named "Game Oriented Object LISP 2" (GOOL 2) that was three times faster than the previous game's engine, could handle ten times the animation frames and twice the polygon count.

The concept art for the game's environments was mainly created by Naughty Dog employees Bob Rafei, Eric Iwasaki, Erick Pangilinan, Charlotte Francis and Jason Rubin. The jungle levels were originally to have featured ground fog, but this was abandoned when magazines and the public began to criticize other developers for using fog to hide polygon count. Sunlight and depth accentuation was experimented with for these levels. Naughty Dog created the sewer levels as a way to work some "dirty" locations in the game. Color contrast was added to the levels to show depth and break up the repetitive monotony of the endless sewer pipes. A flat plane z-buffer was created for the game; because the water surfaces and mud in the jungle had to be a flat plane and be exactly flat on the Y-axis, there could be no waves and the subdividing plane could not be at an odd angle. The effect only worked on objects in the foreground and was only used on Crash, some enemies and a few boxes at the same time.

The soundtrack of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back was provided by Mutato Muzika (consisting of Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell), while the sound effects were created by Universal Sound Studios (consisting of Mike Gollom, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears). The characters were designed by Charles Zembillas of American Exitus, Incorporated. Clancy Brown provided the voice of Doctor Neo Cortex, while Brendan O'Brien voiced the dual role of Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nitrus Brio and Vicki Winters voiced Coco Bandicoot. The game was unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia on June 1997 to a positive response from the game industry. The game went into the alpha stage on August 1997. Around that time, Dan Arey, the lead designer of Gex: Enter the Gecko, joined Naughty Dog and streamlined the level design. A death animation in which Crash is squashed into a stunned head and feet was altered for the Japanese version of the game due to its resemblance to the severed head and shoes left by a serial killer loose in Japan at the time.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	88.54%

Review scores

Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.5/10
GameRevolution	B
GameSpot	8.6/10
IGN	8.5/10
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	4/5
PlayStation: The Official Magazine	5/5

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back received generally positive reviews from critics. John Broady of GameSpot considered the game to be superior to its predecessor, commenting positively on the Warp Room concept, improved game-saving system and variety of the levels. The staff of IGN praised the "spot on" control and noted the decreased linearity of the game and increased intuition of the bonus levels compared to the first game. Mark Cooke of Game Revolution described the game as "undeniably fun".

The game's graphics were positively received. GameSpot's Broady described them as "in a league of their own among PlayStation games", while the IGN staff praised the high-resolution graphics as "beautiful". Game Revolution's Mark Cooke, meanwhile, went into more detail and started off by describing the graphics as "awesome". He noted the absence of cutscenes brought about by the entirety of the game being "rendered on the fly beautifully" and that the game could "really set some new standards in Playstation graphic quality." He went on to describe the animation as "flawless" and of "cartoon quality" and added that the game's "creatures, environments, and story building scenes are absolutely perfect." The game's audio was also well-received; Broady simply stated that the music "couldn't be better", while Cooke said that Clancy Brown's "hilarious satirical" performance as Doctor Neo Cortex added to the game's cartoonish quality.

Minor criticisms varied amongst critics. Broady noted that the semi-3D setup is "sometimes hard to navigate" and elaborated that "you'll find yourself missing jumps because you're unable to judge distances properly." Additionally, he criticized the trial-and-error aspect of the gameplay as "just plain cheap" and stated that "in some areas you must sacrifice many lives until you memorize a level's layout." The IGN staff said that the level design "isn't as varied as it could be" and added that the "jungle, snow and water" environments are recycled from the previous game and reused multiple times in Cortex Strikes Back. They also described the boss levels as "insultingly easy". Cooke observed that, like its predecessor, the game did not add anything to the genre and summarized that "the first Crash was dauntingly similar to the 16-bit platform games of yester-yore, only with better graphics, and Crash 2 doesn't deviate much from this formula." He also described the "bizarre 3D" cover art of the game as "unnecessary and evil" and "a device of unprecedented agony" and claimed to have contracted a massive headache after "looking at it in [his] car for about 15 seconds".

Since its release, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back has sold over 5.17 million units worldwide, selling about 3.78 million units in the United States and 1.3 million units in Japan. This makes it one of the best-selling PlayStation 1 video games of all time. The game's success resulted in its re-release for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on August 30, 1998 and for the Platinum Range on 1999. The game replaced Crash Bandicoot as the highest-selling non-Japanese title in Japan, selling over 800,000 units by April 1998. The game was initially rereleased on the European PlayStation Network on July 26, 2007, but was withdrawn on August 7, 2007 along with Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! and MediEvil as a precautionary measure when the latter two games experienced technical problems. The game was released on the North American PlayStation Network on January 10, 2008 and re-released on the European PlayStation Network on February 2, 2011.

References

• Universal Staff (1996). Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. ISBN 0-06-083305-X.

External links

• Official website for PlayStation version
• Official website for PlayStation Network version

Crash Bandicoot: Warped
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Jason Rubin
Producer(s)	Grady Hunt
Programmer(s)	Andy Gavin Stephen White Greg Omi
Artist(s)	Charles Zembillas
Composer(s)	Mutato Muzika (Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell)
Series	Crash Bandicoot
Platform(s)	PlayStation, PlayStation Network
Release	PlayStation NA: October 31, 1998 EU: November, 1998 JP: December 17, 1998 PlayStation Network JP: September 27, 2007 NA: February 7, 2008 PAL: October 23, 2008
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Crash Bandicoot: Warped (known in Europe,Australia, and Canada. as Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped) is a Canada-American 3D platform video game published by Sony Computer Entertainment, produced by Universal Interactive Studios (now the defunct Vivendi Games) and developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation. It was released in North America on October 31, 1998, in Europe on November, 1998 and in Japan on December 17, 1998. It was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on August 23, 1999 and for the Platinum Range on 2000. The game was made available for the PlayStation Store in Japan on September 27, 2007, in North America on February 7, 2008 and in Europe on October 23, 2008.

The game's story takes place immediately after the events of its predecessing game: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. The ruins of a space station called the Cortex Vortex owned by the series antagonist, Doctor Neo Cortex, crash-lands on Earth and unleashes an evil entity known as Uka Uka. Uka Uka, in collaboration with Cortex and the time-obsessed Doctor Nefarious Tropy, plans to gather powerful Crystals in their original places in time and use their energy to enslave the Earth. The game follows the main characters Crash and Coco Bandicoot as they travel through time and prevent the villains from gathering the Crystals by collecting them themselves.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped received universally positive reviews from major critics, who noted a high quality in many areas, including graphics, audio and gameplay. The game went on to sell 5.7 million units as of 2002, making it the tenth best-selling PlayStation video game of all time. In Japan, the game surpassed the sales of its two predecessors and became the first non-Japanese title to sell over one million units in the country.

Gameplay

An example of gameplay in the medieval levels of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. The earlier levels are set in the daytime (top), while later levels are set in the evening (bottom). The floating stopwatch that initiates the Time Trial Mode can be seen in the top image.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is a platform game in which the player controls Crash and Coco Bandicoot, who must travel back in time and gather the 25 Crystals from the previous game in their original places in time before the antagonists of the story do so. Much of the game takes place in the Time-Twisting Machine, which acts as the hub area of the game. The Time-Twisting Machine is split up into five chambers; only the first chamber is initially available. Each chamber has five buttons that open portals to different levels. The goal in each level is to find and obtain the Crystal hidden in the area. In some levels, the Crystal will be located at the end of a level or must be earned by completing a specific challenge. Some levels contain a "Bonus Platform" that leads to a special bonus area, where the player must navigate through a separate area and collect everything in sight. As no lives are lost in the bonus areas, the bonus areas can be played through as often as the player desires until the bonus area can be cleared. After completing all five levels in a chamber, a sixth button that opens a portal to a boss level will appear. By defeating the boss, the next chamber will become available for play. When all 25 Crystals are found and all five boss characters are defeated, the game is won.

Crash and Coco start the game with four lives. A life is lost when they are struck by an enemy attack or suffer any other type of damage. More lives can be earned by collecting 100 "Wumpa Fruits" or breaking open a special crate to collect a life. If the player runs out of lives, the game is over. However, the game can be continued by selecting "Yes" at the "Continue?" screen. Crash has the ability to jump into the air and land on an enemy character, spin in a tornado-like fashion to knock enemies off-screen, slide across the ground and perform a body slam to break certain objects. These abilities can be expanded on by defeating boss characters, often resulting in more powerful attacks or increased jumping and running prowess.

Boxes play a prominent role in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and can be broken with all of Crash's techniques. Boxes contain helpful items or can augment Crash's mobility. Check Point boxes allow the player to return to a specific point in the stage upon losing a life. TNT Boxes explode after a three-second fuse when jumped on, while Nitro Boxes explode upon any physical contact. All of the Nitro Boxes in a level can be detonated at once if a green-colored box with an exclamation point (!) on it is touched; contact with this box is necessary in obtaining the level's Gem, as Nitro Boxes count towards the total number of boxes broken in the level.

Besides Crystals, Gems and Colored Gems can be collected for extra accomplishment. Gems are rewarded to the player if all of the crates in a level are broken open or if a secret area is completed. There is a total of 45 Gems in the game. Colored Gems are found in special levels and lead to hidden areas. There are five Colored Gems in the game. "Relics" can be won by re-entering a level where the Crystal has already been retrieved. To obtain a Relic, the player must initiate the "Time Trial" mode by touching the floating stopwatch near the beginning of the level and race through a level in the pre-designated time displayed before entering a level. Scattered throughout the level are yellow crates with the numbers 1, 2 or 3 on them. When these crates are broken, the timer is frozen for the number of seconds designated by the box. As no lives are lost in the Time Trial mode, the level can be played through as often as the player desires. Sapphire, Gold and Platinum Relics can be won depending on how low the player's final time is. The first five Relics the player receives unlocks access to level in the "Secret Warp Room". Every five Relics thereafter open up another level in the Secret Warp Room. The levels in the Secret Warp Room must be won before the game can be completed.

Plot

Setting

Much of the game takes place in the Time-Twisting Machine, which allows the characters to travel to different periods in time. The levels that take place in the Middle Ages are populated by wizards, rams, knights and frogs that transform into princes upon being kissed. The prehistoric levels take place in a Jurassic swamp and feature a Tyrannosaurus rex hatchling that can be mounted and ridden, restless pterodactyls and a gigantic triceratops that pursues Crash throughout the level. The Arabian levels take place on the rooftops and are overrun with swordsmen, scorpions and genies who seek to stuff Crash into their lamps. The Egyptian levels are set during the heyday of the Great Pyramids and are populated by mummies, pyramid construction crews, scarabs and cobras; in addition to the various enemies, the tombs are also overrun with traps. The future levels take place in "Neo York", a city under Cortex's rule that features laser cannons, robots, flying saucers, force fields and moving platforms. The "Lost Highway" levels, in which Crash pilots a motorcycle, take place in a 1950s America highway, where Crash must race against Cortex's hot rodders to win Crystals, avoiding construction barricades and cops along the way. The World War I levels take place in the skies of Europe and alternatively feature Crash and Coco as the player character. In these levels, Cortex's fleet of dirigibles must be shot down to obtain the Crystal. The Atlantis levels are split up into two different types; the first type features Crash as the player character, who must don scuba gear and find the Crystals in the Atlantean ruins, which are rife with sharks, depth charges and poisonous blowfish. The second type features Coco as the player character, who must ride a jetski and gather the Crystals on the surface of the water, avoiding pirates and water mines as she does so. The Great Wall of China levels feature Coco as the player character and are played riding on the back of a tiger cub while avoiding doddery pan carriers and Chinese dragons.

Characters

The titular protagonist of the game is Crash Bandicoot, a mutated bandicoot who must travel through time and stop Doctor Neo Cortex from gathering the Crystals. He is aided by Aku Aku, an ancient witch doctor mask who protects Crash from harm and gives him sage advice between levels. Also helping Crash is his younger sister Coco Bandicoot, who gathers the Crystals on the Great Wall of China, on the surfaces above Atlantis and in the skies of World War I Europe. The main antagonist of the game is Uka Uka, the evil twin brother of Aku Aku. Uka Uka was previously locked away by Aku Aku to protect the world from his villainy, but has been freed because of the bumblings of Doctor Neo Cortex, the antagonist of the previous two games. Aiding Uka Uka and Doctor Cortex is Doctor Nefarious Tropy, the self-proclaimed master of time and the creator of the Time Twisting Machine used to gather Crystals and Gems in different time periods. Other antagonistic characters include Tiny Tiger, a hulking beast who battles Crash in the Colosseum; Dingodile, a half-dingo half-crocodile hybrid with a large flamethrower; and Doctor N. Gin, a bad-tempered scientist with an unexploded missile in his head.

Story

Uka Uka confronts Doctor Neo Cortex. The shot design and animation of the introductory sequence (shown on the left) was inspired by emotion sketches of Cortex begging for Uka Uka's forgiveness (shown on the right).

The game's story takes place immediately following the conclusion of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, in which Doctor Neo Cortex's space station is destroyed by Doctor Nitrus Brio's laser beam device. Pieces of Cortex's space station hurtle towards Earth and crash into a tropical mountain. This sets free an evil entity known as Uka Uka, the mastermind behind Doctor Cortex's previous schemes. Uka Uka confronts Doctor Cortex and calls him out for failing to retrieve the Crystals and Gems, both of which are a great source of world energy. Uka Uka then recruits Doctor Nefarious Tropy to join them in their latest plan. Tropy has created the Time-Twisting Machine, a time machine that allows the villains to travel through time to find the Gems and Crystals at their original points in the timeline.

At the home of the Bandicoots, Aku Aku senses Uka Uka's emergence and orders Crash and Coco inside. Aku Aku tells the two that Uka Uka is his evil twin brother and that he was locked in an underground prison centuries ago to protect the world from his malice. Crash, Coco and Aku Aku go to the Time-Twisting Machine, where Aku Aku gives Crash and Coco the task of recovering the Crystals before Uka Uka and Doctor Cortex do so. Crash and Coco proceed to travel through time and collect the Crystals and Gems, thwarting Cortex's minions (including Tiny Tiger, Dingodile and Doctor N. Gin) along the way. Doctor Nefarious Tropy is also defeated, throwing the Time-Twisting Machine into disarray. Having obtained all of the Crystals and Gems throughout time, Crash eventually faces off against Cortex in the Time-Twisting machine's core while Uka Uka and Aku Aku fend each other off. Following Cortex's defeat, the Time-Twisting Machine implodes on itself, the heroes manage to escape from the calamity whereas Cortex and Tropy are transformed into infants and along with Uka Uka are left to remain in a prison of time.

Development

Production of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped began on January 1998, with Naughty Dog given only 10½ months to complete the game. Programmers Andy Gavin, Stephen White and Greg Omi created three new gameplay engines for the game. Two of the three new engines were three-dimensional in nature and were created for the airplane and jet-ski levels; the third new engine was created for the motorcycle levels in the style of a driving simulator. The new engines combined make up a third of the game, while the other two-thirds of the game consist of the same engine used in the previous games. Jason Rubin explained that the "classic" engine and game style was preserved due to the success of the previous two games and went on to say that "were we to abandon that style of gameplay, that would mean that we would be abandoning a significant proportion of gamers out there." An arbitrary plane z-buffer was created for the jet-ski and flooded Egyptian hallway levels of the game. To create a completely fluid feel for the water on these levels, an environment map that reflects the sky was fitted onto the surface of the water. A real shadow was given to the Crash character at the request of the Sony Computer Entertainment America producers, who were "sick of that little discus that's following him around." To create an "arcade" experience in the airplane levels and to differentiate them from flight simulators, the enemy planes were programmed to come out in front of the player and give the player ample time to shoot them before they turn around and shoot the player rather than come up behind the player and hit them from behind. The Relic system was introduced to give players a reason to return to the game after it has been completed.

The soundtrack of the game was produced by David Baggett and composed by Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell of Mutato Muzika, while the sound effects were created by Mike Gollum, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears of Universal Sound Studios. Clancy Brown voiced the dual role of Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka, while Brendan O'Brien voiced the dual role of Doctor N. Gin and Tiny the Tiger. Additionally, Michael Ensign voiced Doctor Nefarious Tropy, William Hootkins voiced Dingodile and Mel Winkler voiced Aku Aku. A small sampling of the game's levels were prominently displayed at Sony's Electronic Entertainment Expo booth in Atlanta, Georgia. Around this time, the video game industry wondered if Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was just more of the same of the previous installment. The release of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was accompanied by marketing campaigns by Sony and Pizza Hut. The Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was one of the first video games to support the PocketStation, a peripheral that downloads minigames from PlayStation games. A playable game demo of the Insomniac Games game Spyro the Dragon is available in the final product and can be accessed by entering a code at the title screen.

Character and level design

The antagonist Uka Uka was created as a presence that would cause Doctor Neo Cortex to cower in fear. The emotion sketches depicting Cortex begging for forgiveness inspired the shot design and animation for the game's cinematic introductory sequence. Because the game's plot involved time travel, the time-traveling secondary antagonist Doctor Nefarious Tropy was created. Tropy was drawn wearing a piston-driven, smog-generating time machine to reflect his unhealthy obsession with time. The Dingodile character, created by Charles Zembillas, stemmed from a request by Naughty Dog employee Joe Labbe, who asked for a character that was a cross between a dingo and a crocodile. When conceiving Coco Bandicoot's companion in the Chinese levels, it was decided that a "cute and huggable critter" that fit the Chinese theme was needed. A panda bear was originally considered but was rejected due to its similarity to the polar bear seen in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. A tiger cub, Pura, was chosen as an alternative. When creating the triceratops chase sequences in the prehistoric levels, a minion of Doctor Cortex was initially animated riding the beast. Whenever the triceratops got stuck, it would thrash the minion around. The rider was ultimately removed for technical reasons. The Tyrannosaurus hatchling that Crash mounts in the prehistoric levels was drawn with chicken-like proportions by Naughty Dog's Bob Rafei. The shark seen in the game's underwater levels was one of Jason Rubin's first PowerAnimator models. The model was originally built for the first Crash Bandicoot game, but wasn't used until Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.

The "time-travel-around-the-world" theme of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped allowed the Naughty Dog artists to stretch beyond the limits imposed by the island themed setting of the previous games; each time theme has distinctly unique structures and color palettes. To demonstrate the effect that color has on the mood of an environment, level sketches, such as those of the Arabian or Medieval levels, were recolored to alter the depicted time of day from day to night. Naughty Dog aimed to visually distinguish Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped from previous installments by "opening up the environment" and allowing greater distances to be visible without draw-in or fog; to achieve the image of endless rolling hills and distant castles seen in the Medieval levels, level of detail was accounted for by introducing new technologies into the game engine and changing the way some of the background elements were constructed. The most detailed textures of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped are located in the Egyptian Tomb levels in the form of decorative paintings. To keep the image of an endless highway in the motorcycle levels from being boring, roadside details such as cacti and telephone poles were added to the scenery. Additionally, distant mesas were added to help break up the horizon. To give the desert highway some character, full-service gas stations and diners were added to the roadside to evoke a "1950's America" flavor. The Great Wall of China is portrayed during its construction stage to add visual variety and provide gameplay obstacles. Initial ideas for the submerged Atlantis stage varied from an ancient Roman-esque city in ruins to a high-tech submerged city of alien origin.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	89.07%
Metacritic	91/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
AllGame	4.5/5
GamePro	5/5
GameRevolution	B+
GameSpot	8.9/10
IGN	9.1/10
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	4.5/5

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was met with very positive reception. Johnny Ballgame of GamePro concluded that the game was "a very strong contender for PlayStation game of the year" and that the ""rowdy rowdy" gameplay will keep your head spinning for days." Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine considered the game to be "the best 2.5D platformer ever released." Ryan MacDonald of GameSpot said that Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is "easily the best Crash yet," describing how all of its aspects were superior to previous installments in the series, and concluded that the game was "the most fun I've had with a 3D platform game in a long, long time." Mark Cooke of Game Revolution called the game "a barrage of good things" and said that the game's elements "all come together perfectly." Scott Alan Marriott of Allgame ("All Game Guide" at the time) considered the game to be "so impressive to watch that you'll have to keep one hand firmly below your chin to keep it from falling to the floor."

The game's graphics were lauded by critics. Johnny Ballgame praised the game's graphics as "incredibly clean" and "detailed", citing the water in the jet ski levels as "the most realistic-looking waves of any PlayStation game we've seen so far". Randy Nelson called the game "drop-dead gorgeous", detailing that "the textures are impeccable, the animation's top-notch, and the special effects kick some serious booty." Ryan MacDonald called the game "one of the most beautiful PlayStation games ever", citing the game's "smooth" character animations, "bright" and "colorful" landscapes, "gorgeous" lighting effects and a "refreshingly fast and steady" frame rate. Mark Cooke praised the game's "smooth" and "cartoonish" animation as "top of the line, bested by no other game" and its "limitless" rendering distance and "beautiful" 3D models as "the pinnacle of PlayStation rendering". However, he criticized the absence of death animations for the enemy characters. Scott Alan Marriott described the graphics as "unbelievable" and said that "everything is crystal clear, colorful, smoothly animated and extremely detailed."

The game's audio was also critically praised. Johnny Ballgame said that the sound "gets you pumped to play, especially the wicked drum beats that blare when you're charging through a level with the invincibility mask." He also commented positively on the other audio effects, such as "the boiling lava", "the raging pterodactyls" and the "zany movie voice-overs". Randy Nelson was thankful for the game's increased musical diversity in comparison to Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. Ryan MacDonald praised the music, sound effects and character voice-overs as "outstanding" and "extremely well done" and noted that the onscreen lip-synching is "almost perfectly matched to the voice." Mark Cooke said that the game's "over-exaggerated" voice-acting is "like those in good cartoons, and sometimes even better", and cited an "equally cartoonish" aspect in the music. Scott Alan Marriott described the voice-acting as "five-star quality all the way" and noted that the music "captures the level setting(s) perfectly."

As of 2002, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped has sold over 5.7 million units worldwide, making it the tenth best-selling PlayStation video game of all time. The game's success resulted in its re-release for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on August 23, 1999 and for the Platinum Range on 2000. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was the first non-Japanese title to receive a "Platinum Prize" in Japan for sales of over 1,000,000.

References

• Universal Staff (1998). Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment.

External links

• The US official Crash Bandicoot: Warped website (American)
• The European official Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped website (Europe)

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
Developer(s)	Traveller's Tales
Publisher(s)	Universal Interactive Studios Konami
Composer(s)	Andy Blythe Marten Joustra
Series	Crash Bandicoot
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox Xbox 360
Release	PlayStation 2 NA: October 29, 2001 EU: November 23, 2001 JP: December 20, 2001 Xbox NA: April 15, 2002 EU: April 26, 2002 JP: October 24, 2002 Nintendo GameCube NA: September 17, 2002 EU: November 1, 2002 JP: December 4, 2003 Xbox Originals December 4, 2007
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is a English-American platform game video game published by Universal Interactive Studios along with Konami and developed by Traveller's Tales for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube video game consoles. The PlayStation 2 version was released in North America on October 29, 2001, in Europe on November 23, 2001 and in Japan on December 20, 2001. The Xbox version was released in North America on April 15, 2002, in Europe on April 26, 2002 and in Japan on October 24, 2002. The Nintendo GameCube version was released in North America on September 17, 2002, in Europe on November 1, 2002 and in Japan on December 4, 2003. It was also one of the launch titles for the Xbox Originals service on December 4, 2007.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is the sixth installment in the Crash video game series. It is the first platform game in the series not to be developed by Naughty Dog and the fourth game in the main series of the franchise. The story centers on the appearance of a new superweapon created by the main antagonist of the series, Doctor Neo Cortex, along with a group of destructive masks known as the Elementals. Crash Bandicoot and his sister Coco must travel the world and gather special Crystals that will return the Elementals to a hibernational state and defeat Cortex's new superweapon, a genetically-advanced bandicoot named Crunch Bandicoot.

The events of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex are set after the events ocurred in Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Gameplay

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is a platform game in which the player controls Crash and Coco Bandicoot, who must gather 25 Crystals and defeat the main antagonists of the story: Doctor Neo Cortex, his new superweapon Crunch and Crunch's power sources, the renegade Elementals. Much of the game takes place in a "Virtual Reality (VR) Hub System" created by Coco to help Crash gather the Crystals. The VR Hub System is split up into five "VR Hubs"; initially, only the first VR Hub is available. Each VR Hub has five teleportation portals to different levels. The goal in each level is to find and obtain the Crystal hidden in the area. In some levels, the Crystal will be located at the end of a level or must be earned by completing a specific challenge. Each level contains a "Bonus Platform" that leads to a special bonus area, where the player must navigate through a maze and collect everything in sight. Once a bonus area is completed, it cannot be played again unless the level is replayed. After completing all five levels in a VR Hub, a sixth teleportation portal to a boss fight with Crunch will appear. By defeating the boss, the next VR Hub will become available for play. When all 25 Crystals are collected and Doctor Cortex and Crunch are defeated, the game is won.

Besides Crystals, Gems and Colored Gems can be collected for extra accomplishment. Gems are rewarded to the player if all of the crates in a level are broken open or if a secret area is completed. Colored Gems are found in special levels and lead to hidden areas. "Relics" can be won by re-entering a level where the Crystal has already been retrieved. To obtain a Relic, the player must initiate the "Time Trial" mode and race through a level in the pre-designated time displayed before entering a level. To begin a Time Trial run, the player must enter a level and activate the floating stopwatch near the beginning of the level to activate the timer; if the stopwatch is not touched, the level can be played regularly. The player must then race through the level as quickly as possible. Scattered throughout the level are yellow crates with the numbers 1, 2 or 3 on them. When these crates are broken, the timer is frozen for the number of seconds designated by the box. As no lives are lost in the Time Trial mode, the level can be played through as often as the player desires. Sapphire, Gold and Platinum Relics can be won depending on how low the player's final time is. The first five Relics the player receives unlocks access to a secret level. Every five Relics thereafter open up another level in the Secret Warp Room. The levels in the Secret Warp Room must be won before the game can be fully completed.

Crash and Coco start the game with four lives. Crash and Coco lose a life when they are struck by an enemy attack or suffer any other type of damage. More lives can be earned by instructing Crash or Coco to collect 100 "Wumpa Fruits" or break open a special crate to collect a life. Crash and Coco can be shielded from enemy attack by collecting an Aku Aku mask. Collecting three of these masks allows temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers. If Crash or Coco run out of lives, the game is over. However, the game can be continued by selecting "Yes" at the "Continue?" screen.

Plot

Characters

Main article: Characters of Crash Bandicoot

Nine returning characters from previous Crash titles star in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex along with five new characters. The protagonist of the game, Crash Bandicoot, is a genetically-enhanced Eastern Barred Bandicoot who must defeat the antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and his new superweapon. Coco Bandicoot, Crash's younger sister, is a highly intelligent computer expert with an interest in Hong Kong martial arts films. Aku Aku is a kindly omnipotent witch doctor who guides and aids Crash and Coco in stopping the plans of Doctor Neo Cortex.

The main antagonist of the series, Doctor Neo Cortex, is a mad scientist who created Crash Bandicoot among other characters and now seeks Crash's elimination along with world domination. The controlling force behind Cortex's plots for conquering the world is Uka Uka, the evil twin brother of Aku Aku. A number of recurring villains from the series serve minor roles in the game. These include Doctor N. Gin, Cortex's right hand man, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, a scientist who specializes in time travel, Tiny Tiger, a hulking and ferocious Thylacine, and Dingodile, a dingo-crocodile hybrid armed with a flamethrower.

Five new characters in the series make their appearance in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, particularly Doctor Cortex's genetically-enhanced superweapon Crunch Bandicoot, a bionic bandicoot created for the purpose of destroying Crash Bandicoot. Acting as Crunch's power source are the Elementals, a group of destructive masks who control the elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air. The Elementals consist of Rok-Ko, a bad-tempered and rock-headed earthbending mask who controls earthquakes and landslides, Wa-Wa, a stick-in-the-mud waterbending mask who controls thunderstorms and floods, Py-Ro, an easily-perturbed firebending mask who controls volcano eruptions, and Lo-Lo, a joke-cracking airbending mask who controls tornadoes.

Story

In a newly-built space station orbiting the Earth, Uka Uka, having called a convention of recurring villains in the series, berates Dr. Cortex, Tiny Tiger, Dr. N. Tropy, Dr. N. Gin and Dingodile for their recently unimpressive evil productivity, and forces them to come up with a plan to eliminate Crash Bandicoot, their main opponent. Doctor Cortex comes forward with the announcement of a previously secret genetically-enhanced superweapon of unbelievable strength, but reveals that it is missing a power source. Uka Uka then tells the group a tale of a battle between the Ancient Ancestors and the Elementals, a group of renegade masks who had the elemental power over earth, water, fire and air and used these elements to ravage the globe. The Ancients were able to imprison the Elementals with the aid of special Crystals that put the masks in a state of hibernation. Cortex deduces that if they awaken the Elementals and harness their destructive power, they can bring his secret weapon to life and do away with Crash Bandicoot forever.

Back on Earth, the world is suddenly terrorized by severe natural disasters, leading Aku Aku to conclude that Uka Uka, his evil twin brother, is up to something. A confrontation with Uka Uka confirms his suspicions and nearly results in his destruction at the hands of the Elementals. Aku Aku returns to Crash and Coco Bandicoot and alerts them of the current situation, disclosing that the only way to stop the Elementals is to imprison them once more with the Crystals, which have been scattered across the Earth. Using Coco's new Virtual Reality Hub System, Crash and Coco are able to travel the world and gather the Crystals, fending off attacks from Cortex's superweapon, Crunch Bandicoot, and the Elementals along the way. However, by the time the Crystals have been gathered and the Elementals have been put in their hibernation state, Crunch's elemental powers have reached maximum capacity, forcing Crash to battle Crunch at full power in Cortex's space station. Nevertheless, Crash is able to defeat Crunch, snapping him out of Doctor Cortex's control. Infuriated by this failure, Uka Uka attacks Doctor Cortex with a fireball, only to have it hit a vital part of the space station, causing a chain reaction that results in the space station's self-destruction. Crash, Aku Aku and Crunch are able to escape and return to the Bandicoot home on Coco's space fighter ship, while Cortex and Uka Uka deploy an escape pod and end up landing somewhere in Antarctica, where Uka Uka furiously chases Cortex around a small ice floe.

Development

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was originally intended to be designed by Mark Cerny (who designed all the games in the series thus far) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. After a falling-out between Vivendi Universal and the two entities, Traveller's Tales was forced to alter the game from a free-roaming title to a standard Crash title. Traveller's Tales had to begin development of the game from scratch and were given only twelve months to complete the game. The game's music is composed by Andy Blythe and Marten Joustra of Swallow Studios. The original Crash Bandicoot theme by Mutato Muzika also appears in the game. Only two of the series' original voice actors reprised their roles for the game: Clancy Brown voices the dual role of Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka, while Mel Winkler provides the voice of Aku Aku. Debi Derryberry inherited the role of Coco Bandicoot from Hynden Walch, while Corey Burton voices the returning villains Doctor N. Gin and Doctor Nefarious Tropy, taking over for Brendan O'Brien and Michael Ensign respectively. Kevin Michael Richardson provides the voice of new character Crunch Bandicoot, while the Elementals, consisting of Rok-Ko, Wa-Wa, Py-Ro and Lo-Lo, are voiced by Thomas F. Wilson, R. Lee Ermey, Mark Hamill and Jess Harnell respectively.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	(Xbox) 70.47% (PS2) 70.12% (GC) 63.28%
Metacritic	(Xbox) 70/100 (PS2) 66/100 (GC) 62/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Famitsu	(PS2) 33/40
GamePro	3/5
GameSpot	(PS2) 6.6/10 (Xbox) 6.4/10
GameZone	(PS2) 8.0/10 (GC) 7.2/10 (Xbox) 7.1/10
IGN	(PS2) 7.4/10 (GC) 6.9/10 (Xbox) 6.7/10
Nintendo World Report	7.5/10

The PlayStation 2 version of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was met with mixed to fair reviews. Louis Bedigian of GameZone wrote a positive review, saying that "any Crash Bandicoot fan would be a fool not to go out and buy this game. I started playing at 2am one night and did not stop until three in the afternoon!" Doug Perry of IGN described the game as "a decent playing and pretty looking Crash Bandicoot game. It's nothing terribly special, but it's not bad, not bad at all." Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine felt that "when the strongest feeling I get from a game is the desire to play its predecessors, something's not quite right." Game Informer criticized the "outrageously bad load times", saying that they "keep the game from being average." Shane Satterfield of GameSpot concluded that the game "maintains the status quo and fails to deliver a fresh, compelling experience." Star Dingo of GamePro cautioned that "if you were hoping the new management would give Crash a big kick in the pants, however, this is one pair of pants you will find quite unkicked." Electronic Gaming Monthly criticized the trial-and-error gameplay, saying that "when forced to blindly jump, die, then discover what you missed, where I come from, that’s just cheating."

Though the Xbox version of the game rated generally higher among critics than the PlayStation 2 version, reviews remained mixed. Play Magazine noted that "they've caressed the music to great effect, made the bosses a bit more challenging, [and] adhered to a massive replayability standard that would drive any developer to drink." Game Informer felt that "every little morsel of platforming goodness in The Wrath of Cortex has already been done to death on the Playstation." Carlos McElfish of GameZone warned that "if you are looking for an innovative and original experience that does justice to the series you’ll have to look elsewhere." Official Xbox Magazine concluded that "this is a game for those who want what Crash has always had to offer – good graphics, jump-and-spin gameplay, and tons of collectible items. Nothing more, nothing less." Hilary Goldstein felt that while Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was "a fun game for the most part," "it fails in some areas, like proper game balance and correct use of surround sound." Shane Satterfield of GameSpot passed off the game as "a slightly updated version of the orange marsupial's 1998 debut on the PlayStation." Star Dingo of GamePro concluded that "love it or hate it, Wrath of Cortex Xbox is more of more of the same." Electronic Gaming Monthly felt that "save for a few additions to WOC, like some cool hamster-ball levels, it's almost identical to its predecessors."

The GameCube version rated the lowest among critics out of the three versions. Ben Kosmina of Nintendo World Report promised that "gamers experiencing the wacky mascot for the first time may enjoy it." Michael Lafferty of GameZone described the game as "safe, sterile and redundant." Matt Casamassina on IGN concluded that "at the end of the day this is the same Crash game I played so many years ago without any real innovations or evolutions." Nintendo Power praised the "sheer variety" of the gameplay. Kilo Watt of GamePro said that "graphically, this version is slightly below the recent Xbox release but in line with the competent PlayStation 2 iteration." Electronic Gaming Monthly agreed that "Wrath on the GC is much more polished here than on the PS2," while Play Magazine denounced the GameCube version as "a shell of the other two console versions, so I beg you to pass."

The Wrath of Cortex's lackluster reception would be lampooned in a cutscene of its successor, Crash Twinsanity, where Cortex alleges that the main cause of a character's check being bounced was the game's poor sales.

External links

• Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (PS2) | (Xbox) | (NGC) at GameSpot.com

Crash: Mind over Mutant
Image:Crash - Mind over Mutant Coverart.png Box art depicting the game's protagonist, Crash Bandicoot, fighting off (clockwise from right) a Yuktopus, a Snipe and a Sludge.
Developer(s)	Radical Entertainment (PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 & Wii) TOSE (Nintendo DS) Virtuos (PSP)
Publisher(s)	Sierra Entertainment Activision
Designer(s)	Joe McGinn
Artist(s)	Yousuf Mapara
Writer(s)	Christopher Mitchell
Composer(s)	Marc Baril (home console)
Series	Crash Bandicoot
Engine	Titanium Engine
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation Portable
Release	PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS & Wii NA: October 7, 2008 AU: October 29, 2008 EU: October 31, 2008 PlayStation Portable NA: October 21, 2008 AU: October 29, 2008 EU: October 31, 2008
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multi-player

Crash: Mind over Mutant is a platform video game published by Sierra Entertainment and Activision and developed by Vancouver-based Radical Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (ported by Virtuos), Wii and Xbox 360. The Nintendo DS version of the game was developed by TOSE. It was released in North America on October 7, 2008 and was later released in Europe and Australia on October 31. It is the second game in the series not to have a Japanese release, after Crash of the Titans.

As the fifteenth of the Crash Bandicoot video game series, Crash: Mind over Mutant is the second title in accordance to the mutant series' chronology. The game's story centers on the arrival of a popular technological device (a parody of devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry) that puts whoever uses it under the control of the device's creators Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio, who serve as the stories' primary antagonists. Crash Bandicoot - protagonist of the series and only one unaffected by the device besides his spirit ally Aku Aku - must free his friends from the control of the device and put an end to Doctor Cortex's plot.

The title received a generally mixed response, with reviews varying from version to version. The Wii and PlayStation 2 versions were met with generally positive reviews, while the Xbox 360 version received a mediocre critical response. Much of the game's praise went to the humorous cutscenes and dialogue, while the unadjustable camera and extensive use of backtracking was sharply criticised. The Nintendo DS version was received negatively for its dull and repetitive gameplay.

Plot

Crash: Mind over Mutant takes place some time before the events of the original [[Crash Bandicoot {video game)|Crash Bandicoot]] in which Crash Bandicoot, whose main objective is to explore his home, Wumpa Island, and surrounding environments to uncover the mystery behind the "NV", a personal digital assistant created by the main antagonist. Crash: Mind over Mutant is a mission-based game as opposed to Crash of the Titans's level-based structure, with goals being given by non-playable characters. Characters with exclamation points (!) over their heads, when talked to, give out important information that is needed to continue the story.

Scattered throughout the world are special items that empower Crash in one way or another. Golden stopwatches trigger a time-limited nanogame which usually involves collecting objects or breaking things to earn bonuses. Red running shoes serve to temporarily power up Crash's kick attack and cause him to move faster, while the "Quad Damage" power-up can be used by Crash to temporarily multiply his attack power by four.

Combat

Crash Bandicoot using a jacked Grimly to fend off two Znus

Crash can perform both a light and heavy-powered attack. He can also block, dodge-and-counter, or break an enemy's block. When he defeats enemies or destroys objects, a magical substance known as Mojo is released that, when collected, allows Crash's abilities to be upgraded.

While small minions require only a single combo attack for Crash to defeat, larger enemies, known as "Titans", require more effort to subdue. Each of the unique Titans in the game possess a star meter that indicates how close they are to being stunned. When the meter is full, the Titan is susceptible to "jacking", meaning Crash can mount the creature and control it. While controlled by the player, the Titan possesses a similar moveset to Crash, although some jacked Titans can shoot projectiles. Besides having more health, the Titans controlled by Crash have a purple Titan Meter which, when full, allows the Titan unleash a powerful special attack. This fully drains the meter in the process.

A feature new to the series involves Crash storing a Titan in his pocket and utilizing it when it is most advantageous. When Crash is riding a Titan, any Mojo collected goes to the Titan. If enough is collected, the Titan's abilities are upgraded rather than Crash's.

Co-operative play

A player using a second controller can join in the game at any time. The second player will initially appear as a mask floating around Crash. The mask can attack enemies by using magic projectiles. By pressing a certain button, the second player's character can exit and enter the mask. In the Wii and Xbox 360 versions of the game, Crash's sister, Coco Bandicoot, fills in the role of the second player, while a white-furred version of Crash known as "Carbon Crash" takes on this role in the PlayStation 2 version. Coco is not available for play until she is defeated in a boss fight, after which she is fully playable (though the player can choose to continue with Carbon Crash). This method of play is useful for overpowering enemies and collecting Mojo faster.

Plot

Setting

The game is played in a free-roaming format rarely seen in previous games, although the DS version is played as a 2-D platformer as a means of utilising the handheld's hardware to its greatest capacity. The opening events of the game take place on Wumpa Island. Crash's house is accessible here, and can be used by the player to access skins, concept art, enemy bios and cutscenes. Surrounding environments consist of societies inhabited by friendly Titans, including the Ratcicle Kingdom, the Rhinoroller Desert and the Sludge Junkyard. Other areas include the Evil Public School, attended by the main antagonist's niece, and Mount Grimly, where the evil mask Uka Uka is held. The final events of the game take place in the Space Head, a space station recycled from junkyard parts that is operated by Doctor Neo Cortex.

Characters

Main article: Characters of Crash Bandicoot

Nine returning characters from previous Crash titles star in the home console version of Crash: Mind over Mutant. The protagonist of the game, Crash Bandicoot, is a bandicoot who must defeat the main antagonist Doctor Cortex and free the Titans from the control of Cortex's new device. Aiding Crash is Aku Aku, an ancient wooden mask who can take control of Titans by entering their heads. Crash's genius sister, Coco Bandicoot, appears initially as a boss character under the control of Cortex's and Brio's handheld device. Afterward, she acts as a playable character during the co-operative mode of the Wii and Xbox 360 console versions; she is replaced by a white-furred version of Crash named "Carbon Crash" in the PlayStation 2 version. Crunch Bandicoot, Crash's muscular cyborg friend, also appears in the game as a brainwashed boss.

The main antagonist of the series, Doctor Neo Cortex, is a mad scientist who plans on taking control of the denizens of the Wumpa Islands by marketing a mind-controlling mobile phone, the "NV", to them. Doctor Nitrus Brio makes a return appearance as Cortex's partner, aiding him in the development of the NV. Uka Uka, Aku Aku's evil twin brother, is the source of the bad Mojo necessary to take control of those using the NV device. Nina Cortex, Neo Cortex's niece, also appears in the game, having been transferred to an evil public school by her uncle. Doctor N. Gin, Cortex's demented right-hand man, makes a relatively minor appearance as a boss character early in the game.

A number of small fodder enemies attempt to hinder Crash in his journey, much of them appearing in the previous Crash of the Titans. The Ratnicians, who previously worked for Doctor Neo Cortex, have since gone feral and vegetarian, and now work for the minor antagonist Doctor N. Gin. The Brat Girls, who previously worked for Nina Cortex, have betrayed her and now run the Evil Public School and supervise the Ratcicles in the Ratcicle Kingdom. The Doom Monkeys make a return appearance as employees of Nitrus Brio in the Sludge Junkyard. Two new fodder enemies make their debut in the game: the Znu, a group of small, warty creatures that inhabit Mount Grimly, and the Slap-E's, hand-shaped robots that share Doctor Cortex's memories and personal problems.

Story

The individual cutscenes of Crash: Mind over Mutant are drawn in differing artistic styles. Some examples of these styles (as shown above) include hand puppetry (Worst Contact), American comics (Clepto Braniac), South Park (I'm Not your Buddy Guy) and Dragon Ball (Fists of Orange Fury).

Social satire and the theme of consumerism are frequent sources of humor in the plot of Crash: Mind over Mutant, with the game featuring jokes about SUVs and the skyrocketing prices of gas at the time. The game's story is told through a number of cut scenes animated in different styles, such as those of Dragon Ball, The Animatrix, and South Park.

Crash: Mind over Mutant picks up from where Crash of the Titans left off. The Titans, free from the control of Doctor Neo Cortex, have spread throughout the Wumpa Islands and cultivated their own societies. All seems well until a rejuvenated Doctor Neo Cortex teams up with his old partner Doctor Nitrus Brio to invent a personal digital assistant, the "NV", that can control the minds of both mutants and bandicoots by transmitting bad Mojo, forcefully siphoned from Cortex's former boss Uka Uka. Crash and Aku Aku are not affected by the device, but their friends, Coco and Crunch, are soon transformed into ferocious beasts who seek Crash's destruction. After Coco is freed from the NV's control, the Bandicoots learn of Doctor Cortex's plot by accessing his blog, and decide to go to the Evil Public School, where Nina was placed by Doctor Cortex. Nina in return for Crash saving her science fair project, informs the heroes of Cortex's and Brio's alliance and reveals their location in the Junkyard, where Brio is recycling parts to create a new space station, the "Space Head", for Cortex and new NV devices. Crash and Aku Aku find Crunch and Brio at the Junkyard and manage to break Crunch free from the NV's control. After learning of Uka Uka's whereabouts from Brio, Crash and Aku Aku go to Mount Grimly, where Uka Uka is being drained of all his Mojo. After being freed, Uka Uka informs Crash that his voodoo bones, his source of power, have been stolen and given to six of the worst Titans on the Island, and tells them to go and retrieve the bones for him. When the bones have been gathered, Uka Uka uses his restored power to send Crash to the Space Head and Crash can enact Uka Uka's vengeance on Cortex. Crash engages in a fight against Cortex, who uses a mutation formula stolen from Brio to empower himself for the battle. Upon losing to the Bandicoot, Cortex throws a tantrum, causing the Space Head to fall towards the Earth. Cortex, having returned to normal, makes his escape from the plummeting Space Head, while Crash and Aku Aku brace themselves for a crash-landing on Wumpa Island. Crash and Aku Aku manage to survive the crash and reunite with Coco and Crunch as parts of the Space Head rain down from the sky. As the story ends, Coco tells Aku Aku that they're not going to help clean up, much to his chagrin.

Development

Development on Crash: Mind over Mutant began immediately after the completion of Crash of the Titans. The idea of preserving a titan for later use came from the play testing sessions of Crash of the Titans, in which the testers were found to be reluctant to leave the titans behind after an epic battle was won. Fans of the series were also a source of inspiration for Crash: Mind over Mutant, having such wishes as a free-roaming environment, Coco Bandicoot being a playable character and the return of the character Doctor Nitrus Brio. Full camera control was considered for the game, but was rejected for graphical reasons and to avoid having to insert a split-screen view in the cooperation mode. Online gameplay was also considered as a feature in the finished game, but was omitted due to the brief development schedule. Coco Bandicoot as a playable character was omitted from the PlayStation 2 version of the game due to her distinct animations taking up much of the console's memory. The Wii version of Crash: Mind over Mutant was created first, with the graphics scaled up for the Xbox 360, and scaled down for the PlayStation 2. A PlayStation 3 version of the game was rumored, but was promptly debunked by Radical Entertainment as a mistake on many press sites' behalf.

There was an open call for fan art of Crash Bandicoot to be submitted as part of a contest. The contest was hosted at Kidzworld as part of a preview page and was aimed at fans under the age of 18. Selected artwork is included in the final build of the game either inside of a comic book in Crash's house or on a wall in the school attended by Nina Cortex. In addition, winners had their names appear in the game's credits and received a free copy of the game when it was released.

Audio

To ensure that the audio does not become repetitive, Crash: Mind over Mutant features more than 8,500 lines of dialogue. Many of the voice actors from the previous Crash of the Titans reprised their roles, including Jess Harnell as Crash, Greg Eagles as Aku Aku, Lex Lang as Doctor Neo Cortex, Debi Derryberry as Coco, Nolan North as Doctor N. Gin, John DiMaggio as Uka Uka, Chris Williams as Crunch and Amy Gross as Nina Cortex. The role of Doctor Nitrus Brio is played by Maurice LaMarche, a newcomer to the series. Miscellaneous voices in the game are provided by a number of veteran voice actors, including Carlos Alazraqui, Rodger Bumpass, Grey DeLisle, Kathryn Feller, Quinton Flynn, Tabitha St. Germain, Tania Gunadi, Mark Hamill, Richard Steven Horvitz, Tom Kenny, Rik Kiviaho, Tara Strong, Lee Tockar, Billy West and Cedric Yarborough. The music of Crash: Mind over Mutant was composed by Radical Entertainment's in-house composer Marc Baril, who composed the music for the previous Crash Bandicoot games Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash of the Titans.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
	DS	PS2	PSP	Wii	Xbox 360
GameRankings	48.55%	74.60%	54.75%	71.79%	61.86%
Metacritic	45/100	73/100	53/100	70/100	60/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
	DS	PS2	PSP	Wii	Xbox 360
Game Informer					4.75/10
GameSpot					5.5/10
GameZone	4.4/10	7/10		7.7/10	8.1/10
IGN	3.2/10	6.9/10		6.9/10	6.9/10
Nintendo World Report	4/10			6/10
TeamXbox					5.8/10

Reviews for the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of Crash: Mind over Mutant were generally positive. Dakota Grabowski of GameZone considered the game "slightly better" than Crash of the Titans, noting improvements in controls, gameplay and storyline from its predecessor, but lamented that "the camera almost ruins the whole package." The Wii version of Crash: Mind over Mutant was also met positively, though not to the same degree as the PlayStation 2 version. Louis Bedigian of GameZone stated that the young demographic of the Crash Bandicoot series "may be annoyed by the camera and/or repetitive objectives but will be entertained by what is the best Crash game developed in a long time – and one of the best Mario clones released for Nintendo Wii." Neal Ronaghan of Nintendo World Report, meanwhile, felt that "the charming story and genuine humor" of the game were "overshadowed by the shallow gameplay."

Reviews for the Xbox 360 version of Crash: Mind over Mutant were mixed. Christopher Ewen of GameZone praised the series' transition into a free-roaming gameplay environment, but felt that the game was too easy. Matt Casamassina of IGN found the game to be "exactly like its predecessor: a mildly enjoyable platforming romp that's sure to satisfy younger players, but won't provide much that seasoned players haven't already experienced before". Andy Eddy of TeamXbox praised the game's strong voice acting, but noted the uninspired gameplay, which was "not very consistent in its fun generation." Justin Calvert of GameSpot claimed that the game "has too much backtracking and too many camera problems to make it recommendable". Official Xbox Magazine concluded that "there's very little about Mind over Mutant that makes it worth your $50 or the four hours it takes to complete." Dan Pearson of Eurogamer criticized the game's fixed camera, extensive backtracking, useless mission log and dated concepts. Andrew Reiner of Game Informer proclaimed that the game's "unpredictable framerates, extensive backtracking, and the guarantee of one death caused by faulty camera positioning for every platforming segment" made it "a mess of a game, and a new low point for the once-loved marsupial."

The Nintendo DS version of the game received generally negative reviews compared to the console version. Mike David of GameZone denounced the game as the "first really disappointing Crash title", while Neal Ronaghan of Nintendo World Report felt that the game "leaves much to be desired in terms of depth and level design." Craig Harris of IGN affectionately christened the Nintendo DS version a "boring, drab, uninspired platformer with none of what made last year's game so good on DS."

External links

• Crash: Mind over Mutant official website

Cody
Born	(1995-02-19) February 19, 1995 United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Gamer

Cody aka Crashpro3 or CodyStation3, is an American citizen and Gamer, who has showed an interest and experience in games for Playstation and Nintendo titles Etc.

Personal Life

he lives in Rosemont, Illinois

Ryan Wieber
Born	(1986-04-11) April 11, 1986 Oakland, California, U.S
Nationality	American
Occupation	Filmaker

Ryan Wieber is an American amateur filmmaker and choreographer, who is the co creator of ryan vs. dorkman

Early Life

Ryan Wieber was born in Oakland, California to an Irish American family. He spent most of his childhood in Oakland and Los Angeles, before moving to New York City at the age 19, which is where he met Michael Scott another amateur filmaker, then at the age of 20 he moved back to California, and started his filmmaking with Michael Scott.

Michael Scott
Born	(1986-03-21) March 21, 1986 United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Filmaker

Michael Scott also known as Michael Dorkman Scott, is an American amateur filmmaker and choreographer, and is the co creator of ryan vs. dorkman

Early Life

As a child and teenager he grew up in the Midwestern United States, then at the age of 19 he moved to New York City and met Ryan Wieber, when Scott was 20 Ryan moved back to California, and Michael Scott also moved there, which is where he currently resides.

Brandon Flyte
Born	(1986-04-04) April 4, 1986 United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Filmaker

Brandon Flyte is an American amateur filmmaker and choreographer, and he has worked with Ryan Wieber

Personal Life

he lives and works in California

Schaffer Mclean
Born	2004 (age 19–20) United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupation	Skateboarder

Schaffer Mclean is a British child skateboarder