Okay, folks. Much like
Crash Team Racing pretty much eschewed any real plot for pure kart mayhem,
Crash Bash eschews plot even more so for a party gaming experience. While comparisons have been made to
Mario Party and the recently-released
Sonic Shuffle,
Bash even eschews the board that those games sport. Instead, the game is simply a test of reflexes and skill in various environments, with the person who gets the most wins taking the game.
There are quite a few different game types (although you have to unlock some in single-player mode), and each game type has variations on the theme. You can play single levels, or you can do Tournaments which cycle through all the various variations (err...) for a theme. In each case, winner takes all. It’s simple, yes, but certainly quick to grasp.
And so are the games. There’s a push-the-guys-off-the-level mini-game set (very Motos, and props to those of you who’ve ever actually played said game). There’s a blow-up-the-enemies-with-mines-and-bullets set (can we say Bomberman?), the throw-things-at-your-opponents set (very Poy Poy), and so on. My absolute favorite is the knock-the-balls-away-from-your-goal set, which is basically a simplified Warlords. It’s great fun, and the variations are all entertaining.
For example: In the first variation, the balls simply careen around, and you can either hit them with your ship or give them a “boost.” The boost takes a while to charge back up, so you can’t constantly use it. In the second variation, the balls can be grabbed and then shot at your opponents at high speeds. Of course, they can catch them too and shoot them back. The third variation is similar to the first, but occasionally a bad guy appears in the center and spews balls in all directions. There is a shield you can pick up that deflects balls far, far away from your goal. And in the fourth (and best) variation, you’re on a flying disc with four motors in the four corners. Rather often, a motor goes out, tilting the entire board in a given direction. It’s mayhem, and mad fun.
There’s a single-player mode as well, which is used to get all of the game modes, but it’s a major pain in the butt. Some of the challenges are well-nigh impossible, and you may spend an hour or two trying to beat a few of the harder ones. It’s definitely nothing to write home about, but if you want the full multiplayer experience and don’t want to use cheats, it’s the only way to go.
