Crash Bandicoot: Warped - Reception

Reception

Crash Bandicoot: Warped was met with universally positive critical 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: 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: 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: Warped was a bestseller in Japan, and was the first non-Japanese title to receive a "Platinum Prize" in Japan for selling over 1,000,000 units.