Amazon.co.uk Review:
In a nutshell: Crash has another bash at throwing his own mini-game party, with plenty of games and four player action even if it is all about quantity rather than quality.
The lowdown:
With every video game mascot worth their salt appearing in a Super Mario Kart clone, a second port of call for jobbing platform stars tends to be a riff on the popular Mario Party games. None ever seems to have got the balance between mini-games and board game action quite right though, with too much emphasis on the board and too few mini-games of any worth. Although there are 40 mini-games to play here, few are any fun and having to travel round a pretend board game to get to them only makes things worse especially if you havent got four people to play with.
Most exciting moment:
Not all of the mini-game are rubbish and the one where you have to shoot basketballs into a moving hoop is a lot of fun, as is the one where you have to paddle a canoe and grab fruit at the same time. These also happen to be the games that make the most interesting use of the touch screen, something many of the other games fail to do.
Since you ask:
This isnt the first time that Crash Bandicoot has been "inspired" by the Mario Party series. The game Crash Bash for the original PlayStation owed a considerable amount to Nintendos game, although it wasnt quite so blatant a copy and included less mini-games.
The bottom line:
Crash just doesnt seem to be much of a party animal in this limp Mario Party clone.-HARRISON DENT
Manufacturer's Description
Life's a Party--Crash it! Crash Boom Bang! is the ultimate 'action party game'. Roll the dice and dive into one of 40 uniquely-zany multi-player games as you communicate, taunt and ally with other players. Chat or distract your friends by sending texts with a new message system through wireless gameplay. Play as your favourite character as you advance through an adventurous game board, action-packed with tons of mini-games and party fun.
Crash and his friends embark on a worldwide race in the quest for its multi-million dollar prize. Having hidden intentions of finding an ancient lost city and its famed Super Big Power Stone, the sponsor of the race, Viscount Devil, plans on using the race contestants to find it. The map of the race's checkpoints is based on the Viscount's ancient map. However, Dr. Neo Cortex, another invitee to the race, realises what the Viscount is planning and in his own quest for world domination, starts his own plan to steal the map during the race. The only people that stand in his path are Crash and his friends.