Crash Bandicoot: Mutant Island
Quick Information
- Released in 2009 for J2ME, JAVA and BlackBerry phones
- Game mode(s): Singleplayer
- Developed by GLU mobile
- Published by Vivendi Games Mobile
Overview
Crash Bandicoot: Mutant Island is a 2009 mobile game developed by GLU mobile and released by Vivendi Games Mobile. This is old-school platforming, plain and simple. You run around twisty levels, leaping from vines, sliding down slopes and collecting lots and lots of arbitrary knick-knacks. In fact it’s easy to be underwhelmed based on your first few minutes with the game. Give it enough time, though, and its charms will soon emerge.
For one thing, it controls beautifully. Unlike many of its rivals, you’ll never find yourself hankering for a more traditional control set-up. Negotiating the gaps and traps here is painless and – more to the point – great fun.
It also looks great, with detailed sprites and some charming incidental animations, like birds twittering in the trees. The end-of-level bosses, meanwhile, are impressively rendered Titans that stand several screens tall. These must be beaten in order to bring them under your control, which is just one of many neat touches that keep Mutant Island interesting.
It also looks great, with detailed sprites and some charming incidental animations, like birds twittering in the trees. The end-of-level bosses, meanwhile, are impressively rendered Titans that stand several screens tall. These must be beaten in order to bring them under your control, which is just one of many neat touches that keep Mutant Island interesting.
Chief among its qualities, though, is the excellent level design, with a nicely judged ebb and flow to each stage. There’s just enough variety here to keep you pushing on further into the game.
A hint of repetition does sneak in as you make your way to the second island, though, and there are a few annoying difficulty spikes, not to mention a slightly clunky button-mashing combat system.
A hint of repetition does sneak in as you make your way to the second island, though, and there are a few annoying difficulty spikes, not to mention a slightly clunky button-mashing combat system.