Crash Bandicoot Sequel Proves That No. 2 Can Win by Trying Harder

Thank goodness for El Nino. Rather than spend the afternoon in the garden following orders from my wife, I won a reprieve when a cold rainstorm made yardwork impossible. Instead, I settled back with a can of Fresca and one of my recent PlayStation favorites--Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.

Crash Bandicoot debuted on PlayStation two years ago and quickly earned itself a place in the Sony pantheon of great games. Crash has even become PlayStation’s unofficial mascot, a la Mario and Sonic. So I was dubious that the sequel could live up to the hype surrounding its release.

Yet again, I was wrong. The folks at Naughty Dog and Universal Interactive have outdone themselves with a sequel that is every bit as fresh as the original and twice as challenging.

Action should be familiar to Crash fans, with rear-view third-person perspective on a lushly detailed linear course. Crash still jumps and spins to whip enemies and navigate obstacles as he tries to foil the plans of creator and nemesis Dr. Neo Cortex.

But there’s more: Crash can ride a motor ski and fly with a jet pack as well as manage a bunch of less exciting moves necessary to explore levels that are long and deep and packed with fun.

Load times are virtually nonexistent as players zip from level to level with minimal delays, quite a break from the normal “Please Wait . . . “ messages that bog down so many disc-based games.

But no sooner had I cleared the first set of Crash’s levels than my wife decided that the storm had broken enough to send me on some errands. So I reluctantly put down my joypad and grabbed my keys for a few harrowing hours on rain-soaked freeways--trying to avoid a distinctly unpleasant kind of crash.

And so I did until I fired up my Nintendo 64 and tried out a batch of racers: San Francisco Rush from Midway, Automobili Lamborghini from Titus and Extreme G from Acclaim. All three demonstrate the N64’s arcade-quality speed and graphics, but all three also point up the limits that plague too many games for the platform.

Though they are great to look at and a hoot to play for a few minutes at a time, all three games are pretty shallow. All have smooth graphics and tight control, but all lack a degree of sophistication that ought to come with games that run more than $50 each.

Of the three, Extreme G delivers the most unusual play with futuristic motorbikes racing through a techno landscape. But even that feels like a knockoff of Psygnosis’ Wipeout series.

For a truly great time on the digital racetrack, fire up Sega Touring Car Championship for Sega. It’s rare that I say anything nice about Saturn games these days, but the truth is that the platform still boasts real potential. Touring Car’s courses scream into view. Control is smooth and responsive with Sega’s analog joypad.

Together with Crash Bandicoot, Sega Touring Car Championship has the potential to make even the rainiest days seem sunny.

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Staff writer Aaron Curtiss reviews video games every other Thursday. To comment on a column or to suggest games for review, send letters to The Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Or send e-mail to Aaron.Curtiss@latimes.com