In my opinion, Crash is one of the less appreciated kid-gaming characters out there.  Sure, we've all heard of Sonic and Mario, but Crash the Bandicoot?   Why not ?!

Crash of the Titans is the first Crash title that I've played (though my boys have played others) and I think I look forward to this one almost as much as my son. 

Overview
In Crash of the Titans (CotT), you are the beloved Bandicoot, and your arch nemesis, the evil Neo Cortex has once again decided to wreak havok on your world.  He has taken control of numerous small creatures and mutated them into his sinister minion.  All of them are cartoonish and not really scary, but lots of fun to wallop on.  When you beat up a bad creature (or many plants), you get magic orbs called mojo which serve to automatically amp up your new abilities.  You can either breeze through the levels or thoroughly whomp on every plant and creature in sight - depending on the fun-loving bandicoot in your family.  Along with Crash for Player-1, you have "Carbon Crash" (duplicate) for Player-2.  So, player-2 doesn’t have to play a wimpy sidekick, nor an all powerful parent character that is unbalanced.  Which brings me to my happiest part of this game - Co-Op.

Very Innovative Co-Op
What makes the co-op in this really "innovative" (and you don’t get to say that often) is that one of the co-op modes (and default setting) is called "leap frog".  In this mode, every time that you jump and then land again, control switches from Player-1 to Player-2.  This can be lead to some chaotic battles when you are jumping and fighting - and both players have to be on their game the whole time.  

Of course, you can also switch to "backpack" mode where the majority of the time, both players can play at the same time, though other times, one player jumps in the others' backpack - usually for sliding or obstacle areas between battles.  This is especially helpful when one player is not as good on obstacles as the other.  The kid can get in Dad's backpack to get through the jumps and slides, and then both go back to playing again.  Or in my case, I jump in my son's backpack because after all of his Sonic games, he just has mad skills for some obstacle types so why not just let him do them (and it makes him feel good that he's doing it totally on his own).

How the Game plays
As you go through the game, you'll mostly beat up little bad guys.  But as you meet bigger monsters, you'll "jack" them -- as in "hijack".  As you beat on them, a dizzy star meter fills above their head.  If you stop when they are completely dizzy but before they explode into magical mojo, you can jack them, meaning that you jump on their shoulders and now control them.  Very handy for knocking through large obstacles and other key gaming events.   In fact, in bigger battles, it goes something like this:

1. Start by beating on the small bad guys that rush you first
2. Then, you and your co-player can team up to beat on one until it is dizzy
3. One of you then jack's that one.  Sure enough, more of the biggies are coming too
4. You who jacked the monster then whack on one of his friends until he is dizzy
5. Then, your co-player jacks that one
6. Now, you are both controlling biggies - so whack on the others.  And if you find a biggie monster that you like better than what you are currently riding, just whack it until it is just dizzy enough - and then jack over to it
7. Repeat as needed while Giggling and Whooping.

Recommendations and Other Thoughts
It is full of action and a really immersive world of beautiful graphics.  Though I must admit that Crash does not entirely fit my normal "ideal family game" in that you are walloping on bad guys the whole time - so for those that oppose even "Tom & Jerry" style violence, this one is out.  And it doesn't have a TV show or other medium outside of the games. 

On the plus side, there are other Crash titles, including those for original Xbox which does play on the Xbox 360 courtesy of compatibility mode.  And most notably, since Crash of the Titans is already about a year or so old, its sequel "Crash - Mind Over Mutants" is already released (which appears to have the same style).  So, after my son and I finish CotT, you can count on us getting CMoM and you'll hear about it here when we get started.

As always, thanks for reading...

I must admit that I have been looking forward to this game for a while.  Of course, I am big fan of RPG style games, but a few things made this one special from the beginning:

Instead of the generic middle-earth or Dungeons&Dragons type world, this one is set in the rich tapestry of Greek Mythology, where there is already a huge amount of lore, a long list of already identifiable heroes, as well as super-powered abilities as provided by the Greek gods as well as the heroes on Earth.

And as a huge personal ego trip, the primary character is also named Jason - so it is especially fun to have everyone addressing ME as 'King Jason' for a hundred gaming hours or so.

Following the stories out of Greek myth, the adventure starts on Jason's wedding day -- where moments before the ceremony, his bride is assassinated.  Jason decides to defy fate and find a way to bring Alceme back.  For the rest of game, you will be recruiting some of Greek mythology's greatest heroes - Hercules, Perseus, Achilles, etc. and visiting all of the big locations of the day -- battle minion, assassins, creatures and some interesting boss battles.  Eventually, you will need to find the great prize of the story, the Golden Fleece.

As an RPG fan, the skill increase system makes sense by letting you dedicate your actions and your conversation choices to one of four Greek gods, each of whom likes a certain aspect of fighting - Ares/Mace, Apollo/Shield, Hermes/Sword or Athena/Spear -- as well as different personality choices.  By making consistent dialog choices and then dedicating your generic activities and milestones to your patron deity, those particular styles of fighting get enhanced.

There are lots of good parts - but in fairness, there are some rough spots, too.

Movement can sometimes be clunky, both in how you wander and where you can go.  With so many of the RPGs being 'open world', it is a little frustrating to hit invisible walls when you are walking down a path but the game play wants you to turn.

Also, the early battle sequences get a little repetitive.  By the end of the first few large battles with lots of basic bad guys, you'll start to feel like you've been button mashing quite a bit at the beginning.  As you start to earn special abilities, then things get more varied and the 'God powers' become much more meaningful.

Those are both forgotten in the grander scheme, so if I had to name one really peeve -- it is that as you wander around the locations, you must walk everywhere and some of the areas are spread out.  My overall satisfaction would be definitely improved if I could just pull up a mini-map and click/fast-walk to previously visited locations.  But hey, maybe Codemasters patches it -- or someone responds on this blog to tell me of a button that I haven't tried yet.  I would love to be wrong on this one.  :-)

As I've shared with other game recommendations, my favorite games are usually ones that have a storyline and "world" that is bigger than just what is in the video game - ideally with movies, TV shows or other reading material.  In this case, the game leverages some fairly well-respected literature that has been entertaining and inspiring imaginations since 800 BC.

This game does have a compelling story that is set in a rich tapestry of mythology - with a nice range of weapons and powers to make the hero your own.   And if you really want to get into it, go to your local library and read some of the original Greek myths leading up to Jason and the search for the Golden Fleece.  And then (especially if your name is Jason), you will really be able to get into this game!!

As always, thanks for reading.