Crash: Mind over Mutant is a Beat 'em Up/platformer hybrid, developed by Radical Entertainment for the Crash Bandicoot series, released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Wii in fall 2008. The title is Radical's final game with the series (as well as the final original game in the series until 2020's Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time). It is a direct sequel to Crash of the Titans.
Retaining many aspects of Titans' gameplay, it generally leans a lot more towards a platformer, with combat being made less relentless and frequent. The game abandons levels for a "free-romping" world where the player can enter areas of the game's world by exiting others, giving the player more freedom than in Titans. The game also brought about many small improvements. The player can now pocket a Titan or alternate between two different Titans and even upgrade Titans, and they were also given abilities such as jumping and ledge climbing for use in platforming. The game also gets rid of the previous game's life system and adds Coco Bandicoot as a playable character...for Xbox 360 and Wii only.
The game takes place one year after Titans and is centered around a device built by Neo Cortex and the newly-rekindled Dr. Nitrus Brio called the NV, which later gets shipped to Wumpa Island for free. Crash and co. soon receive a package containing a few. Everyone on Wumpa Island except for Crash and Aku Aku (who can't use them) like it...until an addiction sets in and makes them all become crazy. After the discovery that this is yet another plot of Cortex's to take over the world, Crash must set his friends free from the NVs' control and take the scientist on again.
Like with Titans, a Nintendo DS alternate version was released. This one was a bit...different, one could say.
This game contains examples of:
- 2½D: From time to time, the gameplay is close to entirely a side scroller.
- Affectionate Parody: The Art Shift cutscenes are these in spades, having animation styles which parody South Park and Dragon Ball to name a few.
- Anti-Climax: The worst that some of the villains get after their defeat is to be told to leave by Aku Aku.
- Art Shift: The game's animated cutscenes come in quite a variety of styles for no apparent reason other than Rule of Funny.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Crunch and Coco once their NVs are on become completely distracted from reality. This leaves the regular attention deficit Crash to take care of things.
- Beat the Curse Out of Him: Crash does such to the NV brainwashed Coco and Crunch. Unfortunately for Crunch, Crash takes a while to notice the curse is off.
- Boring Insult: Just before the final boss, Cortex claims that Crash is only fighting him because he doesn't have a life or a hobby.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Non verbal case. One of Coco's idle animations is Crash's iconic victory dance.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Crash has to knock some sense into Coco and Crunch due to the NV subjecting them to this.
- In fact, all titans you fight happen to be this. Surprisingly, even those that serve Cortex don't seem to wear NVs in the Art Shift cutscenes.
- But Wait, There's More!: Cortex uses this line during his sales pitch of the NV. It would have helped if he had something to go with it.
- The Bus Came Back: Dr. Nitrus Brio makes his first appearance since Crash Twinsanity. He goes as far as to outright break the fourth wall by stating he was in the first game.
- Butt-Monkey: N. Brio, Nina, and most of the minions are there to be abused in the cutscenes. Surprisingly, the series' regular Butt-Monkey Cortex gets off pretty lightly this time and in fact is the one to abuse Uka Uka instead in a comical way.
- Comically Missing the Point: After finally detaching his helmet, Crunch changes back and thanks Crash. Crash, however, doesn't seem to take it in and continues trying to beat Crunch into submission. This might be due to earlier where when Aku Aku told Crunch to take it off and he refused due to enjoying a monkey video too much.
- Continuity Nod: Nina references Madame Amberly and the Academy of Evil in her cutscene. In addition, Brio reminds us that he was in the first game.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Abiding by Coco and Crunch's reactions, the villains actually bothered to make NV capable of doing every service they advertised it could, albeit with the extra ability of turning its' host into an evil mutant slave. And they sent them to houses for free!
- Demoted to Extra:
- Tiny is the only character from the main version of the previous game who doesn't physically appear at any point and only appears to provide commentary in the credits.
- Also Nina, who was the Final Boss of the main version of the previous game (and a playable character in the portable version), is here limited to a single mission appearance, having been punished for her betrayal in the last story.
- Denser and Wackier: Compared to Titans, which took itself seriously to a degree and was clear with what its stakes were, the story of Mind over Mutant doesn't take itself anywhere near as seriously despite the plot being yet another "take over the world" scheme by the villains. The cutscenes exemplifies this by being in different art styles and trying to cram in as many jokes as they can either through Slapstick or dialogue.
- Distressed Dude: Uka Uka, of all people, has to be saved late in the story!
- Divergent Character Evolution:
- Coco actually inverts this, as she is mostly just Crash with new animations and voice clips. Also an odd example in that it makes her play better than in previous games, where she was mostly a watered-down Crash limited to a few levels.
- The Stench in the previous game was a palette swap of the Snipe. Here it has been given a spacesuit and a raygun.
- The Dog Bites Back: After being ditched by Bad Boss Uka Uka and replaced by his niece Nina in the previous game, Cortex immediately sets up revenge, dumping Nina in Evil Public School and having his new NV powered mutants capture and torture Uka, making himself the true Big Bad once more.
- Drop-In-Drop-Out Multiplayer: Just like the previous game, and actually usable to let the player play through most of it as Coco.
- Enemy Mine: Uka Uka, after having been betrayed by Cortex, offers to transport Crash and Aku Aku to his lair in return for them getting back his Mojo energy and Voodoo bones.
- Fan Disservice:
- Don't stare into the dancing lights, lest you want to see Cortex and N. Brio in their underwear doing suggestive poses.
- Coco has one of her most attractive looks in this game, comprising of a tight t-shirt and a nice pair of jeans, while her midriff's shown. Which she keeps when she's nightmarishly mutated for a bit.
- Final Boss: For the first time in quite a while, Cortex.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- As an NPC, Crunch is constantly holding an opened magazine. If the point where the bandicoots receive the NVs hasn't been reached yet and he gets hit by Crash, his reaction animation will position the magazine for a moment at the right angle to see that he's looking at a picture of Coco.
- The start of "Abuse, Misuse, Recycle" has a split-second shot of Crash portrayed with a war bonnet. Given the cutscene's subject humor of "evil" recycling, the reference intended there is obvious.
- It Has Been an Honor: If you jack a titan and later leave them standing without killing them, they will salute to you before vanishing instead of dropping on the floor, reflecting their Heel–Face Turn.
- Karma Houdini: After defeating him, Cortex escapes punishment with a Znu in a UFO, with the series Left Hanging afterwards. It's unknown if future games will deal with this in any way, shape or form.
- Lighter and Softer: Generally more cartoony and lighthearted than Titans, but it does have its share of dark moments. Some of the Titans also have more cartoony designs.
- Manipulative Bastard: Cortex's plan for placing Brio's NV devices onto subjects involves advertising it as a high-tech, all-purpose entertainment device so masses will obliviously try by their own free will. Even Coco falls for it.Brio: But wait, Cortex. How are we going to get these devices onto Mutants' heads?Cortex: Oh, that's an the easy part. We'll give it to them! *Evil Laugh*
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: The Titans have all formed their own societies after the villains' defeat in the previous game. The ones you have to fight are really just controlled by the NVs.
- Mythology Gag: The character designs used in "Super Number One Bandicoot!" and "Crunch Get!" bear heavy resemblance to those of the series manga released in the nineties.
- New Kid Stigma: In a cutscene showcasing a Mad Scientist school, the students started picking on the new kid who happens to be Nina Cortex. The narrator of the cutscene states that "Classes are full and we hate new people".
- No Endor Holocaust: After Crash rescues Uka Uka, he mentions that Cortex has already sent NVs to different parts of the world. Given what happened to Coco, Crunch and other mutants after they wore them, your reaction is likely "Oh, no!" Not until you enter Space Head and here Cortex say that the worldwide activation is expected in "two Earth hours". You're more likely to beat the final boss earlier than that. Plus, Paris is shown briefly, with no sign of anyone under mind control.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Light case. Brendan O'Brien's Brio of the original games had a high pitched New Yorker accent, littered with stutters and manic giggling. Maurice LaMarche instead voices Brio using an Orson Welles imitation, which is still an American voice, but one that sounds radically different from the original.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Crash and Aku Aku are...less than intimidated by Cortex's threats in their final confrontation until he reveals his stash of Brio's mutagen formula that he uses on himself. Cue hulked out Cortex battle.
- Oh, Crap!: Crash and Aku Aku when they realise Cortex in his monster form has sent his space station out of orbit. Cortex, once he changes back, also has a similar moment.Cortex: Oh no! What did I do? Where are my pants???
- Overrated and Underleveled: Downplayed with Titan Heroes. They are true to their presentation, having slightly higher base damage and improved specials (usually having greater AoE or longer use time), but by the time you meet them their regular mook counterparts are likely to be just as strong, if not stronger, thanks to mojo upgrades.
- Hero Grimly might as well be a straight example, because it's that easy to upgrade the regular one while navigating through Mount Grimly. It's possible to casually provide Grimly with four out of five upgrades on your first pass, and by that time the Hero version falls behind it in terms of both damage and slowdown period.
- Promoted to Playable:
- As an alternative to Carbon Crash, the second player can also control Coco — although you can't do this in the PS2 and PSP version.
- Minor variation, but Crunch and Cortex's bosses involve you "jacking" and controlling them as you do the Titans. For Crunch in particular, this is his only fully playable role in the series thus far.
- Running Gag: N. Brio invented everything.note
- The Starscream: Cortex to Uka Uka.
- Took a Level in Badass: Coco, after spending several games as a Distressed Damsel or Joke Character, is now a cooperative playable character of equal level as Crash...unless one has the PS2 or PSP version.
- Cortex also firmly regains his position as Big Bad again, even having the balls to get back at Uka Uka.
- The Unfought: You never actually fight Brio, although he does show up in Crunch's boss fight.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Poor N Gin seemingly got ditched as right hand man to Cortex in favour of the latter's team up with Brio. This sticks out especially after N Gin helped sabotage Nina's coup last game out of loyalty to Cortex.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Both N. Gin and Brio are given their marching orders by Aku Aku. A pantsless Cortex also evacuates his lair in an escape pod with a Znu in the ending.
- Villainous Breakdown: After being defeated, Cortex's monster form breaks down sobbing, ripping apart his lab in a tantrum. Once changed back, he regains composure, though gets an Oh, Crap! moment when he realises he's sent his space station into a crash landing.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Uka Uka vows revenge on Cortex, but after being set free is not seen again. While Cortex is defeated he remains independent from Uka, with the series Left Hanging afterwards.
- Also applies to N.Gin as he's never mentioned or seen again after Aku Aku tells him to get off the island and seeing Coco and Crunch get brainwashed.
The portable version contains examples of:
- Final-Exam Boss: The Chimera uses the attacks from every Titan it has body parts from, as well as a few new ones of its own.
- It Makes Sense in Context: Some parts of the story don't quite make sense unless you've played the main console version first, and even then their usage seems misplaced here.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: The Chimera, an unholy amalgamation of various Titan enemies with a lion head, bull horns and a cybernetic torso, is the final boss in this version. There's no context for it, either, although considering how little sense the story makes here, it really doesn't matter much.
- Non-Standard Character Design: The Psycho Mandrake. In a game filled with powerful, muscled enemy mutants, it really stands out by being a humanoid mutated flower Titan with no face. Then there's the Chimera...
- The Unfought: Neo Cortex isn't fought in this version, although he does show up in the Chimera's boss fight.
