Samantha Nelson of the Chicago-area Daily Herald newspaper has written a very informative review of the latest videogame in the Crash Bandicoot series: Crash: Mind Over Mutant. According to Nelson’s description, it sounds like good fun:

Younger players may love the goofy characters and fast action but the game is also fun for older gamers who will pick up on many of the more clever jokes and can be impressed by the high variability of terrain and interesting abilities of the creatures you encounter and get to control. It might not be particularly innovative, and some play properties are downright frustrating, but overall it’s a highly entertaining game that really lives up to the "all ages" category.

. . . [T]his version offers new features to add spice to the experience of those familiar with the title, but it is highly accessible to players picking it up for the first time. There are some recurring characters that older players might enjoy more, but anyone can be amused by the totally bizarre cut screens that are each done in a different fashion from infomercial to puppet show. It’s here that the plot is revealed, with a pair of mad scientists creating the ultimate new mind-control device. Of course it’s up to Crash to jump, climb, dig and fight his way around the game world, stopping their nefarious plan.

But the plot is much less important than the execution. There’s an excellent selection of highly variable terrain in the game. You have to scale walls avoiding falling objects, time hops onto sinking icebergs, run around on funhouse-style rings, surf over water and avoid being blown off ledges by strong winds. The constantly changing obstacles the character moves through keep players on their toes, teaching you new moves along the way. Besides just fighting the terrain, you also encounter weird creatures that sound a lot like Woody Allen, girls attending "evil school," detonating robots and plenty of other villains that provide highly entertaining lines while you beat them up.

According to other reviews, the game is full of other such pop culture parodies and social satire, including a good deal of comedy about excessive consumerism. For more info, click here.