Manfred Linzner - Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced (2003)

 

Composer: Manfred Linzner
Console: GBA
Game Release Date: 2003-01-07
Bootleg Release Date: 2020-11-23
Ripper: Zophar's Domain
Runtime: 25:27, 19 Tracks

I haven't played many Crash Bandicoot games even though I have a lot of enjoyment for the series. Like, this year I played my fourth or fifth ever Crash game. It was Crash Bandicoot Purple. Played it back in July during one of my camping trips. This was not alongside the one where I played Survival Kids. That was a different trip.

Anyways, onto the topic at hand. This is Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced. It is the second game in the GBA trilogy (The Huge Adventure and Purple being the other two). N-Tranced is also one of the only Crash games to not feature Dr. Cortex in any way. No, this game's antagonist is Dr. N. Tropy and a new villain, N. Trance. 

I've seen playthroughs of the first 3 Crash games and I never really understood N. Trophy's role in the games. I didn't get why he was even working for Cortex. He seems to have his own goals, criticizes Crash for messing with time traveling (in the 3rd game) and seems to possess otherworldly powers he never uses. Both characters seem like Time Lords and in the N. Tropy fight in the third game he seems to know something about Crash and Cortex's interference in the time space continuum. But after you beat him that plot point is never mentioned again. 

So, in the end these two got their own game, albeit it's just a GBA game so it couldn't really do much. I still loved the game. It's a 2D platformer that uses the 3D models although heavily compressed. I wonder if on modern emulation if it would be possible to re-render the models in higher quality. I don't know anything about emulation programming and rendering yet so I'll just have to wait and see. Like how PCSX2 and the Mesen HD packs works. One day. 

Like the first game in the series it's the same Crash formula just in 2D. Lots of wumpa fruits to find, smash all the crates, explore the same locations (Arabia, tropical island, Egypt, etc), secret coloured gems and better moves like double jumps and stuff. It's also got the time trials, mini-game levels and boss fights. I always liked N-Tranced. The style translated surprisingly well. At least, more so than The Huge Adventure although I should retry that game at some point. 

I remember as a kid struggling at first with the levels but with practice, I ended up getting good at them. The game may be simple but damn is it difficult for beginners. I think this was my first ever Crash game too. I gave the game a replay back in 2017 I think, on my Ouya. Still just as good as a I remember it. 

I could keep reminiscing for hours, but I think that's a good cut off point. The soundtrack was composed by Manfred Linzner. The game seems to be a virtuoso of GBA/GBC/NDS music and according to the Video Game Music Perseveration Foundation lists him as exclusively composing for those consoles. Judging from his discography this may be his most popular game. I have no idea what he's been up to since then. He has a soundtrack for Iridion 3D and its sequel on Spotify released in 2010 but that's about it. Can't find any social media about the guy.

Aside from the regional levels getting "regional music" secondaries (Arabic classical, Egyptian classical, etc). I don't really know what to what to define them as other than '"electronic". The soundtrack uses its own soundfont and it just has a distinct enough sound. I've written it before and I'll write it again, more reason why Video Game Music should be an official genre. 

The music is also notably lobit, imo it sounds better that way. If for some reason you can't stand lobit music or want a remastered version of these songs, then just check out the recent Crash remakes. All the songs from this game should be present there, albeit in much higher quality. Personally, I like the charm of the compressed versions.

The soundtrack was originally made available on Zophar's Domain at some point, although it was completely untagged. I went through various videos of N-Tranced to properly tag each song plus filling in all the ID3 tags myself. Plus, the cover art. I've linked both version below although this post is exclusively about my version. 

Quality is 320kbps MP3.

Zophar's Original Rip: https://www.zophar.net/music/gameboy-advance-gsf/crash-bandicoot-2-n-tranced
SnowBlue Re-Tagged Version: aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56L2ZpbGUveVZJQUNUQ0wjdzVUYmNVb2pMWW83bFlOTVlrNnpqTlQ4Y1FsYTdaVHZ2TExnWHpsTExvbw==
Stream: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWFYZb-mcJq0mg_inKwV8BoSBmw-KxlFS
p@ss: entranced