Story
After being defeated by Crash Bandicoot, Dr. Cortex finds himself zooming towards Earth at great speed. He makes a rough landing on the insides of a cave. After lighting a match, the bad doctor sees a huge purple crystal in front of him. Hatching another evil plan in his oversized cranium, Cortex laughs maniacally.

One year has passed. Cortex has built a station-sized Cortex Vortex, currently orbiting around planet Earth. In its interior, he discusses the final phase of his plan with Dr. N. Gin, a physicist who was taken by Cortex a long time ago, now serving as his right-hand man. He plans to use the new Cortex Vortex for World domination, by harnessing the power of the Master Crystal he found in the cave, one year ago. However, the Master Crystal alone isn't enough to power up the Cortex Vortex. Cortex needs the 25 slave crystals to reach full power. He is well aware of the situation and already has a plan to buy an enemy.

Back on Earth, Crash is sleeping and catching some rays with his younger sister Coco. She types furiously on her laptop, until the battery soon runs out. Coco wakes Crash up and asks him to bring her another battery. Crash gets going, only to be abducted and disappear along the way. His body then materializes inside a mysterious Warp Room.

Oblivious to what's going on, Crash gets a holographic display of Cortex's head projected in front of him. Cortex speaks to Crash and orders him to retrieve the slave crystals, using the doors in the Warp Room. After Crash retrieves the first crystal, Cortex tricks Crash into thinking he's out to save the World from a mysterious planetary force. Crash is led to believe that the crystals are the only means of stopping this force, and sets out to get them for Cortex. In the meanwhile, Coco is busy trying to communicate with Crash, to no avail.

Later on, another holographic display appears. This time it's Dr. Nitrus Brio. Still bitter at Cortex for always taking credit for his inventions, Brio tells Crash that if he wants to save the World, he should gather the Earth's Gems, and not the crystals. This way, he can create a laser beam capable of destroying the Cortex Vortex. To show that he means business, Brio states that he'll send his forces to stop Crash, unless he gives up on the crystal hunt.

Without any idea of which evil scientist to believe, Crash sets out to collect both the Gems and the crystals.

Characters: Crash Bandicoot/Aku Aku/Coco Bandicoot/Dr. Neo Cortex/Dr. N. Gin
Dr. Nitrus Brio/Ripper Roo/Komodo Moe/Komodo Joe/Tiny Tiger/Polar

Generalities
Crash Bandicoot 2 follows the original game's footsteps, but improves every single aspect. The levels are bigger, prettier, and more fun to play. There is a considerable graphic leap between the sequel and the original game, and the music has been improved as well, presenting many memorable tunes this time around. The gameplay retains the original game's basics, with a few, notable differences:

In addition to running, jumping and spinning, Crash can now crouch, crawl, high jump, slide-tackle, belly-flop and hang from meshes. These are all simple actions to perform, but they're not just extras- you will need these moves if you want to progress in the game.

Crash can also ride a jet-ski, a baby polar bear and use a Jet-Pack in zero-gravity levels. The jet-skis are abundant in river levels, and you can boost and move freely when you're using one. When riding Polar, you'll be moving forward at great speed, though much like in Crash 1's hog levels, you can't backtrack. Polar controls more smoothly than the hog though, and he can also do short bursts of speed. As for the Jet-Pack, it lets you fly around in zero-gravity levels. It's fun to use, though you might need some time to get used to it.

Checkpoints now remember which Crates you've smashed. This makes things much less frustrating, since you can lose lives and still smash all the Crates to get a Gem. Levels can have more than a single Gem this time around, and there is always one purple Crystal waiting to be found in each of them (barring secret levels). To open your way through the Warp Room, you must collect these purple Crystals. Not to worry though, since it's practically impossible to miss them- they just sit on the main paths, begging to be collected.

Bonus Rounds are accessed in a different way now, and they can be replayed if you re-enter a level. They're marked by big "?" platforms that you must step on. Not only that, but the Crates in Bonus Rounds now count for box completion. Keep that in mind if you want to get Gems.

There are a few new Crates for the smashing. The first one is the Nitro Crate, which will explode at the slightest touch. They can only be safely destroyed by spinning the Nitro Switch in a level (a green "!" box). Locked Crates are strong and require you to belly-flop on them.

Clear Gems are your prize for breaking all the Crates in a level. Some levels have a second Clear Gem, which is usually located on a secret passage or a Death Route. Death Routes are accessed through skull platforms, and they're usually hazard-filled. To access a Death Route platform, you must find it without losing a life. If you do die in the process, the platform will become ghostly, and you can't access it without restarting the level.

Coloured Gems are much more interesting. Though there are only 5 of them, they all rely on gimmicks to be collected. They can be challenging to find, since you'll have to resort to things you wouldn't normally do. Crazy, unusual things.

And finally, we have the hot warp spots, which send you to a secret Warp Room. You'll need to find them to have access to obscure passages in some levels. This is, again, important because of the Crates and Gems. This Warp Room is also home to two secret levels.

Character Moves:
Jump- Press the X button to jump in the air. For a higher jump, hold the X button longer. To get maximum height, hold the X button whilst bouncing off of enemies and crates (2 crates height).

Spin Attack- Press the Square button to spin for a small amount of time, enabling Crash to defeat enemies that make contact with him.

Crouch- Press the O or R1 button to duck and avoid hazards.

Crawl- Holding down the O or R1 button and moving around makes Crash crawl. Useful for getting through low barriers.

Slide- Moving and pressing the O or R1 button makes Crash slide forward. Used as an attack, it's especially useful against enemies with harmful/protected upper halves.

High Jump- By holding down the O or R1 button and pressing the X button, Crash will jump higher. To jump farther, use the slide move and jump at the same time (3 crates height).

Belly Flop- Jump and press the O or R1 button to make Crash perform a belly flop. It's useful against enemies with thick layers and for breaking Locked Crates.

Hang- To hang from meshes, simply jump up to them. You can move around and spin while hanging, but spinning will stop you from moving.

Burrow- In certain levels, Crash can hide and move below magenta-coloured soil. To do so, press the Square button to get underground. You can move and spin your arm against enemies while underground. To get out, simply press the X button.

Rides:
Polar- When riding Polar, you'll be in constant movement and you can't turn around. To get a speed boost, press O button. Combine this with a jump to leap across large ponds.

River Jet-Board- Move freely around the water and accelerate with the X button. Try not to get hit by hazards, and boost over ramps.

Jet-Pack- Use the left analog stick/D-Pad to move Crash up, down, left, or right. Press the X button to go forward and the O button to go backward. To make a sudden break, quickly switch from holding the X button to the O button (or vice-versa). To spin, press the Square button as usual.
Note: The preset controls are set to "Flight" (up is down and vice-versa). This can be changed in the Options menu when you're in a Jet-Pack level.