Story (Note: this game's story continues where The Wrath of Cortex left off.)
3 years have passed since Crash Bandicoot last defeated Dr. Cortex, who managed to escape with his master Uka Uka by landing on a frozen Antarctic wasteland. As fate would have it, both ended up frozen and drifted away through the seas. They eventually arrive to the warm waters of their home archipelago, where Cortex defrosts and decides to get rid of the bandicoot himself.

Later in N. Sanity Island, Crash's sister Coco plays happily near their house, chasing a butterfly. What she's unaware of is that Cortex spies nearby. He sets his ray-gun to 'stun' and zaps Coco with it. She becomes unable to move, and Cortex begins the next step in his plan.

Crash is somewhere at the beach, digging holes in the sand and acting as carefree as always. He suddenly hears a voice calling him. It is none other than Cortex, cleverly disguised as Coco. He tricks Crash into following him to the other side of the bay. When they arrive, Cortex removes the disguise and reveals himself to Crash. Confused, Crash engages in a fight with Cortex. This leads to unpredictable consequences, as both of them end up deep inside N. Sanity Island's underground regions.

When they manage to get out, they are confronted by a pair of weird-looking mischievous birds. They call themselves The Evil Twins, and they're out to get Cortex and destroy the islands. Who are these new enemies? And what business do they have with Cortex? These are the answers that Crash and Cortex seek, and so both of them decide to work together. A most unlikely alliance is forged, and both bandicoot and evil scientist aim for the same goal, cooperating reluctantly.

Characters: Crash Bandicoot/Coco Bandicoot/Dr. Cortex/Nina Cortex/The Evil Twins
Aku Aku/Uka Uka/Pinstripe*/Tiny Tiger*/Crunch Bandicoot*/Nitros Oxide*/Polar*/Koala Kong*
Ripper Roo*/Tawna*/Papu Papu/Farmer Ernest/Dingodile/N. Gin/Rusty Walrus/N. Tropy
Nitrus Brio/Madame Amberly/Evil Crash
*Cameo

Generalities
Twinsanity is a much needed refreshment to the series. A lot of the main features are either completely new or vastly improved, including gameplay, visual character style, music and more. Just what the doctor ordered.

Crash Twinsanity leaves behind the usual and severely worn-out "Follow the path and get the Crystal" routine by implementing free-roaming. Many areas are vast and begging to be explored, and they're all connected to each others with unnoticeable loadings. This creates a more realistic feel, as you no longer simply warp to different locations of the World. Now you have to get to them yourself, and that's half the fun in this game. To help you with this, you are given total control over the camera (hallelujah!). Said camera works perfectly and never gets stuck on objects, so you should have no trouble with it. Crash always looks to the direction you're pointing the camera to, which is a nice little detail.

The gameplay is wider and overall more varied. Although getting to the end of an area is still your objective for every level, the fun relies on what you have to do for it. You may have to reach it normally, use Cortex as an object, play as different characters, and so on. Wumpa Fruits and Crates are back, but there is no box completion for Gems now, so you can finally relax and break Crates as it seems fit for you. Gems are hidden all around, waiting for you to find them. They are no longer needed for story progression, but they unlock extras like concept art and FMVs.

Crash controls in a slightly different way than before. Though there aren't any Super Powers to be gained now, Crash's moves have been tweaked and improved. Your Double Jump and Super Belly Flop are retained from previous games, and your spin attacks last slightly longer.

At times, Crash will be joined by Cortex. Rather... Crash drags Cortex around and uses him as a multi-purpose object. Your spin radius and strength is increased, and you can throw Cortex either into high places or straightforward, to smack enemies in front of you. Whenever you throw Cortex, he will pull any nearby levers or use his ray gun to clear a path off of enemies. You can also use Cortex as a mallet. That oversized cranium finally makes itself useful. You cannot Double Jump when you're dragging Cortex around, but that's the price of having a greedy scientist latched on to your Power Crystal.

Certain levels involve certain gimmicks. For instance, sometimes you play side-scrolling segments where you have to clear a path for Cortex, who is being chased by a hazard (like bees or even a grizzly bear). Remove all obstacles and activate machinery from your side of the path, and Cortex will escape safely.
Another interesting type of gameplay involves controlling Crash and Cortex as a ball. Though only present for one level, the so-called Rollerbrawl occurs when both characters don't see eye-to-eye and engage in a cartoony brawl, complete with smoke puffs and stars. This controls like the old Atlasphere, but it's so much more fun. If you happen to stop for a bit, you will see such atrocities as Crash twisting Cortex's spine, or Cortex spanking Crash's rear like an old fashioned-geezer.
And finally, Cortex can be used as a snowboard in certain levels. This is called Humilliskate, and it lives up to its name. Poor Cortex goes through all kinds of humiliation while Crash rides on top of him.

That's not all there is to it, though. You get to control Cortex himself in one of the levels. He is just like what you'd expect: he jumps terribly, but his ray-gun makes up for it. It's always hilarious to see Cortex screaming like a little girl when he runs out of ammo.
Surprises don't end here: there is a third playable character, Nina Cortex (Dr. Cortex's niece). She is very interesting to play as, since her bionic arms can stretch and grab onto rings, either to swing across buildings or climb to the top. Her primary attack is a spin, like Crash's, but she can stretch her arms to punch enemies. It's just too bad you only play as her for one level, since she is a great character to play as.

That pretty much covers the gameplay. How is the rest, you might ask? The graphics are really nice. Very smooth and colourful, with a lot of detail and sharp-looking textures. N. Sanity Island looks particularly beautiful, and when the game aims for darker environments, it really does deliver with justice, as shown in the awesomely twisted 10^th Dimension (the opposite of Crash's world). As for the music, this game may very well have the best soundtrack out of the entire series thus far. Spiralmouth composed and performed the music for the game, using only their voices (a music style called A Capella). Some themes are quite funny to hear, and some are so well-performed that you'll have a hard time believing that you're listening to a guy's voice instead of an actual electric guitar. Overall, the music is one of the game's true delights.

Every game has its flaws though, and Twinsanity's might be quite apparent. The game is quite short, so unless you like replaying games and collecting everything in them, there isn't a lot of longevity in this game for you. Although, truth be told, the game is still fun even after you beat it. The other main flaw is how glitchy the game is. Although usually not affecting gameplay too much, glitches are abundant and quite visible. These are the main thorns in the rose that is Twinsanity.

If you're an avid Crash fan, you are most likely going to love this game. It is so far the most faithful recreation of Crash's origins when it comes to characters, story, objects, locations, and large etcetera. You'll be surprised at how much attention they paid to the series, even obscure details. For example, the red barn in the first island of Crash 1 is accessible in this game, where an emu farmer struggles to make Wumpa Trees grow. It's these little details and tidbits that can truly define a game sometimes.

Character Moves:
Crash Bandicoot
Jump [PS2: X / Xbox: A]- Crash jumps in the air. For a higher jump, press the jump button longer (2 crates height).

Double Jump- Press the jump button twice to get twice as high. The longer the time between the jumps, the more distance Crash can leap across (4 crates height).

Spin Attack [PS2: Square / Xbox: X]- Crash spins for a small amount of time, enabling him to defeat enemies that make contact with him.

Crouch [PS2: Circle or R1 / Xbox: B]- Crash ducks to avoid hazards.

Crawl- Holding down the crouch button and moving around makes Crash crawl.

Slide- Moving and tapping the crouch button makes Crash perform a slide tackle. It can be used as an attack.

Slide Jump- Slide, then jump for a long jump forward.

Super Belly Flop- Jump and press the crouch button to make Crash perform a belly flop. It's useful for breaking Locked Crates.

Dr. Neo Cortex
Jump [PS2: X / Xbox: A]- Cortex performs a small jump (1 crate height).

Shoot [PS2: Square / Xbox: X]- Tap the shoot button repeatedly to auto-fire Cortex's Ray Gun. The ammo is limited, so make sure you pick up ammunition from Ammo Crates. Hold down the button to release a big, single Plasma Blast. To shoot a big blast around Cortex, jump and press the crouch button.

Crouch [PS2: Circle or R1 / Xbox: B]- Cortex crouches.

Crawl- Holding down the crouch button and moving around makes Cortex crawl.

Trip- Move and press the crouch button to make Cortex trip forward. It is a useless move.

Strafe [PS2: L1 or R1 / Xbox: L or R]- Push the left shoulder button to make Cortex strafe leftwards, and the right shoulder one to make him strafe rightwards.

Crash & Cortex
Join- Spin into Cortex to join up.

Jump [PS2: X / Xbox: A]- Crash and Cortex perform a small jump (1 crate height).

Spin [PS2: Square / Xbox: X]- Crash spins Cortex around, inflicting strong damage on enemies and activating machinery.

Slam [PS2: Circle or R1 / Xbox: B]- Press the crouch button to use Cortex as a mallet and smash hard objects and enemies.

Twin Throw- Jump and push the crouch button to send Cortex forward into the air. Cortex will shoot at nearby enemies and activate machinery.

Spin Throw- Spin and push the crouch button to rapidly throw Cortex straightforward. It has the same effect as the Twin Throw, but Cortex soars lower and inflicts damage into any enemy he hits.

Nina Cortex
Jump [PS2: X / GC: A / Xbox: A]- Nina performs a small jump (1 crate height).

Spin [PS2: Square / Xbox: X]- Nina spins around, just like Crash.

Punch/Grab [PS2: Circle or R1 / Xbox: B]- Press the crouch button to make Nina extend her fist forward. This also makes her grab any nearby rings or gargoyles.

Bounce- When holding onto a ring, jump to get off and press the crouch button again to grab a higher ring. Repeat until you reach the top.

Mecha-Bandicoot
Jump [PS2: X / GC: A / Xbox: A]- The Mecha-Bandicoot makes a small hop.

Fire missiles [PS2: Square / Xbox: X]- Press the spin/shoot button to fire a missile. Press it repeatedly to launch several of them.

Plasma Blast [PS2: Circle or R1 / Xbox: B]- Hold down the spin/shoot button to sneeze out a Plasma Blast.