Day 5: N. Tropy (Warped)
(Continuing from yesterday's segment, I get up from the ground, hand on my head)
Me: Ugh, damn Lyra really put the hurt on me. I guess some people are really passionate about how they pronounce certain words.
Lyra: (From a distance) That and I was tired of all the goat puns.
Me: Whatever. Well, it's a brand new day. What boss are we dealing with now?
(Cut to Crash Bandicoot Warped)
N. Tropy: Now you're on my time, you little skunk! Give me the crystals!
Me: Hell yeah!
The battle against Dr. Nefarious Tropy from Crash Bandicoot Warped is easily a highlight in the game, mostly because of the good doctor himself.
See, N Tropy is the creator of The Time Twister Machine, the very device that he, Dr. Cortex, and Uka Uka are using to gather Power Crystals, and coincidentally Crash and Coco's means to travel from level to level.
On top of being a key player to the game's story unlike other bosses like Tiny Tiger, Dingodile, and N. Gin, he's also the only boss other than Cortex and Uka Uka that has a good amount of build up to his fight. During the opening cutscene where Uka Uka is reprimanding Cortex for his failures during the previous games, observant players who played the original game on PS1 may have noticed a silhouette in the background. That silhouette is revealed to be, you guessed it, N. Tropy.
Gamers are introduced to a brand new villain in the Crash series, and they are left curious as to what he's capable of, both in the context of the story and for a potential boss battle. When the time came to face this blue meanie, we were not disappointed.
In the battle against N. Tropy, you and him are on two separate platforms, with N. Tropy attacking you from his platform with the help of his tuning fork. He'll mainly attack you with energy spheres that you need to dodge, and energy waves that'll either come at you from the front or from the sides, and you need to jump over them.
After firing enough projectiles, smaller platforms will appear in a pattern that'll help Crash get to N. Tropy's platform. Use the small platforms to jump across the gap separating you and N. Tropy, and once you make it to him, spin into him to do damage. Do this two more times and you win.
This fight is rather simple, but I really have a lot of fun dodging all of N. Tropy's attacks and hopping across the small platforms to get to him.
I'll say it over and over until I'm blue in the face, just because a fight is simple and easy doesn't mean it's not a fun fight. And besides, the attacks become more frequent as the fight goes on, and the patterns that the small platforms arrange themselves in become more complex and the number of platforms decrease in number with each phase.
I also really like how the environment around you and N. Tropy changes throughout the fight, with the first phase taking place in the Time Twister Machine, phase two taking place in Ancient China, and phase three taking place in Ancient Arabia. I just think it's a great touch to the fight and really cements N. Tropy's role in the story as a master of time.
The last thing I want to talk about is how the fight ends. Once N. Tropy is defeated, Cortex and Uka Uka, while they're naturally upset that you won the battleā¦it's not for the reason you think.
Uka Uka: You insolent, insignificant morons! By defeating, N. Tropy, you have placed us all in grave risk!
Cortex: Crash! Coco! You must realize that this Time Twister Machine is very delicate! Without Dr. N. Tropy's constant care and control, who knows what it will do?
Yup, because you took out the Time Twister Machine's sole caretaker, you've basically screwed everyone, yourself and the villains. While this doesn't come back into the main story until the 100% ending, it's still a scary idea knowing that by defeating the bad guy, something that should be celebrated, you've effectively made everything worse for yourself.
With all of this in mind, though, given how big of a role N. Tropy played in Crash Warped's story, and what the aftermath of the fight has wrought, I've always wondered why N. Tropy wasn't the game's penultimate boss? Huge missed opportunity if you ask me.
Anyway, with a simple, but fun and energetic battle, great build-up to the boss in question, an interesting idea for the arena, some pretty nice music, and by showing us what defeating N. Tropy means for the rest of the game's story, this fight is easily one of the best in the whole game, one of the best in the original Crash trilogy, and one of the best in the whole series.
Here's to hoping that the next Crash game brings N. Tropy back and better than ever...and hopefully without any 'selfcest' moments like that one from Crash 4: It's About Time...seriously, what the actual fuck was that?
