While the N64 has amassed quite a library of awesome party games--Mary Party 1 & 2, Super Smash Bros, and GoldenEye 007 spring immediately to mind--PlayStation fans haven't been quite as lucky. Sony, with a little help from Eurocom and Cerny Games, hopes to remedy this situation with Crash Bash.

If the game is producing a crash error when you try. A high-end sound card, you may try the OpenALSoft.exe file that is attached to this post.

Sony calls Crash Bash a '3D arena-based battle' game, but it's basically Mario Party without the board game elements.

Playing as one of eight characters from previous Crash titles--including Crash, Coco, Dingodile, Tiny, Dr. N. Cortex, N. Brio and Koala Kong--gamers face off in more than 28 high-impact events. Among other tasks, you'll drive tanks, bounce on pogo sticks and even ride polar bears--whatever it takes to annihilate the opposition.

Whereas Super Smash Bros, was filled with plenty of Mario-esque butt-bouncing and block-busting, Crash Bash contains plenty of Crash's signature moves, including spinning, jumping, nitro box tossing and animal riding. There are also plenty of familiar pick-ups, which offer speed and health boosts, weapons, etc.

Play modes include Adventure, Battle and Tournament Battle. In Adventure Mode, one or two players compete against computer-controlled opponents and four Bosses. The story line, such as it is, revolves around the rivalry between Aku Aku and Uka Uka, who call a contest to determine whether the forces of light or dark are more powerful.

Battle Mode is playable with up to four players going head-to-head (via the MultiTap) in an arena setting. In the short version of this mode, the game is played until one player wins three times in a single arena. The tournament version of Battle Mode is a succession of short battles in which players accumulate points based on their performance.

Like Mario Party, the game's contests are simple yet addictive. On the down side, you do need a MultiTap if more than a couple of people want to play; however, this is a small price to pay to enjoy what is shaping up to be one of the PlayStation's all-time best party games. Gspca source tar bz2 mac.

• MANUFACTURER - Eurocom
• THEME - ACTION
• NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1-4