Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a platform game made by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation and released in 1997.

The game takes place after the end of the first game, where Crash sent Cortex falling to his supposed doom from atop his blimp and into a cave, where Cortex discovers a large Crystal, and has a flash of inspiration. One year later, he is seen in a space station, being told by his new assistant N. Gin that to harness the Master Crystal's power, he will require an additional 25 "Slave Crystals", which are scattered across the Earth. Cortex then abducts Crash (while he is searching for a spare battery for Coco's laptop) and persuades him to gather the Slave Crystals, telling him that he will use them to harness the power of the aligned planets and prevent Earth from certain doom.

The gameplay is characterized by a limited environment, and by the breaking of crates, each of which contains some bonus. Breaking all of a level's crates earns the player that level's clear gem. The player can collect additional clear and colored gems by finding and touching them. Colored gems activate secret areas. If one collects all of the gems in the game, the secret ending is activated. Crash has several moves: jump, spin attack, body slam, slide, duck, crawl, and an extra-high jump performed by sliding or ducking and then jumping. Stepping on a question-mark platform/trap door takes Crash to a bonus level. Going to special locations, where something is somehow out of place, brings Crash to one of five secret levels. Also if the player manages to get to certain place in some levels with out losing a single life, the player can hop onto a platform with a Skull and Crossbones logo on it. It takes you to another path in the level of the main path and contains boxes and other secrets one might notice not being found on the main path.