Sierra have announced a new installment in the platforming series starring everyone's favourite Eastern Barred Bandicoot.

Crash Bandicoot is returning to the Wii and DS with a new beast-riding chapter in the series entitled Crash: Mind Over Mutant.

In Mind Over Mutant, the infamous Doctor Neo Cortex returns with yet another dastardly plan to take over the world. This time, he plans on doing it with the power of text messages in order to mind control the populace into doing his bidding. Only the loveable Crash can save his friends and the world from the menace of Cortex.

Mind Over Mutant will let you go "Free-Romping" around the vast intersecting worlds with the different Titans you've collected.

The antagonising Titans from the previous game (Crash of the Titans) are set to return, and this time Crash can store them Pokémon-style, allowing him to upgrade and use them at any time. In addition to several new abilities and a free-roaming island to explore, Mind Over Mutant will also feature co-op play, allowing a friend to jump in and aid Crash in his quest by playing as Crash's sister, Coco.

One of Crash's new abilities is climbing, which we'd imagine would be a bit difficult without opposable thumbs.

Click here to see the rest of the screenshots, and here to see the game's teaser trailer.

It's also interesting to note that Radical Entertainment are developing the Wii version first, and then downgrading the visuals for the PS2 version and upgrading them for the 360 version. It's nice to see a developer putting effort into a multiplatform title!

Crash: Mind Over Mutant will be crashing (ho ho) onto the Wii and DS on October 28th in North America.