Mind Over Mutant was nominated for Best Platformer of 2008 by the Nintendo Power magazine.
The game was called Crash: Invasion of the Bandicoot Snatchers early in development, but this title was dropped because it was difficult to translate to other languages without losing the joke in the process. This title was a reference to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a 1956 sci-fi movie.
The drawings in the Kidz Art Pack concept art, as well as those seen inside Crash's house and the Evil Public School, were drawn by the winners of a contest held by Kidzworld in collaboration with Radical Entertainment, which was also officially promoted on Crash Mania. Besides having their drawings featured in the game, the winners also appear in the game's credits, and they all received a free copy of the game. Most of the winners were actually members of the original Crash Mania forum. Kevin Fagaragan is mistakenly listed twice in the credits.
The back of the Italian box has a highlight about Cortex's voice actor, Mago Forest, a popular showman and comedian in Italy.
The Italian magazine Topolino (a Disney magazine named after Mickey Mouse's Italian name) held a feature about this game in issue #2767. This issue had a contest for the best Crash-related rhyme with several different awards:
9th-50th place: A Crash t-shirt
8th place: Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex for the PlayStation 2
7th place: Crash Twinsanity for the PlayStation 2
6th place: Crash Nitro Kart for the PlayStation 2
5th place: Crash Tag Team Racing for the PlayStation 2
4th place: Crash of the Titans Monster Edition for the PlayStation 2
3rd place: Crash Bandicoot Action Pack for the PlayStation 2
2nd place: Nintendo DS Lite + Crash of the Titans for the Nintendo DS
1st place: Nintendo DS Lite + Crash: Mind Over Mutant for the Nintendo DS
1st place plus being registered in the Topolino Club: PlayStation Portable + Crash: Mind Over Mutant for that handheld
References
When you meet the first TK in the game, he busts some of Michael Jackson's trademark moves, including bits from the Thriller choreography and the Moonwalk.
While visiting the Evil Public School, Cortex announces that the winner of the evil science fair will receive an explosive space modulator, in reference to Marvin the Martian from Looney Tunes.
When N. Gin makes his first appearance in the game, he briefly impersonates the bray of a Tusken Raider from Star Wars. Adding to the reference is the staff N. Gin wields in this sequence.
A second reference to Star Wars appears during the boss fight against Crunch: one of the protective slabs that appear in front of him has a Magmadon frozen in it. This is a reference to Han Solo being frozen in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back.
After N. Gin explains his plan to Crash and Aku Aku, he proclaims that he's "gonna be like Serpentor", a character from the G.I. Joe franchise.
One of the Znu's lines is "Tonight... we dine over there!", parodying a famous quote from the movie 300 ("Tonight... we dine in hell!")
Cortex will sometimes tell the students over the school speakers that they "cannot have cheeseburger". This is a reference to an old Internet meme, which consists of an image of a cat and a caption saying "I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?" Cortex then adds "That's a stupid meme anyway."
The name of the cutscene "Crunch Get" is a parody of the countless cases of poor English in Japanese games (commonly known as Engrish). It specifically references the Japanese version of Super Mario Sunshine and its message "Shine Get".
The ending of the cutscene "Crunch Get" is a parody of how most episodes in the The Incredible Hulk TV series used to end. Dr. David Banner would walk down the street with the sad piano theme hear in this game, which is called The Lonely Man. It's worth noting that Brio himself is similar to The Hulk, as both transform into green monsters.
Music
The first notes from Crash of the Titans's Turf's Up are present in the tracks you hear outside Crash's house, outside Mount Grimly, and in the Wasteland area where you have to find the three keys.
There is an unused track in the game that sounds like a Wild West tune.
A leftover unused track from Crash of the Titans is in the game's data. It's a remix of the main theme from WARPED, and it remains unused in this game as well.
