Crash Bash
(This
review contains minor spoilers!)
I didn’t think much of Crash Bandicoot when it came out. I wasn’t
super old at the time, and I was basically glued to Nintendo systems around the
time and didn’t care much as to what Sony had to offer. All I knew about Crash
was that he was orange and had some pretty weird commercials starring this
unholy demon.
Didn’t exactly sell me on the concept.
But after trying out the game in the
fun Easter Egg included in Uncharted 4 last
year, I was really excited when the N-Sane
Trilogy was announced and I’d get to see what all the fuss was about. So is
Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy worth
your time, or is it yet another recent case of misplaced nostalgia gone awry?
The first thing you’ll notice upon
starting the game is that it has personality the likes of which are hard to
find anymore. Crash himself and his female counterpart Coco have loads of
subtle and adorable animations that bring these silent protagonists to life,
making them a joy to watch. Crash just exudes flavour, and the hilarious
enemies and oftentimes beautiful backgrounds make this world feel truly alive.
The second thing you’ll notice is that
the N-Sane Trilogy lives up to its
name when it comes to the difficulty at times. This game takes no prisoners and
gives no mercy to you as you jump, spin, swim, ride baby polar bears and even
motorbike through the wacky world of gaming’s second favourite marsupial.
Gaming’s first favourite marsupial is
probably the titular stars of the all-time classic Koala Brothers Outback Adventures.
When are we getting a remake of that, Vicarious Visions?
This leads to the one big issue with the N-Sane Trilogy: the original Crash
Bandicoot hasn’t aged super well. A lot of the platforming trials feel like
while they might’ve been fine in the 90’s when 3D platformers were still in
their baby stages, a lot of the deaths you receive when playing this part of
the N-Sane Trilogy are due to a lack
of depth perception in seeing exactly where the next platform is in front of
you, as well as an occasional trick jump that you need to be prepared for. One
early level sees Crash clear out a wall of boxes, only to find a pit
immediately behind it. You can’t really expect the pit, so it’s a life
basically guaranteed to be lost.
Despite this, I’m happy to say that Crash Bandicoot 2 and Crash
Bandicoot Warped have both aged extremely well. It’s immediately obvious
that the original Naughty Dog developers used the first game as a testing
ground for the stuff used in the sequels, because the N-Sane Trilogy versions of them are some of the best non-Nintendo
developed 3D platformers on the market right now. Gone are the depth perception
challenges and frustrating difficulty. In both 2 and Warped the
difficulty feels much fairer, resulting in an extremely satisfying experience I
found it hard to tear myself away from.
The gameplay is fairly simplistic. You pilot Crash in a
straight line to the end of the stage, collecting various doodads along the
way, such as tribal masks to give you extra hits and invincibility and magic
crystals to unlock boss fights. The villainous Doctor Cortex has employed
everything and the kitchen sink to put a stop to the bandicoot’s antics, and
each level requires you to outwit enemies and perform some pretty difficult
platforming challenges to make it to the end. Each level is wonderfully unique,
and you’ll never feel like you’re playing a clone of something you’ve already
done. Some of the levels that try a wacky mechanic don’t always work (Warped’s motorbike levels are just plain
awful), but every level that just sticks to the tried and true platforming is
fantastic. The famous Indiana Jones boulder
chase levels are some of the hardest in the collection, but they’re also the
most fun in that you have no idea what the game’s going to throw at you next.
I think that’s what I liked the most about the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy. No
matter how much I played, I never knew what was coming next. Naughty Dog did a
great job at creating these games, two of which have managed to defy the odds
and remain some of the best platformers ever up to two decades after release,
and Vicarious Visions has made them look better than ever thanks to the
delightfully personable animations on Crash and crew. While the first game is definitely
skippable, I’d absolutely recommend checking out this game to play 2 and Warped. In a time when nostalgia is running rampant and with so
many failed attempts to capitalize on it like Yooka Laylee around, it’s nice to know that even with so much
changing, some games will still be awesome.
FINAL SCORE
8/10
Great
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