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| Crash Bandicoot (1996) |
Dr. Neo Cortex is an evil genius hell-bent on world domination. His method of choice: genetically mutating animals into an army for his cause. And the animal he chooses to be the general of his 'Cortex Commandos'? A... bandicoot. Fine. Unfortunately, something goes wrong and the bandicoot, named Crash, escapes. Cortex settles on Crash's girlfriend, Tawna, to be his next subject, and now Crash is on a journey to save her. Like Spyro, this is another simplistic story that really only serves as a vessel for the game to happen as opposed to being a key part of the game. Much like the story, the gameplay is also very simplistic, which is good considering this was one of the first ever 3D platformers. Crash can run, jump and spin to attack enemies, and that's really it. Each level is a straight-forward path to the goal, with the occasional deviation here and there, and they are all chock full of crates for Crash to break and obtain Wumpa fruit. 100 Wumpa fruits equals a new life. Some crates also house Aku Aku, a witchdoctor mask, which grants Crash an extra hit before dying. Collecting 3 masks without taking a hit gives Crash temporary invincibility.
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| Dr. Nitrus Brio and Dr. Neo Cortex with Crash |
This game still looks great. Not flawless, the occasional sprite or environment looks a little out of place and Crash's sprite is a little dopey, but it holds up reasonably well. Even though the story is fairly simplistic, it works towards the level design in a really clever way. Each level can be considered another chapter in Crash's adventure, but the little touches here and there really tell a bigger story, such as the way the silhouette of Cortex's castle gets closer and closer as you progress. Also, though at first you may be wondering why there is a ruins stage on the 3rd island when the 2nd island was the one predominantly featuring the ruins, its placement on the world map suggests Cortex built has castle on top of them, which really says something about his character beyond world domination. Sadly, the nature of this means that there is little variation in the level themes. Everything is pretty much either a jungle, a ruin or an industrial level. It makes the most sense for the story, but it does little to spice things up. Another thing that feels pretty samey is the soundtrack, and while it is good, it's all pretty repetitive bass tracks with little melody. It's still good, but the tracks are short and loop frequently, which can make things frustrating especially if you keep dying on a particular level.
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| N. Sanity Beach |
Crash's movements are fairly responsive, and he controls really well. Of course, there's nothing super intuitive about the controls, they're all pretty basic, but that's part of what makes this game so good to control. There's nothing complicated about it, just run, jump and spin. You would expect this would mean there was little variation with the enemies in the levels, but there's actually a surprising amount of variety here, not just with the placement and attack patterns, but there are a bunch of enemies that you need to take a different approach to instead of just spinning into them recklessly, and some you can't even kill at all. The enemies are really more like additional platforming challenges at times, which is really good stuff. This leads into the best part of this game, which is the level design itself. It's all really well thought-out, and even the the entire game can be amounted to a series of hops over bottomless pits, it never felt that way, as the level design finds a way to keep things really fresh even between levels with the same theme. It's hard to explain, but no level felt the exact same as another, even if they shared the same environment, and this really helped for memorising the lay-outs. Unfortunately, it's clear this is where all the effort went, as the other level type, the bosses, are far from impressive. There are only a couple that I'd actually call really good, the last two, and the others are honestly really weak. At least their designs are cool, and I like the characters themselves, but the fights? Not worth mentioning.
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| Road to Nowhere |
There's also a decent amount here for completionists like me. Each level has a gem, and some have coloured gems which open up new paths in other levels to break more crates and earn more gems. A couple of levels even have keys which unlock new levels entirely. However, the way you get these gems is by breaking every crate in a stage without dying once, which can be a nightmare at times, especially in the really long levels like Sunset Vista or Slippery f***ing Climb. Keys are not much better, as you need to collect all 3 Cortex tokens in a level, then complete the Cortex bonus round on your first attempt, and if you fail it, you need to exit the entire level and try again. 100%ing this game can be a chore at times, since you'll need to keep exiting and restarting a level if you're not incredibly familiar with the layouts. And the cherry on the cake? There's no easy way to save the game. In order to save your game, or get a password to input to return you to where you're up to, you need to either earn a gem or key, or collect all 3 Tawna tokes in some levels, and complete that bonus round on your first attempt. If the visuals haven't dated, these gameplay elements certainly have. For a completionist, Crash Bandicoot is a nightmare, and I wouldn't attempt to 100% this game until you've memorised every level completely, which, of course, I have. Thankfully, for those of you just looking to beat a game, Crash Bandicoot is quick, simple and fun, and I'm living proof that as an introduction to platformers, or even video games in general, it's a great one.
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| Slippery Climb |
Crash Bandicoot (1996) is a flawed game, but an enjoyable one, and it's a classic for a reason. If you have a chance to play this game, take it, and you won't regret it. Of course, Crash would only get better in years to come, but we'll get there eventually. 7.5/10.
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