Off the Cuff Plays Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017)

When this game was announced, I experienced about a week's worth of jittering hype followed by about a year of anxiety. I was excited about getting a new Crash game, but was intensely worried about what would happen were they to ruin it. I bought the game for PS4 on launch day last June, and I've probably completed it in its entirety about 6 or 7 times since then. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017) is a true love letter to the glory days of the Bandicoot, and you can tell it was made by people who love and respect the character. Time for me to give you my... ahem... 'unbiased' opinion. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a collection of 3 3D linear platformers originally developed by Naughty Dog, now developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017)

I've already published my reviews of the original 3 Crash games for PlayStation 1 on this blog in the past, so I'll mainly be talking about the new and updated features in this review. If there's something I don't mention, then it's most likely that my opinion on that matter hasn't changed since the original. Anyway, the easiest thing to praise in this game are the visuals. Ho. Ly. Crap. This is a gorgeous game, and probably one of the most visually impressive games I've ever played. The colours are vibrant and pop off the screen, pretty much every character model is clean and refined, and the lighting effects... oh my God, the lighting effects. There are levels from the original games that I previously thought only looked fine, such as The Pits and Gee Wiz, that now look stunning, and are among my favourite levels to look at in the entire game. The soundtrack is also a massive win, as tracks from the original that tended to sound quite similar have now been given a multi-genre twist, and people who were complaining that the bass is gone are just looking to nitpick, or are blinded my nostalgia, since I think pretty much all of these tracks sound better here than they do in the originals. The Cortex boss fights, Rock It, Papu Papu, N. Brio, Toad Village, both versions of Tiny Tiger and N. Gin, they're all treats for the ears. The presentation overall gets 3 thumbs-up from me.

Dr. N. Brio, Crash and Dr. Neo Cortex

The gameplay is now standardised across all 3 games, meaning that Crash controls the exact same way in Crash 1 as he does in Crash 2 and 3, immediately making this version of Crash 1 the only version of the game you should ever play. I cannot tell you how amazing it feels to play through the bottomless pit infested levels of the original Crash Bandicoot without having to worry about Crash's heavy jump arc. The way Crash controls in this game is even different to how he plays in Crash 2 and 3, which is a good thing, since if you're not going to change up the gameplay a little, then what's the point? Crash's jump arc is now a little shorter, meaning that you have to be a little more precise with your jumps, which I do like. It makes it so that someone who's so ingrained in the mindset of the original games, like me, still has to stop and pay attention to the gameplay without just breezing through the game since I've played it for 17 years. Another neat addition is that you can now play as Coco in all 3 games, and she's available to use in any platforming level. Boss fights and vehicle levels are still restricted to whoever played that level in the original, but having Coco as a playable character (and done right, unlike Wrath of Cortex) is brilliant. Coco plays exactly the same way as Crash does, so the difference is purely cosmetic. She has her own animations, voice clips, and personality than Crash, and even though it really means nothing in terms of gameplay, having her in the game means so much.

The Pits

I do need to address one of the most contentious things about this game: Crash's hitbox. Whereas in the original games it was a rectangle, Crash's hitbox in this game is more like a pill. While this means basically nothing for the bulk of the game, it can turn certain levels into a trial at times. Specifically, a lot of levels in Crash 1 which require pinpoint jumps to survive become an ordeal to get through on your first time. The bridge levels in particular have been given such a huge difficulty spike thanks to this new feature. Admittedly, this put me off a little at first. There are instances where you've barely landed on a platform and you just slide right off. Like I said, it's annoying to deal with at first, until you realise that it runs both ways. When jumping off a platform, thanks to the pill, you can wait just that little bit longer running off the platform before jumping, and this makes a world of difference. Knowing this, the bridge levels are still tricky, but manageable, and it only took me, a person who's got the original Crash physics ingrained into his brain more than pretty much anyone on the planet, only about 30 minutes of playtime to get the hang of, and now I wouldn't have it any other way. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I've 100%ed this game probably about 6 or 7 times in the last year; twice on Nintendo Switch and once as part of a speedrun I undertook in January. My total playtime to full completion of all three games? 13 hours 11 minutes 28 seconds. And that was my 3rd full playthrough of the game. If that doesn't tell you that the controls are welcoming and easy to get the hang of, I don't know what does.

The High Road

Time trials are back in all three games now, and admittedly, it is a little jarring at first. The levels in Crash 1 specifically weren't designed to be rushed, and do require an adjustment to get the hang of. However, and this is going to sound weird, but I accidentally got more platinum relics in Crash 1 on my first run through than I did in Crash 2 and 3 combined, which makes sense when you think about it. The developers knew that you could only really travel at one speed in the first game, and set the times accordingly. And, to everyone complaining that you don't get the speed shoes or the slide-jump in Crash 1, if you think the levels in the first game weren't designed with time trials in mind, try adding those other, more chaotic elements to the Crash 1 movepool and see how that goes. The N. Sane Trilogy also adds 2 completely new levels as free DLC, or fresh-out-of-the-box depending on which version of the game you're playing. Stormy Ascent is a level that was cut from the original Crash Bandicoot for being too difficult, and holy crap, they were right to do so. This is a hard level, and if I'd had to play this in the original game with the dopier jumping and strict gem rules, I might have gone insane. Here it presents a decent challenge without being too ridiculous, and it took me half an hour to 40 minutes to complete it my first time. Future Tense is a completely original level in Crash 3 which is designed around using the power-ups you get from beating bosses and THANK GOD! This is what I always wanted the level design of Crash 3 to be like. Why add power-ups if you're not going to work them into your level design? It's also a really tricky level on its own right, and is another contrast to the easy level design of the rest of Crash 3. If this level is Vicarious Visions testing the waters on designing levels for an original Crash game in the future, I more than welcome it.

Uka Uka and Dr. Neo Cortex

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017) is the return to form everyone was hoping it would be and then some. Just the fact that it exists at all is a triumph, but the fact that it's this good as well? It made Crash relevant again, and I couldn't be happier about that. There's no nostalgia talking here. Brilliant game. End of story. 9.5/10.