Crash Bandicoot is an Action game developed by Naughty Dog, Inc. and published by Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. in 1996 for the Playstation.

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Overall 9.4    Graphics 8.3    Sound 8.3    Addictive 6.8    Story 6.9    Depth 7.9    Difficulty 7.8


Review of Crash Bandicoot: The Marsupial That Started It All   supremesonicbra..
Ah, Crash. One of my first contacts with the gaming world, and certainly one of the best. I was just a little kiddo back then but as I always say in my reviews (actually this being the first one where I make such a metaphor), the PlayStation 1 for me is like giving a stuffed animal to a newborn: he/she'll latch onto it and will never let it go. And I felt I was just taking too much time to review my second favorite franchise of all time (first one being OddWorld, third one being good ol' "Sanic"), and it was Sunday morning at the time I was writing this so I thought "eh, why not? It's my only free day on the week after all".[STORY - 9/10]So. Crash Bandicoot. Some call it "Sonic's Ass Game". The one that started it all. An Australian marsupial, one of many critters captured by Dr. Neo Cortex, a mad scientist planning on creating an army of super animals to take over the world, with the help of his assistant/rival, Dr. Nitrus Brio, who created the Evolvo-Ray (which I really had no clue at all that it had a name until now, I had to quick-search for it), a machine capable of buffing up intelligence and physical capabilities of any animal. The critters would pass through this "forced evolution" and then be submitted to the Cortex Vortex, a mind-controlling device created by Cortex himself. Crash would be the first one to pass through this experience.Perfect plan, ain't it? Heh. Go figure. Crash was successfully evolved, but no one expected the brainwashing failed. Cortex then threw Crash at the window as if it was "garbage", and continued the experiment. As Crash was going to be thrown, he met Tawna, a "Jessica Rabbit-esque" female bandicoot. Waking up at N. Sanity Island, at the shore, Crash then starts his adventure to stop Cortex and rescue Tawna.Two things to consider:1. Them names. Seriously, I liked the way almost every name in the franchise starts with an "N.", then when you get the full name of those characters, every "N." turns out to be a completely different name from each other. This has a very clever thought to it, whoever had this idea was a genius.2. Tawna doesn't exist after Crash 1 as far as I'm concerned, she was discarded in favor of Crash having a less "sexy-and-smexy" sister. I wonder why was she even created in the first place then if she was going to be discarded in such a way. It's like the whole "Sonic and Madonna" thing again. *shivers*

[GRAPHICS - 10/10]As usual, the PlayStation - although having its limitations - was a pioneer on 3D graphic capabilities back at the time, and Crash 1 just felt to me like "the standard game to know how great PlayStation can and will be". Shame Sony never took Crash as its official mascot, because damn. What. An. Art style. Crash 1 manages to make something I can only see in Team Fortress 2: a great cartoon-ish style, but it manages somehow to blend the cartoon-ish feel with a more "realistic" environment. Even being the first one of the franchise (and, consequently, having the most basic graphics), it somehow catches my eye and massages it like a day in a spa.

[SOUND - 10/10]

I believe Crash is responsible for making me love the sound of a didgeridoo (and later on discovering the actual name of the instrument): the soundtrack has a perfect ambience with the Australian setting of the game. It has a great mix of tribal drums, didgeridoos, a sick bass and other non-Australian instruments (gotta love the tribal chanting back at the Great Gate levels). And that's not even the cherry on the cake, there is something in common about all of the PS1 Crash games:

As I said earlier, the PS1 had its limitations, one of them being the fact you had to highly compress your audio, which cutted a great chunk on sound quality. Well, guess what: this actually made the musics better (or at least in my opinion)! Recently, Josh Mancell, original compositor of the Crash soundtracks, posted on his SoundCloud lots of "pre-console" (as in, "before being highly compressed so they could fit into the PS1 limitations") versions of the original musics from the PS1 games, which you can hear here: https://soundcloud.com/joshmancell/sets/music-for-video-games-crash

The difference between "pre-console" and what's in the game is just astounding. I really can't choose a favorite, I love both versions although I tend to side by the "in-game" versions due to nostalgia.

[DIFFICULTY - 8/10]

At the same time being the first in the franchise makes it the less graphic-heavy, it also makes it the most challenging IMO. I would be giving this an overall of 10/10, if it weren't for one thing that actually bugs me: Crash 1 doesn't have analog support, which makes total sense since it was developed and launched way before DualShock was even a thing, but still, I don't really like using a D-Pad for 3D movement, especially the PS1 D-Pad. One word: diagonals. Man oh man how I hate going up-left/up-right/down-left/down-right with this D-Pad, and the worst part is that sometimes this is vital in the game. Yet, it makes for a nice experience.

Aside from that, the game itself has a good exponential curve on difficulty: it starts nice and easy, then it ramps up kinda quickly after passing the first of the three islands of the game. AFAIK, the Crash games on PS1 have an interesting mechanic of "subtly making things easier if you die too many times on the same spot", which kinda counters the "hardness" of it all. An example of this is when you die so much that your next respawn comes with a "free" Aku-Aku mask. Or, even better, at the "Indiana Jones-esque" boulder levels, the boulder actually slows down a bit if you die too much, it's so subtle no one even notices while playing. There's the mechanic in action, and I say this is great for balancing the game, making it playable for everyone, from kids to elders. But, at the same time, it doesn't make the game "child's play", there's still a lot of challenge, which made me give this aspect an 8/10.

Bosses are kind of in the same manner as a Sonic game: hit it X times and it's over. They also follow the same exponential curve, depending on your expertise and reflexes. Some of them can be taken down in less than a minute, while others will make you wait two or three, but all of them are, in a certain way, fairly easy and quick if you learn their patterns.

There's another point which I'l talk about in the next section, which, although being in the next section, it relates to both:

[DEPTH - 10/10]

Besides the main quest, there's still a lot to do in Crash 1: there are lots of crates to break, and some of these are in bonus stages, well-hidden throughout the levels, where you have to collect three special character icons to get there. The bonus stages are of utmost importance due to one thing: they're the only way you can actually save the game in the memory card. Sure, the game has both memory card saving and a good ol' password system, but, as far as I recall, both can only be accessible after clearing a bonus stage. You should be asking now "but Supreme, why do we need these crates in the first place?". You obviously know already since it's an old game but I'm glad you asked either way

If you break all crates on a level, you get a gem, and these gems are essential to completing the game 100%. Note: you have to do it without dying. On future games, this doesn't happen, since progress is saved and you get the gem regardless of dying or not, but I have no idea as to why the first game "wants to be the odd one out". Even if you break all the crates in a level, if you die once, you won't be getting that gem. Some gems are colored, and those are even more special, since they actually open up new paths to certain levels which weren't available before (and which are a must to get another gem on the same level, as a level can have more than one gem). This makes the replay factor quite strong, as collecting all the gems in the game are essential to a specific level in the game, which has an alternate ending. So yeah. The game really has a lot to offer.

[ADDICTIVENESS - 9/10]

Although Crash 1 isn't exactly my favorite in the franchise, I do love it as it is and I'd play it again for sure. I would be reluctant at first because of the whole D-Pad/no-analog situation but our "modern technologies" leave that in the dust. Plus, the nostalgia. I actually never got to fully understand the cutscenes and speeches as I was a kid, but nowadays I guess I'll be able to fully experience it the way it should be (I say this because English isn't my first language and the game doesn't have subtitles, but I'm able to understand enough now).

[OVERALL - 9.8/10]

Naughty Dog should claim Crash back as their property. They've created a legend, and let's just say they're missing a lot nowadays. Crash Bandicoot stood as a fierce opponent to none other than Mario, and he deserves a worthy return to his roots, just as Sonic and Rayman did. Long live the "alternate Tasmanian Devil".
      Review Rating: 4.8/5     Submitted: 11-20-16     Updated: 11-20-16     Review Replies: 3


Aussie mammals can be heros   arwingstarfight..
Naughty Dog has come a long, long way since the 1990s and have made a hit adventure series called Uncharted, but that's no the game I have chosen to review. I am going to review a video game that gave the developers at Naughty Dog, their first big break. It was a video game with an Australian bipedal, very stupid and very reckless marsupial, Crash Bandicoot. When this game was being developed, Naughty Dog was closely working next to Insomniac Games who were in the process of making the first game in the original ps1 spyro the dragon games in fact, the two series are considered to be sister series to each other. It is a great game and I like it because its set in Australia with an Aussie animal (well three different Islands just off the coast of Australia,) not many games take place in my home country, yeah thats right, I'm an Aussie a true blue one as well, born and raised one. Got the accent and everything mates.But lets not get sidetracked. this is the game that made Crash Bandicoot into a household name and the reason that he, along with Spyro the Dragon became the two mascots for the original Playstation system and an integral part of my youth. Ever since I lost the original games, I have been saving up for the playstation accessory which reminds me, why does one have to pay for the accessory while the other systems don't need that?Let me tell you this game is really hard and is intended to make the player patient, timing is everything in this game, its like a game that you need to have rhythm with. Now its time to really begin the review on one of the greatest games that has captured the hearts of gamers all around the world.Starting up the game is in itself an exciting experience my mum asked me to quickly help with something just as I got back I saw this cutscene that really puts the story in perspective Crash was a failed experiment by two evil scientists (I don't mean to nit pick but hasn't the evil scientist trope been done to death already?) Nevertheless this game makes it work, the scientists, Doctor Neo Cortex (who  is a lot more serious sounding in this game than the others) and Doctor Nitrus Brio, the man who invented the evolvo ray.A device capable of mutating regular animals into super animals, thats what the two doctors plan, to take over the world with an army of super animals to take over the world. however Crash was a failed experiment that escaped but now he left behind his girlfriend Tawna and now with the help of the magical mask named Aku Aku, whose existence acts as Crash Bandicoots health system and the two of them embark on an island  hopping adventure that is fun for everyone. In short its a classic example of go to the ends of the earth defeat the bad guy and get the girl, now its time to move on to the next segmentThe graphics really take advantage of the playstations hardware by using silicon graphics it was like an interactive looney tunes in some small way the movements the characters are sweet and not only that but sound effects are great too, but we'll get to that. Now the world in this game is very colourful especially first Island, pretty much a jungle hike but far from a tropical getaway the and the lighting is amazing it can be bright dark or in between and this fact is used in a lot of levels as you hop from island to island to save Crashs sweetheart. Everywhere you go this ps1 classic won't let you down in the graphics department but with the other playstation sequels, the graphics were greatly improved , just play Crash bandicoot two cortex strikes back and Crash bandicoot warped and you will see what I mean.as you progress through the game, you will marvel at every graphic this game has to offer, its just too good but its not entirely perfect when because the shades look a little dark in some places so lets get to the sound of crash bandicoot.And to think this games vocal effects were all provided by one man, Brendan O'Brian. If he could do all that, it definitely shows he has raw talent the sound effects compliment the music nicely and honestly the sounds of Pinstripe Potoroo shooting his tommy gun along with the battle music was epic and speaking of the music, its core value is the variety of music that can change your mood and to me music is a powerful thing, for instance, the tribal music that plays when your running away from that huge boulder can get your heart pumping and the dark labs on cortexs islands make you feel creeped out. Thats a good thing for a video game to have, variety. Naughty dog I have to hand them this, they really came through with crash bandicoot Its a game that I really want to play again real soon and now for the addictiveness Now this game is hard to complete because if you want to complete the game 100% you have to smash every crate and get to the end of the level without dying, its not easy is it? But asides that, this game makes it up with being an addictive platformer. its a game I'd like to replay as many times as i want to, whenever i get the time for it that is. playing this game is way too addictive for a gamers own good but thats actually a good thing because the more addictive a video game is, the more likely you will have a desire in your mind to play it again. finishing the game is great but getting a gem feels more rewarding due to the careful effort the player puts into this game not only that but the bosses are fun to fight as well (although one boss in particular is totally wimpy when it comes to putting up a fight but some can be a little tricky) because this games addictiveness comes from its difficulty and replay value and is very rewarding when you defeat a difficult level like Sunset Vista (boy that level was a royal pain in the neck and my thumbs and now for the depth.being balanced with being addictive, the depth that crash bandicoot has to offer will not leave you disappointed, we will start with the bonus levels which incidentally, shouldn't Tawna be in the dark creepy castle instead of the bonus round after finding the three bonus Tawna tokens, how does that even work, major plothole. then there are the Cortex tokens and the Brio tokens, and each bonus round has a specific purpose, Tawna saves the game, cortex levels reward the player with a key and Brio bonus levels? I seem to have forgotten what they were for to be honest. in addition to the clear gems, there are also coloured gems that go with them and these coloured gems unlocks certain paths in certain levels, by unlocking every gem you can unlock the hidden alternate ending and will explain what the bosses do after crash bandicoot, but this ending is generally considered non canon and in my book too much of a waste of time and effort unless you wanna go for 100% then by all means go ahead this game has unlockable levels that you can unlock by winning the aforementioned cortex keys and the game is by all means a timeless classic with so much to do unless you just want to play it for the story like I do. and finally we have the difficulty segment here goes nothing.Now this games difficulty lies in its timing and well placed gimmicks that keep you on your toes and keeps you guessing I must admit that I was going crazy trying to complete Sunset Vista and I honestly can say it was a very real challenge the first boss, Papu papu is so easy you can beat him in less than a minute, the bosses afterwards get tricky but its fun I really like Ripper roos fight and his laugh is the same laugh muttered by the hyena in the cage in disneys film Lady and the tramp pretty interesting I was blown away when I found this information. In the bonus rounds, you only get one try but instead of losing a life, you will be returned to the point you warped from. The gem paths are notoriously hard I can't think of anything else to say so to wrap this up I'm gonna say this game is a totally awesome piece for the playstations video game library, thank you everyone I'll try to have a longer review next time
  Graphics 8   Sound 9   Addictive 8   Story 8   Depth 8   Difficulty 6
      Review Rating: 4.6/5     Submitted: 02-18-16     Review Replies: 3


Sometimes we have to start small...   Tails the Fox
Hello peopleses of whom I have never met, never will, and don't intend to! This little bunch of typery here is my Crash Bandicoot review - Which I am doing after my Crash Bandicoot 2 review... because I am a complete ponce and also because I played that game first. This was in fact the second Crash Bandicoot game that I played, and I had immediately learned to hate it after the colossal bar that was set by Crash 2. Back then, I never really cared what order games would come in, and just played them for the game – similar to what I do now, except I do care slightly what order they are in. I had never owned this game when I was young, and played it at my cousin’s house. I could never grasp how he could play that game instead of Crash 2. I was young, and I am better than that now. Crash started out as a way of trying to have an image for Sony. They needed someone to represent them, similar to how Mario is with Nintendo, so he needed to be very child friendly. (Unlike Nathan Drake, who seems to be Sony’s mascot these days) The character that was made was originally called Willie Wombat, which I don’t think works as well as Crash Bandicoot, that and he is also the wrong colour to be a wombat – but then again we have Sonic the Hedgehog. Speaking of Sonic, when this game was in development, it went under the working title of ‘The Sonic’s Arse Game’ since it was a 3D platformer in which you would be looking at a blue rear end. The game surfaced in 1996 (the year that I was born) and I did not know, and did not care because I was a bloody Kit at the time. The game was a huge hit almost immediately and sold a million billion trillion copies which meant they had to make another one, but I have already reviewed that. (No it did not.) The story consists of Cortex and N. Brio putting Crash into the Cortex Vortex with the intention of turning him into a slave. Crash is rejected by it and (somehow) escapes from it and falls out of the window. Cortex disregards this as no problem and then turns to Tawna, who is Crash’s girlfriend. In other words, hero must beat bad guy and save girl – it does not get more standard than that. Strangely, she appears in the bonus stages lifting her arm and then just standing there until Crash leaves. Also, she is twice the size of him, which is weird. The story is clearly just adapting the one to Mario games, replacing Mario with Crash, Bowser with Cortex, and Peach with Tawna. (Who appears in none of the other games as far as I know) The likely reason for the simple story is likely because the game was made with hope that it would be popular – the story in the second game is much better. The game begins on a map screen and gives you nowhere to move, just allowing you to press X to start the first level. I guess it was nice to show that the levels are all strewn together on a 3D map early, but it’s a bit pointless when it can’t be used – the game should have skipped this and started the first stage and after that shown the map, (Somewhat like the second game) but that’s just nitpicking. I do however like the attention to detail at this part where Crash gets up from a daze, linking it to the intro. The map consists of three islands each with about 8 levels and some bosses. The majority of stages in this game usually consist of both 3D and 2D platforming and others are based around riding a warthog. I will explain the latter first. In the warthog stages the player is forced to go forwards at quite a surprising speed, yet not too fast that it’s impossible to react. In it there are obstacles which usually consist of being on the correct side or jumping to dodge – but here’s the thing about these stages: They are just a memory game similar to how Punch Out is. That is in no way a bad thing though as both the Warthog stages and Punch Out are very enjoyable, although the warthog stages are even less forgiving if you smeg it up. In the warthog stages, everything will kill you and your only second chance comes from hitting the checkpoint. Most of the obstacles are a very distinct object (such as a spiked pole) on one side which just needs to be walked past. There are the really annoying obstacles which WILL hit you the first time playing. They are usually either a tribeswoman walking left and right with a shield which is really hard to time which direction to go in and also a pig that looks like it is getting spit roasted, but without the fire – even harder to time. The regular platforming stages are the main attraction for the game – and they both rather kick arse and rather crappy – I shall explain. Initially, levels are pretty straightforward: fun forward, kill enemies, and break boxes. The levels have a surprisingly large range of themes and when they change it seems to only compliment the game and makes sense, the theme even being shown to you on the map before you start the level. The thing about level themes is that this game can go for whatever it bloody well wants and yet somehow will find a way to make it work. It can go from a jungle themed level to a technology themed level to a castle themed level and yet it still feels like the same game. The difficulty in the game is incredibly fair and scaled very well with length except for one thing… Most of the levels are rather easy, or at least would be if it weren’t for one problem that makes the entire game so much harder: the saving. Most games have saving at the end of a level or on the level select (such as the second game) but this one has the most ridiculous, most heinous crimes that is the worst idea for saving a game ever! There are two ways of saving, both of them ridiculous. 1) Get every box in the stage, and beat it without dying even once or 2) Find 3 Tawna icons hidden in boxes to get to the bonus stage, and get through that first time without dying. Not even beating a boss without dying lets you save. The problem is, this really ruins how it feels to play the game because you are always scared that you will die in it so you are forced to play incredibly cautious, and this makes the game drastically less fun and just stupidly frustrating. To add to the embarrassment of the difficulty enforced by the worst saving mechanics ever devised is one of the nicest controls in a PlayStation game. The game only uses two buttons, X and square to Jump and Spin respectively. Like in most platformers Crash kills enemies by jumping on them, unless they have spikes on their back in which case he spins into them. An interesting mechanic that they did not need to add but did anyway was sending an enemy flying into the background when spun into. It sounds cosmetic, but if they hit something (or even several things) then it would give an apple (or as the game calls them, Wumpa fruit) for each enemy hit. This mechanic is pretty cool and made me want to plan my direction of attack instead of just running through and spinning if they happened to be there. Despite such simple controls, both have a problem: They are really floaty, and because of this it can be hard to judge things like jumps. There is a small delay when turning on the ground or in the air, this is usually so Crash can rotate, but is really unnecessary. True that Mario does it, but in that one it does not need perfect jumping. (Or at least not as much as this one does in the later stages) Also, when a spin is done on the ground while moving, Crash will keep going even if you let go of the button which will cause many frustrating deaths. Through each level are tons and tons of boxes which need to be broken, apples (or wumpa fruit as the game calls it) which need to be eaten, and enemies that need to be brutally slaughtered – pretty standard stuff. The boxes have many different types which NEED to be learned else you will die, and I will laugh. Most boxes have apples, these give you lives after 100, some have a ? on them which gives you a random amount of apples or an icon. There are Crash boxes which give an extra life, there are Arrow boxes which are bouncy and there are ones with weird vertical lines that are also bouncy, but break after 10 bounces and give apples. Finally there is the TNT which explodes after 3 seconds. Getting them all can be challenging because a lot of them are put in stupid places and some where you have to get it first time or you will have to restart the level. The game has 1-2 bosses on each of the islands and they are depressingly easy. Their attack patterns never really change and they are incredibly predictable, telegraphing all of their attacks. Most of the bosses are killed in 3 hits and don’t reward anything except for access to the next level. The bosses are not particularly memorable and serve little purpose and make little impact on the game. The only interesting boss was Cortex, but he was still as easy and predictable as the other bosses. The soundtrack is bloody brilliant. There are tons of songs for each type of level and every single one of the fits perfectly into its respective level. I find the themes however to not be very memorable and just end up blending into the background, but through doing that it makes the rest of the game stand out. Most of the music is very bouncy and very well sets the mood for the game. Like the stages, it seems to be able to go whatever genre it wants and somehow never feels out of place. The games graphics are rather impressive; easily beat by its sequels, but considering how brilliant they look that is not an insult to this game. Each of the different themed stages have plenty of details and secrets that could easily be missed. The way the graphics are displayed goes brilliantly with the way the stages are designed and help improve the feel of them, providing a strange bridge between cartoony and realistic – it’s something you would have to see to understand. The only real downside to the graphics is that the characters, including Crash, look rather sub-par and could easily be better. Crash has this weird stretchy mouth thing going on that just looks weird when he poses after getting a gem. Sorry, I could not really say too much on this one without overly repeating everything that I said in my Crash Bandicoot 2 review. The game is really, really good, but falls short with its loose controls and poor saving. The game both looks and sounds great and was a well done start to a series that would only get better. I can guarantee that if you lived through the ‘90s then you will remember this game since everyone back then had a PlayStation. Sorry this review is not that good, especially since I took about a week writing it. (But I was mostly distracted so I did not get that much time on it.) I hope my next one will be better. From your friendly neighbourhood British Fox, thanks for reading.
  Graphics 7   Sound 8   Addictive 6   Story 3   Depth 6   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 4.5/5     Submitted: 05-27-13     Review Replies: 7


Crash Bandicoot: 3ish-D Platforming   kabenon007
I say Nintendo, you say Mario. I say Sega, you say Sonic. Nintendo! Mario! Sega! Sonic! Playstation! ........Each major gaming company seemed to have their own mascot. Nintendo's was obviously the Italian plumber turned super hero/turtle killer Mario. Sega, seeking to one-up Nintendo in terms of characterization and attempting to appeal to a "more hip" crowd, created the finger-waggling Sonic. If you thought Nintendo invented waggling, you'd be wrong!The maniac marsupial Crash Bandicoot was publisher Naughty Dog's attempt at creating Sony's mascot, and they took one-upping and one-upped it to a whole level of uppidy. Sonic may have had a shockingly brazen attitude, but Crash was just insanity on a CD, as clearly stated by the game's first level: N. Sanity Beach. Properly pronounced that would be North Sanity Beach, but I'm sure the developers were going for something other than that. For one thing, Crash spends the entirety of the game half-naked, clad only in shorts and some sneakers. The scandal. Exhibit B, the spiky hair. Sporting some sort of mohawk landed Crash squarely in the city limits of Attitudeville, population Crash Bandicoot and Mr. T. Number 3: the facial expressions of the character, both in animation and in his dopey expression plastered everywhere in the game. Compared to the facial expressions of his counterpart Mario, Crash could far better convey his empty-headedness to the world.
  Graphics 10   Sound 7   Addictive 7   Story 8   Depth 7   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 4.2/5     Submitted: 05-14-12     Review Replies: 8


Crash Bandicoot Review   Zircron Swift
Along side Spyro the Dragon was another classic that would span across the PSX and future Play Station consoles. One that possessed great platforming and had secrets dotted around the place, with a fair amount of humour here and there. I am talking about Crash Bandicoot. Yes, the mutant bandicoot that can spin ridiculously and eats a load of apples in those iconic blue shorts That one. I kinda feel that Crash Bandicoot has become the "Gimmick bucket" as I like to call it. What was once a mysterious world of Crash Bandicoot turned into a game franchise where game developers can just throw their ideas as Crash and expect a game to be made of it. If you were a seasonal fan of this game, you'll notice that the Crash world (Much like the Rayman world, only more subtle) changed to be a very different world it started off as, and the game play and feel just doesn't seem the same. When was the day of just jumping on crates and collecting Wumpa fruit? There were a fair few games that did this, to be honest. The road Crash is spinning down, however, seems to be steep and slippery. Although that might not necessarily be a bad thing, for a hard core gamer like me, I would like to see a return of some classics like the first three games.I was always a little confused with the story of this game. As the title screen appeared with Crash running down the beach and crashing into the camera, there would be a cut-scene that appeared. I've only seen this twice, and never knew how to get it up. It was like a rare treat that happened rarely. From what I am gathering from this is that the evil genius, Dr. N Cortex, is building an army of mutant animals, and he wants a bandicoot to be the general, to lead his army to world domination. He sends the bandicoot into the "Vortex", which never was explained, and Crash jumps out of the window. Then they prepare the "Female Bandicoot", and that's it. I felt this cut-scene was rushed and didn't explain much, but it leaves a lot to the imagination. I like that about a game. Even though this game hasn't got the best cut-scenes, it's future games know how to make dark and eerie ones that are far superior to what this one offered.So you end up washed up on an island, and you get to start playing the game. Apparently Crash wants to stop Cortex/save the female bandicoot/ and sets off on his journey. There are three islands to tackle, naturally each one harder than the last. The first thing you'll notice are crates. You can jump on them like Mario, and collect these apples called Wumpa Fruit. Collecting 100 will grant you an extra life. There is, however, another way to destroy crates. You can use your spin attack to destroy crates quickly and easily, but don't do it with the TNT crates, otherwise they'll blow up. You can jump on the TNT crate to "activate" them, giving you three seconds to get clear before it explodes. If you use your spin attack on any items you can pick up, they'll be spin away, so be careful. This includes fruit, 1-ups and Aku Aku masks. Aku Aku is some sort of magical mask that protects you from hits. If you collect one mask, you can save yourself from one hit. Collect two, and he becomes golden and saves you from two hits. If you manage to collect three masks without getting hit, you'll wear the mask, and become invincible for a short time. Blocks and enemies alike are destroyed when you touch them. However, you still make noises when you touch something really hot, which is a nice touch. When it's all over, he becomes the golden mask again.If you get hit when not having one Aku Aku mask, you'll die. What I love about this game is that you don't just die one way. If you look at other games for this system, there's really only one dying animation, give or take maybe one more. This game however, has a fair few. You can get squashed, burned, blown up with your eyes and feet landing from a great height, etc. Although the black screen spinning death gets really annoying at times, they put the creativity into the deaths to try and stray from that. Another thing I like is the idle animation for Crash. If you own the game, just wait for a minute and see what he does, and wait a little longer. It's stuff like that which makes the game richer.If you are able to break all the crates in a level and not die once (Which is quite unforgiving), you'll be awarded with a gem. These gems are supposedly useless, but they have a use. You'll also notice coloured gems in the level, but shrink smaller when you get closer to them. If you're lucky and skillful enough, a certain level will award you with a coloured gem. These make those gems in the levels stay there for you to use as platforms. These will let you get crates to get other gems. You can also find keys as well, which unlock secret levels. I don't know how to get them, but I think they are found in very select bonus stages. Now, collecting all these gems and keys isn't easy, and trying to find all the secrets in this game will lead to a very good replay value. That is one thing I admire about this game. It has that air of difficulty that old games had. It took a little time before completing, and a fair few game overs. Pat yourself on the back if you can beat this game.The graphics are very good. Once again, this pushes the PSX to what it can really handle. The animations are smooth, the explosions are cool, nothing lags when an effect is put up and the background is very well done. However, it does seem a little "tight" at times when in some levels. I do feel a little claustrophobic at times when playing this game. The walls and trees and even the water is finely details, but some levels just make me feel like it's a bit of a tight squeeze. Playing Spyro the Dragon didn't help this. It was a wide open space everywhere. You could get up and close with everything and pretty much go nearly everywhere. Here, sometimes the trees feel like walls. It feels like a one-way route to the end of the level. Other levels have either a fog or some darkness obscuring the vision. This is annoying, as it feels like I am neglected some good scenery, but it all adds to the atmosphere of the game's level. I suppose it's only natural. You can't have it so you could explore outside the level path, otherwise you would get lost, and some other levels do feel more "open" than others.The music is also very good. It includes a lot of different instruments that are chosen to be played depending on the level type you're playing. They also match the music to the surroundings of the level quite well. The boss music is awesome, and the level select music is catchy. It doesn't get annoying when you're looking for a level that you haven't got a gem or key in yet. The sound effects are all clear and flamboyant and add to the game. The sounds are very realistic, which was surprising when I saw the cover of this game.Overall, I give this game a 9.1/10     It's one of those games. It's core game is simple but challenging, but getting 100% is an entirely different matter. Its level design is well made for straight forward levels and everything in them works together to create a mysterious world where many secrets and history is stored, but none is revealed. Some levels are 2D based, which kinda takes away the 3D feel of the game, but it's still quite amazing. This is a game you must play. If you liked Spyro the Dragon, then you might enjoy a bit of Crash Bandicoot.
      Review Rating: 4.2/5     Submitted: 09-09-12     Updated: 11-30-14     Review Replies: 3


A decent game for its time.   Popful
Back in 1995, games were still transitioning into 3D, racing had proven to be leagues better through it, Virtua Fighter was doing it with the fighting genre, and platformers were up next. While Nintendo worked on a 3D title for Mario, Sony didn't have diddly-squat, and Naughty Dog, back then pretty much just two guys, came up with an idea they jokingly called "Sonic's A**", after one asked what a Sonic game would be like in 3D, the other replied "Well, you'd see Sonic's a** a lot!" And sure enough, you do see this game's protagonist's derriere for most of the game. Graphics: This game's graphics are very early era Playstation, low on polygons compared to later releases due to system restraints, the characters have very simple, exaggerated designs because of this. Thankfully, they look much better in motion, the animation is very fluid, Crash himself is expressive and shows a lot of personality, and is also one of the least obnoxious mascot characters ever made. The stages themselves aren't particularly noteworthy in terms of graphic design, but don't look that bad. The character design is also pretty cartoony, but somewhat forgettable. Sound: The music is basically so-so, with no particularly memorable tracks. Crash himself has a few voice clips, and they thankfully have no dialogue in them, limited to "Woah!" and "Yeeee-ha!". The bosses have similar voice clips, from Ripper Roo's manic laughter, to Koala Kong's grunting, they're what you'd expect. The sound effects, such as, boxes smashing, beating enemies, and collecting fruit, are all very cartoony, appropriate for the setting. Addictiveness: The game's pretty linear, apart from some extra hidden bonus stages, there's nothing worth revisiting often. You might come back often enough to finish it, as this is a game meant to be played in short pieces at a time. Story: Very typical platformer fare. Seriously, it's ridiculous how many mad scientists want to take over the world. Even more so how many of them are stopped by mascot characters. Ironically, Crash was the creation of Dr. Neo Cortex, the mad scientist in question. Cortex had planned to use an army of mutated animals to take over the world, and Crash was supposedly meant to be their leader, but was either too stupid, too kind-hearted, or both. At any rate, however, he escaped from Cortex's lab, and took on the quest to stop Cortex by beating every mutant the doctor had made. Oh, and rescue his girlfriend Tawna, of course (hilariously enough, she dumped him after the end of this game for one of the guys he had to fight). Depth: Apart from collecting various hidden items to get to the final area, it's basically a very linear platformer that could easily have been 2D with a simple perspective change. It at least has a fairly decent length, though, and the difficulty should add some extra hours. Difficulty: This one surprised me, it's actually pretty hard in places, especially bosses, until you figure out what you're required to do to beat them. Some of the ways you can die feel rather cheap, but they thankfully don't happen as often as other platformers. One aggravating thing is the infamous boulder stages where the camera is focused in front of Crash, and you have a very short window of time to react to various obstacles. The "Hog Wild" scenes are also rather frustrating. All in all, if this were released today, I'd just pass it up entirely, but I can see why it was so popular at the time. Crash himself is pretty likeable, for a mascot, and I might just end up playing some of his other titles.
  Graphics 7   Sound 6   Addictive 3   Story 4   Depth 6   Difficulty 7
      Review Rating: 3.8/5     Submitted: 06-18-13     Updated: 06-26-13     Review Replies: 2


Crash (A trip down memory lane)   tornadocam
Today we are taking a trip memory lane. If you where born before 2005 you may have heard of a store called Circuit City. Chances are you have heard of the very first Playstation. The Playstation came out in 1996/1997. Circuit City seemed to be the place for Playstation gear. They carried everything pertaining to the Playstation including lots of games. Crash Bandicoot came with the Playstation system. In addition, Circuit city would often have Playstations hooked up so people could play them. I can remember my parents would look around and I would go to the Playstation section. One of the games they had going was Crash Bandicoot. Finally, for Christmas I got a Playstation mine came with Crash Bandicoot. But my parents got me Mega Man Legends, Mega Man 8, and MLB 2000. Me being a Mega Man fan as well as a baseball fan I played those games the most. I played Crash some but I kind of forgot about the game. Last year on facebook I saw a post remember when Crash came out. I thought I had that game. So I started playing it. So in this review we will be going down memory lane. 

Story: 8 

The story for Crash is pretty good considering this was the first game in the Crash Series. Crash an intelligent but laid back animal was captured by the evil scientists Dr. Brio and Dr. Cortex. The doctors plan on mutating animals on the Wumpa Islands, which is Crash's home, to use as an army to take over the world. Crash is mutated but the doctors try to enhance him more as he is supposed to be the commander of the army. Instead Crash escapes the doctors send the animals they have mutated and have under their control out to capture crash. To make matters worse the doctors have captured Tawna Crash's girlfriend. They intend to enhance her and Crash. Crash sets out to rescue his girlfriend, stop the doctors evil plan, and free the animals. However, it will not be easy as Crash must defeat the mutated and enhanced animals and deal with other obstacles. 

Okay, This is a basic and simple plot that really introduces the characters well. We know who the bad guys are and their motive. There is the typical rescue the main characters girlfriend. However, there are other themes going as well such as freeing the animals, defeating the doctors and saving the planet. Considering this was the first game in the series and one of the first playstation games its not surprising the makers wanted to keep this simple. Anyway, I give the plot a good score of 8 out of 10. 

Graphics and Controls: 8 

The graphics are amazing in this game. However, the game reminds me so much of Donkey Kong Country. The Wumpa Islands look similar to Donkey Kong Island. The stages are even similar. The machine stages remind me so much of Donkey Kong Country's Oil Drum Alley state. The jungle stage reminds me of the very first levels of Donkey Kong Country. I wonder if Donkey Kong Country was used as a template. Anyway, the colors are amazing and the stages are awesome too. This game shows why the Playstation had some of the best games and graphics. I also like how the game does not lag at all. The makers put a lot of time into this game and it shows. 

Now you may be asking why do I not give the graphics a 9 out of 10? Well the answer lies in the controls. The controls seemed a little bit off in this game. I would suspect that though since this is one of the earlier games in not just the Crash line but the Playstation as well. When controlling Crash there are moments in the game it seems the controls get a little sluggish and change speeds. The controls are not horrible but one can tell they are off just a little bit. It seems the change occurs when one advances to the next section of a stage. When I think of awesome Playstation controls. I think of games like MLB 2001, MLB 2002, MLB 2003, Mega Man Legends 2, and Mega Man X6. Those games had some of the best controls as they where flawless. So the changing speeds of the controls brings the rating down a little. 

Sound: 9 

The sound in this game is very good. I like the stage music it fits the stages very well. I also like the sound Crash makes while performing his spin moves. Also when you collect a power up the sound is amazing. Enemies sounds are also pretty good. The sound is up there with Mega Man games. Its pretty hard to top the sounds in Most Mega Man games. But the sound in this game is very well done esp the music and crash's sounds. I think the makers really did a good job here.  There are no tingles in the game either which is a plus. 

Replay Value: 8 

It is very easy to see why this game was such a huge hit and why Sony included this game in their Play Station units. The graphics make this game intriguing alone. I think Sony knew gamers might want something new. I mean by the time this game came out most gamers knew about the video game icons such as Marion, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, and Kirby. I think Sony and the makers of this game were not just trying to offer something new but create a new character. If that was their goal they did a good job. I thought this game was fun when I played in Circuit City and when it came with my Playstation. I just played the baseball and Mega Man games more. That is why as I stated I forgot about this game until last year. I was like I can't believe I forgot about this game. Crash is a fun game to play and I certainly had fun playing it. Thus, I give a solid 8 out of 10. 

Depth: 9 

As I mentioned earlier this game is very similar to Donkey Kong Country that also includes the depth too. If you have played Donkey Kong Country you know the player has to collect bananas and find items. Well that is basically the same thing in this game. Instead of collecting bananas you have to collect apples (at least that is what they look like). Thought they might could be peaches too. Anyway your collect them and you have to collect them to open the bonus games. Also there are several boxes you will need to hit in this game as that effects your score. In addition, the stages start off short but as you advance the stages get long. The stages started to remind me of Mega Man games long stages and one has to go quite the distance to get to the check point. Moreover, there are other items besides fruit and boxes to collect. Thus, this game has a lot of depth to it so I give a very high 9 out of 10 rating. 

Difficulty: 9 

You know when I played this game in Circuit City and even when I played it when I got it I died a lot. The main reason was I was still learning how the Playstation controls worked. I also did not know what to do in this game. As I got the hang of it I still died a lot. The main reason is this game is difficult.  This game throws everything at you. Pits are galore in this game and they can come up on you quickly. I died the most by falling into pits. It is so easy to miss a jump and fall down into the pit. Also the changing control speeds can send you right into the pit as well. In addition, enemies just love to hang around pits waiting to send you down one. Speaking of enemies. the enemies can be a pain in his game. Not only are they around pits but they are around obstacles too. Also some of the enemies can be quite powerful and quick. The bosses can be a problem in this game especially after the first level. When I defeated the first boss I was like this is not going to be so bad. Well, that was wrong the later bosses are quick, and powerful. Another way this game is difficult is it tests your timing and reflexes. You will have to dodge a lot in this game and be quick but not too quick. 

Now you might be thinking why do I not give this game a 10 out of 10 rating. The difficulty alone would be a 10 out of 10. However, the game helps you out. Extra lives are very plentiful in this game so if you lose a life you can get one very easily. Extra Lives can be hidden in boxes and bonus stages. I think in one Bonus stage I earned like 6 extra lives. Moreover, you can collect shaman masks that make you invincible and they are also easy to find in stages. So if you have a hard to getting around an obstacle there is a chance you can find a mask to use. So yeah as difficult as this game is the game tries to help you out. Therefore, 9 out of 10 seems about right. 

Overall 8.7 

Crash Bandicoot is a fun game to play and its easy to see why it was a huge hit and help make the Sony Play Station as one of the best selling game counsels of all time. There are a lot of positive things going for this game. The negatives in this game are very minor. Before I get into all of that. I'm going to give my thoughts on this game. I really think Donkey Kong Country might have served as a template for this game. It is obvious looking at the similarities. First being Crash's Home the Wumpa Islands some of the Islands look exactly like Donkey Kong Country. Also as I stated the machine stage looks a lot like Oil Drum Alley from Donkey Kong. The Jungle Stages look like Donkey Kong's jungle stages. The idea of collecting fruit is here as well. Another interesting thing is Tawna (Crash's Girlfriend) looks similar in design to Candy Kong who is Donkey Kong's girlfriend. Tawna plays the same role as Candy does. If you complete a bonus stage with a picture of Tawna an image of Tawna sticks out her arm and saves your game. Guess who else does that Candy in Donkey Kong Country. Its obvious which game served as the template for this game. But hey I am okay with that because Donkey Kong was an awesome game. It is no wonder they chose that game as a template. 

Now for the positives. Not only is Crash Bandicoot a very fun game to play it offers something new. Sometimes its nice to offer something new and introduce a new Character. Mario, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, and Kirby are awesome and will always be popular. But it is nice when a new guy comes into the mix. That is what Crash Bandicoot did. Gamers got a new character with the feel of a classic game. I also like the graphics and sound in this game. The game is difficult but it is the right difficulty. 

Now the negatives in this game. The main negative is the controls. As I explained the controls can be off at times. This can get you hit or fall into a pit. I mean this is the first game so I would expect a few problems here and there with the controls. If you look back on the very first games in the icons I mentioned their first games had problems. Mario had a few issues in the first game so did Mega Man. 

Overall I give the game a solid 8.7. This is a fun game as I have stated several times. It is a game for all ages from the young to the old. I highly recommend this game. It is an an all time classic. The game has a lot going for it and the main issue is the controls. To some gamers that may not even be an issue. 
  Graphics 8   Sound 9   Addictive 8   Story 8   Depth 9   Difficulty 9
      Review Rating: 3/5     Submitted: 01-13-18     Review Replies: 0


ah... memories hehe   sonicfan3000
hello guys today im reviewing crash bandicoot lets start!  (fun fact:this review is an substitute review for namco classic collection why it get an error ;-; vizzed hate my reviews xD its only a joke ok?)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    crash bandicoot is an famous trilogy of games lets go now to votes!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                               [Overall 10/10]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       tath game is amazing! the gameplay is sooooo good dudes tath have amazing levels! tath i love the gameplay hehe                                                                                                                                                      [Graphics 10/10]                                                                                                                                                                 graphics is soooo amazing! more amazing is the cutscenes and animations and unfortunalety this game have only 4 cutscenes 1th. cortex creating crash (to see it u dont do anything in title screen u only need wait) 2th. n. sanity beach start 3th. ending and 4th. the alternative ending                                                                                                                                                                                                  [Sound 10/10]                                                                                                              amazing music! the most amazing musics in this game is the high road,n. sanity beach and more! hehe i love musics of tath game! i need an extended version of 24h of n. sanity beach for now XD XD XD ha ha ha ;-;                                                                                                                                                  [Addictiveness 7/10]                                                                                                                                 tath i play it some days and some days not tath im not an big fan of crash bandicoot. im play more the pac-man games and other games!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             [Story 9/10]                                                                                                                                                                          crash crash crash. (it have references in start of story vote) every time with amazing musics i like so much the musics of crash how to the turtle woods crash bandicoot 2 music hehe                                                                                                                                                                                    [Depth 10/10]                                                                                                                                 this game is very very big! and have some irritant levels how to the road levels ;-; its only easy if u use save states! and this game is more big if you try beat it with 100% XD yeah! i try to beat it with 100% and i beated!!!!!! tath i get so many 1 box missing XD haha                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             [Difficulty 5/10]                                                                                               if possible my difficulty vote is 56/10 for me this game is very hard hehe ;-; tath the levels wath i more hate is the road levels! it have an big difficulty! but yeah it have tricks! haha and i used theese tricks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            guys now finishing the review! dudes if u liked it pls Like this review ok dudes likes help me so much to earn Viz!   bye bye dudes xD. OOPS I ALMOST FORGOT have an nice day dudes!           
  Graphics 10   Sound 10   Addictive 7   Story 9   Depth 10   Difficulty 5
      Review Rating: 1/5     Submitted: 11-04-17     Review Replies: 2

"The best action/platform game I've ever seen or played!" -DIE HARD GAMEFAN
Enter the vivid 3D world of Crash Bandicoot, a marsupial on a mission! His brain's been scrambled, his girlfriend is held captive, and his arch nemesis has a big N on his forehead! And you thought you had it tough!
- Over 30 beautiful levels with awesome sound fx and music plus types of gameplay you've been craving!
- Encounter Bonus Levels, fiendish traps, hair-raising enemies, disappearing bridges-only now in all 3-Dimensions!
- Unicover hidden areas and secret bonus levels!
- A fantasy, cartoon world comes to life EXCLUSIVELY for the PlayStation game console!

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