With much of the industry, including Crash Bandicoot creator
Naughty Dog, having taken a dramatic shift towards dark, violent, and largely
cinematic games, it’s been refreshing to see over the past couple years what
appears to be a counter-shift back to when games were simpler, brighter, and
just generally less afraid to come across as light and fun.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is one such example, with
Vicarious Visions doing a pretty excellent job of bringing the 3 PS1 main series
Crash Bandicoot games to the current gen, giving them a fully modern graphical
overhaul and adding in a handful of other little tweaks and features. These 3
platformers (or at least, Crash 2 and 3) have for the most part held up well, with
definite credit to the talents at Naughty Dog, given the fact that Crash
Bandicoot was one of the first ever 3D platformers. The original Crash is
understandably the weak link here, with a frustratingly steep difficulty spike
early on and a reliance on trial and error, but it still plays well and
ultimately laid the groundwork for the incredibly fun and entertaining Crash
Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. Together the 3
games provide a worthy collection and an enjoyable dive back to the 90s, where
platforming reigned supreme and set the tone for much of the rest of the gaming
industry.
Taking a different tactic from Super Mario 64, which had
released a few months prior and delivered fully explorable 3D worlds as its
centerpiece, the Crash Bandicoot series instead took the pacing and linear feel
of a 2D sidescroller, but flipped the camera behind your character and had him
or her run up the screen in 3D as opposed to running from left to right. The result was pretty cool, with the games
delivering quick, fast-paced, and often challenging levels, with boss battles
appearing regularly throughout, and 2 and 3 offering a 3D hub section
in between levels.
The Crash Bandicoot series takes place on an archipelago
known as the Wumpa Islands, with the dim but likable Crash Bandicoot and his
sister Coco taking on the evil Dr. Neo Cortex and his minions. This is all
presented in a fun way, with the narrative elements taking a greater presence
beyond the first Crash Bandicoot game, delivered with quality voice acting and
well-designed characters, giving the cutscenes a charming presence. Crash 1
features the most limited use of its world and characters, existing in a mostly
tropical setting clearly inspired by the Donkey Kong franchise and featuring
little in the way of interaction between Crash and his arch nemesis. Crash 2
and 3 then switch things up, throwing in a 3D warp room between levels as
opposed to the original’s 2D map, this setup now allowing you to return to a
hub where cutscenes take place, as well as the warp concept allowing the
developers to greatly expand upon the level variety and move the series beyond
the mostly island setting.
The levels are all pretty short and quickly paced, but in
many cases quite challenging. Crash dies if he’s touched by any of the enemies
or falls down any of the crevices. The levels use a checkpoint system, with
checkpoints usually being well-placed, while losing all of your lives results
in a game over and forces you to restart the level over again. Collecting
apples grants you additional lives, and Crash can be shielded by the Aku Aku
character, who can be collected throughout the levels and grants Crash a 1 or 2
hit immunity from the baddies, or even full-on invincibility from them for a
short period of time. The levels contain much in the way of hidden goodies,
from collectible objects that grant you “the full ending” to bonus stages, to
branching paths and the incentive to eat each and every apple. It’s impressive
how much replay value Naughty Dog was able to squeeze into fairly short levels.
Vicarious Visions has added a couple extra levels as well, which are incredibly
challenging and will definitely test Crash Bandicoot fans’ skills should they
attempt them.
As was said before, Crash Bandicoot 1 is by far the weakest
in the trilogy, as would probably be expected. The difficulty ramps up almost
immediately, and the occasionally poorly explained control segment and the
relative lack of a narrative don’t do much to take the attention away from the
increasingly frustrating try-and-die mechanics on display in the levels. The
series though turns the corner in a major way with parts 2 and 3; while still
challenging, both of the sequels have a far better handle than the original
does on how to balance difficulty with frustration. Crash Bandicoot 2
especially features the best story presentation and the best in the way of
level variety. Crash Bandicoot 3 isn’t a slouch either, adding the fun Coco
levels involving a tiger and the Great Wall of China, which are just as cool now
as they were back then, along with a host of new powerups for Crash that expand
as the game goes on. Other additions to the third installment, such as racing
and dogfighting levels, haven’t held up nearly as well. As a kid, I remember
favoring Crash Bandicoot 3, probably due to the game’s increased craziness. As
an adult though, Crash 3 now seems to me almost like that Hollywood sequel that
ups the ante to such an extent that you lose a little bit of the heart in the
process; thankfully the game doesn’t fall into that trap, but when you have
levels involving medieval wizards and motorcycle racing, it comes pretty close.
Crash 3’s hub world display is also much clunkier than its Crash 2 counterpart,
and the cutscenes that propel the story forward are a good deal less interesting.
But despite various flaws here and there, all 3 games are
still fun. Crash Bandicoot 2 would almost be worth replaying again just on its
own, and its platforming and level design (despite a surprisingly easy final
boss) represent 32 bit platforming at some of its best. Throw in the other two
games as well and you have a must-have collection that so awesomely recalls
elements of the Playstation era, and it’s definitely a treat to get to
re-experience it.
As was stated earlier, the visuals have received a major
overhaul, bringing them very much up to speed with current gen gaming. The
series’ 32 bit heritage of course still peaks its head out in various aspects,
but this is a full remake graphically and by today’s standards
it looks pretty nice. Seeing visuals and character design from the PS1 era remade
in beautiful HD means that these 3 games have a look incredibly distinct from much
of what else is currently out there. There are various things that I have small
issues with; I prefer Naughty Dog’s art direction to that of Vicarious Visions,
as some of the games’ darker color tones have been substituted for much
brighter, bloomier surroundings, and it would have been nice if things like a retry button had been included, or if there was an option for subtitles during
cutscenes, especially when playing on the go. But this is a high quality remaster,
one both faithful to the originals and one that also evolves the look to make
sense on modern hardware, and it’s a job well done.
The Switch version looks good, with incredibly short load
times and only occasional brief framerate stutters. For the most part it runs
very well. The resolution does seem a bit low for what’s on display; it outputs
at native 720p when docked and even lower when played in portable mode, which
is a step down from the PS4/XBO versions. Given some of the other games that we’ve
seen on Switch so far, it’s hard not to feel that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane
Trilogy could have done more with the Switch hardware, at least as far as
resolution is concerned. It still looks nice on the TV, though when playing
portably I found myself noticing a much blurrier look; not a game I’d use to
show off the Switch’s handheld capabilities, that’s for sure. For me, the
ability to take N. Sane Trilogy out and about made this issue worth it, but it’s
worth noting that for those looking to play this trilogy with the best visuals
possible, that the Switch version does feature some cutbacks in this regard
when compared to its PS4/XBO counterparts.
It can be an interesting experience to revisit old games,
especially those from 3D gaming’s earliest days. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane
Trilogy delivers, with Crash Bandicoot’s 2 and 3 holding up very well and
proving to be a lot of fun. The characters are likable, and there’s a
lightheartedness and simplicity that just doesn’t exist in a lot of modern
gaming that’s such a refreshing thing to re-experience. As someone who fondly
remembers the PS1, it’s great to get to enjoy the sense of humor and the visual
style that permeated Sony’s 1st console. It’s missing the occasional
features you’d expect in a modern game (subtitles, retry button) while Crash
Bandicoot 1 has some frustrating difficulty spikes and iffy controls in places.
But overall, this is a solid collection of great games that’s worth
re-experiencing, or even experiencing for the first time. Fun and recommended.
4/5
Note; this review is based on the Nintendo Switch version.
