From there the property switched hands through many developers, churning out a lot of mediocre titles too soon and too fast. Since then, the racing series also got a remake as of last year, but no new actual games have been released, or even announced. The first main game out was The Wrath of Cortex from Traveller's Tales who are known primarily now for their Lego games. It is a typical Crash game, but in an interview with Mark Cerny who worked at Universal Interactive Studios at the time given to Crash Mania, we learned that Crash Bandicoot Worlds would have changed things up, bringing the marsupial into an open 3D exploration game.
It launched on a multitude of platforms in and was developed by Vicarious Visions. Before they got the deal, Traveller's Tales had another idea for the game, but all work was handed over to Vicarious Visions in the middle of production. Not much is known about their original idea, but there is a piece of concept art featuring Nina Cortex that remains. This was the first incarnation of the character.
Even though she didn't make it into the game she was originally pitched for, Traveler's Tales eventually used her in Twinsanity instead. Speaking of Twinsanity , the game started out much different, codenamed Crash Bandicoot Evolution. It would have featured a sci-fi theme, a space setting, and would have included RPG elements. Sounds cool for a platformer, but the funny thing about that was Insomniac released the first Ratchet and Clank , which apparently discouraged the team.
The game was retooled into the Twinsanity that fans know today. At launch, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled was already a great remake and overhaul of the best spin-off in the franchise. Now that the game has received its final update however, we can officially crown Nitro-Fueled as the superior Crash racing game. Not only does it have the same rock-solid controls and racing mechanics from the PS1 classic, but it adds all of the tracks from Crash Nitro Kart and tons of original tracks created by developers Beenox.
Combine this with more characters, karts and unlockables than you can shake a stick at, this is a must-own for kart racing fans and Crash fans alike.
Somewhere out there in the multiverse, there exists an amazing Crash Bandicoot party game. Crash Bash however, isn't quite it. While the game can be fun in some spots and especially in multiplayer, many of the mini-games are too repetitive, grindy and boring to stand up to something like Mario Party.
Even with all its problems, the idea of a good Crash Bandicoot party game is something fans think about still. Of all the games in the series, Crash Twinsanity is the most out there and daring. A dramatic turn for the series' core gameplay, this title stripped away the Warp Room format and linear corridor style gameplay in favor of a more open world.
Not only that, but the game also throws new playable characters, a much more comedic tone and a soundtrack that we assure you will get stuck in your head. If the game was given a bit more development time to iron out the bugs and glitches and to add some more content, this could have been even higher up the list.
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex isn't necessarily a bad game which goes to show the quality of the franchise. However, it's problem is that it's a heavily inferior version of a game already on this list. This title played it safe by sticking to the formula of the series but also failed to add any new elements at all which was highly disappointing as Crash's big next-gen debut on the PS2.
Since the PS2 was backward compatible, gamers at the time would have been better served by just popping Crash 3 instead of this tired rehash. It's easy to forget that Crash had a series of games on the Game Boy Advance. While the first one was alright and the sequel to this one Featuring some of the franchise's best boss fights and new superpowers to play with and not the stupid "sneaking" from Wrath Of Cortex , this GBA adventure made for the best handheld Crash game.
Also of note that this was the first platformer in the series to not feature Dr. Cortex as the main antagonist. How about that? Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon. He is quite vain and prone to showing off, giving Crash the opportunity to spin boulders at him during his boss fight.
Pinstripe Potoroo : A trigger-happy potoroo mafioso armed with maniacal laugh and a signature Tommy gun. Pinstripe maintains the radioactive Cortex Power plant on Cortex Island. Once defeated, he accidentally fires his gun into the generator's core located in his office, shutting down the plant for good.
The most well-known and earliest prototype of the game contains many differences, but most notable of all, is the five cut levels, one of which is inaccessible and is called the "Lava Cave". Other notable differences are an entirely different main menu, a changed level order and map, and N. Brio's boss fight being sometimes impossible to finish due to a glitch which, while still present in future versions, was less common. Even when the "glitch" didn't occur, N. Brio required an extra six hits, which likely was never intended since there were not that many dots used to represent hit points.
This version was used in the E3 of the same year, and is very close to the final version in many aspects such as crate physics, the map using 3D islands, levels having names, crates positioned more like in the retail version in most levels and the addition of music and gems.
Most of the levels on the first two islands are far more similar to the final version as opposed to the April prototype. However, there are plenty of differences from the final version, including but not limited to, far fewer mugs in Native Fortress, The Lost City and Temple Ruins, as well as the existence of TNT crates in Sunset Vista, and hazards in Whole Hog that were cut in the final version, including small walls with Tribesmen peeking over it, and boomerangs spinning around the screen.
Some of the music has slight changes when compared to the final version, such as N. Sanity Beach's main theme having an extra part in the beginning, the lack of an "intro" in N. Sanity Beach interior's music, and some slight note changes in Jungle Rollers' and Sunset Vista's music. The music also plays before the actual level or map begins. However, dots are still used as health indicator for bosses, and Aku Aku invincibility still not giving a speed boost. Aku Aku still has colorful sparkles coming out of him in his 2nd form, and warps being colorful sparkles too.
Warps also have a smaller hitbox, making it possible to reach The Great Gate's yellow gem path without the yellow gem this is still possible in the final version, but much harder. The HUD was also complete by the time of this, but isn't positioned like in the final version. Gems are harder to get in this version, considering that Crash cannot collect them if he dies, regardless of whether or not he has hit a checkpoint.
Level completion screen also works differently when Crash collects a gem: First, all previously collected gems don't scroll at the bottom. Second, the acquired gem appears near the gem count, with a different sound effect. Crash also doesn't celebrate. When Crash misses crates, it all works the same as in the final version, but the missed crate counter disappears a split second after the last box falls on Crash's head, and is replaced by the same message.
There is no sound effect of when the player presses any button either. This version of the game can't be saved although Tawna bonus rounds still "save" the game for when the player goes to the main menu and presses the Start button again. The third island is deliberately inaccessible, so the player can't get gems in Upstream, Rolling Stones, Native Fortress, or Jaws of Darkness.
The third island levels which include Road to Nowhere and not Jaws of Darkness due to original level placement, and also doesn't include Castle Machinery which wasn't yet created can be accessed only via hacking. These levels were far similar to their respective versions in the April prototype, such as crates on the sides of the bridge in Road to Nowhere, the eventual blue gem path in Cortex Power not requiring the blue gem, the bugged N.
Brio boss fight, and some extremely slow doors in The Lab. This suggests that Naughty Dog worked on improving the levels in the first two islands, and waited to work on third island, which probably explains why the island was inaccessible.
However, some things were fixed by the time, as Crash no longer has to hit the electric lab assistants with his back to them, as was necessary in the April prototype.
Papu Papu's starting animation can't be skipped, but Crash only gains control instead of skipping the animation. Crash has no celebration in all boss fights either. The gem paths in Boulder Dash and Lights Out the latter of which is only accessible via hacking have no crates, presumably because at one time, they were to contain the keys to Whole Hog and Fumbling in the Dark, instead of the Cortex bonus rounds, which would explain why even in the final version, these levels are shown as having the keys.
Stormy Ascent was going to contain the other Cortex bonus round, presumably for the key to unlock Fumbling in the Dark, and the tokens are included in the E3 version, but not the bonus round. All of the great characters from the series are there for the party as well, which leads to some great boss fights.
As if that weren't great enough, there are new villains brought into the series, as well as some great dialogue. In this title, Crash and Cortex have to work together rather than fight each other. The game moves in an open-world style that actually functions much better than Mind over Mutant.
It's entertaining, pretty to look at, and fun for what it is. The only problem I have with Crash Twinsanity is that the game feels unpolished at times. You will find a lot of glitches and be able to trigger cutscenes multiple times, and that takes you out of the experience. Still a fun game though. Being a successor to Crash Team Racing , developer Vicarious Visions decided to recreate and expand what made Naughty Dog's kart racer so much fun.
While it doesn't dethrone the original, Crash Nitro Kart has enough great ideas to make it a good time. It functions and plays very similarly to Crash Team Racing , but instead has a better story and more eclectic roster of characters. There are some new mechanics as well, but most of them are hit or miss in terms of execution.
However, there's no denying that the upgrade to the PS2 helped a lot in the visual department, as Crash Nitro Kart holds up pretty well, even by today's standards. If you're looking for a good kart racer, this game wouldn't be a bad option.
Does it come as any surprise that the Crash game that started it all is still one of the best in the series? The original Crash Bandicoot served as Naughty Dog's debut on the console, and it became one of the PlayStation's biggest titles. Featuring a quirky character with solid platforming mechanics and a ridiculous story that even kids could follow, there were few games that reached the height of Crash Bandicoot.
The gameplay was solid as well. While there are some hiccups that would later be ironed out in the sequels, those are minor complaints when looking at the whole product. Everything reeks of the high quality and polish that Naughty Dog would come to be known for, and it would spawn a fantastic series. The most recent installment in the Crash Bandicoot franchise is also one of the best in the series.
After a disappointing run with other developers, Vicarious Visions worked hard to revive Sony's grand marsupial and it provided some great results. While a lot of the marketing has labeled the game as a remaster, that's a large disservice to the game. Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy actually builds the first three games from the ground up with a fresh coat of paint and some slight tweaks. The best part about it all? Everything that people loved from the original games is still intact.
What's even more impressive is that the formula that Naughty Dog created all those years ago still holds up and proves that the first three Crash games are just really well-made platformers at their core.
After Naughty Dog had their fill of platforming, they decided to make one last title with Crash. Despite being a bit of a rip-off, Crash Team Racing makes enough unique changes both mechanically and graphically that it stands very well on its own as one of the best kart racers ever made. If there's one bad thing I could say about this game, it's that unlocking all of the secret characters is extremely difficult if you're not into that, you can just use codes.
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