Crash Bandicoot 📽 Through the Lens

📢 IT'S A CRAZED BANDICOOT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! 📢

It actually isn't. 😉

First off, was I the only one that thought bandicoot was a made-up animal? FOR YEARS I thought it was just something they did for the game. No? You always knew it was real? Ok...

So, we did the party game (Crash Bash) and the racing game (CTR: Crash Team Racing), it's now time to tackle the mainline series of titles **(i.e. the Mario Bros titles of the Mario franchise). I know this should've come out a while ago but life happened. But we here nonetheless! 😤

And so❗️ In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be taking a look at Naughty Dog's breakout mascot game from 1996: Crash Bandicoot Roll it! 📽

🔶 UP TOP 🔶

The soundtrack that set the tone for the franchise. All other OSTTs that would come after it would mimic this characteristic sound. 🎶

So give it a listen while reading! The chirpy, island notes will sure to lighten your mood.

_{Compossed by the legendary PS1 composer, the great Josh Mancell}

Not sure what year it was when I first played the original titles, but I'm sure it was after I played CTR and Crash Bash. I was already in love with the franchise before I got to play the mainline series of titles.

This article will more or less cover the entire trilogy, since the mechanics are unanimous between the titles. It will not cover the N"Sane remake, as I have only played that once at a friend's place. 😅

Let's see how Crash and the gang battle against the evil Cortex and his minions, shall we? 👾

🔶 PREMISE 🔶

Basically, like most of these mascot games, Crash's story is not the selling point. 😂 But let's try to sum it up for ya'll.

The evil scientist Dr. Neo Cortex has evolved a native Eastern barred bandicoot into something beyond comprehension! Crash, escaping from his evil captor vows to stop his evil schemes from taking hold. Which generally revolve around taking over the world. He is aided by his sister, Coco, and his adoptive brother, Crunch.

Sounds like a Saturday morning cartoon show, right? 😁 Well all of the mascot game plots are like this. I mean just look at Sonic.

_{For the rest of the article I will be showing screenshots from the remake. As they are much prettier on the eyes. But I decided it would be nice to see the comparison and how far we've come.}

But as you can see Crash is instantly recognizable. And for good reason. Naughty Dog spent a lot of time making sure the Sony mascot lived up to the hype of Sonic and Mario. And IMHO they did just that. The rest of the cast of characters are just as animated and characterized. All memorable, all lovable. Even the villains of the series.

🔶 GAMEPLAY 🔶

Crash is a third-person platformer at its core. While Mario is all about precise jumps, and Sonic is all about speed, Crash is kind of in its own lane. And I will make a bold statement here that is neither good nor bad - Crash is the hardest out of the three.

This is more down to the funky that the game is kind of clunky. 😅 At least that's how I remember it. As a kid, you let a lot of $#!@ slide because you are willing to bang your head against the wall for days. But as an adult, you realize that torture was just dad - bad design and/or torture.

_{I lied, here's another OG picture.}

Now, by no means do I think Crash falls into the bad design category. Its controls were just not all there. Crash felt floaty sometimes, yet sometimes he would fall into a pit like a rock. It was inconsistent. Or at least I remember it feeling that way. 😅

All of this lent itself to Crash's reputation as a very difficult series of games. Which in all fairness they were. 💯 But the clunkiness never outstayed its welcome, it was as if the gaming gods knew when to enter a period of clunkiness so you never got too comfortable. Only to reel it back when your frustration peaked.

The gameplay sections also were very varied. Sometimes you would face away from the camera moving backward essentially, or towards the screen. This was something I never saw before Crash. And after that, you get a secret level and it's traditional 2D. Crash was just so unique in this aspect.

The variety of levels was standing, but in most of them, you did the same things - jump and/or spin. The game had boss battles that changed up things even more. And all of 'em were memorable and fun to play. I remember beating areas of the island was one of my more satisfying accomplishments as a kid. 😎

🔶 LEGACY 🔶

Crash's legacy was set in stone from its birth. Once it turned out to be a good game, its franchise potential was limitless. It went away for a decade and some change, but it came back. As iconic characters like this one cannot be held back.

Generations of kids grew up with Crash and his crew. The remakes have done well to remind us of the greatness of these titles. And while Sonic and Mario are more iconic because of their presence outside of the video-game sphere. There are still die-hard Crash fans that prefer the goody bandicoot over the other two.

And while I love all three, and have been a big fan of each's games. I am most certainly team Crash! 😁

Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

The next article will be a preview of a yet-to-be-released game. 😱 As for the next Through the Lens article... I have no idea. 😅 But that's the way of these things, as I'm sure you know. I'll think of something I'm sure. 👌

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Hope everyone is having a fantastic day! And if you aren't, no worries! Tomorrow will be better! 🙌🙌🙌