Crash Bandicoot Series Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

At four years old, I learned why they called it Sanity Beach. It wasn’t because it was the sanest thing in an otherwise relentlessly cruel platforming world, but because it was the closest that I’d ever come to feeling at peace before eventually tearing the hairs from my scalp due to a turtle with a god complex, or a hog with a tendency to pile drive into spiked batons. At first, I figured it would be a smooth ride, like taking a dragon for a ride through a gem-encrusted woodland. But then, the frustration began to kick in. It was no longer about smashing boxes and scoffing apples till I magically developed a second gut and a sprightly colored second skin; it was about surviving in a world that quite simply hated me. Crash Bandicoot swooped in, and suddenly I was the brunt of the joke. I was just four years old when that bitter truth came to hit me in the back of the forehead. I loved everything about the concept, but boy did I loathe the world.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an avid fan of platforming games or not, because the fact is, everyone and their neighbor takes the opportunity to slip into Crash at some point or another. Despite the fact that it has an awful habit of pushing you to the brink of exhaustion every thirty to forty seconds, give or take, it is, in all honesty, one of the better franchises of its kind. It’s better, not just because it retains a role in the genre as one of a select few pioneering properties from the PSX era, but because it houses some of the most iconic level designs and characters known to mankind. A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but you get the point. Ask your local pensioner about Crash Bandicoot, and they’ll tell you about their feud with Sanity Beach. Probably.

It’s funny, because with most platforming games you tend to grow weary of frequent failures. Yet, when it comes to Crash, it’s almost as if you develop a steel skin the more you subject yourself to its graft. It is a frustrating experience with a lot of tongue-in-cheek gimmicks that serve only to irritate you, true. And yet, behind its wall of tedious levels and precision-based boss battles, it does hide an incredibly enjoyable experience that fosters an enormous heart and a ton of replay value. It is, to some extent, a game that you both love to hate, but hate to love. Naturally, it can make you weep, laugh, and rage quit all at the same time. Frankly, not many other platforming games can pull that off. For Crash, though, it’s second nature.

In addition to its mainline entries and a staggeringly nostalgic homecoming chapter that touched base on all of those love-hate qualities of its original series, the series has built quite the catalog for itself, with party-based spin-offs, as well as a handful of racing hits to fortify its loftiness as a prolific IP—a jack-of-all-trades with a hand in countless crates, so to speak. And you know what? Although each chapter has brought about a reason for you to sob into a Wumpa fruit for an hour or two, the fact of the matter is that the series has been awfully good at making genuinely enjoyable games, be it from behind the wheel or in the shoes of an inept bandicoot with a knack for miscalculating jumps and spinning at the wrong time…repeatedly. Sure it’s a pain in the backside, but perhaps that’s sort of why we love it. Or at least, so I think it is.

Since its launch, the series has been able to cover a lot of ground across multiple platforms, true. Yet, if it was all canon fodder for its sizable ego, I’d have little more to say about it. The fact is, though, that each installment in the franchise has brought about a ton of great levels and memorable battles. This doesn’t mean that I automatically fall in love with the wild hog stage, mind you, but you get the point. Moreover, it’s the signature spin-and-bounce mechanics that tie all of these things together, almost as if to form a unique platforming front that bears the brunt of an original idea and a charming design with recognizable characters and controls.

While there’s no telling where the series will plant its apple trees next, I think we can all agree that there’s a strong chance that it’ll blossom into something much, much greater under the guidance of its forefathers. It isn’t a dead franchise; it’s just a dormant one that has more than enough seeds to water and crates to tend to. As for whether or not it will latch onto fresh ideas or simply remake its original content is another question. For what it’s worth, though, I’d wager that it is in the perfect position to span as many sequels as it wants. Heck, there’ll always be someone who’s willing to sacrifice their patience for a big ol’ bite of that sweet, sweet Wumpa.

Verdict

Crash Bandicoot will forever remain a tenant in the heart of platforming—a resident with an apple-shaped vessel and a cheeky obsession with quirky characters and timeless stages, precision-based boss battles and annoyingly more-ish adventures. It is, whether we like it or not, one of the few franchises that can make us feel alive and also somewhat dead inside — and I mean that in the nicest way possible, believe it or not.

Without the weight of a diverse catalog beneath its crate-shaped belt, Crash would have initially made for an enjoyable one-and-done love affair with the realm of PSX platforming. Being the persistent bandicoot that it was, however, that tongue-in-cheek gimmick eventually became a benchmark for the genre, with thanks to its jam-packed sequels, couch co-op series, and karting expansions, to round off just a few of its most memorable underlings. And that’s something that we can’t really discard — the fact that, gimmick aside, Crash is a genuinely great franchise with a lot of fingers in a lot of different pies. It’s still a pain in the neck, but it’s our pain in the neck. Take from that what you will, Bandicoot fans.