The first time I played Crash Bandicoot was the first two games around late 1997, early 1998. They were also some of the very first titles I played on the original PlayStation. Last month, I bought a PlayStation 4 and the main reason was to get Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy, which has been out for a little over three weeks at the time of this blog. If you love the original trilogy, this is one to pick up. You're going to get a lot of bang for your buck with what Vicarious Visions and Activision were able to do.
Playing as the title character, Crash must outwit the sinister Dr. Neo Cortex in order to save a female bandicoot in the first. He must help save the world with the scientist in the second game... or so he thinks. Then, he must keep the space time continuum from falling apart because of Cortex in the third game.
Vicarious Visions rebuilt this game from the ground up. When you look at the graphics, it is beyond amazing of what they were able to do. While I do think it's not pushing PS4 hardware to its limits, there is more than enough power to show off the various lands and jungles compared to the 32-bit originals. (which were great looking for their time period) There's better lighting, smoother animations. It's the little things that help this game out.
On the other hand, N-Sane Trilogy's audio, while decent, doesn't feel the same. Like the graphics, the music is all re-done. They capture the level themes well, but the ambiance is not like it was on the original PlayStation. Sound effects are cleaner and clearer. The voice acting is not its strongest suit on either version, but there is more emotion on this one than the original. Your mileage will vary on this part.
As far as playing the games go, Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy is the exact same games as what was seen from 1996 though 98. There are a few minor changes, but it's still what you remember them as. You break boxes and once you get all of them, you collect a gem at the end of a level. Crystals would become the main requirement starting with the second, but both are equally important. These are not small games, as they each contain over 30 levels. None of the boxes have changed so there are still good ones like Aku-Aku masks, and the bad ones like TNT crates. Wumpa fruit is still there for Crash to get and collect extra lives.
With the first two games, there are a few additional things added in. The first one now requires you to complete the bonus levels, which can be done at anytime and not just a one time thing. Saving is easy as it is like the other two where you save at any time when you are on the level map screen. Time trials are now given in the first and second one and the goal is the same. Get through a level quickly to get a time relic. For the second game on its own, boss fights now have their own entry in a warp room rather than going up another warp room, giving it a similarity to what the third game did. All three games allow the choice of playing as the sister, Coco. She doesn't have anything unique, but you're not forced into using her.
Are these games perfect, though? No. Each has their own issues, but let's begin with the first game, which has the biggest problem out of any of the trilogy. As mentioned earlier, Vicarious Visions did the game from scratch, but the difficulty feels a lot higher than even the original. While it fixed the save mechanic and the way of collecting most gems (some levels require beating them without dying to earn a colored gem), the jumping is nerve racking. You either slip off an edge or barely make it onto a platform. This has a lot of precise platforming and it gets very uncomfortable after losing many lives in certain levels. It's not impossible, but with practice, it shouldn't be a huge issue. You'll still lose lives, but not as much.
The second game feels a lot more fluid in jumping. There are a few times where timing jumps are a problem, but it's not a big headache compared to the first. It's still a difficult game in certain levels. My only complaints are some backtracking and the time trials feeling a little cheap in a few of the levels as if the time requirements are too strict. For the third game, there's not much to complain. Some small nitpicks are a few levels feeling more difficult than the PlayStation original and some of the backtracking. With that in mind, this is still a very solid remastering of games that most people grew up and loved in the mid to late 90s.
You're going to sink some time into this. This can be from 20 to 40 hours, especially if you want to go after those platinum times in time trial mode. Trophy support is for all three games. If you're looking for a fun game, definitely get Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy. Hopefully it brings a new audience to the marsupial and the franchise continues on with new entries.
Score 8 out of 10
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