Crash Bandicoot (video game)

Crash Bandicoot is a platform game made by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation featuring the character by the same name. It was released in 1996. In it, Crash must fight Dr. Neo Cortex's henchmen in order to save Tawna, his beloved bandicoot girlfriend.

Gameplay

Main article: Crash Bandicoot

The gameplay is characterized by a limited environment, and by the breaking of crates, each of which contains some bonus. Breaking all of a level's crates earns the player that level's gem. Most of these gems are white, and some are colored and can activate secret areas. The player can collect additional colored gems by finding and touching them. Colored gems activate secret areas. If one collects all of the gems in the game, the secret ending is activated. Crash has two moves: jump and spin attack.

If one collects all three of a certain face icon, Crash is sent to a bonus level. Some bonus levels are designed to be easy and beneficial. Others are designed to be challenging. Upon reaching the end of a bonus level, the player may save the game, using either a memory card or a password-based system.

Levels

Crash Bandicoot has 32 levels. Two of these levels can be activated by collecting a key. Each level has a particular theme. No theme is shared by more than two levels. For example, on two levels, Crash runs toward the camera from a pursuing boulder, an allusion to Indiana Jones. On another level, henchmen throw toxic barrels at Crash as he progresses toward the level's goal.

The boss levels feature the following characters, in order of appearance:

Papu Papu

Ripper Roo

Koala Kong

Pinstripe Potoroo

Dr. Nitrus Brio

Dr. Neo Cortex

Opinion

Crash Bandicoot was released to a widely approving audience of video gamers and reviewers. Most praised it for its originality and addictiveness. However, most players agree that the bosses were too easy.

The majority of video gamers believe that Crash Bandicoot is past its time. Alongside newer 3-D platformers, it no longer seems so original or challenging. In particular, many find that the game's lack of expansiveness makes it inferior to newer platform games.

The game seems to be of a largely experimental nature. There are a large number of level themes. The game has three different types of bonus levels rather than just one. There are a number of gameplay elements that do not appear to belong to an integrated whole, such as the akward face icons. This experimental appearance may have been because the game was a pioneer of a new series, and the developers may have been testing several ideas to see if they would work well in future Crash Bandicoot games.

Tawna

Tawna was Crash's girlfriend and the damsel in distress in the first game. While the player's main objective is to rescue Tawna from Neo Cortex, Tawna also appears in the end of certain bonus rounds which are only accessible after the player collects three "Tawna" icons. She has been omitted from further installments, presumably due to her exaggerated sex appeal (which was already toned down considerably from the character's original concept) for what was generally considered a "kiddie" videogame franchise. Developer Naughty Dog replaced her with Crash's sister Coco as the series' heroine in the second game (who has appeared every Crash game since). She has since been written-off from the series as having dumped Crash for Pinstripe (which arguably makes the purpose of the first game pointless).