This week’s gaming edition of Retro Recap is here and today’s classic game is none other than Crash Bandicoot!
Naughty Dog are more widely known by the popular Uncharted franchise and more recently the critically acclaimed The Last of Us, but even the big companies have humble beginnings. Naughty Dog’s first big break was Crash Bandicoot. Originally released on 31st August 1996 for the Playstation platform (that’s right, almost 17 years ago), Crash and friends quickly became a fan favourite. Traversing the 3 islands in order to save Crash’s girlfriend Tawna, you take control and attempt to jump and spin your way to victory. Featuring 32 levels including boss fights, for an early title, it proved quite a challenge even for the veteran gamers however its simplistic platform style and quirky characters in Crash and Dr Cortex makes for classic game that lasts through the ages.
This title was my first real game and it got me hooked. My Playstation came with a few games, but by far the best one was Crash Bandicoot. Naughty Dog’s intention was to create a character that would be Sony’s mascot, similar to Sonic for Sega and Mario for Nintendo. Personally, I couldn’t think of a better face. With the success of Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog created another 2 in the series and completed the trilogy. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot: Warped were released in , 1997 and 1998 respectively alongside an additional game Crash Team Racing released in 1999.
After Naughty Dog’s departure from the Crash franchise, Travellers Tales, renowned for their Disney games took over the franchise. This lead to some successful releases in the series – with the likes of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, spawning a new character in the form of Crunch Bandicoot and Crash Twinsanity. The role for future titles was then transferred to Radical Entertainment; however the popularity of the franchise had began to diminish. Radical’s Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind Over Mutant received mixed reviews, stating its unlikeness to the original Crash Bandicoot games. As well as the numerous main line titles a number of spin off titles have been developed, by other companies too, namely for the handheld set of consoles as well as a number of party games in the form of Crash Bash and Crash Boom Bang!
From the original concept of “Willy the Wombat”, then redubbed as Crash Bandicoot, there has been 7 main titles, 3 racing games, 2 party games, 3 spin-off titles and even 3 mobile games. As a result, Crash Bandicoot has sold over 40 million units across the series and is one of the very few western titles to find success in Japan.
For those of you on the Playstation Network, you can get Crash Bandicoot for £1.99, or £1.79 for Playstation Plus members. If you fancy playing a classic that will still provide tons of fun as well as a challenge, give this Throwback Thursday pick a try!
Have you already played this game? What did you think of it? If not, ever thought about giving it a go? Let us know in the comments section!
