3.5/5 ★ – Endless_backlog's review of Crash Bandicoot.

Developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony in 1996, Crash Bandicoot is one of the most iconic 3D platformers of the PS1 era and to this day is a much loved character. The first game in the original trilogy is without a doubt the most difficult. It’s a game of patience, timing and accuracy, that baits you into making sudden panicky reactions which often lead to mistakes. Ultimately it’s a game that thrives off of frustration. A big part of this is a really poor depth perception and precise jumping that isn’t always intuitive. What makes Crash Bandicoot fun and encourages you to keep coming back is that it adds new platforming mechanics throughout the game, despite Crash being limited to running, jumping and spinning. There’s good variety in level design from jumping across logs and plants in jungles, spinning snakes and dodging spear traps in tombs, and dodging red hot pipes in robotic factories. The most unusual level for me was Lights Out, where you run through the jungle in the darkness and rely on Aku Aku as a light that will fade if you don’t make it to the next one. There’s plenty of boss fights that although are the easier parts of the game, all have their unique ways to be defeated. The game begins with Crash’s origin story. Dr Neo Cortex and his assistant N. Brio are experimenting on animals to try and produce a super soldier to lead Cortex’s army. So far, there have been many failures, as can be seen from the names on the cages (a hint for characters to come later). This time Cortex is convinced that a bandicoot will be the perfect specimen. Despite N.Brios concerns and pleas that the machine still isn’t ready, Cortex proceeds. Crash escapes the machine and the castle and finds himself on N Sanity beach. Now, his goal is to make his journey through various challenges to stop Cortex and save his love interest Tawna from being the next experiment. Overall, Crash Bandicoot is a great platformer with memorable characters. Some of these bosses such as Ripper Roo and Pinstripe Potoroo are still favourites today. I loved the island hubs for each set of levels and the creativity with each of these such as the iconic Boulder chase. Its only problem is that it’s just too punishing in difficulty, something that will be perfected in the sequel.