Crash Bandicoot, the story of the series
Crash Bandicoot on PS1: the era of Naughty Dog First love is never forgotten, they say: is it true? If the answer is yes, the same reasoning is probably valid with the first three Crash Bandicoot, published one year after the other on the first PlayStation 1. They were the three "historical" chapters, the age of gold, the unforgettable one, and all today bear the name of well-known developers in the sector: the Naughty Dogs. To which we owe also the most recent masterpiece known as The Last of Us: Part II, among other things.
In fact, even those who have never played the first Crash Bandicoot, it is likely that today they would associate them immediately to the PlayStation 1 period and Naughty Dog. It was rare, in fact, to find a Sony console without a title (or more) to choose between Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, years of publication respectively 1996, 1997 and 1998; a century seems to have passed. Some extremely good platformers, then, were already in circulation: but Crash was Crash, and immediately established himself as the mascot of the entire console.
And so, for the first time and in the space of a few years, the faces of the characters went around the world: the marsupial all dumb (but in the end, the good and generous), his sister Coco, the evil Dr. Neo Cortex, Uka Uka and Aku Aku (the mask BUDEGAH); and then the scrolling levels, horizontal and vertical (well-known for the famous "tunnel", the crates full of fruit, wumpa, the damn TNT, the battle with the boss... and the relics, which they carried with them a piece of childhood, they were so darn hard to get.
But the history of Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation 1 did not end with the three main titles of the franchise: there was also the time for Crash Team Racing (a racing game, as is easily guessed from the name) and Crash Bash, that was a party game; the second, however, was developed by Eurocom. And, in fact, he also left some memories is valid in the memory of the players: this is perhaps the only chapter in the franchise they want to a remake, after having obtained those contained in the N-Healthy Trilogy and the spin-off racing game.
Traveller's Tales and Vicarious Vision Crash becomes multiplatform The years from 2001 to 2005 represented the age of the step for Crash Bandicoot. Step that it came to pass in two directions: from a single console (PlayStation 1) to the platform (the GameBoy Advance, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube); the main development was entrusted to Naughty Dog (and then momentarily to Eurocom), to the one controlled by two developers, who were getting more and more relevant: Traveller's Tales and Vicarious Vision.
Crash Bandicoot had in fact chapters 4 and 5 of the main series, but in Europe, were not marketed in this way. They became, instead, Crash Bandicoot: The wrath of Cortex , released in 2001 on the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox, the original name of Crash Bandicoot 4: Sakuretsu! Majin Power; and Crash Twinsanity , that in reality in Japan it was Crash Bandicoot 5: Crash & Cortex no Yabou. The second was published three years later, in 2004, on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
Crash Bandicoot: The wrath of Cortex boasted some firsts in the history of the series: he was the first to be published on the platforms, in the meantime; and then the second to not be developed by Naughty Dog. Still, for the first time the player could use also the little sister of Crash, Coco Bandicoot. But the news is not ended here: the Atlasfera allowed to travel the whole level to rolling, thus offering a new approach to the gameplay; and where Crunch Bandicoot, created by Cortex to... well, to eliminate the Crash the other Bandicoot.
the first signs that showed a rather clear: the Crash as the series was changing . So much so that some years after Crash Twinsanity could have even put in discussion the traditional structure of the levels, replacing the tunnel with a sort of free-roaming: any level (with the due exception of those dedicated to clashes with Cortex and his daughter Nina) could be replayed immediately and in a very intuitive way, way back in the previous place.
the Crash and the mutants Before the series of Crash Bandicoot was shut down for almost ten years (except for the various titles floating along the road) the players had the opportunity to even play with the chapters of the mutants . It was Crash of the Titans, released in 2007, from nearly anywhere, on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS and mobile phones, as well as developed by Sierra Entertainment; and then Crash: The domain on the mutants, where he entered in the game also Activision. This second game arrived in 2008 on most of the consoles mentioned earlier, less than on the GameBoy Advance.
The adventures of Crash in this period changed significantly: the game received mechanical properties similar to those of fighting games , or that in any case, were strongly in contrast with the original structure of the series. The marsupial had not been eliminated after a single hit, he could run the combo based on kicks and punches, and of course controlled in the Mutants, creatures with powers very versatile. The domain on the mutants, which eliminated even the classic structure of levels, which had already become similar to the free-roaming: it was basically a adventure / 3D platformer divided into chapters.
The story has had a happy ending, as is well known. In more recent years, Activision has republished the first three chapters of the franchise (it was the PlayStation 1), in the remake, Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy ; and then Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, dedicated to the spin-off racing game. You are already ready for the future?
Curiosity: Crash Bandicoot and the seating of Sonic Close this study on the history of Crash Bandicoot with an anecdote, a curiosity that can be passed down to future generations, lest we lose the memory. The protagonists of the story are Andy Gavin and Jason Ruby: traveling to the California, direct to Universal Studios. During the drive, to one of the two comes up with the idea for a video game, everything new, able to exploit the potential of the emerging 3D: a platformer in three dimensions, but with a camera to the shoulders of the protagonist, and with this last one, all intent to run, to jump, to face the enemies. Yes, it is the first Crash Bandicoot for PS1, but then it is still called so: the first sketches of the developers bear the name " Willie the Wombat.
these Were the years when Sonic The Hedgehog was already beginning to become one of the most famous names in gaming. Now, the difference between a Sonic game and what they were planning to Gavin and Rubin resided precisely in the perspective; the new would have to look at the character from behind. And so the code name of the future Crash Bandicoot became "Sonic''s ass", the seats of the Sonic . Televisions that are destroyed by the porcupines became, however, of the most common boxes full of fruit wumpa: in the initial idea of the developers, had to serve to make it more varied and interesting levels, which otherwise would have given the impression of being too empty.
