As I've probably said a few times already, I was never a Sony kid, meaning I discovered many of its franchises fairly late. Crash and Spyro were my gateway into Sony games since they primarily served to rival Mario, my favorite series as a kid, and I was quick to embrace them both. While I was always more of a Spyro fan, at least on a gameplay level, Crash Bandicoot is a fantastic series as well and its initial trilogy on the PS1 is undoubtedly one of the best 3D platformer trilogies out there.
Disclaimer: I'm specifically talking about the original PS1 iteration of the trilogy. I've said this before but I really don't like the N-Sane Trilogy.
Crash Bandicoot is a neat series to follow because you can see how the team at Naughty Dog slowly evolved as developers over the course of this initial trilogy. Crash 1 was one of the first 3D Platformers ever made, coming out around the same time as Mario 64 and Bubsy 3D. The only real baseline they could use was Jumping Flash, which is fantastic, but a vastly different platformer than Naughty Dog wanted to make. I've seen a ton of documentaries and dev commentaries about how Naughty Dog pushed the PS1 to its limits to get a full-on 3D platformer running, it's truly a fascinating development to learn about.
Crash 1 is far and away the weakest of the trilogy nowadays due to its somewhat clunky control, brutal difficulty, and poorly-aged save feature so it's the one I'm gonna touch on the least, but there is still a lot to love about CB1 beyond the technical achievements. The level design is already on-point with how it develops its mechanics and slowly increases the difficulty at a good pace, the bosses are varied and consistently fun, and the fun collectible hunting that defined these early Crash games is already there in spades. Getting 100% in Crash 1, from finding all the Colored Gems, to breaking every box, to finding the hidden keys, is incredibly satisfying to do.
But what the first Crash Bandicoot really nails from the get-go is the presentation. Naughty Dog's work on the series always felt like a blend of Looney Tunes-inspired character animation and classic adventure serial setpieces, Tomb Raider with the Tasmanian Devil, and that feeling is already captured perfectly here. Crash's many animations are charming and likable, and the naturalistic environments look quite detailed for a first 3D game. My favorite thing that CB1 does is the way it takes after Donkey Kong Country by having the levels slowly evolve from a natural jungle to a factory, with each biome feeling more man-made than the last. There's a great sense of atmosphere to CB1, better than any of the other Crash games, and that's only aided by the great ambient score by Josh Mancell and Mark Mothersbaugh (yes, the Devo guy). While not as catchy as later Crash scores, CB1's soundtrack does a fantastic job at capturing the mood of each location while also establishing that classic marimba-heavy Crash sound.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is just pure refinement, keeping everything the first game nailed and fixing all of its issues. Thus, it's my favorite game in the trilogy. Naughty Dog pretty much entirely scrapped the first game's engine and made a far more efficient one, allowing for better visuals, smoother gameplay, and a slightly beefier game. Crash gets a few more moves too like a slide and a high jump, which do so much to help his moveset flow more. The way Crash's moves transitions into each other in Crash 2 feels fantastic, and it's far more enjoyable to try and run through stages as fast as possible.
The level design is also vastly improved both in terms of the difficulty being more fair, and in terms of how much more explorative it is. There are so many cool hidden areas and secrets scattered around many of the stages, which in turn can uncover even more secret levels. Crash 2's level design is also quite a bit more varied, adding in far more of those chase sections and hog riding (now Polar riding) sections the first game had as well as introducing more neat level gimmicks like being able to dig under ground as well as a jet pack you can use. My favorite level in the game, Un-Bearable even combines the two types of chases by having you run after a giant polar bear while riding Polar, it's brilliant stuff. Crash 2 also has my favorite 100% campaign of the trilogy because of how satisfying everything is to collect, and how well all the collectibles click together.
Crash 2's presentation is also a massive step up, with far smoother animation for Crash and way more detailed visuals. Crash 1 can look a bit jank nowadays, but Cortex Strikes Back absolutely fits in with that PS1 style of low-poly graphics I love so much. Crash 2 leans quite a bit harder on those adventure serial inspirations, feeling like an adventure in a way that none of the other Crash games really do, with its levels being comprised of primarily naturalistic settings rich with detail and history. Add in all those aforementioned secrets and it gives CB2 this aura of discovery, only aided by the catchier and more energetic soundtrack. Cortex Strikes Back has one of my favorite Crash soundtracks alongside Wrath Of Cortex and Twinsanity, every track is a bop and most of its melodies are the ones that immediately come to mind whenever I think of Crash as a series. Highlights include Turtle Woods, Snow Go, The Eel Deal, and Rock It.
If Crash 1 showed Naughty Dog finding their footing, and Crash 2 showed Naughty Dog refining their craft, Crash 3: Warped showed Naughty Dog mastering the PS1 technology and pushing it as far as humanly possible. Warped is a super ambitious title and my favorite thing about it is just how above-and-beyond Naughty Dog goes with it, with far more technically-impressive visuals than ever before, more varied and dynamic levels and bosses, and far more content. Even the story feels grander and more dramatic than in the first two games, with the threat of Uka-Uka destroying all of time and reality giving Warped far higher stakes than anything seen in the Crash series to date.
Crash 3: Warped is primarily themed after time travel, so the environments you get to visit are super varied and memorable, from medieval times to an ancient pyramid to the future. Every biome feels dramatically different to the last and it keeps every level feeling varied and fresh. I think when it comes to the core platforming, Crash 3 is the best game in the trilogy thanks to that creative level design and Crash's further expanded moveset. Warped introduces power-ups that give Crash even more moves to use, and by the end of the game, Crash becomes an entirely versatile character with how many ways there are to get him from point A to B. However, a vast amount of the levels in Warped don't use Crash's moveset, instead having you ride a variety of different vehicles. I'll be real, not every vehicle works for me. Some of the motorcycle and plane levels can be really frustrating. However, as a collective, they do a good job at keeping the game varied and I admire them in how they show Naughty Dog experimenting to see how many different gameplay styles they can pull off. And at their best, I think the Pura and waterski stages are pretty fantastic. Another thing that I think is fantastic are the boss fights which are easily some of the best in the series, all of them having multiple phases and inventive attack patterns without overstaying their welcome. Dingodile in particular is my favorite Crash boss period, it's brilliantly designed for reasons I've stated elsewhere.
In terms of content, Crash 3: Warped is absolutely massive. On top of the already vast amount of collectibles from Gems to crates, Crash 3 also introduces Relics which you can get by completing time trials. I adore the Relic races and I think they're a fantastic addition to the series, as Crash's moveset is so well-equipped for speedrunning that figuring out to master a level feels incredibly satisfying. Getting a Relic in Tomb Wader in particular is a blast due to how well-designed its water cycles are. By getting Relics you can unlock bonus stages, but another brilliant bit of design is that you don't need to get gold or platinum relics to unlock them. You just need a relic, so even people who aren't great at speedrunning can still unlock those levels. And on top of all of that, there are even a few more bonus levels hidden behind some devious secrets, and they both feel like neat tech demos in the coolest ways possible. One is a 2D platformer bit that fully takes advantage of the dino mount that the game otherwise neglects, and the other is a massive open waterski level filled with collectibles. There's almost a "cut content" vibe to those two bonus stages in a way I find really charming.
I guess this is a good time to talk about the visuals now, then. Crash 3 looks wonderful, the environments are even more detailed and varied, the Egypt stages are chock-full of neat lighting effects, vast landscapes for the plane levels, and there is a ton of rendered water that look super impressive for the console. The waterski levels in particular manage to rival Wave Race for the Nintendo 64 with its dynamic waves and how the water can reflect the sunlight. The music is also really great, not as strong as 2's soundtrack, but it has a bunch of bops like the Pyramid, Warp Room, and Dingodile's theme.
The Crash Bandicoot trilogy is one of those cases where I initially considered just putting my favorite (Crash 2) on the list, but that just didn't feel right. Part of the appeal of Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot trilogy is seeing them grow and evolve as developers, the context of where they started with Crash 1 and how they ended up with Warped makes Crash 2 a better game. And ultimately, every game in the PS1 Crash trilogy has their own thing that they do especially well. Crash 1 has the best atmosphere and visual storytelling. Crash 2 has the best pacing, exploration, art direction, and soundtrack. And Crash 3 has the strongest core platforming, best bosses, fun Relic races, most content, and most impressive visuals. Combined, they manage to offer so much (as long as you're not playing the N-Sane Trilogy, I will die on this hill).
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