|
|
Post by Ayen on Nov 14, 2011 14:15:03 GMT -6
Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise formerly developed by Naughty Dog and published by Universal Interactive Studios and exclusively for the Sony Playstation. Later on when the games were moved to other publishers it would cease being a Playstation exclusive and be available on multiple platforms. Once upon a time Crash Bandicoot was basically the Playstation’s equivalent of Mario and Sonic for the Nintendo and Sega respectively. Today we look at the game where our loveable Bandicoot ‘crash’ onto the scene in late August of 96. In case you haven’t figured it out already you play as Crash Bandicoot, an evolved Eastern Barred Bandicoot created by the evil Doctor Neo Cortex who planned to use him as his General for world conquest, but was dubbed a failure and escaped the laboratory he was created in, leaving Cortex to fall back on his companion, Tawna and our hero must embark on a quest to save her (the things we do for women). Controls: You jump with the X button, can spin to attack your enemies with either the Square or Circle button and the Triangle button displays your Inventory. In each level you collect Wumpa Fruit, collect 100 and you earn an extra life. You can find some on the ground but they’re usually in crates that Crash can open by either jumping on them or with his spin attack. Some crates contain an extra life and a witch doctor mask called Aku Aku, who always sounds like he’s in the middle of a really complicated tongue twister when you summon him, which protects Crash allowing him to take an extra hit by enemies. Collect three and you become invincible temporarily, laying waste to your enemies and collecting items by simply approaching them. Some levels contains three crates with a picture of Tawna. Finding all three will bring you to a bonus stage where you can add to your Inventory. There are over 30 levels in the game total, with some reoccurring themes, not just in the game itself but the franchise as a whole. The earliest example of this comes in level 4, 5 and 8. Level 4 introduces the Boulder Chase stages where you have to run away from a giant boulder that chase you through most of the level, and of course they add some crates on the road you’re running down, like you’re really going to go for them with impending death behind you. Level 5 is a water world level which will make a return in the sequel and level 9, Hog Wild, is where you ride on an animal for the remainder of the level. Cons: I think the most annoying part about this game is saving data. Instead of just being able to save inbetween stages you can only save if you complete the bonus levels, the problem in this is they aren’t in every stage available and should you overlook the crates you need to unlock it or fail, you won’t be able to save. But Naughty Dog did rectify this problem in future titles and there are various passwords you can input for this so I guess it all worked out in the end. Another thing, which is rather small in itself, is that the intro does not start when you begin the game. Instead it runs when you leave the main menu screen on for too long so a lot of people are probably going to miss the intro their first time playing this and not know what’s going on. Granted, that was always the case in video games back in the 80s, especially platformers, but for 1996? Even the game’s rival platform Super Mario 64 had the opening intro when you start the game and other video games in that time frame too so it is a small inconvenient for those expecting to see a cut scene. Not to mention it’s just plain weird to have it only cone on during the main title screen. Crash Bandicoot doesn’t offer anything revolutionary for platformers of its time but I don’t think that what the game was going for. All this game is trying to be is a fun platformer game and it excels at that perfectly. So if you’re a fan of platformer games I would definitely recommend Crash Bandicoot for your gaming pleasure. A solid 7/10 for Naughty Dog’s favorite Bandicoot. |
|
|
|
Post by DC Comics on Nov 14, 2011 14:31:39 GMT -6
Great review! Are you planning on turning this into a weekly thing?
|
|
|
|
Post by Zira Firestone on Nov 14, 2011 14:33:36 GMT -6
That's my boyfriend.  |
|
|
|
Post by Adelina on Nov 14, 2011 14:40:58 GMT -6
I don't think you can really call Crash the PlayStation equivalent of Mario and Sonic. Crash is only the seventh best-selling title on the PSX and nowhere near as largely associated with the PlayStation as Mario and Sonic were with their respective systems.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ayen on Nov 14, 2011 14:53:13 GMT -6
I don't think you can really call Crash the PlayStation equivalent of Mario and Sonic. Crash is only the seventh best-selling title on the PSX and nowhere near as largely associated with the PlayStation as Mario and Sonic were with their respective systems. As a platformer Crash was their Playstation equivalent. He has several things in common with the two and was compared with Mario on multiple occasions in the past. In every level there are crates for Crash to break, much like how Mario always had those boxes. In the first game Crash Bandicoot goal is to save a damsel in distress, much like how Mario is always going through worlds to save Princess Peach. Crash Bandicoot's nemesis is a crazy doctor hell-bent on world domination, this is where comparisons with Sonic can begin to be made. Crash is based off an animal, just like Sonic. There are enough similarities there to make him their equivalent back when he was a Playstation exclusive, just maybe not in marketing. I probably should have mentioned that. Oh well, I'll know for next time |
|
|
|
Post by Adelina on Nov 14, 2011 15:02:18 GMT -6
A lot of games had the damsel in distress, dude. Just like a lot of games had characters based off animals or had evil doctors as their enemies. The only thing they really have in common is their genre.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ayen on Nov 14, 2011 15:14:52 GMT -6
A lot of games had the damsel in distress, dude. Just like a lot of games had characters based off animals or had evil doctors as their enemies. The only thing they really have in common is their genre. That may be so but how many of them have often been compared with Mario while being exclusive to an opposing console? If not the Playstation equivalent I think they at least tried/wanted to make it the Playstation equivalent of Mario and Sonic. |
|
|
|
Post by lisa on Nov 14, 2011 15:19:22 GMT -6
k I let this slide before but not anymore.
It's PlayStation. The 'S' is a capital S.
|
|
|
|
Post by DC Comics on Nov 14, 2011 15:25:10 GMT -6
I don't think you can really call Crash the PlayStation equivalent of Mario and Sonic. Crash is only the seventh best-selling title on the PSX and nowhere near as largely associated with the PlayStation as Mario and Sonic were with their respective systems. Crash would be listed in the top ten then, making it one of the best games on that console, just like Mario and Sega are the best by Nintendo and Sega. Granted, Mario has them both beat to a no contest but that's beside the point. I think that would warrant being considered an equivalent unless there's another platformer on that PlayStation best-selling list that I don't know of which would be more comparable to the others listed above. |
|
|
|
Post by Garrus Vakarian on Nov 14, 2011 15:45:39 GMT -6
So are you just going to be reviewing old PlayStation games?
|
|
|
|
Post by Kara on Nov 14, 2011 15:48:11 GMT -6
In case you haven’t figured it out already you play as Crash Bandicoot, an evolved Eastern Barred Bandicoot created by the evil Doctor Neo Cortex who planned to use him as his General for world conquest, but was dubbed a failure and escaped the laboratory he was created in, leaving Cortex to fall back on his companion, Tawna and our hero must embark on a quest to save her (the things we do for women). Hey!  All right fine, I'll give you that one. |
|
|
|
Post by Ayen on Nov 14, 2011 16:25:06 GMT -6
I almost missed this, Great review! Are you planning on turning this into a weekly thing? Yeah. I plan to post a new review every Monday. So are you just going to be reviewing old PlayStation games? I have a lot more Playstation and Playstation 2 games in my video game library than from other systems. I do plan to review a game from Nintendo, XBOX and the PC on occasion but I'll be going through my Playstation games the most. Keep in mind if I don't have the game I can't review it. |
|
|
|
Post by Aminee Starlight on Nov 14, 2011 23:07:53 GMT -6
He's gonna take you back to the past
To play those awesome games that kick ass
There's nowhere else he'd rather be
Than right there by his TV screen
He wouldn't miss a single release
Even if it gives him a seizure and he winds up dead
He's the friendliest gamer you've ever heard
He's the Friendly PlayStation Nerd
He's the Friendly XBOX, Nintendo Nerd
He's the Friendly Video Game Nerd
I couldn't resist.
|
|
Clash
Not Sorted
Posts: 0
|
Post by Clash on Nov 15, 2011 0:40:26 GMT -6
Oh Crash... I played one of your games then decided to play Legacy of Caine instead. It turns out I'm a fan of fatalistic overwinded cutscenes after all, now to play the Metal Gear series!
no, seriously, I like Crash. You can tell his name inspired the naming of my characters. I just suck at his games.
|
|
