Crash Bandicoot — A Retrospective — Max Lang-Orsini
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Crash’s Journey Through Time
After the recent announcement of the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (the remake of the original Crash trilogy)’s release date, 30th June, it’s becoming more and more clear that Crash well and truly is back. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about what exactly it was that led fans to be so remarkably hungry (?) for the new installment in the crash bandicoot series.
The History Of Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot, as a character, first came about after original developers Naughty Dog set forth to create an original 3D platformers action game, and a mascot for Sony Computer Entertainment’s new yet to be proven home console, the Playstation.
The first Crash Bandicoot would be released as a hit, which resulted in two more original (main series) Crash Bandicoot titles being developed by Naughty Dog, each releasing to more critical acclaim than the last.
Naughty Dog were riding high with their Playstation mascot, but they clearly wanted to move on to new and different series, especially with the ever approaching release of the Playstation 2.
So, in 1999, Naughty Dog would finish their fourth and final Crash Bandicoot game, Crash Team racing (a game which had been in development since before the third Crash game). They were now done with the Crash Bandicoot IP, seemingly forever, going on to produce several other hit properties including Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and the Last of us. The fate of Crash Bandicoot, however, was up in the air. Would the property be allowed to fade off into history? Would Naughty Dog return to their original creation? Or would a new developer pick it up?
The Comeback Of Crash Bandicoot
As it turns out, the latter was the case. Universal released one final Crash game, Crash Bash, exclusively to the Playstation in order to fulfil their publishing exclusivity deal, before they handed the series off to Mark Cerny and Vicarious Visions to develop 2 new Crash games. This marked the end of Crash’s original Playstation exclusive run, now moving onto multiple platforms for a series of hit and miss titles, such as Wrath of Cortex and Twinsanity.
2005 marked another complete change-up in the Crash Bandicoot development (ironically) with another racing game, Crash Team Racing. Crash was now redesigned for his next title, Crash of the Titans; many fans found this radical change from the series roots jarring, but the game was ultimately a critical and commercial success, leading to the announcement of its direct sequel Mind over Mutant.
Crash Bandicoot Today
This new series would not last long however, as in 2009 (true to form) a final kart racer was released Nitro Kart 2, before the series went on a hiatus. Seemingly, Crash Bandicoot was gone for good.
As you may know however, especially if you actually read the introduction of this article, rumours were abounding on the way to E3 2016, then, some time into Sony’s press conference fans heard the familiar music they’d been longing to hear again for 7 long years.
Crash Bandicoot was coming back, appearing as a new playable character in Skylanders before once again appearing in his own game. A full, from the ground up, remake of the original Naughty Dog Crash trilogy; with new additions including full analog capability and a new save system. Fans of the series (myself included) are hotly anticipating this new installment, so let’s all hope it lives up to the series’ long and varied history.
