Irrefutably antiquated but how on earth is that supposed to be a pejorative? Games aren't this unencumbered anymore. Visions aren't this uncompromised. When was the last time you played a platformer with this kind of rhythm, this much palpable momentum? I'm obsessed with the way things move. I've found myself drawn to platformers my entire life. They are one of the few arts that explore the beauty of motion. Playing this game is like looking into the inside of a watch, seeing all of the minuscule gears twist and turn in perfect rhythmic synchronicity. And there you are, a being of glorious human error trying desperately to survive. If gameplay is commentary then Crash Bandicoot has more to say about the sordid merciless momentum of life than anything I've ever seen try to communicate it through dialogue.

I've had a pretty strange relationship with difficulty in games. For the longest time, my brain simply rejected games of a certain ilk. If I'm not progressing often then I'm not having fun, and the higher the difficulty the more likely I am to be doing the same stuff time and again. That's boring. It's that simple. But eventually, I realised it was all about mindset. Difficulty can be incredibly fun if it makes room for mastery. It shifts the progress from the external to the internal. This was the shift required for me to get into FromSoft's games last year. I will game over and repeat large sections of levels, but I relish that when I redo earlier parts I'll blow through them to a degree I'd have previously thought impossible. The finish line is all the more satisfying when you know you've earned it. Few games make this experience so rewarding.

The level design is blatantly experimental. As embryotic as all 3D platformers of this decade are, this one feels far more alien. For every idea your Mario 64s of the world ingrained into the lexicon of the genre forever more, there is a level of Crash Bandicoot no one would ever again have the balls to try for. You'd have to be crazy to think you could pull off a 'The High Road' in a 2024 platformer. But here it is. Unreal! In many ways, it still feels futuristic. I can't name another platformer where your depth perception is a skill the game finds worth testing (not to be confused with games that test your depth perception because they fuck up the camera placement), and this game builds many levels around it. Initially, this game can feel like one big reaction time test, but the longer you play the more you learn it's about ingratiating yourself into its flow. If Sekiro is secretly a rhythm game then this is Space Channel 5. Part 2. It isn't offering you ways to play it. It's a sergeant barking an endlessly wonderful song of orders.

There are many things to say about this as remake, most of which I'll save for after I've played all three games. But the biggest feather in this version's cap has to be Stormy Ascent. For a bonus, cutting room floor, "too hard and too long," DLC level, it is the perfect ending to the game. A necessary payoff to every lesson you've learned and skill you've acquired. The experience would be incomplete without it.

I find the idea of 100%-ing this game at once cumbersome and totally insane but it's so good I may do it anyway. Either way, Any% (+ Stormy Ascent) is such a phenomenal experience that I am more than comfortable counting anything else as a bonus.

If you call this "imprecise" in your review, see me after class.

Ao contrário do original eu me diverti bastante com este jogo mesmo ele sendo estupidamente difícil, eu acho que nunca morri tanto num jogo de plataforma como Crash, vou apenas avaliar a versão do Remake e talvez um dia eu jogo o original.
Em questão ao remake, ele é super bonito e com uma trilha sonora boa e marcante, eu achei a gameplay com o Crash meio pesada...a gravidade deste jogo é meio estranha algumas vezes mas se queres um bom jogo de plataforma desafiante, então Crash vale muito a pena

(NOTE: THE PS4 COPY OF CRASH N-SANE TRILOGY I PLAYED ON MY PS5 IS A USED COPY. ACTIVISION DID NOT GET A SINGLE CENT FROM ME. WHY I AM MENTIONING THIS? LOOK UP ACTIVISION’S LONG TROUBLED HISTORY AND “BOBBY KOTICK” AND YOU WILL SEE WHY I DID NOT BUY A NEW COPY.)

Crash Bandicoot is a classic platformer from the PS1. He got a remake with his other two PS1 games in the N-Sane Trilogy. My history is Crash started with playing Crash of the Titan and Mind over Mutant on my PS2 over 10 years ago. The last Crash game I have played and beaten was Crash 3 Warped on the PS3 and that was years ago, too. I got to play and beat the first Crash and holy fuck, it is hard.

I am not kidding; this game is difficult. The difficulty comes from the precise platforming. If you overshoot or undershoot a jump, you will die. Checkpoint boxes and Aku Aku masks are not that common, so you are a fragile bandicoot. Some stages will make you want to rip your hair out. Temple Ruins, Road to Nowhere (Oh god), Sunset Vista, The High Road (OH GOD), Slippery Climb (OH MY GOD), and Castle Machinery almost made me quit. I will never 100 percent this game or touch Stormy Ascent because I care about my mental health.

In the first of the N-Sane Trilogy, the game looks great. Everyone is expressive and the graphics and art design will never look dated.

Crash 1 might be a tough game to sell because of its difficulty. If you have the patience and willpower, you will beat this game. The game is good, but I do not see myself replaying it. It is so hard.

Jugué la versión original hace años y pensé ''Me gusta!'' pero era la versión que menos me gustó de la trilogía original.

Ahora he vuelto a ella con la versión N.Sane y... Que pesado se me ha hecho, tío. Me planteé hasta completarlo todo pero es que no tengo ganas ninguna.

Puedo decir sin duda que es una cosa mía y no pienso que este juego sea malo; es solo que el tipo de dificultad y desafíos que plantean no son para mí. No tengo problemas con otros plataformas o Crash-likes (como he dicho, adoro sus secuelas) pero este se me ha hecho muy exigente para la poquina cosa que es ciertos aspectos. Yo solo digo que algo tiene que pasar para que en un nivel te lo hagas perfecto, en otro mueras lo normal y otros pierdas como 20 vidas: hay niveles que me parecen directamente malos pero en sí son pocos.
Quizás mi mayor problema con el juego en general es que se me hizo muy pesado en el layout de las fases: fases como La gran fortaleza o Sunset Vista pueden hacerse tediosos si las otras dos fases anteriores de su mismo tipo se te hicieron poco agradables.
Ojito, ¿sabéis que es lo que me flipa de este Crash? Su diseño de personajes. Que sí, eso es algo que tienen todos los Crash, pero aprecio muchísimo que fuera el que nos introdujo a estos locos y carismáticos personajes. Si la idea era ''llevar los Looney Tunes a los videojuegos'' lo han conseguido.

En resumen: Una experiencia normal en el que las cosas buenas y malas de dicha experiencia me la han dejado en un ''pos vale''. Una pena decir esto de un juego que sé que es tan querido pero también hay que validar las opiniones de uno mismo.

A ver que tal a la hora de revisitar Crash 2 y 3.

The original Crash Bandicoot is impressive, but a relic of its time. Its level design is pretty good overall, but the stupid D-pad controls make it needlessly difficult to the point that I gave up on the third-to-last level and bought this instead. Don’t get me wrong, though; Naught Dog has my absolute respect for managing to make a linear 3D platformer so early in the history of video games, and I’m happy that Crash 1 led to both a successful franchise and an acclaimed career for Naughty Dog themselves.

Still, the N. Sane version of Crash Bandicoot is better than the original in practically every day. The analog stick means that Crash now has a much wider range of movement that makes him hella fun to control. The graphics and art style are nice and vibrant, looking surprisingly good even on my dying Switch. The voice acting and cutscenes have been completely redone for the modern day. You no longer lose all your boxes upon dying. You can save anytime you want. Oh, and did I mention that the controls are better? I did? Well, I had to say it again, because they’re such a staunch improvement over the PS1 game. There is simply NO REASON to go back and play the original when I have this instead.

That being said, I do think some aspects just aren’t fun. I don’t like some of the backtracking required to get gems and some levels are too hard for their own good (skill issue, I know, but don’t pretend that The High Road is actually a fun level).

There are some standout levels that I really enjoyed, so here we go:

— Jungle Rollers and Rolling Stones: I don’t know why, but I find the rolling rocks to be a super fun gimmick that makes for some great timing-based platforming.
— Boulders and Boulder Dash: Like the mine cart levels in Donkey Kong Country, these are fast-paced, reaction-based trials that are as stressful as they are rewarding.
— Upstream and Up the Creek: Some relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable breathers after two VERY difficult levels.
— Road to Nowhere: A super challenging, yet highly engaging gauntlet that requires precision and quick thinking to get through. Way better than The High Road.
— Heavy Machinery: A badass sidescroller as Crash breaks into Cortex’s facilities and methodically lays waste to his operations.
— The Lab: My favorite level, The Lab is an absolutely amazing, difficult, and impressive final challenge that acts as a perfect culmination of everything that led up to it.

Yeah, Crash 1 N. Sane is awesome, if imperfect. Good thing it came bundled with two even better sequels.

The N-Sane remake of the original Crash Bandicoot. We play as the titular Crash, a genetically engineered bandicoot who takes on an adventure to defeat local mad scientist Neo Cortex from entirely industrialising his island paradise home. A somewhat unique take on 3D platforming, Crash has you run into or out of the screen as opposed to free movement or sidescrolling, although the latter also makes an appearance here. Despite the remake making some much-needed quality of life improvements, such as including an autosave rather than the original release's unforgivable save function, it still controls horribly and showcases plenty of examples of awful difficulty. Not worth your time, even in this form.

(Completed on both Playstation 4 and 100% on Steam)

Out of the trilogy, this one definitely needed the remake the most and it pays off. So many kinks and quirks are cleaned up and the game looks and plays great too. You could play the original one, however if you're going for 100% please play this version.

Stormy Ascent is also my favourite sadistic pleasure

Crash's first game is interesting to me. On one hand, you have some really fun stages that are well thought out and satisfying to finish. On the other hand, you have some bad stages that have annoying gimmicks or go on for a bit too long. Overall, the 3D sections and bosses are fun, but any sidescrolling parts are either going to be fine or bad. I loved Crash as a kid, and still do, but even remade the first game is still just kinda ok. If I played the original instead, then I would've given this a much lower score.
Final score: 6/10