In the year of our lord 2023 and at 23 years old I have finally played the first game in one of my favourite platforming series. And I have to say I fucking loved it. Let's talk about the save and death system a bit though since those basically make up the entirety of this game's shortcomings.
I played this game with save states… but not a lot of them. I used them mostly as a normal save, once mid-level (Usually around when you’d get the bonus round on your first go-around), and after bosses. I actually feel like this game is pretty well-balanced for the most part and it was rare I made a save state as a precaution just in the middle of a level, but these concessions I made for myself I think were pretty crucial.
This game is by far the hardest and most precise of the entries in the series. More than any other game the level design itself will test your patience and set up obstacles that are deliberately meant to trip you up if you’re not paying attention. What this results in is a rare delight for the series: A Crash game that actually pushes you a bit.
This feeling was actually helped by the death stipulation for all the crates too. I was on the edge of my seat trying to clear a segment before getting to safety and realizing I had been holding my breath. It’s great as an optional challenge and it’s a lot different than a time trial as well which you could argue has some similarities of demanding sustained perfection and not wanting you to die.
I would’ve loved it to be a thing in the rest of the series, especially since the others are so easy.
Part of what makes this game work though—and what also causes most of its major problems-- is that this game is straight up jank to control; It’s not just the level design that makes this game harder, the same fucking platforms and challenges with either Crash 2 or 3’s physics would be astronomically easier by-default. The jump arc is stiffer than any other in the series and Crash has that classic need to slow-down after you stop moving him forward which is common for a lot of first entries in highly acclaimed platformers (Usually this is a negative, but it ain't all bad depending on execution).
This makes the need to aim the jump, to control how long you hold the button and whether or not you adjust the jump backwards a bit all much more difficult endeavours than you ever thought they’d be. You get the hang of it the farther you go, but this game will be one you death-grip the controller with a lot. (And don’t even think of using the analog stick if you’re playing on emulator—It’s not worth it at all. It will absolutely get you killed.)
Honestly, like I said, the physics actually make the game fun in its own way too, but there’s absolutely no denying that the vast majority of frustration comes from it. It’s very difficult to count on yourself doing things right every single time, and it’s not like, say, Mario 64 where usually there’s no large threat from messing up an execution—Usually just a failure to get where you need to go.
This is why the save states are such a god-send. Half the time in gem-runs of levels there was at least one part I regarded as a bit too unfair or a gem path that was going to make everything that much harder and make you start all over again if you mess up.
I already grew a bit tired and frustrated with my conservative use of the save-states, so if I had to wait through load-screens or always have restart from the beginning late in a difficult stage from one slip up (gem-route especially) ALL the time, I’d have been livid.
The game’s still fun and I did do some actual perfect runs, but the control's just not consistent enough. It’s no wonder they made the checkpoints how they are in the later games, holy hell. Maybe they swung too hard in the other direction, but shifting the focus and being better safe than sorry was probably the right choice
And I aid I’d like a collectible related to no-deaths but coupling it to crate collection was just too much-- especially for this game. (Maybe Time Trial was indeed the right answer once Crash 3 came around. Not sure.)
Some simple fixes that would have immediately helped the game but preserve some of its feel:
Mid-Level checkpoints and/or Checkpoints after Bonus Rounds
Free deaths for Bonus Rounds
Communication that full crate collection for Tawna levels is not mandatory
Save Points after bosses (Seriously though, it’d be better if you just got to save whenever though. The way saves work is weird as fuck)
And really: Better physics would make a world of difference. I keep thinking that Crash 2 and 3 with a no-death challenge would work way better. It’s just hard to say whether you’d make the game worse overall by making that different, or if it’s nice that it is jank how it is for good and for ill.
And on that note: When you use things like save states—even conservatively—It’s hard to say how much something actually brings down a game. Not to mention how much you should let it off because of age or not. And that's how I kind of feel about the game. It could fall in a broad range of quality, but it's undeniably flawed.
To wrap things up though, let me say a bit about the rest of the game
It’s nothing you haven’t heard before, but that more panicked looney-tunes creature going on a long adventure in treacherous environments feel really gives this game something special compared to the others. Though at the same time the almost complete lack of story and characterization, and the lack of Coco hurts the game.
The sound-track is actually great but as you know it’s a lot less melodical than either of the other entries. And the environments are the same, but just like with the soundtrack… They pale in comparison to how much 2 ups the ante, and even if some of 3’s elements are a bit cliche and boring to me 1 doesn’t do much to inject flavour. It reuses elements quite a bit even in the very endgame.
The bosses I would say are relatively clever or fun. The trick with them is more about figuring out how you damage them. After that they sort of become a joke. I like most of them more than N.Tropy in Crash 3 at least, which is the worst boss between 2 and 3.
This game very well could’ve been better than 3 for my money. It IS better if you’re mostly focused on the casual experience instead of the 100 %. And I like how this game doesn't expect you to make large leaps in logic for its coloured gems like 2 and 3 do, if I'm going to compliment the 100 %, and it's not like I didn't have any fun doing it. But it’s impossible to deny the variety and fun that Crash 3 brings, especially with the wealth of content it has when you start doing the time trials.
I’d like to give the game an 8. Maybe it deserves it, especially if I do consider that I could’ve went even harder with the save-states, and think to myself that this is the “right” way to play the game nowadays anyway.
But I just can’t. It wouldn’t feel right. So what can you do? The game’s a 7 even though its brothers are pretty much 10s, and even though this game has plenty to edge over them.
I played this game with save states… but not a lot of them. I used them mostly as a normal save, once mid-level (Usually around when you’d get the bonus round on your first go-around), and after bosses. I actually feel like this game is pretty well-balanced for the most part and it was rare I made a save state as a precaution just in the middle of a level, but these concessions I made for myself I think were pretty crucial.
This game is by far the hardest and most precise of the entries in the series. More than any other game the level design itself will test your patience and set up obstacles that are deliberately meant to trip you up if you’re not paying attention. What this results in is a rare delight for the series: A Crash game that actually pushes you a bit.
This feeling was actually helped by the death stipulation for all the crates too. I was on the edge of my seat trying to clear a segment before getting to safety and realizing I had been holding my breath. It’s great as an optional challenge and it’s a lot different than a time trial as well which you could argue has some similarities of demanding sustained perfection and not wanting you to die.
I would’ve loved it to be a thing in the rest of the series, especially since the others are so easy.
Part of what makes this game work though—and what also causes most of its major problems-- is that this game is straight up jank to control; It’s not just the level design that makes this game harder, the same fucking platforms and challenges with either Crash 2 or 3’s physics would be astronomically easier by-default. The jump arc is stiffer than any other in the series and Crash has that classic need to slow-down after you stop moving him forward which is common for a lot of first entries in highly acclaimed platformers (Usually this is a negative, but it ain't all bad depending on execution).
This makes the need to aim the jump, to control how long you hold the button and whether or not you adjust the jump backwards a bit all much more difficult endeavours than you ever thought they’d be. You get the hang of it the farther you go, but this game will be one you death-grip the controller with a lot. (And don’t even think of using the analog stick if you’re playing on emulator—It’s not worth it at all. It will absolutely get you killed.)
Honestly, like I said, the physics actually make the game fun in its own way too, but there’s absolutely no denying that the vast majority of frustration comes from it. It’s very difficult to count on yourself doing things right every single time, and it’s not like, say, Mario 64 where usually there’s no large threat from messing up an execution—Usually just a failure to get where you need to go.
This is why the save states are such a god-send. Half the time in gem-runs of levels there was at least one part I regarded as a bit too unfair or a gem path that was going to make everything that much harder and make you start all over again if you mess up.
I already grew a bit tired and frustrated with my conservative use of the save-states, so if I had to wait through load-screens or always have restart from the beginning late in a difficult stage from one slip up (gem-route especially) ALL the time, I’d have been livid.
The game’s still fun and I did do some actual perfect runs, but the control's just not consistent enough. It’s no wonder they made the checkpoints how they are in the later games, holy hell. Maybe they swung too hard in the other direction, but shifting the focus and being better safe than sorry was probably the right choice
And I aid I’d like a collectible related to no-deaths but coupling it to crate collection was just too much-- especially for this game. (Maybe Time Trial was indeed the right answer once Crash 3 came around. Not sure.)
Some simple fixes that would have immediately helped the game but preserve some of its feel:
Mid-Level checkpoints and/or Checkpoints after Bonus Rounds
Free deaths for Bonus Rounds
Communication that full crate collection for Tawna levels is not mandatory
Save Points after bosses (Seriously though, it’d be better if you just got to save whenever though. The way saves work is weird as fuck)
And really: Better physics would make a world of difference. I keep thinking that Crash 2 and 3 with a no-death challenge would work way better. It’s just hard to say whether you’d make the game worse overall by making that different, or if it’s nice that it is jank how it is for good and for ill.
And on that note: When you use things like save states—even conservatively—It’s hard to say how much something actually brings down a game. Not to mention how much you should let it off because of age or not. And that's how I kind of feel about the game. It could fall in a broad range of quality, but it's undeniably flawed.
To wrap things up though, let me say a bit about the rest of the game
It’s nothing you haven’t heard before, but that more panicked looney-tunes creature going on a long adventure in treacherous environments feel really gives this game something special compared to the others. Though at the same time the almost complete lack of story and characterization, and the lack of Coco hurts the game.
The sound-track is actually great but as you know it’s a lot less melodical than either of the other entries. And the environments are the same, but just like with the soundtrack… They pale in comparison to how much 2 ups the ante, and even if some of 3’s elements are a bit cliche and boring to me 1 doesn’t do much to inject flavour. It reuses elements quite a bit even in the very endgame.
The bosses I would say are relatively clever or fun. The trick with them is more about figuring out how you damage them. After that they sort of become a joke. I like most of them more than N.Tropy in Crash 3 at least, which is the worst boss between 2 and 3.
This game very well could’ve been better than 3 for my money. It IS better if you’re mostly focused on the casual experience instead of the 100 %. And I like how this game doesn't expect you to make large leaps in logic for its coloured gems like 2 and 3 do, if I'm going to compliment the 100 %, and it's not like I didn't have any fun doing it. But it’s impossible to deny the variety and fun that Crash 3 brings, especially with the wealth of content it has when you start doing the time trials.
I’d like to give the game an 8. Maybe it deserves it, especially if I do consider that I could’ve went even harder with the save-states, and think to myself that this is the “right” way to play the game nowadays anyway.
But I just can’t. It wouldn’t feel right. So what can you do? The game’s a 7 even though its brothers are pretty much 10s, and even though this game has plenty to edge over them.