Before Jak and Daxter and Uncharted, there was Crash Bandicoot. Naughty Dog's first platformer game and the one that cemented them as one of the best developers there is in the gaming landscape. It's a shame though that what was once considered a great platformer, is now a frustrating and outdated game.

Before ranting though, I would just love to say how great the game's island theme is. While it does result in a lack of variety between levels, it doesn't really matter all that much since the theme that they were going for here was done so incredibly well.

Unfortunately, some of the other aspects of the game haven't aged all that well. Pretty much everything about the gameplay has either aged poorly or wasn't even that good to begin with.

Controlling Crash feels very slippery and unpredictable, not helped by the pixel-perfect precision that the game demands. The 2D segments are most guilty of this flaw, even just a single tap of the controller button would see Crash jumping off the intended block, making the platforming gameplay such a frustrating process. In fact, the difficulty was so unapologetic that it almost made me want to cry.

But arguably the game's worst aspect would probably be its checkpoint system. It's so implemented poorly, making it straight-up garbage and useless. They are either often placed so far from each other or way too close. Even the act of taking a checkpoint alone could even lead to death.

Maybe if I'd played Crash Bandicoot a few years ago I might have appreciated it more, but playing it with a modern lens just shows how outdated the game is.