By Stephen David Hyland
Spinning onto our AV channels in 1996, the Crash series made its debut on the PlayStation with the platformer adventure game, simply entitled Crash Bandicoot. This first game of the now well-known and loved series of Crash games gave us an idea of what was to come. Whilst the future of the series has been uncertain since 2008, as Crash has appeared in a number of exclusive mobile game since then - we still have a whole history of this series to look back on.
Spinning onto our AV channels in 1996, the Crash series made its debut on the PlayStation with the platformer adventure game, simply entitled Crash Bandicoot. This first game of the now well-known and loved series of Crash games gave us an idea of what was to come. Whilst the future of the series has been uncertain since 2008, as Crash has appeared in a number of exclusive mobile game since then - we still have a whole history of this series to look back on.
At the young age of 3, I started gaming. Dabbling a bit in the Nintendo 64 side of things, I eventually fell to the side of Sony with a PlayStation bought for me that Christmas. Along with this (which I still have…somewhere) came Crash Bandicoot. Now, as a young child, gaming can prove difficult at the best of times.
This difficulty in playing resulted in hours and hours of trying to get this spinning animal from the beginning of a level to the end. However, as the time went on, and I had become more accustomed to the game, I had noticed that there was more to this little animal than met the eye. I had realized that this character, while a bit bizarre, was funny, adventurous and most importantly; heroic. From there on out, I had made a connection with Crash. Going to the local GAME on the high street was like Christmas to me, and try imagining the joy on my little face as I looked up and saw a whole trilogy of Crash Bandicoot games above me. That was it, I was hooked. I was having dreams of Crash, I was researching as to what a bandicoot actually was. Taking up most of my time on my television, the Crash series had forever left an imprint, and is what fed my interest of gaming…and those were just the PlayStation games.
As the years went on, Crash Bandicoot had landed himself on the PlayStation 2 with The Wrath of Cortex. Probably my favourite game of the series due to it’s innovation and fun plot, this game was one of the last Crash games that I could safely call “enjoyable”.
This difficulty in playing resulted in hours and hours of trying to get this spinning animal from the beginning of a level to the end. However, as the time went on, and I had become more accustomed to the game, I had noticed that there was more to this little animal than met the eye. I had realized that this character, while a bit bizarre, was funny, adventurous and most importantly; heroic. From there on out, I had made a connection with Crash. Going to the local GAME on the high street was like Christmas to me, and try imagining the joy on my little face as I looked up and saw a whole trilogy of Crash Bandicoot games above me. That was it, I was hooked. I was having dreams of Crash, I was researching as to what a bandicoot actually was. Taking up most of my time on my television, the Crash series had forever left an imprint, and is what fed my interest of gaming…and those were just the PlayStation games.
As the years went on, Crash Bandicoot had landed himself on the PlayStation 2 with The Wrath of Cortex. Probably my favourite game of the series due to it’s innovation and fun plot, this game was one of the last Crash games that I could safely call “enjoyable”.
Crash Tag Team Racing (the third racing game in the series) was certainly enjoyable and also had a kick-ass soundtrack to go along with it. Allowing you to switch between Crash on foot, smashing boxes and Crash revving it up in a car, destroying opponents on the race track, it was an innovation in the series. Unfortunately, the games following this took a turn for the worst and ultimately ended the console-based series. Crash Bandicoot has made such an impact on me. Whenever I have a bit of spare time and want to have a break from modern gaming, I take a trip down Nostalgia Lane and revisit these games.
And whilst (currently) retired, Crash Bandicoot will forever be in my memory, and who knows, maybe someday we’ll get a HD remake.
And whilst (currently) retired, Crash Bandicoot will forever be in my memory, and who knows, maybe someday we’ll get a HD remake.
'It is difficult to say what happened to our enemies, but I doubt we will see them for a long time...'
- Aku Aku
Allegedly, the rights to Crash Bandicoot were brought from Activision by Sony last spring. Since then, Activision have removed Crash from their website - suggesting that the property has indeed moved on.
Do you think Sony should resurrect this franchise in a new console-based game? Let us know on our Twitter or Facebook page!
Do you think Sony should resurrect this franchise in a new console-based game? Let us know on our Twitter or Facebook page!
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