DAY 68 / GAME 68
Crash Bandicoot 2
Crash Bandicoot seemed like Sony's answer to Sonic and Mario. Every platform needs a mascot I suppose. The silent marsupial with a crazed look in his eyes, Crash turned out to be a pretty popular character.
Crash 2 was the only one of the first three that I actually bought. I played the other two (of the original three PS1 titles), but this one certainly got the most attention. I've put a ton of time into this game over the years. I even purchased it over the Playstation Network so that I could have a copy to play on my PSP and the PS3. Leia and I actually played quite a bit of this at one point, she actually did pretty good on her own. It certainly helped that there's really only the one direction to travel.
So much of this game was great. It had a neat soundtrack and fantastic character animation, especially considering the hardware limitations. Real time lip sync featuring actual animated mouthshapes was not a commonplace thing at the time. I remember this being a fairly outstanding thing when Half Life first rolled around a couple years later.
Crash had a really solidified theme rolling around which really helped it become more than just another new 3D title. Everything has an unexplained 'tiki' theme or something of the like. Most all levels are filled with totems, stone carvings, masks, ruins and similarly designed denizens inhabiting the world, including your buddy, a strange wood mask that yells RUTABAGA when you find him. I was especially fond of the the ruin levels that took place at night. Lighting flared in the background, rain poured down, flamethrowers lit up the stonework around you.
Crash is the kind of game that is so easy to pick up and play anytime. Which I tend to do quite often. There's usually 3 different goals for each of the 25 levels, 3 different crystals to find. So the secondary objectives add to the replay value, even if I've still barely passed the game more than once. Even with it's age, and how dated PS1 titles tend to get, Crash Bandicoot 2 remains a timeless title. Instead of trying to be overcomplicated, it felt like they just tried to drop a 2D side scrolling platformer into three dimensions. For some people that was a complaint, but for me, that was some of it's charm.
Crash had fruit, boxes, motorized surfboards, turtles with circular saws on their back and tiny polar bears you can ride on. It was unique, solid and easy to play. I'd love to see an HD version, with higher resolution textures, but that aside it's current state is still very playable and looks great on portable. I'd love to see it on the 3DS with the 3D effect on it. And it's a funny thought, that Naughty Dog went from making Crash Bandicoot, to Uncharted and the Last of Us.
For the Japanese version of this title, they had to remove one of the death animations where Crash gets flattened and appears as a head with feet flapping about. Turns out at the time there was a serial loose in Japan who left the shoes and severed head of his victim behind.
Crash Bandicoot 2
Crash Bandicoot seemed like Sony's answer to Sonic and Mario. Every platform needs a mascot I suppose. The silent marsupial with a crazed look in his eyes, Crash turned out to be a pretty popular character.Crash 2 was the only one of the first three that I actually bought. I played the other two (of the original three PS1 titles), but this one certainly got the most attention. I've put a ton of time into this game over the years. I even purchased it over the Playstation Network so that I could have a copy to play on my PSP and the PS3. Leia and I actually played quite a bit of this at one point, she actually did pretty good on her own. It certainly helped that there's really only the one direction to travel.
Crash had a really solidified theme rolling around which really helped it become more than just another new 3D title. Everything has an unexplained 'tiki' theme or something of the like. Most all levels are filled with totems, stone carvings, masks, ruins and similarly designed denizens inhabiting the world, including your buddy, a strange wood mask that yells RUTABAGA when you find him. I was especially fond of the the ruin levels that took place at night. Lighting flared in the background, rain poured down, flamethrowers lit up the stonework around you.
Crash had fruit, boxes, motorized surfboards, turtles with circular saws on their back and tiny polar bears you can ride on. It was unique, solid and easy to play. I'd love to see an HD version, with higher resolution textures, but that aside it's current state is still very playable and looks great on portable. I'd love to see it on the 3DS with the 3D effect on it. And it's a funny thought, that Naughty Dog went from making Crash Bandicoot, to Uncharted and the Last of Us.
For the Japanese version of this title, they had to remove one of the death animations where Crash gets flattened and appears as a head with feet flapping about. Turns out at the time there was a serial loose in Japan who left the shoes and severed head of his victim behind.
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