Crash Bandicoot

aka: Crash 1
Moby ID: 4721
PlayStation Specs
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/28 3:21 AM )
Conversion (official) See Also

Description official descriptions

Dr. Neo Cortex and Dr. Nitrus Brio, two evil doctors determined to take over the world, create two devices to turn innocent creatures into genius destroyers of the world. One particular animal, a Bandicoot, is chosen to be the leader of the pack, but when the devices fail in their attempts, the animals are turned into crazy monsters. Only Crash Bandicoot survives with brain intact, now knowing that Neo Cortex is the real bad guy. Cortex notices the threat that Crash may cause, and banishes Crash to another island. So it is up to Crash to find his way through the islands monster population and stop Cortex from destroying the world, as well as saving his girlfriend who is next on the devices list.

In Crash' first appearance on the Playstation, you must run, jump and spin your way through this part 3D platform/part Side Scroller/part Mario 64 style adventure.

Spellings

  • クラッシュ・バンディクー - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PlayStation version)

84 People (75 developers, 9 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 32 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 105 ratings with 4 reviews)

The Original & The Best!

The Good
Graphics: Very nice (for a 1996 game), the levels are original and very stylish, Crash Bandicoot himself is a very well-drawn character.

Gameplay: The controls are slightly hard to get used to, but after about 30 minutes, the controls will seem very simple and smooth.

Levels: The levels are excellently designed (like I said in the Graphics section of my review), and the levels are in fact moderately challenging, which is a new thing in the era of games that are either too tough or too easy.

Sound: Simple small sounds, but those small sounds are done in such a way that they are not annoying like the sounds in early DOS games.

Overall Enjoyment: Endless hours of fun (that's in my case, but the guaranteed hours are 2).

The Bad
While most levels are moderately challenging, one difficult level will pop up between two moderately challenging levels, which is strange, usually the tough levels will be kept to the end of the game.

The Bottom Line
Overall Score: 4.5/5 A good game that is fun and enjoyable.

PlayStation · by Jim Fun (207) · 2002

One of Playstation's finest games

The Good
Crash Bandicoot has simple yet effective gameplay -- you can make him run, jump and spin through the levels which works well in the game. It is easy to figure out how to control Crash. The game starts of easy then gets increasingly challenging as you progress through the game as any decent platformer should do.

The graphics were great for it's time, the levels were visually superb and so were the characters. There is so much variation of levels ranging from jungles to factories which is a key factor to the games success in my opinion.

The game features an awesome soundtrack, each piece of music really creates an atmosphere in a level and boss fights. The sound effects are impressive as well.



The Bad
I felt that the bosses are to short and some provided little challenge.



The Bottom Line
It's a fun platformer worth checking out.

PlayStation · by Fraser Wilson (1) · 2010

Conventional Platformer in 3D

The Good
The graphics are very lush and beautiful, they use very bright colors. Outside the platforming area there is extra terrain that blocks your view. The terrain outside the area gives the level great ambiance.

The sound is great as well, in fact its composed by the same company that did the Rugrat's music. Normally I hate the music in video games, RPG music can be a real drag but this music is really entertaining.

The game is quite difficult, it gives a good challenge that is enjoyable. It gets annoying if a game is too easy, it just isn't as fun. With this game that's not the case.

The Bad
Sometimes the game became frustrating because at key jumping points the controls don't work so well due to a depth control problem.

Sometimes the levels aren't as epic feeling. The rail gameplay could limit replay value for some people.

I found it annoying that you could fall off the sides of the tiny blocks during the bonus level. That was corrected during the later games.

The Bottom Line
I've seen people compare this game to Mario 64, and I realize that's inevitable. however, The fact of the matter is, Crash Bandicoot is incomparable to Mario 64.

To understand Crash Bandicoot and Mario 64 you need to think about the time these games were made. At that time, there were very few games being made in full 3D. People were wondering how they were going to make a platform game in 3D. Many games failed at this transition. Such as Bubsy 3D.

Instead of making the game a free roaming world, Naughty Dog decided to constrain the game and make it "on rails" so the traditional platform gameplay would be preserved without reinventing the wheel like Mario did.

The game is a lot more like a standard platformer. You jump on boxes, you jump over pits and you jump on enemies. The game is difficult but lives come to you easily.You might get a new life after two replays of the same continue point.

You don't explore to the degree that Mario 64 does. But the game is fast paced and really fun. The game is much quicker paced than mario and is more of a twitch play game than an adventure platformer like mario.

Overall its for people that like standard challenging platformers and don't need to explore a level to have fun.

PlayStation · by Evan Agresti (6) · 2009

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Very underrated platformer CaveGraveDave Sep 20, 2009

Trivia

Advertisement

In the Japanese PlayStation TV ads, Crash shared a house with Parappa the Rapper.

Cut level

During the production of this game, Naughty Dog has been eliminated a level called Stormy Ascent (a sequel of Slippery Climb) because the level was too hard.

Music

One of Crash Bandicoot's composers, Mark Mothersbaugh, was the lead singer of the 80's pop band Devo.

Regional differences

In the Japanese version, the password saving system has been removed as well as Tawna in bonus rounds, the TNT crates has a bomb instead the TNT letters and Papu Papu must be beaten by 5 hits instead of 3.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • October 1996 (Issue 87) - Game of the Month

Information also contributed by //dbz: and Zaibatsu

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure
Released 2002 on Game Boy Advance
Crash Bash
Released 2000 on PlayStation, 2008 on PSP, PlayStation 3
Crash Bandicoot: Warped
Released 1998 on PlayStation, 2007 on PSP, PlayStation 3
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Released 1997 on PlayStation, 2007 on PSP, PlayStation 3...
CTR: Crash Team Racing
Released 1999 on PlayStation, 2007 on PlayStation 3, PSP
Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
Released 2017 on PlayStation 4, Windows, 2018 on Xbox One
Crash Nitro Kart
Released 2003 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
Crash Nitro Kart
Released 2003 on Game Boy Advance, 2004 on N-Gage
Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!
Released 2020 on Android, iPhone, 2021 on iPad

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 4721
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kartanym.

PSP, PlayStation 3 added by Corn Popper. PS Vita added by GTramp. Android added by CrankyStorming.

Additional contributors: J. Michael Bottorff, Alaka, Robbb, DreinIX, Zaibatsu, Patrick Bregger.

Game added August 7, 2001. Last modified March 19, 2024.