Time for nostalgia overload!
After what seems like forever, Crash Bandicoot is back in this remake of the original trilogy, built from the ground up we have all 3 games in one bundle. For those unfamiliar, Crash Bandicoot is a platformer that is insanely difficult and the building blocks of Naughty Dog who would go on to make a certain Nathan Drake series…
All the levels are here, spruced up with shiny new visuals and a new look Crash. You can also play as Coco for the first time in the original game. Each level has crates to break, time trials to beat and plenty of hidden secrets to uncover. The game luckily autosaves so you don’t have to worry about losing progress, but you can also manually save if you want to stock up on lives to take on some of the more challenging levels.
Some levels will have you literally ripping your hair out, but learning the level and having spot-on precision for jumps is essential to your success. Crash does jump slightly differently from the original, which definitely makes it harder than before. This was proven a few weeks ago to be an issue to do with the new Crash model, but it’s unknown if it’ll be patched or not. It’s still do-able, but it’s more challenging as a result.
At £30, this is a bargain when it comes to content. 3 whole games remade from scratch and they are hardly small games either, they will take a considerable amount of time to do. Then there’s the Time Trials to attempt, which are even more brutal as you have to nail every jump perfectly while smashing crates that freeze time for a number of seconds. Learning the best way to do the level quick is no small feat, it took me hours upon hours just to get Gold on the first level.
The visual upgrade to the original games are nothing short of amazing, especially when compared. It’s an excellent remake, running at a steady framerate and looking amazing on Xbox One X, it offers HDR support and has 2 great bonus levels added for extra measure.
The Verdict
For a trip down nostalgia lane, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy does the job incredibly well. It’s still as tough as ever, but also just as fun. It’s also a steal at the price tag of £30. Let’s hope this is the start of a Crash revival.