It has been 16 years now since Naughty Dog first introduced our favorite bandicoot to the beautiful gaming universe. Crash Bandicoot is one of the most memorable characters of all time. The fame of the very beautiful franchise had a rocketing growth that even in this very region (as I recall) the word “Crash” never sounded as tragic as it does now.
It all started in 1996, when “Doctor Neo Cortex” got rid of Crash for being a worthless bandicoot. Crash started collecting crystals and eating Wumpas (yes, I used to think they were apples… you are not alone) in the journey against Cortex that, in my opinion, made Naughty Dog what it is now. Since then, and through the different installments of the game, Crash has become an icon in the PlayStation world.
Naughty Dog released their final Crash game in 1999, which was the unbelievably addicting Crash Team
Racing. The very first Crash racing game had to unfortunately be the last game to be developed by Naughty Dog before they move on to Jak and Daxter. After CTR came the crazy Crash Bash, the fun collection of multiplayer mini-games developed by Eurocom. The idea of having the Crash Bandicoot characters facing-off in mini-games was a great, yet risky idea. Eurocom, however, had pretty much nailed it.
Some people believe that the Crash Bandicoot franchise ended right after Naughty Dog had left it and moved on to a different franchise, and I agree with that to some extent. I think that the franchise had its last “chance” with Crash Tag Team Racing, which I personally enjoyed. It might have not been as good as the previous CTR and Crash Nitro Kart, but it was joyful nevertheless.
To me, the “Crash of the Titans” game simply killed the franchise. With all due respect to the developers and the fans of the game, it just made me give up on the franchise. I strongly believe that Crash Bandicoot should have never drifted away from being a platform game. Yes, a change here and there every now and then is always welcomed. However, the main game should have stayed as it was. For the sake of high hopes, the franchise can regain its awesomeness if Naughty Dog ever decides to work on it once again! (Please?)
I know that I haven’t talked about some games of the franchise such as Twin Sanity. If I was going to talk about all of them in detail, this would’ve been a good Wikipedia post! I want you guys to share your thoughts and memories with this franchise. Let us know your story with Crash Bandicoot. Anyhow, I personally salute the two that taught the dog how to be naughty, Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin. We are grateful for what you have created. Thank you!
Sources Crash Bandicoot 1 picture taken from Gamescay CTR picture taken from GiantBomb
what worries me highly is how the Jak and Daxter franchise is neglected amongst gamers. When naughty dog left Crash bandicoot they created something even better, deeper, and with a more memorable cast of characters and that is Jak and Daxter. Sure Jak 2 and 3 were different, but were still every bit as good as crash bandicoot, and in my opinion even better.