Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy game Review: Marsupial Makeover
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the game of the summer?We would almost tend to forget it because the thing was never really official, but was a time when PlayStation had its mascot. Born in the 90s, the first Sony home console has long sought a face. Or was it rather the players, who usually linked Sonic to Sega and Mario to Nintendo. PlayStation had to have its mascot. This is how Crash Bandicoot, the hero of a game suite bearing his name, became the first icon of the PlayStation. 21 years after his birth, Activision and Vicarious Visions pay him a beautiful tribute with a collection of remasters with good taste of apples, and that is called Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.
It's hard to separate the history of the first PlayStation from the Crash Bandicoot sneakers. The marsupial invented by Naughty Dog quickly established itself as the flagship character of a console that, however, was not lacking. How was it possible? Probably because we were barely out of the golden age of platform games, and obviously, each manufacturer, each publisher, must have in their toy library a platform featuring a nice anthropomorphic animal. Hedgehogs, cats, dogs, bats ... Crash, as a bandicoot (yes, this species really exists) answered this demand, this habit. Besides, the game was terribly pretty. With its colors, its dynamism, its polygons, Crash Bandicoot gave a very beautiful image of the console. A cool game for cool teens. Even dying was fun. The game became so well established on PlayStation that it gave rise to several sequels and spin-offs, such as the famous Crash Team Racing, a racing game very inspired by Mario Kart 64. The creature in cropped pants marked very many players and of course, when it celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, Activision could not miss out on such an opportunity. The American publisher, however, had the good idea not to remaster a game, but three. The first three, of course. And it was with great pleasure that we embarked on Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.
FIRST-CLASS TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
N.Sane Trilogy immediately offers you the choice between one of the three Crashes. Of course, we first headed for the first game, but note that we could have started with the second game, or even the third: the player is free to attack the trilogy as he wishes. Anyway, it is by landing in the first level of Crash Bandicoot that we became aware of the visual success that this remaster is. Truth be told, it would be fairer to talk about a remake, because Vicarious Visions never had the 1996 source code in hand and was therefore forced to recreate everything from scratch. They literally recreated the game from scratch. A real performance, especially when you see the result.Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the summer game? Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the summer game? Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the summer game?
The N. Sane Trilogy will certainly not remain in the annals of video game history for its graphics, but the rendering is still very satisfactory. It's pretty, it's fresh, it's colorful, and above all, it stays true to the original games. Some players will find the game duller than it used to be, and in fact they will be partly right. Current consoles are capable of displaying many more colors than a PlayStation, so developers have used them to enrich and nuance the color palette of the three Crash Bandicoots. An evil for a good: we lose in fidelity what we gain in visual comfort, because our eyes of 2017 probably would not have supported the result. In 1996 we appreciated the artistic direction of the title, the richness of its levels, the animations of the controlled character: we find all this 20 years later, and it is ultimately all that matters.
Crash Bandicoot 3 probably does the best, thanks to its time travel and the variety of levels it allows. Middle Ages, Prehistory, Thousand and One Nights, Future, the developers have given themselves to heart, for a most satisfactory result. Particular attention was paid to the lighting effects, all very successful, water aside. Whether it is represented in the form of a puddle or a larger area, the result is much more contrasted here. It is often quite missed, especially in this level where you control Coco, in a jet ski event that has aged quite badly, by the way.
THE OLD JARS, THE BEST JAM?
This little failure on the jet ski phase should not worry you: the rest of the trilogy has aged extremely well. If overall, the vehicle phases are not the most exciting, the pure and hard platform phases have not aged. The layout of the traps, the timing, the use of space in the level-design, everything is under control, to give birth to a very accessible but quickly demanding platform game. This is all the more true as the jumps are slightly different, and it will be necessary to accompany them longer than in the past, by keeping the dedicated key pressed. Once this little novelty has been integrated, we progress rapidly through the levels, playing with the death that awaits with each jump, with each crevice, with each enemy.Crash Bandicoot was so successful that he managed to make death fun. As in the original game, each of your failures will be punctuated by a small funny animation, all taken from the original games. We have fun seeing Crash cut, burned, crushed ... Always with this very marked Tex Avery spirit. Crash Bandicoot has always been a cartoon, and that hasn't changed! The game required a lot from the player, but with well-placed checkpoints and very different behavioral enemies from one level to another, the progression combines challenge and pleasure of discovery, to form an explosive cocktail, to which one quickly becomes addicted. Finally, only one thing annoys: the jumps which sometimes lack precision, as if the controller did not respond well. A tiny latency which in some cases can be fatal. And necessarily, it annoys a little.
Alone, we will of course seek to advance as far as possible and complete the game. The most hardcore players will seek to make the best times, break all the boxes, find all the secrets: they have not been forgotten. With friends, we will pass the controller, trying to go as far as possible. Crash Bandicoot has not aged: the concept is too effective, too mastered for that.
EL FAMOSO NOSTALGIE
Of course, the N. Sane Trilogy has a certain advantage, which he knows how to take advantage of: that is the nostalgia factor. Very clearly, the game should be suitable for everyone who discovered it when it came out, or soon after. We talked about the graphics, but we could also talk about the hours of music, completely re-orchestrated for the occasion. Whether it's the main theme of the series or the game's soundtrack, with its percussion or tribal tones, the game quickly exerts a magic charm on anyone who knew these games 20 years ago. The gems, the apples, the TNT or Nitro cases to avoid, we find all these elements with real pleasure, a pleasure that will no doubt escape those who, at the time, were too young or vague projects for their parents. Same thing for the bad guys in the game: those who loved the series and / or Crash Team Racing will inevitably be invaded by nostalgia against Tiny, Pinstripe, Papu Papu, Dingodile and other Dr. N.Gine and Ripper Roo. Characters that we had forgotten a little, for some, and that we rediscover with pleasure.This nostalgia factor is not to be underestimated since if Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy carries within it three excellent games of platforms, the genre has largely evolved since, and it is possible that some players are not sensitive to the formula. Vicarious Visions decided not to touch anything, adding only the possibility of playing with Coco in the first two episodes. A bias that will appeal to some, where others may prefer a little more news. For our part, there is ultimately only one thing that we criticize the collection: to go from one episode to another is not easy. As it stands, the player is forced to leave his level, return to the hub of the game concerned, then return to the main menu. And therefore to endure several loading times each time. In terms of ergonomics, we will iron. Nothing dramatic of course, but the whole would have deserved more flexibility ...
The notes
+ Positive points
Pretty and respectful of the original work
The oldschool feeling
Always as demanding
Three games in one
A sacred Proust madeleine
-Negative points
Slight latency on some jumps
Switching between games should be easier
Nostalgia probably has something to do with it, but very objectively it is difficult not to recognize that these three Crash Bandicoots are excellent platform games. Certainly, 20 years later, they are less imaginative, less surprising, and the formula may even seem dated at times. But this science of timing and level-design, and the rhythm that they impose on the player, have not disappeared. With its updated graphics, music and humor, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy smells like holidays. New players may be hungry, but fans of the series will happily rediscover three games they loved for good reason. This kind of timeless pleasure is the hallmark of great games, and there is very little they can boast of such quality.
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