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Sony’s 1994 foray into the game console market with the original PlayStation was an expensive gamble. Although the company had technically begun work on the console with Nintendo a a planned add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s, that deal famously fell through, leaving Sony to fend for itself in order to make it in the industry. This came a time when the two big contenders were Nintendo and Sega, both of which had something PlayStation did not: a mascot.
That all changed – at least unofficially – with the 1996 release of Crash Bandicoot, a 3D platformer developed by Naughty Dog and initially a PlayStation exclusive. Crash is an eastern barred bandicoot who has been genetically mutated by the evil Doctor Neo Cortex. His attitude definitely borrows a bit from Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog character, but unlike with competing video game mascots, Sony never did own the Crash Bandicoot name. Rights to the franchise actually belonged to Universal Interactive Studios, who acted as producer for the games. Sony served as publisher of the game (and the next two follow-ups), assembling a huge marketing campaign around it, often taking direct shots at Nintendo to try and lure in Super Mario fans.
The 1996 game itself is an engaging single-player campaign that takes place after the titular bandicoot escapes the clutches of Doctor Cortex, falling from his castle. His love Tanwa, however, remains inside, prompting Crash to make his way across a series of islands in an effort to rescue her and foil Cortex’s plan to take over the world. With a total of 32 levels, players must clear gaps, maneuver around obstacles, traverse moving platforms, and jump on or spin-attack a number of foes including various animals, sentient tropical plants, and aggressive island natives. Make it to the end of a level to receive a gem! Wooden boxes, which can be broken, are also scattered throughout the levels. Some contain goodies to help you out, but if you manage to break every box within a level, you’ll be treated to a special gem. A standard boss fight is squeezed in after every few levels leading up to a showdown with Cortex, but strangely, many of the fights seem disproportionately easy to the difficult platforming challenges presented in standard levels.
One of the game’s main gameplay hooks is its varying use of perspective. Sometimes levels will move forward in a mostly linear fashion, other times Crash will be running toward the “camera” from a rolling boulder, some levels use a mostly two-dimensional moving plane, and some place him on the backs of moving animals. While these shakeups in formula certainly provide a refreshing degree of level variety, the forced perspective can also be a source of frustration, as it’s not always clear where you’re going to land when making crucial jumps. Despite this shortcoming, the platforming is overall pretty smooth, and when they get it right, they really get right.
Crash Bandicoot went on to become one of the best selling titles for the original PlayStation, selling six million copies. The overwhelming success led to several sequels, but unfortunately the quality varies wildly. This is largely due to Naughty Dog losing development rights of the series to producer Universal, who ultimately became part of the Activision brand. Most recently, the original game was remastered in 2017 and included in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, a beautifully remastered collection featuring the first three Crash games.
