Crash Bandicoot (series)

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Crash Bandicoot is a popular video game series created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin. The games are mostly set in N. Sanity Island, although other locations are common. The main games of the series are largely platform games, but the majority of the games are spin-offs in different genres. The series has sold 40 million copies and having 14 games as of 2007.^[1]

1 Overview
- 1.1 Crates
2 History
3 Installments
4 Nature of the protagonist
- 4.1 Mascot
5 Developers
6 The series in popular culture
7 See also
8 External links

Overview

Games in the Crash Bandicoot series feature an Eastern Barred Bandicoot named Crash as the central playable character and protagonist. Crash's quiet life on N. Sanity Island is often interrupted by the main antagonist in the series, Doctor Neo Cortex, who created Crash and now wants nothing more than his demise. It's usually up to Crash to defeat Cortex and foil any world domination plans he might have. The first three Crash games, as well as several subsequent Crash games were platform games. There are Aku Aku copy masks sparsely scattered throughout the levels. Collecting an Aku Aku mask while Crash already has one turns the one he has gold. Collecting another mask while Crash has a gold one grants Crash limited-time invincibility, after which the mask reverts to being gold. Getting hit will reduce the mask from gold to normal or from normal to nothing. If Crash gets hit when he does not have a mask, he will meet his end in a sometimes comical animation. In some of the Crash platformers, not including the original, some levels have a skull platform. Stepping on it brings Crash to what many consider a difficult part of the level. To be able to use the platform, Crash must not have died before reaching it or having the crates gem of the level and replaying it. The benefit to stepping on a skull platform is the acquisition of special game items called gems that are like the crates gems or of colors and these open difficult parts on other levels. Main collectables include 'Wumpa Fruit', healthy forest fruit grown from Wumpa Trees in which adds an additional life to Crash and company when 100 are obtained. Other, more valuable goodies include Gems (rare jewels often discovered by smashing open every crate in a level or on an alternate path) and Crystals - the most common found jewel in which one appears per every level, often contributing to the main story at hand. The only other collectables to note are Time Relics, featured from Crash Bandicoot: Warped and most other Crash games after (collected by racing a level's time trial) and trophies, which are featured in Crash Team Racing, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Bash. Obstacles in Crash's path include animal-like creatures and other badguys, Doctor Neo Cortex's lab assistants, various machinery, and physical barriers. To surmount these, Crash can use his jump move and his spin attack. In Crash platformers after the first, he can also do a body slam, slide, duck, crawl, and perform an extra-high jump by sliding or ducking and then jumping. Starting with Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash can also collect a special move after defeating each boss. Most of the Crash Bandicoot series each contain around 25 levels of gameplay, each level becoming higher difficulty, most times requiring special moves obtained from defeating bosses, this fact not referring to the original Crash Bandicoot. This does not include the hidden levels, where bonus items can be obtained.

Crates

There are crates scattered throughout the levels. Most crates contain some bonus. Some have Wumpa fruits in them, and collecting 100 of the game's "Wumpa Fruit" gives the player an extra life. Others have Aku Aku masks or extra lives. The player can get one gem per level by breaking all of the crates in one level. Most gems are white, but some are colored. In the original Crash Bandicoot, but in none of its sequels, some gems acquired by breaking all of a level's boxes are colored. The remaining white and colored gems must be collected by finding and touching them. They are invariably positioned in an area that is difficult to reach. These colored Gems in the later Crash games, asides Twinsanity, are often obtained via completing the Skull paths (mentioned earlier) or particularly harder, secret routes. In addition to crates that provide bonuses, there are also TNT crates. If Crash attacks one, he loses a life. If he jumps on one, a three second countdown is started, after which the TNT crate explodes. Some TNT crates are useful to clear obstacles. Some crates have on them an arrow pointing upwards. Landing on one will spring Crash into the air, much like a trampoline does. With the exception of the original, there are Nitro crates in all Crash platformers. If Crash touches one, he loses a life. A notable exception is in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, where the special ability 'creep' allows the player to walk along the top of nitro crates, but not fall on them, or touch them in any other way. Attacking a metal green crate with an exclamation mark on it destroys all of a level's Nitro crates. Also present in all Crash platformers except for the original are normal crates that are protected by a metal gridlock surrounding their edges normally destroyed by using the body slam move. Beginning with the third Crash game, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, some crates are shifting crates, also known as 'slot crates'. They shift among different kinds of crates. The rate at which a shifting crate changes gradually increases, until finally the crate becomes metallic and indestructible. For destroying these crates, an aku aku, a life or nothing can be obtained. Also present in the newer Crash Bandicoot games, there are Time Trial crates, which can only be found on levels when in Time Trial mode. Breaking any of these crates will stop the watch that counts your time to complete the level for a limited amount of time. Depending on the number on the crate (1, 2, or 3), the watch will stop for that number of seconds until continuing counting.

History

The first game, Crash Bandicoot, was released in the United States in 1996. The game was looked upon in a positive light due to its innovations such as a large number of level themes, the three different types of bonus levels rather than just one, and a number of gameplay elements that do not appear to belong to an integrated whole, such as the awkward face icons. This experimental appearance may have been because the game was a pioneer of a new series, and the developers may have been testing several ideas to see if they would work well in future Crash games. The game was released for the PlayStation. The second game, known as Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, was released in the Halloween of 1997, and departed from some of the concepts of the first game, the most notable being the exchange of the Super Mario Bros. 3-esque map screen for a group of hub rooms called "Warp Rooms" with each containing five levels, which follow the same straightforward layout of the first game, and one boss. It has overall been better received than its predecessor,[1] in part because it allowed the user to save game progress any time while in the central area ("warp room"). In the first game, this was only possible after successful completion of a bonus level. The game was released on the PlayStation. Exactly one year later, Crash Bandicoot: Warped introduced more new concepts, including a time trial mode and new moves that can be obtained after a boss is defeated. The game was also the first in the series to use the then-new DualShock controller, with the rumble effect being used frequently in the game. The game is still considered the pinnacle of the series today, being named one of the best platformers of all time.[2] The game was released for the PlayStation. The next game, Crash Team Racing, was the first racing game of the series and the last made by Naughty Dog. After the game's release in 1999, Naughty Dog left Universal Interactive Studios to become an in-house developer for Sony Computer Entertainment America and create their other trademark series, Jak and Daxter. The game appeared for the PlayStation. After another year, the U.K.-based video game developer Eurocom released the party game Crash Bash, which retained the Warp Room concept of Crash Bandicoot 2, but was met with mixed reviews. It was the last game in the series for the PlayStation. The next installment of the main series, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, was released in 2001 making it Crash's first multi-platform release. The game was also criticised for bringing almost nothing new to the series, the most common criticism of the game. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. The next two games, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure and Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, were released one year apart from each other. These games use a side-scrolling concept instead of the straightforward view of the console games. Fans criticise the two side-scrolling games for creating a large plot hole in the series as a whole, due to N-Tranced's inclusion of the Crunch character from The Wrath of Cortex. Thus, the games are mostly considered in an alternate universe from the main series. The games were released on the Game Boy Advance. The next racing game, Crash Nitro Kart, was also released on multiple platforms in 2003 as an indirect sequel to Crash Team Racing. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. It became the first Crash game released on the N-Gage. Next in the handheld series came Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, was a crossover game featuring Spyro of Spyro the Dragon game. The game was considered below-average by fans, who deemed the crossover cheesy and the game way too short. The game received mixed reviews by critics. However, this game is considered non-canon, due to the Spyro series' reboot with The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning and Nina's appearance (as well as her mannerisms). The game was released for the Game Boy Advance. On September 2004, Traveller's Tales released Crash Twinsanity just months after Ripto's Rampage. Twinsanity was a major deviation from the previous Crash gameplay, focusing on a new free-roaming environment instead of the straightforward gameplay of the past. It also marked the first time Cortex was a playable character in a platformer game. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. On October 2005, Crash Tag Team Racing arrived as the third racing game of the series. The game once again encorporated the free-roaming element of Twinsanity, along with including an option to clash with another driver to form one larger car. However, the boss races from the previous two racing titles are absent from this game. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and, for the first time in Crash's history, the PlayStation Portable. To celebrate Crash's 10th anniversary, Crash, Boom, Bang! was released on October 2006. The title was Crash's second party game, and followed a more Mario Party-esque format than its predecessor. However, many feel the Crash license was largely cosmetic, and the minigames were dull. The game was the first Crash title released for the Nintendo DS. In October 2007, Crash of the Titans, was released. The game mainly focused on the concept of stunning your opponents and "jacking", or taking control of them. The characters underwent major appearance changes which split Crash fans on release. The game was the first in the series to be released for the Wii and Xbox 360. It was also released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. Crash Bandicoot: Action Pack This special set was released nation wide in August. Included in the pack is Crash Twinsanity, Crash nitro kart, and Crash Tag Team Racing. This set was only released for the playstation 2 systems.

Installments

Nature of the protagonist

Main article: Crash Bandicoot (character)

Naughty Dog once referenced the development of Crash as a character both 'goofy yet heroic', and being able to portray it well. Originally however, he took the role of a silent protagonist and thus expressed little of his personality or opinions (a trait developer Jason Rubin later claimed to regret), though in more recent games he has played a larger role. Crash's personality is hard to pinpoint, sometimes varying from game to game. Overall, he has a rather wacky, cartoonish personality, in simple terms, he is a literal tornado. His demented behavior was in fact extended to actual sadism/masochism in Crash Tag Team Racing, in which he took pleasure in torturing innocent animals, Park Drones, and even himself (it should be noted that CTTR is criticised for its over-caricaturisation or even complete change in character personalities). Despite this however, Crash is usually kind-hearted and laid back, rarely ever showing true sorrow or anger (though he detests evil, such as Cortex), though he is also rather simple, to some fans almost to the point of retardedness and lack of awareness. Indeed, Cortex in Crash Twinsanity remarks: "With my mighty intellect, and your vacuous stupidity, we'll be unbeatable!" Crash's most common ability is his tornado spin, upon which he twirls insanely to hit a nearby opponent. The power of this attack varies in different games, to the point he can spin constantly or even float on air when using it. He can also spin objects, living or not, to gain a better hit radius. Like other platformers, he can also jump on opponents as well as slide and body slam. A large amount of special abilities can be obtained in various titles. Crash can also ride a whole range of vehicles without ever obtaining his driving license, such as motorcycles, bi-planes, wave-boards, 4X4 jeeps, karts and a whole range of other cars. In a common tradition to the platform genre, he can also be seen riding a minecart at times.

Mascot

The original Crash Bandicoot was one of the earliest 3D platformers and was a major seller. Sony unofficially made Crash the mascot for the PlayStation. Crash was often compared to Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, as the three of them were mascots of their respective consoles. Both the original Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64 were early 3D platformers, with the cancelled Sonic X-treme intended to be Sonic's answer to these games in that time. After the first three Crash games, much like Mario and Sonic before him, Crash branched out, starring in a racing game, analogous to Mario Kart 64 and Sonic R, and a party game, analogous to Mario Party and Sonic Shuffle (although this was on the Dreamcast rather than on the then ill-fated Sega Saturn). All of this contributed to the perception that Crash was Sony's equivalent of Mario and Sonic. However, with the release of Crash games on other platforms, this is no longer the case. Despite now being a third-party franchise, some still believe Crash to be a Sierra equivalent of Mario. Sonic suffered a similar multi-platform fate, although he is still associated to the Sega brand being the official mascot of the company, something which is not the case of Crash. In 2001 while Nintendo and Sega announced that Sonic's corporate rival with Mario has ended, the same wasn't said for Crash. However, despite the recent decline in the platforming genre, Mario, Sonic and Crash remain popular.

Developers

The first four Crash Bandicoot games were developed by Naughty Dog. Crash Bash was developed by Eurocom. Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Crash Twinsanity were developed by Traveller's Tales and its division Traveller's Tales Oxford. Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (Crash Bandicoot XS in Europe), Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage (Crash Bandicoot Fusion in Europe) have all been developed by Vicarious Visions. Crash Tag Team Racing and Crash of the Titans were developed by Radical Entertainment and Crash, Boom, Bang! was developed by Dimps. The first four Crash titles were published by Sony as well as the games being produced by Universal Interactive Studios. All of the other Crash titles were published by Universal Interactive Studios (now known as Vivendi Games). The first four Bandicoot games were exclusives to the Sony PlayStation. After Sony and Naughty Dog reached an agreement to sell the license to the publisher Vivendi Games, multiple developers have worked with the property and games have been released for Nintendo and Microsoft consoles, in addition to Sony. A great geal of fans like the Naughty Dog games best in the series. The games that have not been made by Naughty Dog have not received nearly as much critical hype (such attention would be diverted to Naughty Dog's next series, Jak and Daxter). Though some of the Vicarious Visions titles have not fared critically as well as the Naughty Dog games, they have still received gratitude for keeping the series true to its original platforming roots. In an almost opposite twist, there are also fans who praise the work of Traveller's Tales Oxford for their work in Crash Twinsanity, which was the first platformer in the series to drive away from the "Warp Room" interface of the original series and simultaneously reimagine certain story details.

The series in popular culture

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In The Simpsons episode "Lisa Gets an "A"", Dash Dingo is an obvious spoof of Crash Bandicoot. The villain in the game projects himself as a hologram in a circular room before Dash, which is a parody on Crash 2's warp room holograms. A tweaked-out soundtrack is used, sounding uncannily similar to the games. Also, the villain asks Dash to "find and devour the 7 crystal babies", in a reference of the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain and the crystals in the same game. In the Angel episode "Power Play", Illyria and Drogyn are seen playing Crash Bandicoot on an Xbox. Unable to quite get the hang of it Illyria remarks "I play this game. It is pointless, and annoys me. Yet I am compelled to keep playing." In the Friends episode "The One With Monica's Thunder", Joey is preparing to audition for the part of a nineteen year old. As he greets Chandler in his "teenage" attire, Chandler can be seen playing Crash Team Racing, most specifically the track Hot Air Skyway as Crash. In the movie Baby Geniuses, Crash can be seen in a clothing shop in a game screen. In Family Guy's Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, news anchor Tom Tucker looks like he is masturbating because of the camera angle, making panting and groaning sounds, but then it is revealed he is playing a Crash Bandicoot game for an early Game Boy Advance system. Probably, he plays Crash Nitro Kart because of his sentence ("Eat my dust, Crash Bandicoot!") and the fact of the game being for a GBA. In the Dawson's Creek episode "Four to Tango", Dawson unexpectedly finds Pacey in his room in the middle of the schoolday. Pacey's excuse is that he's playing Crash. On an episode of Yes, Dear, at the beginning of an episode Jimmy is playing Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation. In Firehouse Dog, Shane's dad is seen playing Crash Tag Team Racing on his PSP. Crash Bandicoot has also been referenced in a few Jhonen Vasquez comics, mainly on people's shirts in the comics. In the Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye 007, in the Aztec level one of the wall engravings appears to have Crash Bandicoot chained to some torture device. Ironically, the Naughty Dogs chosen this game as their favorite. In an episode of Eastenders in 1999 a group of characters are seen playing jet-ski and Great Wall of China levels in Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. In The Country Bears, a Crash Bash poster is on the wall of Beary's room. In the game Ape Escape 3, one of the monkeys is named Uka Uka. In Monsters, Inc., when Boo knocks off Mike's video games, one of them reads "Crash Monster", and contains deformed versions of Crash and Cortex on the case.

External links

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Crash Bandicoot series

Official websites (in gaming order)

General resources

• • e Crash Bandicoot video games
Main series	Crash Bandicoot • Cortex Strikes Back • Warped • The Wrath of Cortex • Twinsanity • Titans
Spin-offs	Team Racing • Bash • The Huge Adventure • N-Tranced • Nitro Kart • Purple • Tag Team Racing • Boom Bang!

Crash Bandicoot characters This box: • • edit
Heroes	Crash Bandicoot \| Aku Aku \| Coco Bandicoot \| Crunch Bandicoot
Main Villains	Doctor Neo Cortex \| Doctor N. Gin \| Tiny Tiger \| Uka Uka \| Dingodile
Other characters	List of Crash Bandicoot characters \| Titans