Crash Bandicoot (Series)

[WR91]

I played the first few on the original PlayStation and was impressed for the time.

Now 20 something years later they're releasing a new one just a few years after the remastered versions on all three current gen platforms? Nice! I'm impressed.

[Moonface]

A creator by the name of ARD/Cogmonkey has been putting together a level creator for the PC version of the Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy, and although it isn't finished yet, they've used it to put together a concept of a reimagining of the first Crash Bandicoot game, and it is incredibly well done!

Before anyone asks, no you can't play these levels right now. They are demos of the kind of thing I might do if I did attempt a full Crash 1 remake but primarily this is just stuff I've been making while testing and improving my level editor. I made some of these levels like 3 months ago and the editor has changed so much since then that even I can't play them anymore - and even if I could, none of these levels have proper collision, cameras, audio or anything. All of them break completely if you die at any point, and because they are so unfinished it took me hundreds of attempts to get some of this footage. Upstream alone took me 6 and a half hours to beat. That's why there's occasionally weird stuff like framerate drops and the camera clipping through the scenery, that doesn't normally happen but when I've spent hours trying to finish a level I'm not gonna restart because of minor glitches like that.

Obviously doing a full remake would be a huge project that would take forever so it would be a long time before I would have any final levels ready to share, so I am considering maybe trying to turn one of these into something that's actually playable to release as a demo alongside the level editor but doing that for all of them would take months so I'd rather spend that time finishing the editor, and then making some real levels that won't be a horrible nightmare to get working.

I am going to make another video about this with commentary soon so I can explain stuff properly because there's a lot to talk about with this but just wanted to address that particular question before everyone starts shouting at me for not having these levels uploaded anywhere yet x

Before putting this together, they also used their level editor to put together a recreation of Artic Antics from The Wrath of Cortex, so if you're a fan of that game then you might want to click this link to check it out!

[Pinky]

I remember playing them on the PsOne, classic.

[ShiraNoMai]

Well, I was going to share the news of a Crash cartoon that was going to air on Prime Video got cancelled, but the video has been taken down due to the OP getting chased away by angry skeptics.

Tis a shame because it looked so damn cool

WAIT I FOUND THE TWEET:

[Mr EliteL]

Damn I would've watched that, looks like it had potential. Already so much in a 29 second clip, they even made Crash exit like Taz.

[Moonface]

I really like how the animation feels like Looney Tunes considering that was what Crash Bandicoot's original art style was inspired by. Apparently the project was really far along but got scrapped because Activision didn't agree with things or kept apparently trying to push stupid stuff in like having an episode feature Mario, despite the show creators questioning how they expected Nintendo to agree with that and refusing to spend all that time animating something that was highly likely to never be approved of for actual release.

[Mr EliteL]

Wow, if Activision being that silly is one of or the reason the cartoon couldn't happen, that's pathetic. They couldn't be satisfied with the world Crash is in and if they had to maybe branch out into Spyro like there already has been in the games, which I guess would've been so much easier to see possible. Really disappointing.

[Moonface]

I bet that if they did truly want Mario in an episode that it wouldn't have been in a positive light, considering that any time Crash has referenced Mario it has usually been to mock it, like in that one famous commercial where he says "Hey plumber boy, moustache man, your worst nightmare has arrived!".

[ShiraNoMai]

Eh, I'm sure Nintendo would've been fine with a cameo as long as it was family-friendly and inline with their brand guidelines for Mario (how he talks, dresses, etc)

Either way, such a shame in the end. Corporate execs get in the way of everything for what they think will be in everyone's best interest (regarding the company, at least) but they end up being so tone deaf that they shoot themselves in the foot. After working with people like that for quite a few years now, it doesn't surprise me things end up this way.

[Moonface]

Given that Activision don't like things they can't have 100% influence over, here's a cool Lego set idea for Crash Bandicoot that I'm sure will never see the light of day: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/c007b383...815d4b4bc3

I think it's neat, although it looks more like a display piece than something someone could really play with, given that it's just basically a set of stairs.

[Mr EliteL]

Pretty cool someone's done this, looking good with what they put together. Crash feels like he's something though, just looks odd with only the standard LEGO head with nothing on it. Feels like he needs ears, even though that's a bit off usual LEGO head features.

[Moonface]

So it's weirdly late for this video to have been put out today, but the PlayStation channel uploaded a video that covers the story of the first three Crash Bandicoot games to get people up to speed for Crash 4, which is why I find it odd it came out today and not closer to when Crash 4 came out. Still, I'm not so much posting it because it's a useful catch up but because whoever made this video had a lot of fun with it and it's actually just a very entertaining watch.

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah really weird it's been put out now, maybe to drive up some more sales for the people who enjoy the video, if they haven't already bought it. Does make sense to have it be out when Crash 4 did release, but whatever. I did find it entertaining too, really liked the speed and jokes put in and the meme they had for Crash 2 with N. Gin, Cortex and Brio.

[Moonface]

I don't use Instagram to find it there but it really looks like another Crash announcement is coming soon, as various people are receiving packages from Activision that contain a Wumpa Fruit pinata inside a 25th anniversary box: https://www.reddit.com/r/crashbandicoot/...dont_have/

Looks like this Thursday's PlayStation event will be the most likely place the reveal will happen, given the timing of this. I expect it'll be Wumpa League, which has been rumoured for a while now and the pinata fits in with the game being a party game.

Can't say I'm massively excited since Crash hasn't had a good party game and it's not like party games based on existing IP have been good for a while (including Mario), but I'll wait and see what they have to show before judging how it'll actually be. I'm just keeping my expectations in check for this one.

[Moonface]

Looks like there's going to be a new Crash Bandicoot game announced at The Game Awards:

I'm going into this one a little reserved since I had a lot of criticisms about Crash Bandicoot 4 so if this game does anything I disliked about that game it'll be harder for me to get excited.

I'd also rather see Spyro get some love since all he got was the remake trilogy and that was it, whilst Crash got a remake trilogy, CTR remake, and a brand new game. In an ideal world both franchises will get game announcements before the end of the year but I won't hold my breath.