Introduction
That's right, it's Crash, everyone's favorite...erm, what the hell is a Bandicoot?
Crash Bandicoot is the first in a series of great platformers developed by Naughty Dog for the Sony Playstation. He also platooned as a mascot of sorts for Sony, sharing the time with Lara Croft and Spyro the dragon.
Story
The game has a pretty loose story, but hey, it's a platformer and no one cares. It's all explained in the opening cutscene, and the gist of it is Drs. Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio plan on taking over the world with an army of super-evolved animals. Crash was to be the general of said army, but things went horribly wrong and he escaped. Now he's on a mission to rescue Tawna, his girlfriend, before the evil doctors mutate her in some malign way.
The Game
Gameplay takes over from that point. Crash plays through 32 levels along the way, all enjoyable platforming fun. Except for Sunset Vista. I hate you, Sunset Vista. Each level can be beaten two ways, resulting in two endings for the game. All the normal ending takes is completion of each level. That's boring though, and provides little challenge. Break every crate in the level AND finish it without dying, and Crash is rewarded with a gem. Collecting all the gems leads to the secret ending.
Characters
(Images from the Naughty Dog website, great info about the good Crash games)
Our hero! Though I still don't know what a bandicoot is...
Here's Tawna. Naughty Dog described her as Pamela Anderson with brains. That's totally apparent in the story.
This is Dr. Cortex. It's okay to hate him.
Lastly, Dr. Brio. Batshit insane or misunderstood genius?
The game is great fun, but it's not without flaws. Naughty Dog didn't quite get it right until Crash 2, and the system wasn't perfected until Crash 3. Crash 1 is the most difficult of the trilogy, but for arbitrary reasons. The camera placement is atrocious in most levels, making it almost impossible to judge distance for jumps. Completing levels without dying gets to be a bit of a bitch later on in the game as well.
So Let's Play this sucker!
Videos
Level 1 - N. Sanity Beach Vimeo
Level 2 - Jungle Rollers Vimeo
Level 3 - The Great Gate Vimeo
Levels 4-6: Boulders, Upstream, and Papu Papu Vimeo
Levels 7 and 8 - I forget the names Vimeo
Levels 9-11:Who let Ripper Roo out? Vimeo
Level 12 and the Start of the Backtracking Vimeo
Levels 13-15: Progress is Progress is Progress Vimeo
Levels 16 and 17: Fuck you, Sunset Vista Vimeo
Levels 18-20: Where Cortex watches calmy as we wreck his shit Vimeo
Levels 21-23: Boudabaga take a bullet like a champ Vimeo
Levels 24-26: Who turned out the lights? Vimeo
Levels 27-29: Brio smash! Vimeo
Levels 30-32: Normal ending Vimeo
Backtracking Part 1 Vimeo
Crash Bandicoot Backtracking 2 Vimeo
Crash Bandicoot Final Vimeo
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Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back!
Here begins the 2nd(and much better) installment in the Crash Bandicoot series.
Story
Crash 2 has a much more in-depth story. It begins with Cortex falling from his blimp after defeat in Crash 1, only to land on the island and discover a special crystal. One year later, he's built some kickass space station, and is working with N. Gin to conquer the world. To do this, they need more crystals, but they're all out of minions on the surface to do it for them. Cortex devises a cunning plan to have Crash collect the crystals for him, without knowing he's doing bad. Brio shows back up as well, and apparently he's pissed at Cortex for some reason or another. He tells Crash that he'll try to stop him as long as he's collecting crystals, but he can stop Cortex if Crash collects the gems. Intriguing.
Gameplay
Crash 2 plays just like Crash 1, but with more. Crash can now slide into a long jump, which can be used to reach high or far places. He can also bodyslam to break several boxes at once. Many of the level-types return as well. The hog levels now take place on a very
polar bear, and the boulder levels now feature a giant snowball or a very angry/hungry polar bear.New Characters You Should Care About
This is Coco, Crash's sister. She's some sort of turbo-nerd, and is only cool because Crash is sitting by her.
Dr. N. Gin. He's watched too much giant mecha anime.
Videos
Warp Room 1 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 1 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 1 Part 3 Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Part 3 Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Part 3 Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Part 3 Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Part 4 Vimeo
Warp Room 5 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 5 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 5 Part 3 and Normal Ending Vimeo
Final Gems and Secret Ending Vimeo
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Crash Bandicoot Warped
This is the reason I started this thread. I got this game with a Playstation back in like 5th grade, and have played it pretty much nonstop since then.
Story
After having his space station shot down, Cortex crashes on the island. Lucky for him, he crashes on an ancient temple, freeing Uka Uka. Turns out Uka Uka's been pulling the strings all along, and is pretty pissed at Cortex for being such an idiot. Apparently all the gems and crystals are lost in the present(Brio still has them? Who knows, he isn't in this game), so Uka Uka has Dr. N. Tropy build a time machine to collect all the crystals in the past(and somehow the future as well). It's up to Crash and Co. to stop them once and for all!
Gameplay
Only a few new implementations from Crash 2, as the engine was in no way broken and needed no fixing. Vehicle levels show up and are a blast. Crash gets a super powerup after each boss, making the game easier as it progresses. In addition to crystals and gems, relics must be collected as well. Reenter a level after beating to start a time trial. Beat the level fast enough to be rewarded with a relic. If you're some kind of speed freak, you'll be rewarded with gold or (gasp!)platinum. I won't start collecting relics until after the normal ending, as gold and platinum relics are impossible without the 5th powerup.
More Plot Means More Characters!
Aku Aku's evil twin, the great Uka Uka. Agabaduob, if you will.
Dr. N. Tropy, replacement of the replacement of Brio.
Videos
Warp Room 1 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 1 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Part 2 Vimeo
Warp Room 5 Part 1 Vimeo
Warp Room 5 Part 2 and Normal Ending Vimeo
Warp Room 1 Relics Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Relics Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Relics Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Relics Vimeo
Warp Room 5 Relics Vimeo
Gem Collection 1 Vimeo
Gem Collection 2 Vimeo
Gem Collection 3 Vimeo
Gem Collection 4 Vimeo
Gem Collection 5 Vimeo
Gem Collection 6 Vimeo
Bonus Death Bonanza! Vimeo
Easter Eggs and the Secret Ending Vimeo
Warp Room 1 Platinums Vimeo
Warp Room 2 Platinums Vimeo
Warp Room 3 Platinums Vimeo
Warp Room 4 Platinums Vimeo
Bonus: Unedited Platinum Run Vimeo
Warp Rooms 5 and 6 Platinums Vimeo
And that, as they say, is that.
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Fanart by Dizzybone