Naughty Dog were two for two with the Crash Bandicoot titles, having created two of the PlayStation’s most beloved games and given them a significant amount of brand recognition in the process. They were starting to become Sony’s hottest property, despite being in partnership with Universal at the time. Two games into their four game deal with Universal, it came as no surprise that both Universal and Sony wanted a third Crash game to continue the critical and financial success they’d been experiencing. But Naughty Dog were wanting to spread their wings, they wanted to try new things. Perhaps a third Crash game might give them the ability to do that so that they might do something new for their fourth title?
When Crash destroy’s Dr. Neo Cortex’s space station he unwittingly allows Cortex to discover an evil ancient mask of power, Uka-Uka. Enlisting the help of Dr. Nefarious Tropy, a time travel expert, they develop a Time Machine that will take them to the original locations of the crystals Cortex was using to power the space station. With Ali-Aku sensing threat, he gets Crash and his sister Coco to use Tropy’s Time Machine to collect the crystals before it’s too late.
Whilst I think I prefer Crash 2 for personal reasons, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is the most refined and best Crash game of the series on PS1.
Much like Crash 2 it takes everything that worked last time and builds upon it. Levels are once again considerably more varied in structure and design, Crash has a brand new moveset which expands over the course of the game, and there’s once again an improvement to the visuals and performance. It’s an all round upgrade but it’s the deviations from the usual Crash Bandicoot formula that make Warped stand out.
The majority of Crash 3’s twenty-five levels function identically to Crash 2’s. A combination of 3D and 2D platforming where you must collect a crystal hidden with then level. But Crash 3 has a handful of entirely new levels that take the franchise in a new direction.
First up are the motorcycle levels that see you controlling Crash racing through a desert highway on a motorcycle. You’ll need to place first to earn the Crystal, but you’ll need to avoid police and holes in the road as well as your fellow racers. I’m not the biggest fan of these levels but they definitely help change up the pace.
Similarly there’s the bi-plane levels where you must fly around an open arena shooting down enemy aircraft.
Coco’s jet ski levels meanwhile lay the groundwork for Crash Team Racing as you navigate an obstacle course using a vehicle. The controls are a little floaty I find but it’s certainly not bad and my favourite of these three new vehicle based level types.
When Crash destroy’s Dr. Neo Cortex’s space station he unwittingly allows Cortex to discover an evil ancient mask of power, Uka-Uka. Enlisting the help of Dr. Nefarious Tropy, a time travel expert, they develop a Time Machine that will take them to the original locations of the crystals Cortex was using to power the space station. With Ali-Aku sensing threat, he gets Crash and his sister Coco to use Tropy’s Time Machine to collect the crystals before it’s too late.
Whilst I think I prefer Crash 2 for personal reasons, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped is the most refined and best Crash game of the series on PS1.
Much like Crash 2 it takes everything that worked last time and builds upon it. Levels are once again considerably more varied in structure and design, Crash has a brand new moveset which expands over the course of the game, and there’s once again an improvement to the visuals and performance. It’s an all round upgrade but it’s the deviations from the usual Crash Bandicoot formula that make Warped stand out.
The majority of Crash 3’s twenty-five levels function identically to Crash 2’s. A combination of 3D and 2D platforming where you must collect a crystal hidden with then level. But Crash 3 has a handful of entirely new levels that take the franchise in a new direction.
First up are the motorcycle levels that see you controlling Crash racing through a desert highway on a motorcycle. You’ll need to place first to earn the Crystal, but you’ll need to avoid police and holes in the road as well as your fellow racers. I’m not the biggest fan of these levels but they definitely help change up the pace.
Similarly there’s the bi-plane levels where you must fly around an open arena shooting down enemy aircraft.
Coco’s jet ski levels meanwhile lay the groundwork for Crash Team Racing as you navigate an obstacle course using a vehicle. The controls are a little floaty I find but it’s certainly not bad and my favourite of these three new vehicle based level types.
These is something I briefly mentioned in my review of Crash 2 that’s even more apparent here in Crash 3 though, and that’s the difficulty. Crash 3 is the easiest game in the original trilogy by a considerable margin. None of the platforming levels are particularly challenging, two of the three vehicle levels you can’t lose lives on (motorcycle and plane ones), and the bosses are total pushovers. Now whilst I’m glad we didn’t see a return to Crash 1’s difficulty, I’m surprised that Naughty Dog opted to make Crash 3 even easier than 2.
A part of this reduced difficulty may in part be to the introduction of new moves for Crash. These include moves like a double jump and a hovering spin attack. Using these in combination with the slide jump introduced in Crash 2 can make even the furthest of gaps seem tiny. But this increased moveset does make replaying levels more fun. You unlock new moves by defeating bosses and so taking the new moves into older levels can unlock hidden areas.
Although she doesn’t offer up any significant gameplay changes, it’s a nice addition to be able to play as Coco in her own dedicated levels. In the N. Sane Trilogy versions of all three games you can play as Coco, but for the original release it’s just in these particular levels in Crash 3.
Most of the development of Crash 3 centred around the creation of two new game engines that were used in the motorcycle and plane levels. But the entire game received a visual upgrade from Crash 2 with even more detailed environments, and it continues to run at a steady and smooth frame rate with no hiccups.
Naughty Dog do get to flex their creativity in the art department here though with the greatest variety in level design yet. The time travel setting means that levels can take place in pre-history with the dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, medieval England, or the far future as well as plenty more.
Crash 3 is the most well rounded and feature full Crash title from Naughty Dog. Despite this I do feel like Crash 2 was more consistent with its quality, and I also feel like Crash 3 is a little too easy when compared to its predecessors. That being said, Crash 3 is an excellent game and you’d be hard pressed to not enjoy yourself whilst playing it. For some this may be the defining game of the original series, and I can completely understand why because it’s a brilliant game from start to finish.
A part of this reduced difficulty may in part be to the introduction of new moves for Crash. These include moves like a double jump and a hovering spin attack. Using these in combination with the slide jump introduced in Crash 2 can make even the furthest of gaps seem tiny. But this increased moveset does make replaying levels more fun. You unlock new moves by defeating bosses and so taking the new moves into older levels can unlock hidden areas.
Although she doesn’t offer up any significant gameplay changes, it’s a nice addition to be able to play as Coco in her own dedicated levels. In the N. Sane Trilogy versions of all three games you can play as Coco, but for the original release it’s just in these particular levels in Crash 3.
Most of the development of Crash 3 centred around the creation of two new game engines that were used in the motorcycle and plane levels. But the entire game received a visual upgrade from Crash 2 with even more detailed environments, and it continues to run at a steady and smooth frame rate with no hiccups.
Naughty Dog do get to flex their creativity in the art department here though with the greatest variety in level design yet. The time travel setting means that levels can take place in pre-history with the dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, medieval England, or the far future as well as plenty more.
Crash 3 is the most well rounded and feature full Crash title from Naughty Dog. Despite this I do feel like Crash 2 was more consistent with its quality, and I also feel like Crash 3 is a little too easy when compared to its predecessors. That being said, Crash 3 is an excellent game and you’d be hard pressed to not enjoy yourself whilst playing it. For some this may be the defining game of the original series, and I can completely understand why because it’s a brilliant game from start to finish.