Crash Bandicoot

About

Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise launched by Naughty Dog in 1996. Originally exclusive to the PlayStation, parts of the franchise have been released on multiple platforms. The main games are platformers and focus on the titular protagonist, Crash Bandicoot, an anthropomorphic marsupial from Australia.

History

On September 9th, 1996, Crash Bandicoot was released for the PlayStation console, starring the eponymous character as the protagonist working against his arch-enemy and creator, Doctor Neo Cortex, to rescue his girlfriend, Tawna.

In 1997, the sequel Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back was released, which added Crash's sister, Coco Bandicoot, as a playable character. In it, Crash is convinced by Doctor Neo Cortex to gather 25 crystals for the purpose of saving the Earth from destruction.

In 1998, the game Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was released, introducing the new antagonists Uka Uka, Aku Aku's evil twin brother, and N-Tropy, a master of time. In it, Crash must travel through time to gather 25 crystals before Uka Uka and Doctor Neo Cortex do.

Crash Team Racing, the first CB racing game and also the last game in the series made by Naughty Dog, was released in 1999 and introduced Nitros Oxide, a space alien, as a new antagonist. In it, Nitros Oxide gives the citizens of Earth a challenge: beat him in racing, or he will turn the Earth into a concrete parking lot and make the citizens his slaves forever.

The last PlayStation game was Crash Bash, a party game, developed by Eurocom and released in 2000. In it, Uka Uka and Aku Aku settle a dispute about who is stronger by having their followers challenge each other in a variety of minigames.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, was developed by Traveller's Tales and released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2 and in 2002 for the Xbox and Gamecube. In it, Crunch Bandicoot is introduced as an antagonist. The plot revolves around several antagonists plan to release the elementals, a group of masks who had the ability to control the classical elements of fire, water, earth, and air, to power their superweapon Crunch Bandicoot and kill Crash.

Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (also known as Crash Bandicoot XS in Europe) was released for the GameBoy Advance and developed by Vicarious Visions in 2002. In it, Uka Uka and Doctor Neo Cortex shrink the Earth, and Crash attempts to find crystals to undo it.

In 2003, Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, a sequel to the first GBA game, was released. It introduced N. Trance as a new antagonist. The story revolves around the hypnotism of some of Crash's friends by N. Trance and the arrival of an odd character known as "Fake Crash".

During the same year, Crash Nitro Kart was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, and N-Gage. In it, several characters are forced to race for the amusement of Emperor Velo XXVII, the ruler of a galaxy.

In 2004, a crossover game with Spyro the Dragon named Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage (also known as Crash Bandicoot Fusion in Europe) was released for the GBA. In it, Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripto team up to release Ripto's monsters into both worlds in an attempt to destroy both of their nemeses.

During the same year, Crash Twinsanity was released for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox. It's the first game where Neo Cortex is playable in a main title. It also introduces her niece, Nina Cortex. The plot revolves around Crash and Neo Cortex teaming up to defeat the Evil Twins, who threaten to destroy the island.

In 2005, Crash Tag Team Racing was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Sierra Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, Gamecube, Xbox, and PlayStation Portable. A mobile game called Crash Racing was developed by Kaolink and released at the same time.

In 2006, Crash Boom Bang! was developed by Dimps and released exclusively for the Nintendo DS. It's the only game where Tawna is a playable character. The story centers on a multimillionaire named Viscount who offers a $100,000,000 reward to anyone who can unearth the Super Big Power Crystal. To get to it, the characters have to go through a series of mini-games and challenges.

Crash of the Titans was released in 2007. It was developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Wii by Radical Entertainment, while the GBA and DS versions were developed by Amaze Studios. The main changes compared to the old games are the beat'em up gameplay, the apparition of a health bar, the Mojo used to gain abilities, and the ability to possess Titans.

Crash of the Titans got a sequel titled Crash: Mind over Mutant, released in 2008 for the PS2, PSP, Wii, DS, and Xbox 360. In it, Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio create a technological device which puts people under their control. Crash Bandicoot and his friend, Carbon Crash, team up to stop their plan.

During the same year, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D was published by Activision and developed by Polarbit for the iPhone / iPod Touch, N-Gage service, and Zeebo. In it, Nitros Oxide, Doctor Neo Cortex, and Ripper Roo hold a kart championship. The winners are crowned "King of Karts" and the losers are banished from the island.

In 2009, Crash Bandicoot: Mutant Island was a mobile game published by Glu Mobile and developed by Vivendi Games Mobile. In it, Crash must save Coco from Cortex who kidnapped her and free the brainwashed bandicoots from his grasp.

The last game featuring Crash, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2, was published by Activision and developed by Polarbit for the iPhone / iPod Touch in 2010.

At E3 2016, it was announced that Crash Bandicoot would be a playable character in the new Skylanders game, Skylanders Imaginators. Crash will appear as a Sensei character, meaning that he will help train Imaginators, characters created by the player, by helping them access secret areas and giving them secrets techniques. In addition, senseis will have a special move called a Sky-Chi. On August 15, 2016, it was revealed that Dr. Neo Cortex would also appear as a playable character and as a Tech Sorcerer Sensei.

Remastered Games

Also in August 2016, it was also announced that the first three Crash Bandicoot games, Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back and Warped, is being remade from the scratch and is set for release in 2017.

During the PSX (PlayStation eXperience) 2016 showcase, a trailer of the remaster, called The N-Sane Trilogy, has been shown. A demo containing a remade Intro, N-Sanity Beach and Heavy Machinery levels has been given to a few Youtubers to try and share it.

Reception

The Crash Bandicoot series has been a success, overall. The series has sold over 40 million copies altogether,^[8] with the first game alone selling almost 7 million copies, as of December 2015.^[9] The best reviewed Crash Bandicoot game, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, has received an average score of about 9/10.^[10][11] After that, the series progressively was received less well.

In Japan, the series is extremely popular, it was the first non-Japanese game to receive a "Gold Prize" in Japan for sales of over 500,000 units, with the second and third game sold 1.3 and 1.4 million units each,^[13] it also gained a manga series called Dansu! De Jump! Na Daibouken^[15] made by Coro Coro Comics with 2 volumes published.

Fandom

Online, the Crash Bandicoot series has retained a notable following despite there being several years since the last release. In April 2005, the website “Crash Mania”^[1] was created as a source for information for the series, including an encyclopedia about the game's characters. It has a fan art section and a blog for news about both the series and the website itself. As of December 2015, the blog and the website are still being updated.^[2]

A Crash Bandicoot wiki, called "Bandipedia"^[3] exists. It has over 1,600 articles. It also manages a Twitter account.^[4]

In 2013, a Crash Bandicoot subreddit was created.^[5] It is active, and gained 2,000 subscribers in three years.^[7]

On Youtube, searching the "Crash bandicoot" leads to over 393,000 results.^[14] The artist community DeviantArt gives over 30,000 results for “crash bandicoot".^[12]

Related Memes

Dancing Stormtrooper

The Dancing Stormtrooper was a video popularized in 2007. The song featured in the video is a acapella cover of "The Blue Danube" played in Crash Twinsanity.

Dark Souls Comparison

On June 29, 2017, gaming news website GamesRadar+ published a review of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy which compared the remake to several difficult video game franchises, most notably the Dark Souls franchise^[16]. These comparisons were widely criticized by readers, and were mocked repeatedly for being cliche and shallow. A thread about the review on 4chan's video games imageboard, /v/, reached 280 replies before being archived^[17]. On Twitter, a tweet parodying the review by user @PixelMatt64 gained over 11,000 likes and nearly 6,000 retweets^[18]. Another tweet parodying the review by @HonooNoFukai gained nearly 4,000 likes and ovver 2,400 retweets^[19]. Box art edits were also created to parody the review^[20].

Search Interest

External References