Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Release Date: 30 June 2017
One of my fondest memories as a kid was playing these games with my mum, passing the controller back and forth because some level were just too hard for an 8 y.o. So when I heard that they were releasing a remastered trilogy, you bet I started saving to buy myself a PS4 just to play these games.
Crash Bandicoot-
OH GOD! The nostalgia! Literally the same game, but better! Expect for the added difficulty of some levels, like 'The High Road'. I like to think I was pretty competent at playing this one, as I have a ridiculous amount of experience with playing Crash, unlike my partner who play this for the first time at the age of 27. Every time he died, he just grumbled "Damn Hit Boxes." Which have been greatly refined since it's original from 1996, making game play smoother and easier to control. However, even with the edition of being able to use to joystick as the primary controller, I often found myself reverting to the D-Pad for a lot of the harder levels like 'The Slippery Climb', 'The Native Fortress' and 'Sunset Vista', as often found that using the joystick would often cause me to fall of the front to the platforms, which of of course caused me to die. As this game was designed specifically for the D-Pad, adding in use of the joystick, whilst a novelty, was somewhat useless.
The most noticeable improvement are the added textures and refinement of the graphics, which made the whole trilogy less torturous to the eye.Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back-
Unfortunately, the added texture in some of these levels made the path unclear, as rarely I found myself confused as which way to go. Attempting to walk over a hill and finding myself walking into an invisible wall.
I was also annoyed with how the N. Gin boss battle was setup, as the target area was often off screen/ out of range. I know that was true the the original, but guys, that took way too long for me to do.
But I am not gonna lie, I didn't even bother finishing this game, because of all jet-pack levels with whacked out controls, my partner also gave a solid pass after being asked to do the underwater scuba levels, which I hated as a kid.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped-
Hands down, my favorite of all the Crash Bandicoot games. Last few levels were super easy, as once I got the Wumpa Bazooka I just shoot everything in sight. I fell that couple of the levels in this game could have been made more challenging, as we finished the entire game over 4 hours or so, where the other two were at least 8 each.
Overview-
All in all, definitely worth the $60 I spent, work out to be $20 per game. I enjoyed that they kept a lot of the Easter Eggs in the games, I really enjoyed sharing this with my partner, and watching him get N.Sanely frustrated with being challenged in way that most games today don't challenge the player.
I wonder if they'll be releasing the Fourth Games as DLC?
