CRASH BANDICOOT: N-SANE TRILOGY REVIEW

The platformer renaissance continues.

PS4 version reviewed.

Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy is a platformer published Activision, developed by Naughty Dog and remastered by Vicarious Visions for the Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Original reviewed here: https://theunorthodoxnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/1998/11/crash-bandicoot-warped-review.html

DIFFERENCES FROM ORIGINAL
The High Road was a level notorious for being difficult in the original game and it seems to be even harder in the remaster as the hit boxes seem to be a little bit off, meaning you can't always land as precisely as you'd like which is really important for a level where one slightly miscalculated jump means going back to a checkpoint or even game over. The first game suffered from this problem the most however the second and third also occasionally seemed to struggle with it too.

The problem with these dodgy hitboxes is that whilst the original Crash was a hard game it wasn't as hard as the remaster. The collision on certain objects just isn't very good which creates an artificial challenge rather than a fair one. Many failures will lead to you thinking that you're being treated unfairly and it's because you are. Sometimes failing will just be down to back luck, rather than you really putting a foot wrong.

Unlike regular games the graphics are possibly one of the most important part of remasters. The game looks fine and has certainly been brought up to today's standard.

The soundtrack has been redone to sound much crisper and clearer than the original game. The difference between the Neo Cortex battle theme from the first game is perhaps the best example - it now sounds much more climatic and epic too.

LOST TREASURES (STORMY ASCENT) DLC
Stormy Ascent is only one level but I thought it was a nice gesture to recreate a level that was scrapped from the original game, for being too hard, especially as the DLC was free for a limited time - although it does seem that the content was already on the disc. The new shortcut to travel between the starting and final island was a nice little touch and I thought the new level was okay. It wasn't as difficult as the High Road but it certainly wasn't easy and would probably be up there with the tougher levels. People who enjoyed the game will probably like this small additional helping.

FUTURE TENSE DLC

OVERALL

If you're a fan of platformers or want a dose of nostalgia this game is worth picking up. Whilst people who have never played the game before could well still enjoy it there might be the chance they or even veterans feel it might be a bit dated now, or even find it frustrating at times with the dodgy hitboxes. With the updated visuals and good price it's still probably worth a go though.