Nostalgia
Back when we first got our original Playstation, Crash Bandicoot was the first game my sisters and I tried. I still remember the opening soundtrack, and Crash washing up on N. Sanity Beach. One thing that made it stick in my mind is that it was the only game I ever saw my dad play compulsively. To the point where we'd come down in the mornings to see my dad collecting those apple/mango things later named 'Wumpa Fruits'.
Graphics and Soundtrack
The original Crash Bandicoot game has to my mind the most memorable opening theme of all of them. The level tracks range from adventurous to sinister, and each pretty well suit the levels they are found in. Particular favorites of mine are the Hog Wild and Bonus Stage tracks. The graphics have obviously aged, but the cartoonish style has given them longevity. Realism is being ever improved, and thus ages. Unrealism is forever. The character design in the Crash games was headed up by Michael John Kricfalusi[footnote]Try saying that ten times.[/footnote], who went on to create the cartoon 'Renn and Stimpy'. Parallels between Crash's design and the characters of that show are apparent. Such as short stature, and large eyes forming the shape of the character's head. The animations are crude, but effective and function well with the tight control scheme.
Gameplay and Story
There isn't really much story in the original, and maybe that's what makes it preferable to me over a lot of the later games. What story there is is that you are a semi-intelligent one of these [http://www.acuteaday.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/big-eared-bandicoot.jpg] stuffed into a pair of blue shorts and sneakers. Having escaped the gothic style lab, and Dr Neo Cortex's experimentation, Crash must navigate a series of islands in order to confront Cortex, save the weirdly womanly female Bandicoot and escape. Sent to stop him are Crash's predecessors; failed experiments using a variety of animals. And for some reason a tribal leader.
Playing CB, you may find yourself falling into the odd rut of something that always just seems to get you, knocking off your precious supply of lives one by one. Certain obstacles, such as the manually rotated platforms in Native Fortress, may take several attempts due to falling to the beginning. This isn't really a criticism, though. The controls are quite tight, and most struggling stems from purposefully difficult level design, mainly in obstacles that if approached at the wrong time will either set you back or outright kill you.
While N. Sanity Beach is perhaps the quintessential Crash Bandicoot stage in many people's eyes, it's not that typical. At least not in this game. The main obstacle being holes and simple enemies. A lot of other stages are side view, or aim at Crash's front, and involve a lot more actual platforming.
My favorite stage as a child was Hog Wild. A fast paced jungle stage in which Crash commandeered an unsuspecting boar. The player does not control the boar's speed, but instead course corrects to move between obstacles such as trees, spit roasts of your mount's siblings, and shield wielding tribesmen. While it's less complex than the other stages in the game, it performs the important task of providing variety, and is quite enjoyable in its simplicity.
[small]I'll take him from the rear![/small]
The game introduces many of its obstacles individually, but then combines them for greater complexity. This is a great example of how a game can teach you its mechanics without beating you over the head with a tutorial. Of course the other side of that is that the game's controls are very simple. Move with the D-pad, jump with X and spin with Square or Circle. This manner of teaching is echoed in the progression of the Boss Fights. Your first challenge is the pleasantly plump leader of a generic African tribe, called Paku Paku. It can be assumed those were his mates getting in your way with shields on the Hog Wild and Native Fortress stages. Crash interacts with him directly. All you have to do is dodge his big stick, and jump on him when it gets wedged. This hammers home the idea to the less experienced that you need to wait for the opening. The second boss, Ripper Roo is more complex and more typical of the later bosses. Rather than attack him directly, the player must time crates of TNT with his jumping pattern.
After each Boss Fight, Crash leaps into the air with a sparkle and yell of victory and freezes there as though the credits are rolling. Unlike other platformers, such as Mario or Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot utilizes multiple checkpoints per level and allows the user to expend lives in quick succession on a level. It compensates for this difficulty with its save function, however. In order to save, the player must collect three tokens resembling the Female Bandicoot.
At this point, they are given a checkpoint and transported to a side view Bonus Stage. If the player successfully navigates the stage, they are greeted by the Female Bandicoot, and offered the choice of saving, or being given a cheat code. Only once did I pick the code, and was immediately given the Super Cheat to unlock every level, key and gem in the game. A bit strange, but there you go.
If the player fails to complete the stage, due to dying, they do not lose a life, but neither may they try again. They simply have to collect three more tokens and try the next Bonus Stage. This creates difficulty further down the line, and if you're having trouble on a level, you'll be sweating over the prospect of being set back a couple of levels, and possibly even having to repeat a boss.
Each boss is at the end of its own island, with the exception of the last island, in which the player ascends Cortex's tower. At the top, he fights Cortex's chemical wielding assistant,
Despite the simplicity of this game in comparison to its successors, the developers did program in an alternate ending in which Crash discovers the fate of the previous bosses.
While comparatively bad compared to the more recent titles, the game's graphics have aged fairly well. The gameplay is simpler, but there's a lot of fun to be had.
