Crash Bandicoot

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Crash Bandicoot
developer Naughty Dog
Eurocom
Traveller's Tales
Vicarious Visions
Radical Entertainment
Publisher Sony
Vivendi / Sierra Entertainment
Activision
First title Crash Bandicoot (1996)
Last title Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled (2019)
Platform (s) Game Boy Advance , GameCube , Nintendo DS , PlayStation , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation Portable , PlayStation Vita , Wii , Xbox , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , N-Gage , iOS , Zeebo , Android , Nintendo Switch , Windows
Genre (s) Jump 'n' run

Crash Bandicoot is a video game series starring an anthropomorphic pouch of the same name . Originally it was to jump-'n'-Run games for the PlayStation by Sony but now also games for numerous other platforms have appeared, including other genres . Of the 18 crash bandicoot games published so far, around 40 million units have been sold worldwide.

overview

The first Crash Bandicoot game from 1996 was one of the first 3D jump 'n' runs and at the same time a huge commercial success. The freedom of movement is severely restricted, the character Crash can only move in a defined path, and the camera perspective cannot be changed either: Crash can only be seen from behind, from the side or from the front. The player moves the figure through different levels in which numerous boxes appear, which can be destroyed with a vortex attack and often release power-ups , for example so-called wumpa fruits . If Crash collects 100 Wumpa fruits (which have a deceptive resemblance to mangoes), the player receives an additional life, similar to what is the case with the coins in Super Mario games. A box can also contain Aku-Aku , a guardian spirit, who protects Crash's life once (i.e. he “may”, for example, run against an explosive “nitro” box once). In addition, there are special "warp platforms" in the second and third game, which take the player to a secret teleporter room with second entrances to secret levels.

In each of the numerous levels, with the exception of the first part, you have to collect a purple crystal and bring it to the finish. Since the way there is often difficult, there are usually several checkpoint boxes per level, where you can restart after virtual death (if you still have enough life) and so don't have to start all over again. In addition, up to two gems can be earned if you play the level again and meet certain conditions there. This usually includes finding and destroying all boxes in the level or finding a secret path. Variety is u. a. offered by levels where you can ride on an animal (polar bear, tiger, wild boar, etc.) and cannot stop, but must constantly try to avoid the numerous obstacles. Furthermore, there are worlds in which you have to flee from a voracious animal, a ball or the like without being able to stop for long, otherwise you will be eaten or run over.

The gameplay was changed in the last two games Crash of the Titans and Crash: Ruler of the Mutants (Original: Crash: Mind over Mutants ). Instead of a straight line, the player runs in a level that offers a lot of space. You collect mojo instead of wumpa fruits, Aku Aku is now a blockade and you fight mutants. You can ride them after you have done them enough damage. These are controlled by Aku Aku. Each of the mutants has special skills. These are achieved by a superbbar which, when it is used up, slowly fills up and is filled even faster by attacks. But there are also mutants that are very large and strong and can only be defeated by other mutants. Despite these major changes, the characters remained the same except for their looks.

The influence of the Mario games is reflected in a few areas. For example, with Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash, crash kart racing games in the style of the Mario Kart series and a party game similar to the Mario Party series appeared. This contributed to the image that Crash Bandicoot was Sony's answer to Nintendo's Mario. In fact, the first games were distributed by Sony and Crash was used as the mascot for the PlayStation. However, the rights are now with Vivendi Universal Interactive and crash games no longer appear exclusively for Sony game consoles .

Crash Bandicoot also increased the popularity of animal- starred platformer, introduced with the Sonic games and making a comeback with the Crash games. Figures like Ratchet & Clank and Spyro are examples of this.

Characters

Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot is a bag badger and the protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. He is a genetically advanced " Eastern Barred Bandicoot " that lives on N. Sanity Island. In the series, Doctor Neo Cortex is almost always his archenemy who wants to defeat him in order to get his life back on track. Crash is often accompanied by his ally Aku Aku. Crash was first seen in the lab of Doctor Neo Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio. The bag badger was actually bred as a weapon for cortex. However, through a mistake he turned against his creator and has since tried to thwart his sinister plans. However, some games deviate from this basic idea. In Crash Twinsanity (2005), Crash does not have to fight against, but alongside Cortex. Cortex is not represented in Crash N-Tranced , instead Crash fights N-Trance and Dr. N. Tropy.

Its appearance has changed several times during the course of the game. It was only in Crash of the Titans that he received tattoos for the first time, and the hairstyle was also changed in the color and number of spikes. Changing his pants, adding a belt, and adding footprints to the soles of his shoes also changed his clothing. He is also shown wearing pink boxer shorts. Crash is voiced by Steven Blum in the Naughty Dog games and by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese version .

Coco Bandicoot

Coco is Crash's blonde sister and a computer genius. She is often a playable character, but does not always have the enhancements that Crash can unlock (e.g. the Dash, the Toes or the Bazooka).

Coco, like her brother, was created by Doctor Cortex. However, like Crash, she was not interested in obeying him, but instead helps her brother to defeat their common creator. To do this, she built the teleporters and karts. In the new games she looks more grown-up, but can only be played in Crash: Ruler of the Mutants , as she is in Crash of the Titans by Dr. Cortex is abducted.

In the first few games she has a blonde ponytail and wears light blue dungarees with only one strap. She also has pink shoes and big eyes. In the new pieces she wears a hair scarf, a white T-shirt with a pink star and jeans .

Aku Aku

The Aku-Aku or medicine man mask is the protective spirit that appears as an item in special boxes. He is the brother of Uka Uka. He protects Crash and Coco in such a way that neither of them lose a life if they are hit by enemy attacks. If Crash or Coco have two masks, they can save their lives twice. If you get the third mask, you will be invincible for a short time and smash objects with a simple touch. Aku Aku's function has turned into a kind of blockade in the last two games.

Its appearance has changed a lot. At the beginning he is a board with a small green beard, yellow eyes, green circles under the eyes, with big eyebrows and a pointy nose. His hair consists of feathers of different colors and he shows his teeth. In the new parts of the series, he's thicker, has a real nose, something like sideburns, and a bigger mouth. The hair and eyes have largely remained the same.

Crunch

Crunch is the very big and strong super bandicoot who is always doing sports. He appears in the game Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of the Cortex for the first time and is the final boss in every chapter. Crunch was also used by Dr. Create Cortex to destroy Crash Bandicoot. The elemental masks, which gave him even more strength, helped him. At the end of the game he goes into the group of heroes and is then an integral part of the game series.

In the first few games he is very tall and has a very beefy upper body. He wore camouflage pants and black boots. Up to the elbow he has a mechanical prosthesis on his right arm, which is only used for decoration and has no special effect. His face is similar to Crash's, only it's wider and the ears are curved down at the corners. As with all characters, its appearance has changed over the course of the series. His whole arm is now mechanical and he is wearing very thin pants. His face is now more animal-like and the hairstyle is a mohawk. Apart from that, the chest has decreased in size. He is Tiny the Tiger's rival.

Doctor Neo Cortex

Dr. Cortex is an antagonistic villain in the series. In addition to world domination, it is his declared aim to destroy Crash Bandicoot, but to his chagrin Crash always emerges victorious in all arguments, not infrequently because of Cortex's own ineptitude or that of his henchmen.

Cortex has been interested in science since he was a child, but was later mocked more than admired by his fellow students at the Academy of Evil. In order to get revenge on the scoffers and on top of that to gain world domination, he created mutant creatures with abnormal abilities with a groundbreaking invention - the genetically modified Evolvo-Ray. Crash was also part of this series, but proved a failure due to his lack of ruthlessness and was subsequently fired from Cortex's team.

This turned out to be a serious mistake, as Cortex kept Crash's friend Tawna, also created by him, with him and thus motivated Crash to successfully thwart Cortex's machinations. After that first defeat, he tried many different ways, both cunning and brute force, to take over the world, but never succeeded.

After the first parts of the series it turns out that Cortex did not act of its own accord, but received orders from Aku Aku's evil brother Uka Uka. From Crash Bandicoot 3 - Warped he appears regularly at his side in the games and also regularly gets tantrums if one of Cortex's plans fails again.

One of the few deviations from Cortex's standard role as the villain can be seen in Crash Twinsanity , in which he is even forced to work with Crash to take down a common enemy. Here too, however, he makes two moves to eliminate Crash - with catastrophic success. This game also takes a closer look at Cortex's story and shows his niece Nina for the first time.

Cortex's trademark is his small stature and his disproportionately large, yellow head, on which the first letter of his first name is emblazoned with an N. He has black, protruding hair, a bald head and a full beard. His clothes are a white smock, black shoes, and yellow gloves. In the new games, his hair is less curly and the gloves are black instead of yellow. In addition, he often carries a red energy pistol with him.

Cortex's character is devious and megalomaniac, but his constant failure makes it difficult to take him seriously. He likes to present things in a more positive light than they are - for example, the Evolvo beam that he allegedly developed actually came from the pen of Dr. Nitrus Brio - and after losing to Crash he likes to complain about how unfair his fate is. Despite everything, he seems to have a heart, as you can see from his attitude towards his niece.

Uka Uka

Uka Uka is the evil twin brother of Aku Aku and is behind the actions of Dr. Cortex.

The appearance has changed the most. In the early games, it is a medicine man mask with a brown beard and hair pattern and three bones on the left, right and top of the face. He looks more like a mobile in the last two games. Six bones hang from the leaves. The eyes are very small and the mouth is made of wood and cannot open, which when talking looks like he's talking with his mouth sewn shut.

Tiny the tiger

Tiny is a devious beast on whom Doctor Cortex tried his genetic experiments for the first time. He's not overly intelligent and his tactic is often just trying to get in the player's way.

Tiny is one of Dr. Cortex. In Crash of the Titans , he seems a little saddened that Cortex is being changed.

It depicts a Tasmanian tiger ( pouch wolf ), but initially had no stripes and was orange throughout. He has a very large and terrifying face with sharp fangs. He is dressed in red sneakers and a little robe made of leaves. In the newer games, he's a Siberian tiger with stripes and generally looks more human. He wears clothes with a camouflage pattern.

Doctor N. Gin

Dr. From the second game onwards, N. Gin is Dr. Cortex. In contrast to Dr. N. Tropy and Dr. N. Brio's full first name is unknown. After graduating from the evil school that Dr. After visiting Cortex and later Nina Cortex, he became a physicist and worked in the defense industry until an accident in which he was hit in the head by a missile. He survived the accident and has been a cyborg ever since. The rocket, which was still active, was converted into a life support system, but it caused him severe pain. N. Gin built many of the inventions Cortex used for his purposes. He is always at the side of Dr. Cortex and also the only one that Cortex pays a little attention to.

N. Gin is a short, fat man and always wears a (often holey) lab coat, black shoes and black gloves. The right half of his face, from which the missile protrudes, is metallic. It is not stated whether the oversized eye on this half of the face is still his human eye or a cybernetic eye. N. Gin has gaps in its teeth, its lower jaw is sometimes human, sometimes metallic. In most of the games he is red-haired and fair-skinned. In Crash of the Titans , he has dark blue hair and very light blue, almost white skin. Depending on the game, the rocket is checked in red and white or black and yellow.

As the final boss, he often fights in a giant robotic exoskeleton.

Its name is based on a play on words: N. Gin speaks itself like engine (English for "machine").

Dr. Nefarious Tropy

Dr. N. Tropy appears for the first time in the third part, in which he is the third boss. He is also a former student of the evil school. He invented a time machine and calls himself the “ruler of time”. His attacks consist mainly of fireballs and heat waves.

N. Tropy is a very tall, skinny man with light blue skin and a black mustache. He wears silver armor with a bronze armor and a helmet. Large clocks are embedded in both. As a weapon he uses a kind of head-high tuning fork.

N. Tropy sounds like entropy (English for " entropy "), his first name is derived from the Latin word nefarius ("godless", "criminal")

Dr. Nitrus Brio

Dr. In the first part, N. Brio is the partner of Cortex and inventor of the Evolvo jet. It also appears in Crash Bandicoot 2 , Crash Twinsanity, and Crash Ruler of the Mutants . In the first part and in Crash Twinsanity , he's a boss. In the second part, N. Brio is not an opponent, but helps Crash as soon as he has collected all the crystals in order to destroy Cortex's space station with the power of the gems.

Nina Cortex

She is the niece of Cortex, Crash's archenemy. You don't know if she is a robot, cyborg or human because she has robotic arms but still has a blue human body.

She first appeared in the game "Crash Twinsanity", where Cortex went to the bad school to pick her up because he needed her help. It also appears in the games "Crash Tag Team Racing", "Crash of the Titans" and "Crash: Mind over Mutant". In Crash of the Titans , she was the final boss instead of Cortex who is the first boss. But Nina and Uka Uka arrest him beforehand because they were tired of Cortex failing all the time, but their attempt to kill Crash has also gone wrong. In Crash: Mind over Mutant , hate throws Cortex back into school.

Nina is also the archenemy of Coco Bandicoot, Crash's sister.

Movements and attacks

Crash can spin like a whirlwind, slide, crawl, jump ("normal" jump, "double" jump, twist jump and slide jump), ride and in newer versions of the series also weapons (e.g. a bazooka that shoots wumpa fruits) and operate vehicles (jet ski, car, kart, airplane, etc.). In a newer part, Crash also masters a flick-flack-like attack. In addition, he uses a voodoo mask to control opponents.

developer

The first four Crash Bandicoot games were developed by Naughty Dog . Crash Bash comes from Eurocom , Crash Bandicoot: Der Zorn des Cortex and Crash Twinsanity from Traveller's Tales , while the remaining titles up to Crash Tag Team Racing were developed by Vicarious Visions and Radical Entertainment . Crash Tag Team Racing , Crash of the Titans, and Crash: Rulers of the Mutants were made by Sierra and Radical Entertainment.

On November 21, 2013, the official Crash Bandicoot website operated by Activision was removed. In addition, all references to Crash Bandicoot have been removed from Activision's official website. Sony announced at the E3 2016 game fair that the first three games in the series are to be reissued as remastered versions for the PlayStation 4. Also in Skylanders: Imaginators are both Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo Cortex playable as characters. In addition, these characters are available as plastic figures, which, as usual for the Skylanders series, are used to play the character.

Games

  • 1996: Crash Bandicoot ( PlayStation , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation Portable , PlayStation Vita )
  • 1997: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita)
  • 1998: Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita)
  • 1999: CTR: Crash Team Racing (PlayStation, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PSP, PS Vita)
  • 2000: Crash Bash (PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita)
  • 2001: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex ( PlayStation 2 , GameCube , Xbox , Xbox 360 )
  • 2001: Crash Bandicoot: XS ( Game Boy Advance )
  • 2003: Crash Nitro Kart (PS2, GameCube, Xbox, GBA, Nokia N-Gage )
  • 2003: Crash Bandicoot: N-Tranced (GBA)
  • 2004: Crash Twinsanity (PS2, Xbox)
  • 2004: Crash Bandicoot Fusion (GBA)
  • 2005: Crash Tag Team Racing (PS2, GameCube, Xbox, PSP)
  • 2006: Crash Boom Bang! ( Nintendo DS )
  • 2007: Crash of the Titans (PS2, Wii , Xbox 360 , GBA, NDS, PSP)
  • 2008: Crash: Ruler of the Mutants (PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, NDS, PSP)
  • 2008: Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D (N-Gage, iOS )
  • 2010: Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 (iOS)
  • 2017/2018: Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows)
  • 2019: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch)
  • 2020 (planned): Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS4, Xbox One)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Crash Bandicoot: Return of the Nose Bag on the PlayStation 4?
  2. ↑ In fact, she first appeared in Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Revenge, but at the time of release it was unclear who she is or where she came from. Their origin was only explained in "Crash Twinsanity".
  3. ↑ Crash Bandicoot: Three new editions announced for PS4 . Article from pcgames.de , June 15, 2016, accessed June 15, 2016
  4. ↑ Nadine Vogel-Seitz: Crash Bandicoot celebrates its return in Skylanders Imaginators , In: game7days.de ; dated: June 15, 2016 (accessed December 18, 2018)