Crash Bash is a very interesting game to say the least. Much like how I can only assume Crash Team Racing was Sony’s answer to Mario Kart, I assume Crash Bash was Sony’s answer to Mario Party. Only this time, Crash Bash takes the approach of ditching the party boards altogether and instead offers a marathon of minigames and even provides a co-op story mode to tie them together. On paper, this sounds… okay I suppose. In practice, I feel the execution could have been much, much better. Many other IPs at the time tried to get a piece of that Mario Party Pie and quite frankly, I can’t really recall any that stood out for good reasons. Crash Bash, at least in my eyes, falls victim to this.
Crash Bash is a game that consists of a few minigame types: Battle Arenas, 4-Way Pong, Pogo Rallies, Racing, Polar Bear Battles, Tank Shootouts, and Medieval Games. With the exception of Medieval Games, each minigame type has 4 iterations, with the first one being the most basic while the next 3 introduce new mechanics or hazards to add a bit of variety. 4-Way Pong for example, features 4 players in hover cars, each one protecting their own goal. Each player has a shield burst that deflects balls away from their goal if their car is just barely too far away to deflect them like a paddle. In the iteration “Beach Ball,” the players have these abilities plus the ability to magnetize balls to the front of their car and shoot them at high speeds to the player parallel to them. Most of these minigames have some sort of core mechanics which then are expanded when a new mechanic is added.
Now, you can play all of these minigames in versus mode to your heart’s content. The problem is that since there are so few minigame types, it doesn’t take much time until you feel like you’ve been playing the same minigames over and over, despite the new mechanics introduced in each iteration. You probably won’t want to play them for very long, so it feels like you aren’t getting much out of the game. To feel like you are getting your money’s worth, you’ll want to switch your attention over to the story mode, as they offer a few more options for ways of playing these minigames. But beware: you are about to enter an All-You-Can-Eat buffet consisting of 7 unremarkable foods.
In the story mode, there are 5 floors, with each floor having roughly 5 minigames and a boss stage. You can tackle the minigames in any order, but you must complete them all to access the boss and finally move onto the next floor. These bosses require a certain amount of collectibles to unlock. The primary collectible is Trophies, all of which are required to progress. To win a Trophy, you must win a minigame 3 times, which already doesn’t sound too great. This means if the CPU wins 2 times, you have to play the same minigame up to 5 times in a row before getting a Trophy, and that’s on the assumption that you won. If the CPUs win 3 times, the counters reset to 0 and you must try again to win 3 times. These minigames can take a few minutes, meaning you’re going to be stuck on the same game for quite some time if you’re losing. However, this is just for the Trophy; you’re going to have to play that minigame a few more times for the other collectibles. The Gem is the next collectible, in which you must win the minigame with some sort of restriction. Whether it’s a strict time limit, starting with half your HP, or starting from a higher point “debt” than your opponent where you have to gain points to work off, you thankfully only have to win these once. However, these restrictions can be brutal sometimes and you’ll find yourself retrying over and over. But you’re not done yet because you also need to amass a collection of Crystals, the third collectible. Crystals introduce some sort of twist or hazard that only affects \you\ and not your enemies. These tend to be a bit easier, but some of them can be mind-numbingly difficult. With all of these collectibles, you will be able to make your way to the final boss. Hold your horses though, because to unlock every minigame Crash Bash has to offer, you have to collect Gold Relics. Gold Relics are earned by winning against each minigame’s champions (basically, aggressive AI) two times \in a row.\ After that, you unlock the opportunity to collect the Platinum Relics, in which you need to win against even more aggressive AI \three times in a row\. As far as I remember, you do not need Relics to reach the final boss. However, that means in order to fully clear a minigame in Crash Bash’s story mode, you need to play it 10 times at \minimum\. Essentially, you have to play the same core minigame 40 times. You cannot do this all at once though, as Gems and Crystals become available after you get the Trophy and Relics become available after you beat the final boss. Bear in mind, this is all in a game where the CPUs’ skills can range anywhere from extremely stupid to “Seemingly Calculates Your Every Move” on a moment’s notice. The only saving grace in this campaign are the boss fights, which still use core minigame mechanics, but change it up enough to where it actually feels very different.
None of this even begins to account for the fact that not all the characters are created equal. There are a total of 8 characters to choose from, with every 2 characters being “pairs” that control similarly and have similar stats. There are the Bandicoots: Crash and Coco, the Scientists: Cortex and Brio, the Mutants: Dingodile and Rilla Roo, and the… Jocks(?): Tiny Tiger and Koala Kong. Arguably, the Mutants are the worst, as they’re capable of attacking in rapid succession (see: 2 times), but their attack power tends to be low and their range is is pretty bad. The Bandicoots are well-rounded, but compared to the next 2 classes, are clearly not the best choice. The Scientists have attacks that move very quickly, have a long range, and do a moderate amount of damage. Objectively, the best class is the Jocks, with very powerful attacks that move at a moderate pace. If you’re playing story mode, the 2 obviously correct choices are Tiny and Koala Kong, especially as this ensures you will never have to fight against them. Adding depth to the character selection like this is a cool idea, but it only works if your characters are truly balanced.
At the end of it all, I think the younger you are, the more you’ll enjoy Crash Bash, especially if you have friends or family to play it with. Once you get older, you’ll start to see the cracks in its design and begin to realize why Mario Party tends to work better. I almost feel bad making so many comparisons to Mario Party, because while I do feel like they were very much copying Nintendo’s homework, I appreciate that they tried to put their own spin on it. In a way, these games feel like entirely different beasts. However, the design choices Crash Bash went along with may have ended up doing more harm than good.
Mario Party has a wide selection of varied minigames that you only have to complete once, so it takes a \long\ time to get burnt out on them. There are also different minigame structures, such as 2v2, 1v1, 1v3, or even solo minigames. Because of the absence of boards and stars, there are hardly any stakes. You aren’t going to be forming alliances or picking targets within the interest of winning it all because Crash Bash has no overarching winner. In fact, the only stake Crash Bash has going for it is the fact that it’s a gigantic time sink. When you lose, you don’t lose any of your collectibles, you lose your time and after a while, it becomes a slog – a chore in which you have to clean out each minigame of its collectibles. Do it right and win or do it wrong and do it again. Rinse and repeat. Mario Party also has a very clearly defined end: just play 10-ish turns and it’s over, making it very easy to jump in and jump out at a gathering. Crash Bash goes until you beat the final boss, until you collect everything there is to collect, or until you just can’t stomach it anymore. You absolutely do not want to do Crash Bash in one sitting, which makes it amazing to me that people are willing to speedrun this game. While I still do like Crash Bash a little bit, if you put a gun to my head and told me to get a world record speedrun in this game, I would just tell you to pull the trigger.
Crash Bash is a game that consists of a few minigame types: Battle Arenas, 4-Way Pong, Pogo Rallies, Racing, Polar Bear Battles, Tank Shootouts, and Medieval Games. With the exception of Medieval Games, each minigame type has 4 iterations, with the first one being the most basic while the next 3 introduce new mechanics or hazards to add a bit of variety. 4-Way Pong for example, features 4 players in hover cars, each one protecting their own goal. Each player has a shield burst that deflects balls away from their goal if their car is just barely too far away to deflect them like a paddle. In the iteration “Beach Ball,” the players have these abilities plus the ability to magnetize balls to the front of their car and shoot them at high speeds to the player parallel to them. Most of these minigames have some sort of core mechanics which then are expanded when a new mechanic is added.
Now, you can play all of these minigames in versus mode to your heart’s content. The problem is that since there are so few minigame types, it doesn’t take much time until you feel like you’ve been playing the same minigames over and over, despite the new mechanics introduced in each iteration. You probably won’t want to play them for very long, so it feels like you aren’t getting much out of the game. To feel like you are getting your money’s worth, you’ll want to switch your attention over to the story mode, as they offer a few more options for ways of playing these minigames. But beware: you are about to enter an All-You-Can-Eat buffet consisting of 7 unremarkable foods.
In the story mode, there are 5 floors, with each floor having roughly 5 minigames and a boss stage. You can tackle the minigames in any order, but you must complete them all to access the boss and finally move onto the next floor. These bosses require a certain amount of collectibles to unlock. The primary collectible is Trophies, all of which are required to progress. To win a Trophy, you must win a minigame 3 times, which already doesn’t sound too great. This means if the CPU wins 2 times, you have to play the same minigame up to 5 times in a row before getting a Trophy, and that’s on the assumption that you won. If the CPUs win 3 times, the counters reset to 0 and you must try again to win 3 times. These minigames can take a few minutes, meaning you’re going to be stuck on the same game for quite some time if you’re losing. However, this is just for the Trophy; you’re going to have to play that minigame a few more times for the other collectibles. The Gem is the next collectible, in which you must win the minigame with some sort of restriction. Whether it’s a strict time limit, starting with half your HP, or starting from a higher point “debt” than your opponent where you have to gain points to work off, you thankfully only have to win these once. However, these restrictions can be brutal sometimes and you’ll find yourself retrying over and over. But you’re not done yet because you also need to amass a collection of Crystals, the third collectible. Crystals introduce some sort of twist or hazard that only affects \you\ and not your enemies. These tend to be a bit easier, but some of them can be mind-numbingly difficult. With all of these collectibles, you will be able to make your way to the final boss. Hold your horses though, because to unlock every minigame Crash Bash has to offer, you have to collect Gold Relics. Gold Relics are earned by winning against each minigame’s champions (basically, aggressive AI) two times \in a row.\ After that, you unlock the opportunity to collect the Platinum Relics, in which you need to win against even more aggressive AI \three times in a row\. As far as I remember, you do not need Relics to reach the final boss. However, that means in order to fully clear a minigame in Crash Bash’s story mode, you need to play it 10 times at \minimum\. Essentially, you have to play the same core minigame 40 times. You cannot do this all at once though, as Gems and Crystals become available after you get the Trophy and Relics become available after you beat the final boss. Bear in mind, this is all in a game where the CPUs’ skills can range anywhere from extremely stupid to “Seemingly Calculates Your Every Move” on a moment’s notice. The only saving grace in this campaign are the boss fights, which still use core minigame mechanics, but change it up enough to where it actually feels very different.
None of this even begins to account for the fact that not all the characters are created equal. There are a total of 8 characters to choose from, with every 2 characters being “pairs” that control similarly and have similar stats. There are the Bandicoots: Crash and Coco, the Scientists: Cortex and Brio, the Mutants: Dingodile and Rilla Roo, and the… Jocks(?): Tiny Tiger and Koala Kong. Arguably, the Mutants are the worst, as they’re capable of attacking in rapid succession (see: 2 times), but their attack power tends to be low and their range is is pretty bad. The Bandicoots are well-rounded, but compared to the next 2 classes, are clearly not the best choice. The Scientists have attacks that move very quickly, have a long range, and do a moderate amount of damage. Objectively, the best class is the Jocks, with very powerful attacks that move at a moderate pace. If you’re playing story mode, the 2 obviously correct choices are Tiny and Koala Kong, especially as this ensures you will never have to fight against them. Adding depth to the character selection like this is a cool idea, but it only works if your characters are truly balanced.
At the end of it all, I think the younger you are, the more you’ll enjoy Crash Bash, especially if you have friends or family to play it with. Once you get older, you’ll start to see the cracks in its design and begin to realize why Mario Party tends to work better. I almost feel bad making so many comparisons to Mario Party, because while I do feel like they were very much copying Nintendo’s homework, I appreciate that they tried to put their own spin on it. In a way, these games feel like entirely different beasts. However, the design choices Crash Bash went along with may have ended up doing more harm than good.
Mario Party has a wide selection of varied minigames that you only have to complete once, so it takes a \long\ time to get burnt out on them. There are also different minigame structures, such as 2v2, 1v1, 1v3, or even solo minigames. Because of the absence of boards and stars, there are hardly any stakes. You aren’t going to be forming alliances or picking targets within the interest of winning it all because Crash Bash has no overarching winner. In fact, the only stake Crash Bash has going for it is the fact that it’s a gigantic time sink. When you lose, you don’t lose any of your collectibles, you lose your time and after a while, it becomes a slog – a chore in which you have to clean out each minigame of its collectibles. Do it right and win or do it wrong and do it again. Rinse and repeat. Mario Party also has a very clearly defined end: just play 10-ish turns and it’s over, making it very easy to jump in and jump out at a gathering. Crash Bash goes until you beat the final boss, until you collect everything there is to collect, or until you just can’t stomach it anymore. You absolutely do not want to do Crash Bash in one sitting, which makes it amazing to me that people are willing to speedrun this game. While I still do like Crash Bash a little bit, if you put a gun to my head and told me to get a world record speedrun in this game, I would just tell you to pull the trigger.