Making the Gamer Pilgrimage of hitting Platinum in this game has made me well-acquainted with things such as "hitboxes", "level geometry", and "gold relics" and I'm sorry I ever doubted the angry nerds on Reddit. They were right. The hitboxes are wonky and pill-shaped compared to the original. I am slipping off the edges of platforms. I have been taught the error of my ways.
Crash Bandicoot (2017) ironically fills the same niche as Crash Bandicoot (1996). Much like how the original Crash Bandicoot is a ground-breaking game, one of the first 3D platformers, that was immediately outclassed by the more enjoyable PS1/N64 games that came after it, the Crash N. Sane Trilogy version of Crash 1, the game that sparked a renaissance of "let's reboot that 90's video game but faithfully this time", is now outclassed by all the more enjoyable 90's game remakes released after it. There's a real sense of "eh, good enough" permeating this game's code (that I'm solely blaming the Activision higher-ups for, the dev time for this couldn't have been pretty) that makes every jump in this hard precision-based platformer feels like it's going to succeed only about 85% of the time.
Which is completely fine if you're just going for level completion and boxes - and, despite this game's reputation, the lives are pretty generous - but those sick bastards also put in time trials in a game that was never designed for speed and you will be hitting that other 15% real quick. I got the Platinum relic in The High Road after over an hour of trying and trying until my right thumb developed a blister so I can say this with confidence - these time trials suck and they will drain any remaining enjoyment for this game from you. They messed with the physics on the turtle jumps and steel bounce boxes and you are going to notice.
As someone who grew up with Crash 1, this is less a full improvement that I would fully recommend over the original and more of a more modern, more accessible version of Crash 1 that fixed the save system that everyone hated but added a few tiny little downgrades along the way that won't be totally noticeable until you dig real deep and even then, you're just playing a version of Crash 1 and Crash 1 isn't very amazing either. Crash 1 is an important game in video game history, sure, but that doesn't mean it's good. Just impressive.
Also, yes, I gotta be That Guy - The color choices and character models looked better in the original game. We live in a post-Crash 4 world and therefore it's kinda hard to go back to these models trying to attempt a semi-realistic approach with their grody fur textures and their beady little eyes. I hate jumping on the vultures in Slippery Climb/Stormy Ascent and seeing their weird mashed potato faces inflate their eyeballs in a way that reads "graphical glitch" over "cartoony facial expression". I hate Koala Kong's tiny little mouth and how I can see his every fur particle from across the cavern. Anyone who says that Crash 4 "ruined the art style" and they should've stuck with this look is lying.
Crash Bandicoot (2017) ironically fills the same niche as Crash Bandicoot (1996). Much like how the original Crash Bandicoot is a ground-breaking game, one of the first 3D platformers, that was immediately outclassed by the more enjoyable PS1/N64 games that came after it, the Crash N. Sane Trilogy version of Crash 1, the game that sparked a renaissance of "let's reboot that 90's video game but faithfully this time", is now outclassed by all the more enjoyable 90's game remakes released after it. There's a real sense of "eh, good enough" permeating this game's code (that I'm solely blaming the Activision higher-ups for, the dev time for this couldn't have been pretty) that makes every jump in this hard precision-based platformer feels like it's going to succeed only about 85% of the time.
Which is completely fine if you're just going for level completion and boxes - and, despite this game's reputation, the lives are pretty generous - but those sick bastards also put in time trials in a game that was never designed for speed and you will be hitting that other 15% real quick. I got the Platinum relic in The High Road after over an hour of trying and trying until my right thumb developed a blister so I can say this with confidence - these time trials suck and they will drain any remaining enjoyment for this game from you. They messed with the physics on the turtle jumps and steel bounce boxes and you are going to notice.
As someone who grew up with Crash 1, this is less a full improvement that I would fully recommend over the original and more of a more modern, more accessible version of Crash 1 that fixed the save system that everyone hated but added a few tiny little downgrades along the way that won't be totally noticeable until you dig real deep and even then, you're just playing a version of Crash 1 and Crash 1 isn't very amazing either. Crash 1 is an important game in video game history, sure, but that doesn't mean it's good. Just impressive.
Also, yes, I gotta be That Guy - The color choices and character models looked better in the original game. We live in a post-Crash 4 world and therefore it's kinda hard to go back to these models trying to attempt a semi-realistic approach with their grody fur textures and their beady little eyes. I hate jumping on the vultures in Slippery Climb/Stormy Ascent and seeing their weird mashed potato faces inflate their eyeballs in a way that reads "graphical glitch" over "cartoony facial expression". I hate Koala Kong's tiny little mouth and how I can see his every fur particle from across the cavern. Anyone who says that Crash 4 "ruined the art style" and they should've stuck with this look is lying.