User blog:TyrantRex/TyrantRex's thoughts on Crash Bandicoot: Warped

Note: This isn't a proper review, but rather my thoughts and opinions on the game!

I recommend listening to this while reading this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mTS04v8he0

Background
This was the first video game I played in my entire life. Need I say more?

The Game
The first game was a solid foundation with some rough edges, the second game improves everything the first game did, the third game repeats what the second did while adding new stuff on top of it but adds a tad too much. Sounds familiar? Yeah, Crash and Spyro were so similar in the PS1 games.

Now, my favorite improvement in Crash 3 is the setting. Both Crash 1 and 2 take place in the Wumpa Islands, it worked but the settings were getting a bit repetitive, Crash 3 takes place in a Time Machine so each level theme is a different time period. I like this, there's a lot more variety between the themes, and even when themes are repeated there are some minor changes like time of day so it feels a lot less repetitive than before.

The second improvement is powerups. Crash 2 added sliding and crouching, that alone exponentially changed how levels played, now Crash 3 adds a few new tricks. Every time you beat a boss you get a new powerup, this greatly improves Crash's mobility, the powerups tend to be a bit underutilized but they're appreciated, you can take some really cool short cuts and tricks when available.

The third big improvement I like is the time trials. Being the game that introduced Time Trials to Crash, they're so much better here than in Crash 1 and 2, because levels were built with Time Trials in mind. Giving Crash 1 and 2 Time Trials was a good touch but as everyone pointed out many levels aren't built for speeding up. I have zero problem with Time Trials in Crash 3, in fact there were some levels I got the Platinum on the first try.

Now we come to why I prefer Crash 2 to Crash 3... which based on these previous blogs should be obvious: alternate playstyles. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't like when games throw in alternate playstyles that deviate from the general gameplay of the game; it's why Sly 3 is my least favorite, why I prefer Spyro 2 over 3, and what literally killed Sonic Adventure 2 for me. There's a lot of alternate playstyles in Crash 3, in fact nearly half of the levels in the game are vehicle focused. That's not a good thing.

BUT here's the thing, I said in Crash 2 that I don't mind that much alternate playstyles when they don't change the core focus of the game, which in Crash's case is crossing linear obstacle tracks while smashing boxes. And truth to be told, most vehicle levels in Crash 3 still play like a Crash level, only the motorcycle and airplane levels deviate from the main game. I'd still prefer if there were less vehicles, but as far as overuse of alternate playstyles go, Crash 3 isn't that problematic, unlike some others *cough*SA2*cough*

Finally, what does the N. Sane remaster change from the PS1 game? ...nothing. Other than some vehicles controlling differently, this is pretty much the exact same game as the PS1 version. That being said, Crash 3 is the one that needed the least amount of fixes so I can understand why there's almost no changes. I think that's why the new level Future Tense was given to Crash 3. Speaking of which, Future Tense is a very well designed level, tricky, challenging, there are some detours without needing that much backtracking, overall I see it as a glimpse of what Vicarious Visions could do if they were to make a new Crash game.

Revisiting the Crash Bandicoot trilogy remastered (again), I'm reminded yet again why Crash still remains as one of my favorites of all time after two decades. Putting my obvious nostalgic bias aside, the Naughty Dog Crash games are just well made platforming games that despite some rough edges here and there hold up very well these days. The N. Sane Trilogy sold amazingly well, that wasn't just nostalgia, and this sent the message that people still want Crash Bandicoot. Activision promised new Crash games if N. Sane did well, and even though I know it'll take years before we see anything I'm optimistic. For over a decade platforming games declined in popularity and kids nowadays just play edgy shooters, I'd really like to see a resurgence of my favorite genre.