Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

Fri 29th Jun 2018

Nintendo Life said:

All in all, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a ruthlessly faithful recreation of some of the earliest successes in 3D platforming. Levels are slick, gorgeous to look at, and recreate the feel of the originals superbly. However, newcomers to the series may be put off by the steep difficulty spikes and little to no explanation of some of the finer mechanics. All the fun and the foibles of the original three games are here, for better or for worse, and despite some odd design choices it still manages to be a really enjoyable retread of some old classics, warts and all. This is definitely worth a look if you're a fan of 3D platformers, but just as was the case back in the '90s, Crash isn't in quite the same league as Mario when it comes to playability, inventiveness and entertainment.

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7/10

Wed 16th Jul 2025

JJtheTexan said:

Nostalgia, unlike its cousin hindsight, is not 20/20. Case in point: I remember the original Crash Bandicoot games being more fun and interesting than they actually are. This led to a big letdown when I revisited the N. Sane Trilogy here on Nintendo Switch.

These are not bad games! But my memory clouded my relative lack of skill and experience with Crash. Unlike their contemporary, Super Mario 64, the original PlayStation Crash games are not really "open area" 3-D platformers. They are confined and linear, posing more of a strict challenge in how each course must be completed, rather than allowing for exploration and creativity.

This is not necessarily a bad thing; that's how most 2-D platformers work. For me, at least, the problem is that these games feel exceedingly and unfairly difficult in their execution. Therein lies my primary complaint: there are virtually no quality-of-life features to make them a little more accessible and approachable for today's gamers. A very simple change would vastly improve all three games for me: get rid of the archaic lives system. When I came across a particularly difficult course and used up all my lives, I grew deeply frustrated with having to start the entire world over again. It's not the 1990s anymore; I have a lot more games I'd rather play than repeating the same courses over and over again until I can get through a challenging section.

Also, the 30fps performance is a real shame. This collection should have been so much better.

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6/10