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Crash Bandicoot (disambiguation)

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This article is about the character and the video game franchise. For the video game, see Crash Bandicoot (video game).

Crash Bandicoot, or simply Crash, is a popular video game character created by Naughty Dog, who stars in a video game franchise of the same name. Originally a straightforward platformer for the PlayStation, it has since expanded to the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox with various spin-off games in different genres.

Character Info

Crash is a Perameles gunnii, of the order POLYPROTODONTA, family Peramelidae, commonly known as the Eastern Barred Bandicoot. He is a marsupial, which means that he is born with a built in fanny pack. They live in Tasmania, a small island south of Australia, as well as on the Australian mainland. The Parameles gunnii is, on average, 320mm from head to rump, and has a 80mm tail. They weigh about 950g. Crash's family, on the other hand, tend to be about a meter tall, orange, walk on their hind legs, and wear big shoes. They have, therefore, earned a good living in the Parameles gunnii circus sideshow spinning real fast and the like.

Crash was born an average, unremarkable bandicoot, kidnapped (or raised in captivity) to serve as a test subject in Doctor Neo Cortex's animal mutation experiments. Using Doctor Nitrus Brio's "Evolv-O-Ray" device, Cortex fundamentally altered Crash's genetic structure and brain capacity, turning him into the anthrophomorphic marsupial he is today. He was then subject to Cortex's own device, the Cortex Vortex, which was supposed to make him Cortex's willing servant, so that Crash could lead Cortex's army of mutant animals to world domination. The Cortex Vortex failed to alter Crash's mind, so Crash was dismissed as a failure, literally flying out of the window of Cortex's mountaintop laboratory into the sea below, eventually to wash up on the shore of N. Sanity Beach.

Crash was created by Naughty Dog intentionally as a character both 'goofy yet heroic', being able to portray multiple emotions merely by facial expression, (a feature rare then due to basic technology in games). Crash is mainly kind hearted and laid back, rarely ever getting upset or angry (though he detests evil, such as Cortex), though he is also rather simple, to some fans almost to the point of retardedness and lack of awareness. With a few exceptions, Crash himself does not talk in his early games for PlayStation. This is in fact common with video games as to allow the audience to play through the perspective of the character, (noticably, Coco is mute in Crash 3). When he does, he speaks in a somewhat garbled Sims-esque dialogue, though some of his comments are very obvious (e.g. 'Eh, Whatever', 'OK, here you go') Crash was originally voiced by Brendan O'Brien. However, he was voiced by Rob Paulsen, Steven Blum and Jess Harnell in his later games.

The platformers

File:PSX Crash Bandicoot.jpg
The original Crash Bandicoot.

The first three Crash games, as well as several subsequent Crash games, were platform games.

Gameplay

The core gameplay in the Crash Bandicoot series is simple, but entertaining and quite addictive nonetheless.There are Aku Aku masks sparsely scattered throughout the levels. Collecting an Aku Aku mask while Crash already has one turns the one he has gold. Collecting another mask while Crash has a gold one grants Crash limited-time invincibility, after which the mask reverts to being gold. Getting hit will reduce the mask from gold to normal or from normal to nothing. If Crash gets hit when he does not have a mask, he will meet his end in a sometimes comical animation.

In some of the Crash platformers, not including the original, some levels have a skull platform. Stepping on it brings Crash to a difficult part of the level. To be able to use the platform, Crash must not have died before reaching it. The benefit to stepping on a skull platform is the acquisition of special game items called gems.

Obstacles in Crash's path include animal-like creatures and other badguys; Dr. Neo Cortex's henchmen, dressed in labcoats; various machinery; and physical barriers. To surmount these, Crash can use his jump move and his spin attack. In Crash platformers after the first, he can also do a body slam, slide, duck, crawl, and perform an extra-high jump by sliding or ducking and then jumping. In Crash platformers after the second, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash can also collect a special move after defeating each boss.

File:Crash Bandicoot.jpg
Crash Twinsanity is one of the newest Crash Bandicoot games.

Crates

There are crates scattered throughout the levels. Most crates contain some bonus. Some have wumpa fruits in them, and collecting 100 of the game's "Wumpa fruits" gives the player an extra life. Others have Aku Aku masks or Extra Lives.

The player can get one gem per level by breaking all of the crates in one level. Most gems are white, but some are colored. In the original Crash Bandicoot, but in none of its sequels, some gems acquired by breaking all of a level's boxes are colored. The remaining white and colored gems must be collected by finding and touching them. They are invariably positioned in an area that is difficult to reach.

In addition to crates that provide bonuses, there are also TNT crates. If Crash attacks one, he loses a life. If he jumps on one, a short countdown is started, after which the TNT crate explodes. Some TNT crates are useful to clear obstacles. Some crates have on them an arrow pointing upwards. Landing on one will spring Crash into the air, much like a trampoline does.

With the exception of the original, there are Nitro crates in all Crash platformers. If Crash touches one, he loses a life. Attacking a metal, green crate with an exclamation mark on it destroys all of a level's Nitro crates.

Also present in all Crash platformers except for the original are normal crates that are protected by a metal gridlock surrounding their edges normally destroyed by using the body slam move.

Beginning with the third Crash game, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, some crates are shifting crates. They shift among different kinds of crates. The rate at which a shifting crate changes gradually increases, until finally the crate becomes metallic and indestructible.

Mascot

File:PSX Crash Bandicoot 2.jpg
Crash Bandicoot 2.

The original Crash Bandicoot was one of the earliest 3D platformers and was a major seller. Sony unofficially made Crash the mascot for the PlayStation.

Crash is often compared to Mario, as both of them were mascots of their respective consoles. Both the original Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario 64 were early 3D platformers. After the first three Crash games, much like Mario before him, Crash branched out, starring in a racing game, analogous to Super Mario Kart, and a party game, analogous to Mario Party. All of this contributed to the perception that Crash is Sony's equivalent of Mario. However, with the release of Crash games on other platforms, this is no longer the case.

Crash was also influential in reviving the character archetype of an anthropomorphic animal starring in a platform game. This practice was pioneered by Sonic the Hedgehog a few years earlier and achieved improved popularity during and after the Crash era with characters such as Blinx, Sly Cooper, and Spyro the Dragon. However, it should be noted that animal mascots littered the 16-bit era with such characters as Bubsy the Bobcat, Aero the Acrobat, Awesome Possum, Mr. Nutz, and others. The impact of Crash on future animal mascot games is debatable (especially now that Crash's popularity has, ironically, "crashed" in recent years).

Developers

File:PSX Crash Bandicoot 3.jpg
Crash Bandicoot: Warped.

The first four Crash Bandicoot games were developed by Naughty Dog (Crash 1, Crash 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash 3: WARPED and CTR: Crash Team Racing). Crash Bash was developed by Eurocom, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex and Crash Twinsanity were developed by Traveller's Tales, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure (titled XS in Europe), Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash: Purple (called FUSION in Europe) have all been developed by Vicarious Visions and finally Crash Tag Team Racing was developed by Radical Entertainment. Almost all of the Crash titles were published by Universal Interactive, now called Vivendi Universal.

Even though the games were originally published by Sony for the PlayStation, Vivendi Universal owns the copyrights to the games and characters, which is why multiple developers have worked with the property, and why games have been released for Nintendo and Microsoft consoles.

Most people consider the Naughty Dog games were the best in the series. After that the games have not gotten that much critical hype, aside from the Vicarious Visions games, which did not fare critically as well as the Naughty Dog games, but have still gotten praise from fans due to Vicarious Visions sticking to the Naughty Dog Crash Bandicoot formula.

Installments

Love Interests

In the first Crash Game, Crash had a crush on Tawna Bandicoot. However, after he rescues her from Cortex, they both broke up and Pinstripe and Tawna got together. Crash now lives with his sister Coco. However, in Crash Tag Team Racing, Pasadena appeared to be sexually interested with Crash. Whenever she flirted with him he made throwing up sounds. It seems that sometimes Pasadena is kidding about her apparent interests in Crash. It is unsure if Crash has feelings for her, as he often switches to being disturbed by her interests, and suddenly showing interest himself, swooning and making moves (that ironically Pasadena does not comprehend). But some fans make Pasadena a new love interest with Crash.

Cameos

  • Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PlayStation - 2000) - In the level Haunted Tomb, an Egyptian dog asks Spyro a riddle. Spyro is given three possible answers. One of them is a bandicoot (a reference to Crash).
  • Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PlayStation 2 - 2001) - While Naughty Dog can't include any characters from the Crash series since Vivendi Universal owns the franchise, there are some references to the Crash series. For example, Jak's spin is similar to Crash's spin. In addition, in Samos' hut at the beginning of the game, there is a large "snapper plant", one of the best known enemies from the Crash series.
  • Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy / Spyro Fusion (UK) (Game Boy Advance - 2004) - This is basically the same game as Crash Bandicoot Purple, but told from Spyro's perspective, so Crash obviously makes a lot of appearances in the game's story.

Crash in pop culture

In The Simpsons episode "Lisa gets an A", Dash Dingo an obvious spoof of Crash. A tweaked-out soundtrack is used, sounding uncannily similar to the games.

In the Angel episode "Power Play", Illyria and Drogyn are seen playing Crash Bandicoot on an Xbox. Unable to quite get the hang of it Illyria remarks, "I play this game. It is pointless, and annoys me. Yet I am compelled to keep playing."

In the Friends Episode, "The One With Monica's Thunder", Joey is preparing to audition for the part of a nineteen year old. As he greets Chandler in his "teenage" attire. Chandler can be seen playing Crash Team Racing on a PlayStation. (Hot Air Skyway, for the track name.)

In the movie Baby Geniuses, Crash can be seen in a clothing shop in a game screen.

In an episode of "the weakest link", There was a question about a fictional video game character, that turned out to end up with the anwser 'Crash Bandicoot'!

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Crash Bandicoot (disambiguation).
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