CRASH BANDICOOT: THE THREAD

I dunno. Crash has always been about speed running - having a cumbersome ability like lift->throw seems a bit off. Maybe a charge that destroys boxes, but has to be used carefully because... well... bombs and pits and unspinnable dangers and all that?

I've been thinking a bit about this already, because I've been wondering what they could do to differentiate Coco should the series get a revival. The problem is, Crash's gameplay and level design really is traditionally extremely streamlined, even moreso than other speed-based series like Sonic, so it's not as easy to think of stuff that still fits.

edited 10th Jul '17 10:13:29 AM by KnownUnknown

Trying to complete my Warped playthrough and have just discovered underwater levels are literally the worst for time trials.

Crunch-only routes leading to gems? The guy is pretty much Knuckles anyway.

Anyway, Nina is a bit of a mess of a character, because Twinsanity is a bit of a mess anyway, and the less is said about games after that, the better.

Post Naughty Dog characters I can see working are Crunch and N.Trance. Rilla Roo (lol) may work as well if, say, N.Brio decides to parallel Cortex' top henchmen and brings him and Koala Kong for some sort of plan.

Did they ever do anything with Fake Crash or Tawna?

Fake Crash was a boss in N-Tranced.

N-Tranced is IMO one of the finest post-ND games, while we are at that.

For Crunch, I always thought that maybe he can have a level where he's just smashing stuff. Put that strength of his to good use, but also don't make him boringly slow. Maybe have him have to protect an important object in an arena type area, and he's just smashing around the stage like the hulk he is, beating down enemies who try to get close to the object. Or maybe he has to destroy a set amount of objects in a short period of time.

Crash has proven that it can handle variety capably at times, so Crunch's levels wouldn't have to be exactly like Crash's.

What about Coco's gameplay then? In Warped she was exclusive to gimmick levels like Pura and the Jetski as examples. I don't see very many gamers liking her playable if the levels she is playable in are the type where she has to sneak around without being seen.

Give everyone the same levels, but they all have access to alternate routes and goals. That should solve it?

Multiplayer mode?

You could even add in Tawna.

Also a bit late, but I actually liked how Nina was in Twinsanity.

Welp, the Sonic 3 And Knuckles way? Crash as the standard, Coco as similar but more forgiving, Crunch as less movile but with access to alternate paths?

Perhaps the next game could ditch the Lives system, and to keep the Wumpas from becoming obsolete they could act as a currency for non-critical but useful power-ups (so no sneaking on Nitros )?

Coco seems to be made like the Tails or Luigi equivalent right now, the alternate skin of the main character. It's a shame N Sane Trilogy didn't take advantage of this by adding multiplayer or at least modifying Coco's mechanics slightly (giving her Crash 1's floatier mechanics would have been a clever way to appease the problems caused by uniform physics between the three games, plus made her at least a little different to play as). A race mode or 'Crash and Coco' co op mode also could have cool.

Granted it says something that many find Coco appealing to play just from personality alone. She's so endearing in this game, especially considering how she was criticised for being a blander less fun version of Crash in original Warped and Wrath of Cortex.

Concerning Radical and their changes, they did have some good ideas, just they were tainted by not having great direction or over obnoxious writing (they were the guys that made Coco more comical for example, just their rendition was far more annoying than that used in the remakes). Also, as much as they dumbed down the heroes, they were also kind of heartwarming in that era, the bromance between Crash and Aku Aku for example or Crash's Big Brother Instinct towards Coco.

I wouldn't mind Nina returning with her Radical personality, being Cortex's bratty Bastard Understudy, that was a cool premise. Crunch can return too, just do something with him this time. Anything.

edited 11th Jul '17 10:41:05 AM by Psi001

I really like if they could bring back at least Nina.

I'm just here to say:

Slippery Climb actually wasn't that bad! For whatever reason I had waaaaaay more trouble trying to get the colored gem on The Lost City.

And also, The High Road, as it turns out, is absolutely the hardest level in the game. Lost about 40 lives on that.

I'm noticing that some of Cortex's messages to you in the second game don't seem to appear, notably the one before you fight Ripper Roo. Which I found odd, because Cortex still specifically tells you he'll contact you after you've collected five crystals, and then never does. Was the line intentionally cut or did I just experience some glitch?

I think it was taken out because it referred to the original games' method of meeting a boss, which is obviously changed here. Still don't see any reason they couldn't have just altered it though, the lines were rerecorded after all.

Something about Crash 2's cutscenes admittedly seem a little...off. Like the animation isn't fully done or certain effects are missing.

edited 12th Jul '17 2:16:56 PM by Psi001

I don't like that there are a few bosses that don't say anything when defeated when previously they did.

Especially N. Gin not screaming AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! NOT AGAIN!

I'm pretty sure N. Gin is IRL murdered by Coco this time.

That was a joke.

I want more Cortex confusing Nina for his daughter/niece.

Multiplayer would likely just be unnecessary fat. I never though of it and now I am I'm glad it was never considered because I don't want to worry about that. I want my linear Crashing and Jumping.

Coco's made to be exactly like Crash because then you just have to choose who you want to play as rather than how you want to play, and I'd have it no other way.

N Tranced had a pretty awesome and bulky multiplayer mode without it interfering with one player gameplay much in any way. Basically Sonic type VS races on the games' levels, along with a battle mode involving the "hamster ball" gimmick.

edited 12th Jul '17 5:25:43 PM by Psi001

Well, good for you, but your personal tastes don't count as an objective argument about how certain elements may work.

So word from the Sonic thread is that people are comparing the new remade Crash Bandicoot to Dark Souls in terms of difficulty.

Or maybe modern gamers just suck at video games and didn't know what it was like back in the day.

edited 13th Jul '17 7:04:19 AM by Soble

You may find some images doing that alongside marsupials with revealing clothes.

But yeah, Crash 1 was quite hard back in the day, and by modern standards it is utterly difficult and unforgiving. People just aren't used to platformers nowadays.

There's not enough static to show how the connection is weak...and faces always return to default before going away.

The only levels that are as hard as they were back in the day are the High Road and Road to Nowhere. Everyone hates those levels.

Sunset Vista and Slippery Climb apparently aren't as hard as those. And when the DLC comes, let's see what is the deal with Stormy Ascent.

Yeah, some managed to cleverly fit it in (eg. the hilarious mood swing from manic to normal in N Brio's first cutscene) but for some it's blatantly obvious, especially the Coco ones where she's supposed to be frantic from getting cut off.