Crash Bandicoot series
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The Crash Bandicoot series was created by development team Naughty Dog, originally commissioned by Universal Studios (now Vivendi Games). The first four games of the series (Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash 3: Warped and Crash Team Racing, also known as 'CTR') were developed by Naughty Dog and released on the Playstation console from 1996 until 1999. After CTR, Naughty Dog became a first party development team for SCEA and sold the rights to Crash Bandicoot to Universal. Universal Studios, created the Crash Bash title before working on the first next generation Crash Bandicot title, Crash: Wrath of Cortex. This title was the first multiplatform Crash Bandicoot game (appearing on the original Xbox and the Nintendo GameCube) and has since appeared on the Nintendo DS and the Xbox 360 as well as on the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) system, with both original games as well as downloadable iterations of the Naughty Dog developed games, which are available through the Playstation Network (PSN).
Naughty Dog released the first Crash Bandicoot game in 1996 to, overall, positive reviews. Gamespot's Zach Meston criticized the gameplay for being "gameplay is flat as roadkill on a four-lane highway" and awarded it a 'Fair' rating of 6.8 out of 10, but this average review went against the generally positive reviews of both gaming websites and players. IGN named it a "must have" platformer and N4G gave the PSP port an 8/10. The popularity of the game spawned 3 direct sequels in the Crash Bandicoot franchise. Crash Bandicoot went "Greatest Hits" (NA) in September of 1997, "Playstation: The Best"(Japan) in May of 1998 after being released in December, 1996 and "Platinum" (EU/AU/NZ) in March of 1998, being released in November, 1996.
Crash Bandicoot 2 was released in the North American market during the halloween season of 1997. While featuring a number of returning game mechanics from the original title, Crash Bandicoot 2 introduced a number of new gameplay elements. The first was the 'Warp Room'. Players would navigate Crash around this room and 'jump into' a number of levels with varying looks, gameplay elements and difficulties. By gaining the required number of pink crystals from each Warp Room, the player could move Crash upwards to higher levels with an increased difficulty and revisit older levels for optional gems. Crash Bandicoot was also given a number of new attacks and moves; he was able to crouch and crawl through smaller areas and perform and single high jump by crouching before jumping. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back has received an average rating of 89% on Game Rankings and Gamespot praised Crash Bandicoot 2 as a great improvement over the original, awarding it a 8.6 out of 10.
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was released in 1998 to instant critical acclaim. GamePro awarded it 5/5, IGN, 9.1/10 and Gamespot 8.9/10 with the comment that it was "easily the best Crash yet". Crash Bandicoot 3 introduced a vast majority of gameplay additions. Crash was now able to perform longer spins, run faster and weild a bazooka (all of which were earnt through powerups) in addition to hanging, swimming, motorcycling and riding a Tiger and T-Rex through over 25 levels. While continuing with the 'Warp Room' format instigated by it's prequel, Naughty Dog opened the Warp area so the character could move freely among all levels (once unlocked) without having to switch between screens to move to the desired level.
Crash Teaming Racing or CTR as it is more commonly known, took a turn from the traditional platforming element of the previous 3 games and put the inhabitants of the Crash Bandicoot universe onto a race track. Players were required to race around a number of tracks against 7 other opponents to defeat Nitros Oxide, a newly created villian whose sole interest in earth is to turn it into a concrete racing track, unless someone can beat him first. CTR was released in 1999 in Japan and NA markets and in 2000 in EU/AU/NZ and other PAL territories and has an average Game Rankings score of 92%.
After completing work on Crash Team Racing, Naughty Dog was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) as an in house developer and began work on their Playstation 2 (PS2) franchise; Jak and Daxter. The Crash Bandicoot license was sold back to Universal Studios (now Vivendi Games) who released the first non Naughty Dog Crash Bandicoot game, Crash Bash in late 2000. The game was received generally positively (it gained an average Game Raking score of 70%), but subsequent iterations of the Crash Bandicoot series have gained an increasingly medicore reception with current Crash Bandicoot developer Radical Entertainment admitting that Crash's presense had deminished over the years, prompting a change with the fourteeth installment Crash of the Titans with a greater emphasis on combat and a health bar within each 'life'.
