A sweet and simple little platform game, which is challenging and addictive.
The story is basically about Crash trying to save his girl friend from Dr. Neo Cortex who wants to use her for some experiment. Or something. It's not very well explained in-game, and I don't have a manual with mine.
The levels in Crash are very linear and contain lot's of pits and obstacles for you to evade. Crash's only abilities are to jump and use his spin attack to defeat enemies. In the levels there are many crates containing items. Most crates will contain Wumpa Fruit - these are apple like things which are also found dotted around the level - collect one hundred of them for an extra life. Crates can also contain extra lives or an Aku Aku mask. Aku Aku acts as a shield. If you get attacked with Aku by your side, he will take the hit and you will not die. Collect three for temporary invincibility.
Some levels have specific gimmicks to help separate them from the other levels. For example, some levels have you being chased by boulders, some have you riding on a wart-hog. Some are played in a 2D perspective as opposed to the usual 3D perspective. The levels also have unique themes. You have a beach, jungle, river, tribal gate, high bridge ect. The game is quite difficult. Not because it's cheap or anything, it's just a hard designed game.
In levels you will also have an opportunity to collect gems. You can do this by making it through a level without dieing and managing to destroy every single box. Collecting gems will make gems appear in certain sections of levels where you can destroy secret boxes to get another gem.
Bosses are generally not too bad. The only awkward one is Ripper Roo where you have to jump on the TNT boxes at just the right time so it explodes as he goes near it. The bosses have simple strategies and have the pattern of evade and counter.
A notable thing about this game is it's awkward Save System. You will need to find three tokens resembling Crash's Girlfriend in a level. Then you will be taken to the bonus stage. These are short and easy but in the later half of the game a small stupid mistake will cause you to fall of the edge and you will miss your opportunity to save the game. But if you manage to complete the bonus stage you will get to save. You can save to the memory card or get a password. Hey passwords. They were a great feature! It's kind of a shame the other PS crash games didn't have them. Oh well, PS memory cards are cheap if you have no room on your current card.
As for graphics, they looked really good for the time. Nice backgrounds. Not too blocky. The models are quite rounded for PS1. The music is quite notable too.
The original Crash is a game I recommend you get if you see it. Even today it's a satisfying piece. Which allthough simple, manages to prove as challenging and satisfying.
- Milesprower2k9 original reviews.