If you are a fan of the platformer genre, Crash Bandicoot is a game you should definitely try out.
On three islands in Australia, the evil Dr. Neo Cortex (the guy with an "N" written on his forehead) are mutating animals on the islands to help him take over the world. Crash was one of these mutations, but rather then helping Cortex, he turned against him. It is now up to Crash to stop Cortex and his evil experiments.
The game consists of 25 stages, with two secret levels and six boss battles in between. In most levels, you're walking from start to finish while fighting enemies and jumping over gaps and nitro-boxes (which will make you into Crash-mash if you touch them). In a time when 3D-games where dominating, Crash Bandicoot stood out, since some of the levels are in 2D and some of them are in 3D, which adds certain variety to the gameplay.
For a game released in 1996, the graphics are very colorful and detailed, even though the texture on some of characters might seem a little grainy by today's standards. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the graphics totally stink.
One of the main problems with the game is the confusing way to save the game. Unlike most game where you are asked if you want to save your progress after completing a level, in Crash Bandicoot you have to collect three tokes during a level to get a chance to save. When you do, you get to play a bonus stage, but you can only save if you beat it. If you don't, there won't be any more chances to save the game through the rest of the level. This can get really annoying, especially since the game can be painfully hard sometimes.
Crash debut on the Playstation was praised by most critics, and it's easy to understand why after playing this game. If you are a fan of the platformer genre, Crash Bandicoot is a game you should definitely try out.