Frustrations and ruggedness aside, Crash Bandicoot is a fun, challenging platform game.
The story revolves around a bandicoot named Crash (hence, the name) who escapes from Dr. Neo Cortex after he attempts to perform experiments on Crash. Upon escaping, he is washed upon the shores of N. Sanity Beach, and Dr. Neo Cortex prepares to perform experiments on a female bandicoot named Tawna (Crash's love interest), and now Crash must venture through a set of islands in order to defeat Dr. Neo Cortex and save Tawna. Stories generally aren't important when it comes to platformers, so it's easy to forgive the simplistic plot, and it works well for this game.
For their time, the graphics were very good; especially when compared to Super Mario 64. They are fairly detailed, colorful, and look very pleasing to the eye. The textures look very good as well, and the water effects also look really good. The soundtrack is also done nicely. The soundtrack is composed of simplistic tunes and chants that are very catchy and easy to like.
One of the biggest flaws of this game that's worth noting is the controls. While they are responsive and easy to learn, they are very rugged and don't feel as smooth as they should have. You are only able to use the d-pad to move Crash around, and that makes the game feel very awkward and not as smooth as a 3D platformer should.
The gameplay is not what you'd expect from a 3D platformer of its time; the level designs are very linear, and there are never any chances to explore the islands in which you do platforming. Sure there are occasionally a couple of different paths you can take, but, other than that, the platofrming is very linear. Its linearity, however, generally works in its favor because the action is very fast-paced and challenging. You'll occasionally do traditional side-scrolling from time-to-time, and that can also be very fun as well.
Another issue with this game that's worth noting is its horrendous save system. The only way to save in this game is to complete a bonus stage (or get a gem), and just getting to a bonus stage doesn't guarantee you'll be able to save because completing them can be tricky.
Difficulty-wise, this game is very challenging; so challenging, in fact, that it can actually be frustrating. Its already rough difficulty is made even harder by its rugged controls and its horrific save system. Its natural level of difficulty is just fine, but its flaws simply amplify it in unnecessary, and possibly unfair, ways. The challenge can be nice, don't get me wrong, but its flaws can make it more frustrating than it should be.
Even with its flaws, Crash Bandicoot is still a very solid platformer, and it was a great start to what was once a great franchise. Anyone who loves platformers should at least give it a try, given you are able to overcome some of its frustrations.