Crash Bandicoothas always been the closest thing that Sony has ever had to a flagship mascot to rival the likes ofSonic The Hedgehogfor Sega, andMariofor Nintendo. It was created by the development team atNaughty Dogand just like both the Sonic and Mario games, was developed to be a platformer title meant to pull in players for an experience they couldonly get on the PlayStation.
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It would, however, go on to spawn many spin-offs of different genres of games, such as kart racing and party games. Development of the franchise shifted and changed hands, resulting in a fall from grace that would last many years, but in recent years, Crash has seen a return to glory in the modern age of gaming.
10Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex
Intended as a direct sequel to the last Crash Bandicoot title made by Naughty Dog, The Wrath Of Cortex failed to capture the full spirit of the Crash Bandicoot property. The game kept a lot of features introduced in Warped, but didn’t add much to the overall formula of the franchise, making it feel less of a sequel and more like a platformer trying to copy Warped.
The Wrath Of Cortex was the first Crash Bandicoot title to appear on the PS2 console, as well as the first multi-platform Crash Bandicoot title. It may have featured smoother graphics, but it was hindered by very long loading times.
9Crash Bash
This was the first attempt at making a party game for the Crash Bandicoot franchise, seeing as how popular party games were for Nintendo. This was the first Crash game not developed by Naughty Dog, but it was still created solely for the original PlayStation.
It packed a total of 28 different mini-games and allowed players to choose from many different characters throughout the Crash Bandicoot universe, both good and evil. Depending on which characters you chose to play out the story with, would affect the ending you would get after completing it. Overall, the game still makes for a fun time with friends and has a place on this list.
8Crash Twinsanity
Crash Twinsanity served as a sequel to The Wrath Of Cortex and was the first mainline game to have Cortex serve as an ally, rather than the final boss that the games lead up to you fighting like they normally did. Unlike their first crack at the franchise, Traveler’s Tales would add new features to the game this time around.
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It included features such as being able to play through the game as different characters, rather than just the titular Crash Bandicoot. Sadly, this would be the last title handled by Traveler’s Tales as the game continued to pass hands over the years.
7Crash Of The Titans
Radical Entertainment’s first game using the Crash Bandicoot property took the franchise in a completely new direction and attempted to reinvent the identity of the games. Removing previous mechanics and introducing all sorts of new ones to the formula, Crash Of The Titans introduced the ability to take control of powerful enemies you encounter in the form of “jacking”, and turning the game from a platformer into a brawler-style game.
Players would now have to clear through various waves of enemies if they wanted to progress through the game, making combat often feel repetitive.
6Crash: Mind Over Mutant
Serving as a direct follow-up to Radical Entertainment’s Crash of The Titans, Mind Over Mutant continued to take the game in a more brawler direction, cementing both titles as beat ’em-ups rather than platformer titles.
Talking to NPCs with markers over their heads and lots of side quests, showed that this game took a lot of elements not usually found in the genre to try and make it into something unique. However, the inclusion of the same clunky features present in Crash of The Titans was not received well by players and critics alike. This would also be the first Crash Bandicoot title published under Activision.
5Crash Bandicoot
The game that started it all, this was the dawn of the original PlayStation-era platforming experience. It was free from a lot of elements that are seen as staples nowadays. This was before hub worlds and character upgrades were a thing, with the goal simply being to clear a level to get a new one, and clearing a level while accomplishing a secondary objective to get a secret true ending. This is also the hardest Crash Bandicoot game in the franchise, leading to many thrown controllers and rage-quit clipped YouTube videos.
4Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Cortex Strikes Back aspired to add and improve to the first game, and they accomplished their goal in spades. Not only did they introduce a hub world in the form of a Warp Room, but they also added many new characters to the franchise that are beloved to this day. Among these characters included was Crash’s little, genius sister Coco Bandicoot.
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With the Warp Room, players had their choice of which levels to tackle in the order they pleased, and upon completing them, rose higher to the next set of levels. The developers also streamlined collecting and making it known where the collectibles differed from the other ones.
3Crash Team Racing
This was Playstation’s answer to Mario Kart, but instead of just copying the formula that Mario Kart had, Crash Team Racing wanted to make it feel like you were playing a different game altogether. Mario Kart has a nice balance of speed and item use, while Crash Team Racing wanted its speed to be more of its focus point.
Experiencing speed bursts more frequently and the signature rumble controller added a sense of weight and impact when you came crashing back down to the ground, creating a larger sense of intensity than its rival making it one of thebest racing games on the original PlayStation.
2Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
In true Naughty Dog fashion, this game took everything that was in the last Naughty Dog title and aimed to add new elements to it in the form of masks, changing the very way you played the game, as well as unlockable cosmetics for almost every level. This game would be a mainline entry and direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot: Warped, overwriting The Wrath Of Cortex and all subsequent mainline games.
Overall, this was a true return to greatness for the franchise, and the inclusion of being able to play the stages as either their choice of Crash or Coco makes players realize that they are on this adventure together.
1Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
The final Crash Bandicoot game released by Naughty Dog was Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and heralded as its best. Warped kept all the improvements from before and added even more in the form of permanent character upgrades, such as a body slam, double jumping, super spinning, and even a bazooka, just to name a few.
Warped also introduced time trials to create further replayability of levels by adding a new way to challenge players. Time trials would also be added to all the original titles with the release of Vicarious Vision’sremake, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.
