10 Ways Spyro: Reignited Is Better (And Worse) Than Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy

Beating the game is one thing. While Crash is tougher than most people remembered, storing up a few lives and reaching each checkpoint normally gets the job done. When it comes to replay value though, Crash cranks the difficulty up further.

In time trial mode, you don’t just have to beat the level. You have to beat the level in a single life, all under a set time. While sapphire relics are given away almost always upon completion, you’ll need gold relics for the trophy/achievement. And then there’s platinum if you want to truly put your mettle to the test. Putting your heart and soul into a run, dying again and again just to finish one second off platinum is agonising.

Spyro just doesn’t have a feature like this. The levels aren’t designed to be rushed, and there’s no incentive for doing so. In the sequels, parts of levels were sometimes locked behind power ups to be unlocked later, forcing you to play it twice. But still, this wasn’t so much a test of skill as it was of progression.

Crash may be more frustrating, but it’s a lot more rewarding at times too.