Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

6. One Of The Most Faithful Recreations Of A Beloved Classic Ever Made

The debate rages on as to just how a video game remake 'should' be done:

Is it in the vein of Final Fantasy VII where gameplay is completely uprooted and replaced, or here where the original forms the mechanical framework and the majority of time goes into updating textures and graphics?

If you're in the latter camp - which was also mostly the case with Nintendo's excellent Ocarina of Time upgrade on 3DS - Crash is exemplary. There are some qualms that emerge from Vicarious Visions applying Crash 3's physics model to both Crash 1 and 2, but from the moment you begin running, jumping, smashing crates and hoovering up Wumpa fruit, it feels like Crash.

Atop that, you've got completely reworked/redesigned cutscenes, gorgeously rendered and animated perfectly with all the iconic sound effects and score from the originals, re-recorded in HD.

Basically, this looks and plays almost identically to the version of Crash in your head, which is just what's needed.