Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy Reviews: 10 Critical Reactions You Need To Know

8. The Original Game Is Still Infuriatingly Difficult

"Dumbing down Crash’s brand of platforming action to make it more accessible could have been a tempting prospect for Activision, but thankfully that isn’t what’s happened here...Those levels that had you weeping into your wired DualShock all those years ago are just as punishing here. Crash’s debut is by far the toughest of the three games, mainly thanks to its sparse checkpoints and love of floating platforms. There’s a slight stiffness and lack of momentum in the bandicoot’s jump animation that will often frustrate as you slip down a crevice for the umpteenth time." - The Sixth Axis

"The overreliance on waves of enemies rather than platforming challenges makes for a much more repetitive experience, especially when put side-by-side with Cortex Strikes Back and Warped." - IGN

"While it's easy to look at these games and appreciate the care that's gone into their presentation, actually playing them stirs up conflicting emotions. There's no way around it: they remain dated despite their fresh look. Enemies rarely react to you, preferring instead to follow pre-determined paths and animation loops. And many obstacles are needlessly discouraging; Razor-thin tolerances for success and one-hit deaths make for a frustrating pairing. You can control Crash using an analog stick now, but smoother pivots and jumps don't alleviate the otherwise stiff gameplay lurking behind Crash's goofy exterior." - Gamespot

It's easy to forget that the original Crash Bandicoot was a brutally difficult game, to the extent that Naughty Dog severely nerfed the level of challenge for the subsequent entries in the series.

Though many expected that N. Sane Trilogy would actually fix the first game's difficulty level, it seems that little concession has in fact been made to curb it, and the levels and mechanics are largely represented untouched.

While this may disappoint some, especially those who've not touched the first game in many years if ever, another way to look at it is Vicarious wanting to preserve the original, warts and all, which is admirable in its own right.