Why Crash Works / HOTCYDER
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- Опубліковано 25 гру 2024
- In this essay, I look into what makes the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy work, and whether any lessons can be learnt from it's mechanical design.
The first of hopefully a few new videos where I take a deep dive on video game analysis - and point out features, techniques or quirks that should be better examined and extrapolated.
My first attempt as making a long-form critique and video essay - so I hope you excuse a few small audio/video errors as I improve over time!
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HOTCYDER elsewhere:
Twitter - / hotcyder
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Music used in this video:
Lee Rosevere - Looking Back - Music for Podcasts
Peter Bark - Brush - Mars
Peter Bark - Neve - Mars
Peter Bark - Berlin - Mars
Home - Half Moon - Odyssey
Home - New Machines - Odyssey
Peter Bark - Port - Mars
Home - Come Back Down - Odyssey
Games shown (In order of first appearence):
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive)
Super Mario World
Super Mario 64
Sonic Adventure
Grand Theft Auto 3
Tomb Raider (PSX)
Resident Evil
Tekken
Gran Turismo
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy 7
Uncharted 4
The Last of Us
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
Crash Bandicoot: The N. Sane Trilogy
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Super Mario Bros.
Megaman
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Duck Tales (NES)
Castlevania
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
DOOM (2016)
Crash Bandicoot
Command and Conquer
Street Fighter III: Third Strike
Gran Turismo 5
Jumping Flash
Crash Team Racing
Crash Bash
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
Crash of the Titans
Super Mario Galaxy (1 & 2)
Super Mario 3D Land
Horizon Zero Dawn
Yooka-Laylee
The Crash Bandicoot franchise and all other videogames referenced in this video are copyrighted by their respected companies.
Nice rundown of Crash's moves and how the game gets the most out of not too many.
For enemies, you learn early on that some enemies can't be attacked from the side, so the spin (and slide) won't work, while other enemies can't be attacked from above (so jumping on them won't work). Late-game, you'll find enemies which are only vulnerable to the slide, an attack which you probably used only rarely on enemies because the spin and jump were easier. Also, there's at least one in Crash 2 which is only vulnerable to the body slam.
There was a puzzle in a dark level in Crash 2 which presented 5 or 6 reinforced crates to body-slam, but if you approached it normally, your light would go out before you were done because the body slam was too slow. You had to body slam them in the dark, maybe with the help of sound effects, then go back to collect the light.
A side effect of the spin or slide is that your enemy is sent flying into other stuff, which is usually fine, but in one case it'll go flying into a TNT, which is placed close enough to blow Crash up too. So, you had to jump that enemy.
Bryan from Let's Fight A Boss recommended your channel, and this video was very well made and argued!
Thanks! I actually ended up making a refreshed version of this video recently: ua-cam.com/video/ybbzpA4okrk/v-deo.html
This is so professional and well made, I hope this goes viral!
Thank you! :) Hopefully this gets shared around and gets a snowball effect going
level87code Viral sounds like a bad term to use, how about just popular with the UA-cam peeps?
when i saw this in my recommended list i thought it was some poorly made video, i thought it had thousands of views but when i got out of full screen i was surprised that it wasn't as popular as it should, more people need to see this video you made it really professional dude. :) good job
This is a really good analysis, but I would like to point out that around the 4:45 mark that you have the X and Square button layout switched
I dun goofed! :(
I found what they said more funny due to them sounding more calm and professional in the video
Even in light of glaring technical errors in your diagrams, you always have to remain cool and collected.
There was 2 things you left out of Crash's controls: The Slide Jump, and Slide Spin. The Slide Jump is a moving version of the Crouched Jump. Advance players can use this to very great effect for mobility around environments and enemies much more quickly.
Lastly the Slide Spin is another advance technique to continue the momentum speed of your slide while at the same time still attacking enemies that might still be a little bit farther out of your reach of your normal Slide Attack.
As a bonus, if you can Slide Spin consecutively, you will be able to out run your normal running speed. This is great for speed runners or to just challenge yourself and see how fast you can beat a level you like.
In all this was a great review. I hope to see more like this. Have a good day of you are reading this.
Thanks for the comment! I sorta glazed over the slide jump when I mentioned that moves could be chained together - in regards to the slide spin, I had no idea that was even a thing in till watching a speedrun a few days after uploading this. Just goes to show the level of control they gave players really.
You need more subs, this is a professionally made vid!
annoyingnoahVG thanks!
GAMESD Also, I'm now your 221st subscriber, good job man, hope you get bigger.
Great analysis, well-written and nicely edited. Music fits the chill vibe as well as your calm voice. You bring up good valid points on game design, and I agree on taking inspiration from the Mario games. My only critique would be on the production side, I would recommend you get a pop filter for your microphone to get control over those pesky P's. ^^
Thank you for the comment, Breezo! You'll be glad to know I'm now rocking a pop filter on my mic set up - hope to put it to good use soon!
Of course, it is good to finally see a bit of buzz around Crash, and especially these well-produced videos that acknowledge the games for their design choices, and not just good for the nostalgia. And I am glad to hear about the pop filter! Looking forward to see more content from you then. ^^
I was surprised to see how good the editing was and how small the channel is, your channel deserves more subs
Thank you! I'm sure they'll come eventually :D
UA-cam suggested this, hopefully it gets more and more people watching
Hopefully!
You have earned a sub! This is amazing content, hope your channel blows up.
Everytime I see someone spin into fruits, extra lives or jumpboxes I die inside.
Believe me, I died a little when doing it too :(
what a great vid from such a small channel, well done..bright things ahead
We'll see what happens!
I've never used R1 for O in my life😂
Thought I accidentally clicked on a Good Blood video.
Broguy 22 That's a great compliment
Broguy 22 It's close to his video style, but he has more intricate animation styles using a lot of after effects and 3D from time to time. Personally I feel that using 3D with videos is something unique that needs to be fleshed out some more by the right people... like me lol just saying.
Dammn man, the amount of effort you putted on this video is amazing! looks so professional, you deserve more views/subs. (Sorry for the bad english)
The remade Crash bandicoot games are fun
Yeah they’re real good
Why do you only have 142 subs? This video is very well made.
QuackersXP I only had 40 a few weeks back :) thanks!
Please do more!! It's great
Amazing video, man! Just subscribed and can't wait for your new content!
1 mistake, Crash Bash is not made by Naughty Dog, it was Eurocom
i started watching this while high and after ten seconds clicked out. i forgot to pause and it made excellent background noise for 10 minutes until i noticed. gave it a like despite not listening to a single full sentence
I appreciate your honesty, and your like
You've got my sub for sure. I'll give this a share for sure. Some criticism (maybe not the best person, but hey). I really enjoyed the video and felt I took a lot away from this. Though, near the end, I felt you might have been a bit repetitive with some of your points, but it wasn't bad in the least. Again, well done. :)
Thanks! Feedback is always appreciated - I'll be sure to keep an eye on my repetitions.
For sure. Also, if you have any plans to do Spyro, that'd be dope. *wink*
Great first video! I just want to know what do you think about underwater levels and its relationship with the core gameplay?
Thank you! I'm sort of surprised they hadn't done water levels earlier considering that Crash 2's Jet Pack sort of achieved the same movement but the traditional behind the back perspective - but the ones in 3 are alright, despite having the usual frustrations of every video game water level (too much of a focus on skumophising the sensation of moving through water rather then making it fun to play) - stuff like slow movement and too much slippery easing. I do at least like the fact it had a sort of curvy movement to it though - plus you do get the Seadoo that mitigates some of the frustration by giving you more UFO style movement (but it is annoying that they use it like a power-up rather than letting you have it all the time).
Excellent work pal
Thank you :)
I have to say this video was really well made.I dont know if you have any nostalgia with crash or not ,but either way this video does him a great justice. Plus your voice is monotone yet very soothing .....Im gonna stop being creepy now
Great video man, very well done! My personal opinion is that Crash shouldn't be too much like Mario, because Mario already exists. Mario is the king of what he does. Crash has to find its own thing in today's world. I feel like Crash could benefit a lot from modern day adventure gaming style more. The developers were on the right track when they worked on Crash Evolution, the canceled game that eventually became Twinsanity. Twinsanity already had the open world approach but it was still very forced and linear.
I think there has to be a way to implement the core things of what makes crash work into something that is more than just a ps4-generation-makeover of a PS1 formula. I mean if they're gonna do this, please do it right finally. Put the world's best creative people on it and create something that delivers not only what people want, but much more than they even realize they want. I'm not only thinking about what makes Crash work, but also what makes Crash NOT work, and that is too straight forward thinking. The ps2 era of crash was so simplified it became idiotic. It was tailored towards kids so much it became dumb. PS1 Crash worked because it was risky and ahead of its time. Ps2 crash wasn't. So if we're gonna revive this dude, my only request for the developers is: be ahead of time like naughty dog was, whatever that practically means. Take risks for the sake of artistic beauty. If you're gonna do it, do it right, don't milk it just for nostalgia money. I'd rather have crash remain dead than another generation of torturing.
Loving the remaster so far, hopefully ctr gets reimaginined as well. Again mate, awesome video!
Thanks for the reply :) Great points made
Not gonna lie, I liked this video 10 seconds in. I just knew it would be good. I was right. Great job ! Big thanks to UA-cam for recommending this. It deserves exposure and views. #GoodBloodVibes
Thank you!
Good Vid. Look forward to more!
naughty dog made a remake or crash but not for jak?
Vicarious Visions are behind the Remasters - but if it does well I'm sure Jak and Daxter could be on the cards!
The only thing Crash related Naughty Dog has done was include the Boulders level from the original Crash Bandicoot in Uncharted 4 as an easter egg. Oh and included a Wumpa Fruit treasure.
Coolgames64 Jak and Daxter is coming to the PS4 on PS2 Classics
that was a pretty entertaining and a well made vid :D never thought that u had 360 subs until i saw it :O
Thank you! Only had about 200 or so last time someone commented :D
GAMESD i really hope ur subs are getting higher and higher. U r one of those youtubers that actually should get like 10k subs per week
GAMESD just keep up with those good vids ^^
GOOD VIDEO WELL MADE AND GOOD ANIMATION YOU GET A SUB
THANKS
can you check my vids
Could it be taht you been inspired by mark brown??(from gamemakerstoolkit)
Absolutely :) Big fan of Mark's videos - though my intention is to hopefully put my own spin on games analysis like he does with GMTK
Good video, very professional. But I disagree on the topic how the games should follow the path of super mario games on future developments. I think the perspective is a simple way of challenging people, but also make sure that all players experience the levels almost the same way. The missing control over the perspective adds to the simplicity of the games and is probably the most relevant difference between crash and mario. Personally, I'd like to see the developers keep it that way.
Also a small tip for you: Keep your mic on the side of your mouth, that way you'll avoid accidental blowing into it. Good luck ascending the ladder of youtube.
Thanks for the reply! 3D land and world takes camera control out of out the players command - which I thought was similar to how the old crash games do it. I'd prefer that to free camera control like 64 or Sunshine.
Good tip on the mic though - i'll give it a try in a future video. See you on the ladder!
4:41 ya might wanna have a second look at that picture, buddy
I was 9 minutes into the video, then looked at your sub count and said "Are you fucking serious?"
It's getting bigger! Didn't have more then about 80 subs when this video went up two months ago.
I love how you loved the comment yesterday, and replied today. Pure dedication right there.
I aim to please!
Don't forget Doom had console ports during the mid 1990's
WoAh
Great video btw I subscribed
Harry Robinson Thanks!
Whoa!
W O A H
Just stopped watching after the first minute. I gotta say your new videos are a LOT better! Keep up the good work.
I might have something this Friday that may make up for this 👀
uhhhhh x is on the bottom
I dun goofed :\
Subscribed
Liked and subscribed 🤔
👌
woah
That's my favourite Crash Bandicoot qoute
At 4:40 that's not right.
This video looks SO well, Yet, I just checked your subs and you have too little for this quality!
Hopefully a few more soon!
Why woah?
Woah
waa
It just works.
There, I saved you 15 minutes.
Carlos Sierra Why didn't I think of that? :(
Man your voice is sooo quiet, it makes me feel sleepy...
Turn your volume up!
It doesn't. It *_crashes_*
i was the 700 like
those horrible scan lines:S
#aesthetic
*W O A H*
woah
Woah