PixlBit

So it finally happened. Crash Bandicoot was coming onto a system I actually owned. I could not be any more excited to play the hell out of that game, it was the first GBA game I was super excited for. At the time, I played the hell out of it, and upon returning to it, I found that there was a lot to like.

The plot is that Cortex shrinks the Earth so that it can fit in the size of his hand. Unfortunately, the game does nothing to take advantage of this really. While it could have Crash go against giant enemies and bosses in Cortex's lab, it stays entirely on Earth. Even the bosses are the standard size, it's really bizarre that Cortex also shrunk Dingodile, N-Gin, and Tiny as well.

This plays into the game's biggest flaw: It introduces nothing new. The levels are basically fan favorite areas from 2 and 3 with a few new ideas. Unfortunately, these new ideas are really ways to rehash older Crash ideas onto the GBA. Yetis chase you on the boulder while you're riding the polar bear because the GBA couldn't handle the run towards the screen leve. Star Fox esque jetpack levels exist because the GBA couldn't handle 2's jetpack levels or 3's dogfight levels (notable because you're shooting blimps and airplanes from those levels).

Even the boss fights feel rehashed even if they're put in new areas. Dingodile takes place underwater but he's shooting at you with a flamethrower. Tiny has you jumping from platform to platform avoiding him until he gets stuck. N-Gin has a giant mech you have to shoot at. Been there, done that.

But if you can get past all this, the level design is very solid. It's not 2 or 3 good, but they put the tried and true Crash Bandicoot obstacles to good use, creating some fun and intense platforming. The game does a pretty decent job of mimicking the look of the PS1 games as well thanks to using the same graphical tricks as Donkey Kong Country.

I wouldn't recommend this above any of the PS1 games, I'd even say 1 has more going for it than this entry. But if you enjoy Crash Bandicoot and want a solid sidescroller on the GBA, it's a damn good game. Just don't expect anything original out of it.