So! We're just about five days away from the release of N.Sane trilogy and I don't see any discussion as of yet, so let's fix that!

I never personally owned the original Playstation, but I had a friend who did and along with Resident Evil, the Crash Bandicoot games were easily the ones we played the most on that thing. Admittedly it was him who played most of the time while I watched from aside, but even that was enough to kinda make me feel like I played those things to 100% completion myself, with how vividly I can remember the stages, the visuals and the fantastic soundtracks.

I did buy them digitally on PS3 years later to refresh my memories and besides the somewhat floaty/stiff controls of the first one, I still liked them. With N.Sane approaching it's release, I've noticed that a whole lot of people don't seem to share the Crash love, with some of the GB staff included, but that won't stop me from taking a nostalgia dive! Maybe it'll be a rude awakening for me, but I'm willing to take that risk after passing on Yooka-Laylee, so I won't at least be disappointed twice by a platformer this year. Maybe I wouldn't have liked them back in the day as much if I would've played Mario 64 with it's more open world, but I never had the opportunity to make that comparison.

Any folks here who are planning to replay the trilogy or are going to play them, but have never touched the original games?

I played the PSN releases not that long ago, so this doesn't have a lot of pull on me. I do like Crash, but to be honest Crash 2 is the only game of the three that I like a lot.

I'm all in. I really enjoyed the Crash games back in the day, I think enough time has passed to have another go around.

Given the more recent entries in the Crash series, I'd rather have this than a new game honestly.

I'm strangely excited for this.

Needs an online version of CTR, AKA the greatest kart racer of all time.

The only Crash I care about is Crash 2. First one did not feel as tight to play, especially because you had to use the D-Pad. I also feel like it had some bad hit detection and just plain bullshit moments. Crash 3 was pretty good but was crammed with too many riding/vehicle levels for my tastes.

I wanna see an hour long QL of Jeff playing through this. And for some reason I want to hear him savagely trash it.

I'm pumped. This is the first game that I decided to platinum before even getting it.

I'm very excited for this. I loved the Crash games growing up. 3 was my favourite.

Luckily, from what I understand these 3 have the analog stick as a control option now

I'm definitely excited for this. I have a lot of nostalgia for the old games and this has been on my mind pretty much since it was announced.

I am fucking HYPE for this, completely completed them all multiple times back in the day, can't wait to replay it all

I mean, I liked Crash Bandicoot as much as the next guy. It was the first game I owned for Playstation, so it has a special place in my heart. I enjoyed crash 2 and remember REALLY enjoyed Warped, collecting all the gems and stuff, I just don't...... i don't think the game play will hold up to today's standards.

I wouldn't say I'm excited, but I'm definitely going to buy it. It looks like they've done a good job modernizing the look of the old games. I came to Crash kind of late, starting with Warped. I loved that game so much I bought the first two as well as CTR when that came out later. I wish that was on this collection, then it would have been all of Naughty Dog Crash games in one thing.

The PS1 was my first console so needless to say I'm excited for this game, but I'm also going to be the harshest of critics for the same reason. I'm already finding a hard time not criticizing the graphics, so if the gameplay isn't 1:1 I'm probably going to return it and play through the old versions instead.

It's too bad there's no CTR with online play. Even if they removed the story and half the tracks, I'd probably play it online more than I've ever played any game online.

Buddy we need a remake of CTR with online and also a new crash racing game.

Crash 3 was amazing to play as a child and I look forward to this remake, but I'm worried about the current devs not being able to deliver the tight gameplay that Naughty Dog nailed with those first three games. They apparently didn't even have access to the original source code so they had to create everything from scratch. I really hope this doesn't become another Silent Hill HD collection.

@companionpube: from everything I have seen and read on Reddit, from people who have the game, the game plays fantastic.

I was worried too when I read that they didn't have access to the source code but I'm not anymore.

Also, you can tell by looking at it that a lot of love went into it. It doesn't seem to a quick cash grab at all. Unrelated but I don't know why these are being advertised as remasters, they are more like remakes. As far as I know though, with the exception of analog control in the first two, and the ability to play as Coco in all three, the gameplay remains unchanged.

The boxes are even in the same places.

Other than that, it reminds me more of the recent Ratchet game on PS4 in terms of visual overhaul.

Some will probably find this to be preposterous, but Crash Bandicoot was the first game I ever played, so the original trilogy has a a big place in my heart.

Preordered a couple of months ago and I've been watching some streams, it looks great and I am very excited for Friday!

@pompouspizza: That's good to hear. I did not know about the devs not having access to the original source code though. That's kind of crazy because from the videos I've seen the gameplay looks extremely close to the originals.
Crash 2 originally did support analogue controller by the way. Because I remember being super stoked about that when I first got it, not having to fuck up my thumb like I did playing the first one.

@boonsong: oh did it? I only remembered Warped having analog. I know, it's very impressive seeing how close it is to the originals knowing that the original source code was lost.

They did have access to some wire meshes though that helped with the scale and spacing of the world.

The games not out yet and it's very anecdotal but I saw a few Reddit posts from people who seemed to be very, very into the originals saying that this "played perfectly"

I want it to be good but I need to see it being played before I make a decision. I don't really expect the opinions from the staff here to mean anything to me as they didn't like the originals, so I will rely mostly on youtube.

@pompouspizza: It might be something weird like it didn't support the dual shock, but the dual analogue controller that came before the dual shock or something. Having googled a bit I've read some people claiming the original supported analogue while others say they only added in analogue support in the Greatest Hits version. I don't remember what my version was. I also saw a lot of people preferring using the d-pad. Personally I can't fathom using the d-pad for anything other than 2D movement. But hey to each their own.

I remember enjoying the first one but never beating it due to it's weird and frustrating save system. I'm guessing this version fixes that. I'll probably play this at some point but I think i'll wait for it to be cheap.

I just hope they get the feel right. Not big on the new graphics, but if it feels like the old games then I'll be right there.

Have you played the old games recently? They kinda play like garbage. I'm picking this up cause I have a lotta love for Crash but I won't be sad if they make it control better.

Really? I haven't played the old games in a few months or so, but last time I played Crash 2 and 3 they remained some of the best-feeling 3D platformers I've ever touched. I guess it's worth noting that I would have been playing those games on a PS3, maybe that helped, but I kinda doubt it. EDIT: Also, I should mention that I'm talking about the traditional platformer levels. Jetpacks and motorcycles and such actually do control pretty bad in the second and third games /EDIT.

The first one, though, that one doesn't control especially well. You can get used to it but it still feels weird.

I have the Greatest Hits version right in front of me and it doesn't mention analog support on the back. I'm pretty sure you have to use the d-pad, the first game came out before the dual-analog controller did - those first few Playstation controllers didn't have any analog sticks for Crash Bandicoot to even use.

I played a lot of the original Crash a a kid, but idk, something about the look of Crash in this remake is a turn off. It looks like he did too much acid.

You're probably right, I actually can barely remember my time playing 2 and 3 and am basing this off of my experience recently going back to Crash 1. The sequels could play a lot better.

@bollard: I played 2 last year and it felt pitch perfect. The original is kind of basic and unrefined, but the sequels are super tight and responsive.

2 & 3 do control pretty well. Admittedly it has been years since I played them on PS3, but I think I'll keep myself from refreshing my memories and just wait for N.Sane to launch. Maybe do some comparison afterwards if I can be bothered. Those motorcycle levels were always a pain in the ass, though, like @justin258 says. Having read some player comments on the remastered version, that still seems to be the case, for better or worse (staying true to the source material in the latter case at least, I guess!).

@justin258: I know you had to use the d-pad for the first Crash but I am still pretty positive I played Crash 2 on my PS1 with a dual analogue controller, and that game came out after the first analogue controller went retail. I might be wrong and my memory is weird. Not that any of that matters anymore though.

You can definitely play Crash 2 with an analog stick. The back of its case even says "analog support".

@justin258: Ah, mystery solved then. I only have the original disc left. The PS1 cases were so fragile, I pretty much broke all of mine.

Crash 2 was one of the first games I got for my playstation and playing it in a store one of the reasons why I wanted one on the first place. I've got a lot of fondness for that games style, with its graphics and music. I also played Crash 3, but didn't touch Crash 1 until much later on the PS3. I went in expecting more of Crash 2 but got a way rougher experience, especially how the controls felt. I hope they haven't gone out of their way to replicate that stiff feeling in the remake.

Looking back, I'm a little bit unsure of how well the series has held up. I know I don't really care about getting a new game in the style of these old ones, but I am on board for playing these remakes (just ordered a copy today). I'm expecting a somewhat pleasant trip down nostalgia lane, since I figure being familiar with the games' control quirks from the start will probably ease the frustrations a new player might feel.

I'm mostly looking forward to revisiting Crash 2, as Crash 3 has a few too many of the non-standard vehicle gimmick levels for my taste. Still, I never managed to collect all of the Gems in either game, so I might try for that. It could also be a fun game to show off to my nephew.

Yeah, that irks me. I still have all of my old PS1 games but most of the cases are at least cracked. In some cases, the case just fell apart so much that I had to put the game in some generic CD cases - I couldn't tell you what's on the back of Crash Warped's case or what's in its instruction booklet because that thing fell apart from overuse.

N-Gen Racing still looks pristine, though!

I'm very nostalgic for Crash 2 and Warped and I replay them in full a few times every couple of years. I'm excited for this release and I've already pre purchased it. I'm curious what they'll do with Crash 1 since that game is brutally difficult and has an awful save system.

I will be interested to see how they hold up. Not so much casually, because I'm sure this collection services that and these three games are all pretty good. In terms of speedrunning I want to see if this version of Crash 2 is worth anything. That game has been pretty great for speedrunning, hopefully all of the techniques are in tact.

Crash 2 is one of my favorite games ever, and I still play it 100% every few years.

I'm mostly excited about Crash 1 in this collection because it's by far the weakest of the originals. Hopefully the controls are better and the difficulty curve is smoothed out.

@jacksukeru: Agreed about the gimmick levels in Warped. People tend to hold that one as the best, but I always felt that 2 was the peak of the PS1 games. Aside from the jetpack and polar bear, it's a pure, classic platformer with some great level design.

3 had the jetski, motorcycle, plane, tiger, underwater levels, all this mediocre stuff needlessly pushing out the solid platforming.

I bought these games for $5 each on PS3 a decade ago, so I don't see the need to spend $40 just for "better" graphics

@csl316: Yeah, at the time I probably thought 3 was the best as well. It was only with time and coming back to both of them way later that I got a bit irked with 3's need to completely change what you were doing every other level.

At least from what I've read, they are keeping every janky bit intact to keep the speedrunning folks happy too.

Having read up on some Naughty Dog & Crash history while waiting for this collection, at some point they actually thought about just removing the regular platforming from Warped. I didn't mind them that much (except for the motorcycle levels with their awful controls and the fact that you have to be the first one in each race, iirc...), but I definitely wouldn't want the whole game to only consist of those.

I already own the games on PS3, so I don't feel especially compelled to pay $40 for a prettified version of them. $20 though? Sure, I'll pay $20 for a better looking version of Crash 2 and a version of the first game that actually controls well. Oh, and Warped, I guess, though I don't think there's much they can do with all of its bad gimmick levels.

@spiceninja: Seems like Crash 1 is still very difficult, they've rationalised the save system though so you can save in between levels.

@glots: Oh wow, didn't know that. Removing the regular platforming would've felt like a minigame collection or something, glad that was held off til Crash Bash so I could safely ignore it.

Crash pisses me off just looking at him.

Maybe I need another beer.....maybe something stronger

Actually ever since I was a kid I thought Crash was one of the more annoying animal video game mascot designs. He gets an obvious pass because his games are actually fun.

Crash 1 with better controls and save system is actually the best argument for me picking this up someday.

Seems like it's just about a perfect remake (or remastering, more like) of the original trio with better graphics. Biggest complaint by DF seems to be the FPS not hitting 60, which I guess some folks were expecting, with some of the trailers running at that framerate. I'm still part of the lucky(?) group who can tell a difference between a 30/60 FPS, but who isn't bothered by the difference at all. Maybe the game reaches that if a pc-version ever comes out, along with the Xbox X version.