Whatever year in which you were born, Crash Bandicoot always offers a unique nostalgia to our childhood. Players take control of Crash Bandicoot as the barret bandicoot takes on the fictional Wumpa Islands, located in southern Australia, to complete objectives, win races, or defeat the long-time enemy, Doctor Neo Cortez. Initially developed by Naughty Dog back in the late 1990s as a PlayStation exclusive, the franchise has seen numerous releases and spin-offs.
With the upcoming release of the eighth Crash Bandicoot game, titled It’s About Time, in October 2020, this will be the best time to take a look at some of the must-know games made by Crash Bandicoot’s dedicated fans.
10 Crash Bandicoot: Underwater
First, we have Crash Bandicoot: Underwater, released roughly four years ago in 2016 by indie developer, AliAlhakeem, on GameJolt. The game’s content is pretty self-explanatory: you play as Crash Bandicoot exploring the underwater world of the Island through a pipe.
The developer’s sequel of the game, Crash Bandicoot: Underwater 2, was also released in the same year, and it was a complete mash-up with SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom. Instead of diving underwater, players will take on numerous challenges, from playing soccer to fleeing SpongeBob and his cops’ group.
9 Crash of Chaos
Crash of Chaos is what happens when Crash Bandicoot meets Super Mario Bros. Just like the 1983 game, players are required to obtain as many Wumpa Fruit as they can while avoiding obstacles like TNT and nitro crates. 100 Fruits will be translated into one extra life for your character. As the game progresses, the barriers keep getting harder and harder.
Sadly, after its beta release in 2008, the game’s developer decided to scrap the idea. Their last YouTube video was posted in 2012, and we haven’t heard that much from them since then.
8 Crash Bandicoot World
In Crash Bandicoot World, players are taken into some of the world’s iconic places, from the Great Wall of China—or The Great Wall of Cortex, as the developer titles it—the Cortex City, to outer space. The objective is to collect the mighty Wumpa Fruits while avoiding the obstacles through the road.
Crash Bandicoot World was released last year, and its use of the Unity Engine gives impressive details to the game. It definitely is worth trying, especially if you’re an avid fan of our favorite bandicoot.
7 Crash Bandicoot Flash
Moving on, we have a web browser-based Crash Bandicoot Flash. Although it’s not the best looking-fan game aesthetically out there, Crash Bandicoot Flash is really satisfying to beat and has a smooth control & a good detail for a 2D browser game.
The game features five different levels, ranging from a grass level to a boulder chase level, to challenge players to get as many Wumpa Fruits and Crystals as possible. Sadly, the game was stuck in beta, and the developer had already given up on it.
6 Crystal’s Wrath
Developed by YouTubers PatStrikesBack and JumpButtonCM, Crystal’s Wrath takes the meaning of a Crash Bandicoot fan-made game to a new height. It’s solid-looking visually, and the pinpoint use of sound effects give players a wholly unique experience as if they’re playing an actual Crash Bandicoot game.
As per-July 2020, the game is still in its development. The developers are always actively updating the fans about the game’s development on their joint YouTube channel, so make sure to check it out!
5 Cortex Conquest
Still from the 2D world, we have Cortex Conquest, developed by HyperGolem. In this game, you play as Doctor Neo Cortex, as he plots to take over the world.
The developer might already be a “household” name in the Crash Bandicoot fangame community, but this game is not. There are just too many flaws from the game, from its frame-rate inconsistency to its poor controls. Not to mention the game’s lackluster, 2D & lazy-looking drawing graphics. However, it’s still worth the time and the hassle, so feel free to check it out here!
4 Crash Bash Live
Initially, Crash Bash Live is an HD remake of the 2000 party game Crash Bash. Like its original version, Crash Bash Live is meant to be a multiplayer game where you can take on your friends on crates & air hockey battles. The game also features numerous unlockables and customizable characters to challenge its players to do a 100 % completion of it. Crash Bash Live can be accessed here.
3 Crash Bandicoot Apocalypse
As the title of the game suggests, Crash Bandicoots Apocalypse follows the journey of Crash Bandicoot, preventing the evil Uka Uka and Doctor Neo from destroying the Earth. In this game, players have to “run, jump, spin, and slide through the colorful world of Crash, fight powerful bosses, find secret areas, discover treasure, and defeat evil forces.” The game is free to play, and it only requires a meager 74mb of storage space.
2 Crash Bandicoot: Timetwister
The last and undoubtedly the best 3D fan-made game of the franchise is Crash Bandicoot: Timetwister. It relies on the Unreal Engine 4 to give the game a nice, crisp, and clean appeal. Like any other Crash Bandicoot game, you take full control of Crash as he navigates his way to collect Wumpa Fruits and fight final bosses.
Right now, the game’s developer, Anisotropic, is still working on its full release. You can check on the trailer here and participate in the beta!
1 N. Tense
The next one is our best pick from the 2D world: Crash N. Tense from Metalsonic3. Even though it’s not graphically as good as the previous entry, N. Tense’s game developer has included some of the most essential details on this game, including Crash’s facial reaction to his surroundings or whenever he crouches, jumps, or slides. It’s honestly mind-blowing for a 2D game. The game is still in development, for now, but you can participate in the demo version here.
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