Crash Bandicoot (character)

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot character

Crash as he appears in Crash Bandicoot: Warped
First game Crash Bandicoot (1996)
Created by Naughty Dog
Designed by Charles Zembillas
Voiced by (English)
Voiced by (Japanese)

Crash Bandicoot, or simply Crash, is the title character and primary protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. Introduced in the 1996 video game Crash Bandicoot, Crash is an eastern barred bandicoot who was genetically enhanced by the series' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and soon escaped from Cortex's castle after a failed experiment in the "Cortex Vortex". Throughout the series, Crash acts as the opposition against Cortex and his schemes for world domination. While Crash has a number of offensive maneuvers at his disposal, his most distinctive technique is one in which he spins like a tornado at high speeds and knocks away almost anything that he strikes.

Crash was created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, and was originally designed by Charles Zembillas. Crash was intended to be a mascot character for Sony to use to compete against Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog. Before Crash was given his name (which stems from the visceral reaction to the character's destruction of boxes), he was referred to as "Willie the Wombat" for much of the duration of the first game's production. Crash has drawn comparisons to Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog by reviewers. His animations have been praised, and his voice has been criticized, while his redesign in the Radical Entertainment games has drawn mixed reactions.

Concept and creation

Concept art of Willie the Wombat or Wuzzy Wombat, who would later become Crash Bandicoot. The tail was later removed due to the graphical limitations of the PlayStation.

One of the main reasons Naughty Dog chose to develop Crash Bandicoot (at the time jokingly codenamed "Sonic's Ass Game"[1][2]) for the Sony PlayStation was Sony's lack of an existing mascot character that could compete with Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog and Nintendo's Mario.[3] Naughty Dog desired to do what Sega and Warner Bros. did with the hedgehog (Sonic) and the Tasmanian devil (Taz) respectively and incorporate an animal that was "cute, real, and no one really knew about". The team purchased a field guide on Tasmanian mammals and selected the wombat, potoroo and bandicoot as options. Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin went with "Willie the Wombat" as a temporary name for the starring character of the game. The name was never meant to be final, due both to the name sounding "too dorky" and to the existence of a non-video game property of the same name. The character was effectively a bandicoot by October 1994, but was still referred to as "Willie the Wombat" because a final name had not been formulated yet.[3] Wanting their mascot game to be multi-dimensional in character depth as well as gameplay, Gavin and Rubin chose not to base Willie around one attribute such as "fast" or "cute".[4] The team felt that Willie should be "goofy and fun-loving, and never talk"; the character's muteness was based on the theory that voices for video game characters were always "lame, negative, and distracted from identification with them."[3]

American Exitus artist Charles Zembillas was hired (alongside environmental artist Joe Pearson) and met with weekly to design and develop Willie and the other characters of the game.[1][5] It was decided early on that there would be no connection between the real animal and Willie's final design. Instead the design of the character was determined "51% by technical and visual necessity and 49% by inspiration". To determine the color of Willie's fur, Gavin created a list of popular characters and their colors, and then made a list of earthly background possibilities (such as forests, deserts, beaches, etc.). Colors that wouldn't look good on the screen were strictly outlawed, such as red, which would "bleed horribly" on older televisions. Orange was selected as the color of Willie's fur as the last available color. Willie's head was made large and neckless to counter the low resolution of the screen and allow Willie's facial expressions to be discernible. Jason Rubin noted the increased difficulty in turning Willie's head with this type of design. Small details such as the gloves, the spots on Willie's back and a light-colored chest were added to help the player determine what side of Willie was visible based on color. Willie was not given a tail or any flappy straps of clothing due to the PlayStation's inability to properly display such pixels without flickering. The length of Willie's pants was shortened to keep his ankles from flickering as they would with longer pants. Andy Gavin owns the original ink sketches of Crash by Charles Zembillas.[3]

Willie's final game model was made from 512 polygons with the only textures being for the spots on his back and his shoelaces. It took Andy Gavin a month to settle on that number of polygons. Because of the game's use of vertex animation, Willie was capable of more facial expressions than other video game characters at or before the time.[6] Willie's jumping, spinning and bonking mechanisms were refined as the Naughty Dog team developed the levels "Heavy Machinery" and "Generator Room".[7] While preparing for the game's demonstration at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the team decided to finally rename the titular character "Crash Bandicoot" (the particular name being credited to Dave Baggett and Taylor Kurosaki[8]), with his surname being based on his canonical species and his first name stemming from the visceral reaction to the character's destruction of boxes ("Dash", "Smash" and "Bash" were other potential names).[5][8] The marketing director of Universal Interactive Studios insisted that the game and character be named "Wez/Wezzy/Wuzzle the Wombat" or "Ozzie the Otzel". The name Crash Bandicoot prevailed after Naughty Dog threatened to leave the production.[8]

After Naughty Dog presented Crash Bandicoot to Sony's Japanese division, the executives of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan stated their dislike of the character and were unimpressed by the renderings of the character made specifically for the meeting. During a break following the initial meeting, Andy Gavin approached Charlotte Francis, the artist responsible for the renderings, and gave her fifteen minutes to close Crash's huge, smiling mouth to make him seem less aggressive, change his eyes from green to "two small black "Pac-Man" shapes" and make his spike of hair smaller. Sony Japan bought Crash Bandicoot for Japanese distribution after being shown the modified printout.[9]

Crash served as a mascot for Sony Computer Entertainment from his creation until September 2000 when Universal Interactive Studios and Konami entered an agreement that would enable Konami to publish a Crash Bandicoot game (which would later become Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex) for next-generation game systems, with Universal Interactive handling the production of the games; the agreement served to break the Crash Bandicoot franchise's exclusivity to Sony-produced consoles and effectively made Crash Bandicoot a mascot character for Universal rather than Sony.[10] Crash's game model in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex was composed of approximately 1,800 polygons, which allowed an increase in detail compared to past models, including a more complex and realistic tuft of hair, a visible uvula, stitching on his jeans and shoes and a designer label on his pants.[11]

Upon beginning development of Crash Nitro Kart, Vicarious Visions chief executive officer and chief creative officer Karthik Bala noted that Crash's physical appearance had been inconsistent since his debut in 1996 and decided to "explore the original vision of the character" in an attempt to bring him back to his roots. Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson were tracked down and enlisted for guidance during development of the game and were faced with the challenge of evolving the character and the franchise visually while retaining their "cartoon-like charm". To redesign Crash and the other mainstay characters of the series for Crash Nitro Kart, the Vicarious Visions team reviewed a number of original development sketches from Zembillas's archives and then redesigned the main characters by incorporating details from the concept art and adding girth to the characters; Crash's appearance in the game, compared to the previous two games, sports a slightly larger nose, fuller eyebrows, and a far more textured body. Zembillas noted that "Crash is slimmer and more appealing now. There's also more emphasis on his eyes, and you can see the craftiness in his personality. That's Crash to me, and he's alive again in Nitro Kart."[12]

Crash is voiced by Brendan O'Brien in Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Crash Bash, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Crash Bandicoot 2: N. Tranced, and Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage. [13] by Billy Pope in Crash Team Racing,[14] by Steven Blum in Crash Nitro Kart[15] and by Jess Harnell in Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant.[16][17] In the Japanese versions of the games, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi up to Crash Nitro Kart[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] and by Makoto Ishii in Crash Boom Bang!.[25]

Characteristics

Crash was genetically engineered through the use of Cortex and Doctor Nitrus Brio's Evolvo-Ray. Before escaping from Doctor Neo Cortex's island fortress, Crash became romantically attached to a female bandicoot named Tawna, who was another one of Cortex's experiments. Crash's separation from Tawna at the hands of Cortex serves as the primary root of Crash's antagonisation of Cortex.[26] Crash is a very emotional character who is quick to laugh and quick to cry.[27] While he has a danger-loving, fearless nature and loves a good fight,[27][28] he prefers relaxing in the sun and rarely seeks out trouble deliberately.[27] Crash has an extremely limited vocabulary, preferring to speak in unintelligible gibberish; the few English words he is capable of speaking include 'Whoa!' (which he often exclaims upon being physically harmed), 'Nina'[29] and 'pancakes'.[30] To the ire of his friend Crunch, but the amusement of his sister, Coco, Crash is prone to impolite personal habits such as belching[31] or scratching his posterior.[4]

In the beginning of the series, Crash's sole offensive maneuvers were jumping onto his enemies and a distinctive technique in which he spins around like a tornado, kicking away anyone or anything that he strikes.[32] In later games Crash can expand his range of abilities by defeating boss characters.[33][34][35][36] The expanded abilities include a powerful splash, the ability to jump while in the air, the "Death Tornado Spin" (a variation of his spinning technique that allows him to hover through the air for a limited time), a bazooka that fires Wumpa Fruit, increased running speed, the ability to safely tip-toe on top of explosive crates, and the ability to jump at incredibly high heights.[33][34][35][37] The games Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant allow Crash to further expand his offensive abilities with new fighting moves learned from collecting a magical substance known as "Mojo".[38][39]

Appearances

As seen in Crash Bandicoot, Crash was once an ordinary eastern barred bandicoot[40] before he was snatched from the wild by Doctor Neo Cortex and subjected to the Evolvo-Ray as part of Cortex's plan to make Crash the "general" of his "Cortex Commandos", which would be used to dominate the world.[41] However, he is later deemed unworthy of being in Cortex's army and escapes from Cortex's castle.[26] As an act of revenge and to rescue a female bandicoot named Tawna, Crash travels through the Wumpa Islands, defeating Cortex's henchmen along the way. He eventually steals Cortex's airship, defeats Doctor Cortex, and escapes alongside Tawna. A year later in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash is sent off to get a new laptop battery for his sister Coco, but is soon abducted by Doctor Neo Cortex, who claims to have changed his ways. Crash is then ordered to gather Crystals for Cortex while fighting off opposition from Doctor Nitrus Brio. Once Cortex reveals his hidden intentions, Crash sends Cortex flying off into space and aids Nitrus Brio in destroying Cortex's space station. In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, when the remains of the space station crash into Earth and set the demonic Uka Uka free, Crash is recruited by Aku Aku to use Doctor Nefarious Tropy's Time-Twisting Machine to gather the powerful Crystals in their original places before Cortex does. Crash eventually gathers all 25 Crystals and defeats Nefarious Tropy, causing the Time-Twisting Machine to implode on itself. In Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, Crash is recruited to gather Crystals and return a group of destructive masks named the Elementals to a hibernation state and stop Cortex's new superweapon Crunch Bandicoot. In Crash Twinsanity, after foiling another plot by Doctor Cortex to eliminate him, Crash teams up with Cortex in order to defeat the Evil Twins and restore the natural order of the universe.

In Crash of the Titans, Crash aids Coco in the development of a butter-recycling device.[31] This is interrupted when Neo Cortex arrives and kidnaps Aku Aku and Coco. Crash throws Coco's machine at Cortex's airship, severing the chain holding Aku Aku's cage, which causes the cage to fall into the nearby forest. After Crash rescues Aku Aku, they discover that Cortex and Uka Uka are stealing Mojo from a nearby temple and decide to stop them.[42] Crash is unable to rescue his sister but manages to defeat Cortex, and he begins his search for Coco, interrogating Dingodile, Tiny Tiger, N. Gin, and Uka Uka on her whereabouts. Crash finally confronts and defeats Nina Cortex inside of the Doominator robot, liberates his sister, and averts the destruction of Wumpa Island. Feeling happy for themselves, Crash and his family decide to celebrate their victory with pancakes, which he blurts out (speaking for the first time) in joy.[30] Soon after, in Crash: Mind over Mutant, the NV, a personal digital assistant that everyone must possess, is released to the public. However, this turns out to be a plot by Doctor Cortex and his old partner Doctor Nitrus Brio, who use the NV's Mojo-transmitting powers to control everyone who uses the device. Because Crash is unaffected by the NV,[43] he is able to free his friends from the control of the NV and stop Cortex's and Brio's plot.

Other appearances in the series

Crash appears as a playable character in Crash Team Racing and Crash Bash. The epilogue of Crash Team Racing states that Crash sold his life story, titled "The Color Orange", to a major film studio, set to be released by the Christmas season.[44] In Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure, Crash is recruited to gather Crystals to power a device built by Coco that will reverse the effects of Cortex's Planetary Minimizer, which has shrunken the Earth to the size of a grapefruit. In Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, Crash is awoken from his nap by the kidnapping of Coco and Crunch by Nefarious Tropy and N. Trance. Crash is almost kidnapped himself before being rescued by Aku Aku. He is then sent off to rescue Crunch and Coco, recruit Fake Crash, and defeat N. Trance and Nefarious Tropy. Crash is a playable character in Crash Nitro Kart, in which he is abducted (along with other characters) by Emperor Velo XXVII and forced to compete in the Galaxy Circuit. When Velo relinquishes his power to Crash, Crash seriously considers the possibility of ruling over Velo's empire, but he refuses the offer and leaves Velo with his empire. In Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage, Crash is tricked into thinking that Spyro the Dragon is attacking the Wumpa Islands, but he discovers the truth after a fight on a bridge, and teams up with Spyro to defeat the combined forces of Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripto. In Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash is recruited (along with other characters) by Ebenezer Von Clutch to gather the stolen Power Gems of his amusement park and win the park's ownership. He also finds Von Clutch's lost Black Power Gem by the end of the game. Crash is a playable character in Crash Boom Bang!, in which he interrupts the Viscount's wish to the Super Big Power Crystal and wishes for a vast amount of Wumpa Fruit.

Cultural impact

Merchandise

Crash has been featured in two series of Crash Bandicoot action figures produced by the now-defunct Resaurus. For Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Resaurus produced a "Jetboard Crash" (a Crash Bandicoot figure bundled with the jetboard seen in the game) and a "Jet Pack Crash" (a goggle-wearing Crash Bandicoot figure bundled with the jet pack seen in the game). The Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped series featured three different figures of Crash, including one bundled with Aku Aku and Coco Bandicoot figures.[45]

Paleontology

Paleontologists have named an extinct bandicoot from the Miocene of Australia after the video game character Crash Bandicoot, under the binomial Crash bandicoot— genus Crash, species bandicoot. Although somewhat unusual for the scientific community, the name was used in an entirely unaltered form, without attempting to return to Latin or Greek roots.[46][47]

Reception

Crash's aesthetic design in the Radical Entertainment-developed games in the series has drawn mixed reactions from professional video game critics

As a mascot character, Crash has drawn numerous comparisons to competing mascots such as Mario and Sonic by reviewers.[48][49][50] Dave Halverson of GameFan praised Crash's animations, appearance and mannerisms as "100% perfection".[51] A reviewer for Game Revolution praised Crash's "quirky mannerisms" as "always refreshing",[52] and John Broady of GameSpot described Crash as "disarmingly cute and fuzzy".[53] Doug Perry of IGN was critical of the character, seeing him as "insanely capitalistic", negatively comparing his voice to Luigi of the Mario series[54] and accusing him of being "the most see-through, copycat mascot that ever existed."[49] Louis Bedigian of GameZone also disliked Crash's voice, remarking "it is really annoying to hear a child say, 'Whoa!' every time you fall in the water, especially when you realize that the child's voice is supposed to be Crash."[55] Crash's animations, particularly in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, have been praised as humorous by reviewers.[56][57] Ryan Davis of GameSpot analyzed Crash's "overextended running style and self-punishing attacks" as establishing him as an "empty-headed but enthusiastic character", and compared his facial contortions to those of comedian Red Skelton.[58] Crash has been included in a number of GameFAQs' "Character Battle" contests, but never progressed more than one round each time.[59][60][61][62] In a poll held by MSN in late 2008 to determine the most iconic video game character, Crash ranked at #8.[63] In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition from 2011, he was voted as the eleventh best video game character.[64] However, he also ranked eighth on IGN's top 10 list of video game characters who should die, adding that it would be a mercy killing. IGN editor Colin Moriarty stated that his games add little to innovate the series over the years, rendering the character useless.[65]

Crash's aesthetic design in the games developed by Radical Entertainment has received mixed reactions from reviewers. Brian Rowe of Game Revolution noted that Crash's fingerless gloves have been replaced with "equally outdated" tribal tattoos and that Crash's personality had been altered from his "obnoxiously extreme attitude" to that of a "bluthering, googly-eyed idiot". Although Rowe wondered when and why the change happened, he concluded that "it’s better than the popular goatee-of-rage that so many other platform giants are sporting these days."[66] Arnold Katayev of PSX Extreme, while admitting that the character detail on Crash was "pretty nice", expressed unhappiness with the artistic choices made for the character; he described Crash's tribal tattoos as "a little pretentious" and noted that the increased definition on his mohawk patch made Crash come off as "trying too hard to be cool". He added that Crash's new fighting style begot a stance that consists of Crash "putting up his dukes like a boxer", which he deemed "out of character" for Crash. Finally, while critiquing the voice acting in Crash of the Titans, he remarked that Crash "especially sounds awful, largely because he doesn't actually speak - he just blabs annoying gibberish, which makes him sound like he's an infant."[67] Matt Keller of PALGN also criticized Crash's voice, which he said made Crash sound "like a confused baby".[68] Louis Bedigian of GameZone stated that "Crash’s character design has gone from cool to goofy and now to the dreaded place of being dorky" and said that the minute and gradual changes made to Crash's design throughout the series "have really hurt Crash’s appearance as a leading game character".[69] GamePro named Crash's new design as the second worst video game character makeover ever.[70] Craig Harris of IGN was more positive on Crash's new appearance and noted that Crash "looks a little floofier and a lot edgier, gaining a spikier Mohawk and trading in his fingerless gloves for tribal ink all up and down his arms" while comparing his incoherent squawking vocalizations to Kazooie of the Banjo-Kazooie series. He concluded that "ultimately he's been changed for the better. He looks a little cooler and more appealing than his more 'Japanese-inspired' edits over the years."[71]

References

  1. 1 2 "From Rags to Riches: Way of the Warrior to Crash 3". Game Informer 66 (October 1998): 18–19. 1998.
  2. Andy Gavin (February 2, 2011). "Making Crash Bandicoot - part 1". All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Andy Gavin (February 3, 2011). "Making Crash Bandicoot - part 2". All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "[ Crash Gallery - Character Sketches - Crash 1 ]". Naughty Dog. Archived from the original on 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  5. 1 2 "[ Crash Bandicoot - Time Line ]". Naughty Dog. Archived from the original on July 29, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
  6. Andy Gavin (February 4, 2011). "Making Crash Bandicoot - part 3". All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  7. Andy Gavin (February 5, 2011). "Making Crash Bandicoot - part 4". All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Andy Gavin (February 7, 2011). "Making Crash Bandicoot - part 6". All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  9. Andy Gavin (February 6, 2011). "Making Crash Bandicoot - part 5". All Things Andy Gavin. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  10. Harris, Craig (September 21, 2000). "IGN: Bandicoot Crashes the Game Boy Advance". IGN. Retrieved August 27, 2009.
  11. Crispin Boyer (2001). "Crash Landing". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) 142 (Crash Bandicoot PS2): 91.
  12. Karen Moltenbrey (April 2004). "Crash Course". Computer Graphics World. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  13. "Crash Bandicoot for PlayStation - Technical Information, Game Information, Technical Support - GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  14. Crash Team Racing Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 1999. p. 26.
  15. "Crash Nitro Kart for PlayStation 2 - Technical Information, Game Information, Technical Support - GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  16. "Crash Tag Team Racing for PlayStation 2 - Technical Information, Game Information, Technical Support - GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  17. "Crash of the Titans for Wii - Technical Information, Game Information, Technical Support - GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  18. Naughty Dog. Crash Bandicoot (in Japanese). PlayStation. Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Credits.
  19. Naughty Dog. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (in Japanese). PlayStation. Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Credits.
  20. Naughty Dog. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (in Japanese). PlayStation. Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Credits.
  21. Naughty Dog. Crash Team Racing (in Japanese). PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment. Level/area: Credits.
  22. Eurocom. Crash Bash (in Japanese). PlayStation. Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Credits.
  23. Traveller's Tales. Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (in Japanese). PlayStation 2. Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Credits.
  24. Vicarious Visions. Crash Nitro Kart (in Japanese). Multiplatform. Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Credits.
  25. Dimps (October 10, 2006). Crash Boom Bang!. Nintendo DS. Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Credits.
  26. 1 2 Crash Bandicoot Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 1996. p. 4.
  27. 1 2 3 "Welcome to Crash Village". Sierra Entertainment. Retrieved February 2, 2009. Crash was an ordinary south pacific bandicoot until the evil Dr. Cortex used his evolvo-ray in an attempt to create a mutant henchman. Crash refused to work with Cortex and instead smashed Cortex's lab and defeated the mad doctor's evil schemes. Crash would be happy to spend his days basking in the sun but his danger-loving, fearless nature and a love of a good fight with a bad guy keep him busy. Crash is very emotional, quick to laugh and quick to cry. Crash rarely seeks out trouble but trouble always seems to come Crash's way.
  28. Crash Bandicoot Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 1996. p. 19.
  29. Radical Entertainment (October 4, 2007). Crash of the Titans. Multiplatform. Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Episode 7: The Blizzard of Claws. Tiny Tiger: I'll tell you where they go! Nina took Coco to the factory on the beach. / Crash Bandicoot: Nina? Howjibeduvuh?
  30. 1 2 Radical Entertainment (October 14, 2007). Crash of the Titans. Multiplatform. Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Episode 20: Revengeance 2: The Revengicide. Coco Bandicoot: Now let's go home... and eat pancakes! / Crash Bandicoot: (overjoyed) Pancakes!!
  31. 1 2 Radical Entertainment (2007-10-04). Crash of the Titans. Multiplatform. Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Episode 1: A New Hop. Coco Bandicoot: Crash! Help me get this gizmo working! At long last, the world will have a way to recycle butter! / Crash Bandicoot: (belches) / Crunch Bandicoot: (in the background) Hey! Stop that! / Coco Bandicoot: Hey, that was a good one. / Crash: (chuckles)
  32. Crash Bandicoot Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 1996. p. 8.
  33. 1 2 Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 1996. p. 10.
  34. 1 2 Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 2001. p. 14.
  35. 1 2 Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 2002. p. 11.
  36. Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 2003. p. 13.
  37. Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced Instruction Booklet. Sony Computer Entertainment. 2003. p. 14.
  38. Crash of the Titans Instruction Booklet. Sierra Entertainment. 2007. p. 6.
  39. Crash: Mind over Mutant Instruction Booklet. Sierra Entertainment. 2008. p. 6.
  40. "[Crash Bandicoot - Twenty Questions ]". Naughty Dog. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22. Retrieved February 2, 2009. Crash is a Perameles gunnii, of the order POLYPROTODONTA, family Peramelidae, commonly known as the Eastern Barred Bandicoot.
  41. Naughty Dog. Crash Bandicoot. PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment America. Level/area: Opening sequence. Doctor Nitrus Brio: But Doctor Cortex! We have not determined the cause of past failures! / Doctor Neo Cortex: Moron! This bandicoot will be my general! And he will lead my Cortex Commandos to world domination! This time I shall reign triumphant!
  42. Radical Entertainment (2007-10-04). Crash of the Titans. Multiplatform. Sierra Entertainment. Level/area: Episode 3: A Zero's Journey. Aku Aku: Crash, it's as I feared. Cortex and Uka Uka are stealing all the Mojo from the temple. This is somehow related to the strange mutants we've been fighting.
  43. De Marco, Flynn (2008-04-28). "Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant Impressions". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-08-11. The only one who seems to not be affected by the device is Crash who must use his powers to save the day.
  44. Naughty Dog. Crash Team Racing. PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment. Level/area: Epilogue. Text: Crash sold his life story to a major movie studio. The film entitled "The Color Orange" will be released for the Christmas season.
  45. "[ Crash Bandicoot - Toys ]". Naughty Dog. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  46. K. J. Travouillon et al. (March 2014). "Earliest Modern Bandicoot and Bilby (Marsupialia, Peramelidae, and Thylacomyidae) from the Miocene of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Northwestern Queensland, Australia". The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  47. "Palaeontologists unearth rare 15-million-year-old bilby". The University Of Queensland (Australia) UQ News. 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  48. Ryan MacDonald (1998-11-05). "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped for PlayStation Review - PlayStation Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-02-03. Crash Bandicoot started life as Sony's attempt at a mascot. He did reasonably well but never quite caught on like Mario or Sonic. But regardless of his status as a mascot, Crash has always managed to make a good game.
  49. 1 2 Doug Perry (2000-11-07). "IGN: Crash Bash Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-03. Sorry to say this without much of a softening up speech, but Crash Bandicoot is the most see-through, copycat mascot that ever existed, and he's once again ripped off a game concept from another mascot. He stole Sonic's hip, brash personality and Mario's ideas, and now, I'm coincidentally sad to say he doesn't even belong exclusively to the PlayStation or PS2.
  50. Michael Pereira (2007-10-16). "IGN: Crash of the Titans Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-03. Oh Crash Bandicoot, you were never popular enough to hang around with the cool kids like Mario and Sonic, and yet you've still avoided that depressing mascot retirement home where the likes of Aero the Acrobat and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel reside (look them up if you have no idea who I'm talking about).
  51. Dave Halverson. "PlayStation Reviews: Crash Bandicoot". GameFan. Archived from the original on July 23, 1997. Retrieved April 3, 2011. As for Crash himself, well, it took expert cartoonists, and designers from ND and Universal months just to perfect him. His animations, his weight, his control in the air, his mannerisms, his look, and his idles are all 100% perfection.
  52. "Crash Bandicoot video game review for the PS". Game Revolution. 2004-06-04. Retrieved 2009-02-03. The polygon movements were very smooth and fluid, and Crash's quirky mannerisms are always refreshing.
  53. John Broady. "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back for PlayStation Review - PlayStation Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-02-03. Let me go on record and say that I was never a fan of the original Crash Bandicoot. Even though Crash was disarmingly cute and fuzzy, and even though the game's graphics were just about as good as they got in those days, the frustrating design of the game made playing it such a painful experience that I still have flashbacks when I see small marsupials on the Discovery Channel.
  54. Doug Perry (1999-10-29). "IGN: Crash Team Racing Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  55. Louis Bedigian (2001-12-03). "Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved 2009-02-03. It is really annoying to hear a child say, "Whoa!" every time you fall in the water, especially when you realize that the child's voice is supposed to be Crash.
  56. Hilary Goldstein (2002-04-26). "IGN: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-03. Crash offers plenty of humorous animations to enjoy, though the enemies are pretty bland and boring for the most part.
  57. Matt Casamassina (2002-09-17). "IGN: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-03. The design of Crash is, as always, in top form, as the character retains his humorous edge complete with wacky, over-the-top animations, which are still welcomed.
  58. Ryan Davis (2004-10-05). "Crash Twinsanity for PlayStation 2 Review - PlayStation 2 Crash TwinSanity Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  59. "Summer 2002: "The Great GameFAQs Character Battle"". GameFAQs. 2002. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  60. "Summer 2003: The Great GameFAQs Character Battle II". GameFAQs. 2003. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  61. "Summer 2004: The Great GameFAQs Character Battle III". GameFAQs. 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  62. "Fall 2007: The Great GameFAQs Character Battle VI". GameFAQs. 2007. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  63. Jane Douglas. "8. Crash Bandicoot - Features |3= Galleries |4= Technology |5= Gadgets - MSN Tech & Gadgets UK". UK MSN Tech & Gadgets. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-18. Crash Bandicoot, our readers' favourite orange marsupial, came in eighth. But could his new game out at the end of October (Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant) bump him a few places up the chart?
  64. "Top 50 video game characters of all time announced in Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition". Gamasutra. February 16, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  65. Colin Moriarty (2009-02-18). "Wednesday 10: Video Game Characters That Should Die". IGN. Retrieved 2009-08-07. Killing Crash is actually a mercy killing, since the Bandicoot has fallen on extremely hard times. The unofficial mascot of Sony during its PSOne days, Crash tried to take platforming to a new level. Unfortunately, game after game that he starred in felt exactly the same with little innovation, forcing the character to pimp himself out to racing titles and even teaming up with his enemy, Neo Cortex. With no prospects on the horizon, and the time of mascot gaming far behind him, Crash has no reason to still be around. Put the poor bandicoot out of his misery, before he releases another party game.
  66. Brian Rowe (January 21, 2008). "Crash of the Titans video game review for the XBOX360". Game Revolution. Retrieved February 3, 2009. Crash is back again, as expected, but this time he’s fresh out of rehab. While the outdated, fingerless gloves have been replaced by equally outdated tribal tattoos, the obnoxiously extreme attitude is gone. Now he’s a bluthering, googly-eyed idiot. I don’t know when or why the change happened, but it’s better than the popular goatee-of-rage that so many other platform giants are sporting these days.
  67. Arnold Katayev (October 28, 2007). "PS2 Game Reviews: Crash of the Titans". PSX Extreme. Retrieved February 3, 2009. Character detail on Crash is very nice, but I'm not super happy with some of the artistic choices they've made for him. The tribal tatoos aim at the 'edgy' approach and try to snaz up Crash's appearance, but to me it just seems a little pretentious - Crash is better off without them. The mohawk patch he's sporting is far more defined than it ever has been, again, making Crash seem as if he's trying too hard to be cool. Furthermore, because Crash is now a puncher, his still-stance has him putting his dukes up like a boxer - it's just so out of character for the marsupial. So my word of advice to Sierra is to tone it down. Crash Bandicoot is a highly recognizable character who doesn't need a makeover of any kind - just look at Mario, Link and Sonic. [...] Crash especially sounds awful, largely because he doesn't actually speak - he just blabs annoying gibberish, which makes him sound like he's an infant.
  68. Matt Keller (October 31, 2007). "Crash of the Titans Review - PlayStation 2 Review - Australia's PAL Gaming Network". PALGN. Retrieved February 3, 2009. Crash, who is supposed to be a deranged bandicoot, sounds more like a confused baby.
  69. Louis Bedigian (2008-10-07). "Crash: Mind over Mutant Review - Wii". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-03. But Crash’s character design has gone from cool to goofy and now to the dreaded place of being dorky. Only minute changes have been made over the years – his eyes seem to bulge a little differently, his nose might be larger, and his hair looks like he got the Mohawk Special from Fantastic Sam's. These changes, no matter how subtle, have really hurt Crash’s appearance as a leading game character. We live in a world where a plumber and a hedgehog are considered cool. There is no reason why a bandicoot shouldn’t be given artwork that is worthy of the same praise and respect.
  70. Patrick Shaw (July 22, 2008). "The 8 Worst Game Character Makeovers Ever - Page 2 of 2". GamePro. GamePro Media. Archived from the original on September 26, 2010.
  71. Craig Harris (October 10, 2007). "IGN: Crash of the Titans Review". IGN. Retrieved February 3, 2009. Crash looks a little floofier and a lot edgier, gaining a spikier Mohawk and trading in his fingerless gloves for tribal ink all up and down his arms. He also now squawks incoherently, almost like the bird from Banjo Kazooie. With all the alterations, though, ultimately he's been changed for the better. He looks a little cooler and more appealing than his more "Japanese-inspired" edits over the years.

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