If they had told me over 20 years ago that I could have played Crash Bandicoot on a laptop, I would never have believed it. Especially since the console that allows it is nothing less than the newcomer (so to speak) of the house Nintendo. The clear division that once separated IP, consoles and ideas, has now become blurred, labile: this is demonstrated by the various inter-brand collaborations and the cross-platform between (almost) all the various platforms. A year ago Activision he surprised us by putting a long-awaited game on the shelves, loved by the public who literally spent their childhood on PlayStation; now he does it again, expanding the platforms for Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy up to PC, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is this last version that we have tried, stripped and, above all, played everywhere in portability, and that we will review on this page.
The work of Vicarious Visions
An important premise must be made: the work that Vicarious Visions has already done for the title the first time on PlayStation 4 is something superb: every single texture has come back to life, every polygon has found new lifeblood, and the whole game benefits from it being more modern and contextualized than other contemporary games could be . Even from the gameplay side, the game has undergone some changes: I still struggle to define improvements due to the slightly altered experience, but despite everything, the game is now easier for the modern generation.
The port that has arrived on the Nintendo Switch, however, is something really special: despite the graphic downgrade, necessary as the Nintendo console is less powerful than the Sony one, the title really has excellent details reproduced on the small screen. In the dock version it struggles to reach 1080p, but on the portable version (except for a few less light and some slight qualitative lowering), the title reproduces exactly the same gaming experience that it had reproduced on PS4 (of which you can read our review here). The graph lowering, however, allows the game to almost stably maintain 30 frames per second, resulting in the right fluid, vital component to be able to enjoy a platform as punitive in terms of precision as Crash Bandicoot is.
The complete package
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy brings exactly what the other versions have: the three chapters completely redone and modernized, as well as two special levels. The first, Stormy Ascent, is a level at the time discarded by the developers (which also arrived on Ps4 with a free DLC), while the second, Future Tense, is a new level created in homage to the arrival of the game on all platforms.
In terms of playability, between the portability effect and the compatibility with Joy-Con, Pro Controller and with the HD Rumble function, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy for Nintendo Switch is the most complete and refined version of the game: everything that loses in terms of visual quality, it gains in usability.
A welcome return, an expected arrival
The story of the 3D platformers (or almost) that we saw (and experienced) in those years was something special: at the time the ideas were immature, but they allowed for freedom of expression, fundamental for the representation of something creative. The linear nature of Crash Bandicoot also allowed the game to have greater accessibility than more complex titles like Super Mario 64. As mentioned in the review for Ps4, a tweak to the game dynamics would have been appropriate, to make everything more usable, but in the end this lack generates an unexpected fidelity to the origins of this platform, forgotten over time and rediscovered thanks to the nostalgia, cross and delight effect of this historical period linked to gaming.
It will seem strange, but if you find it difficult to approach a platform that is already of age, thanks to a difficulty older than modern platforms and much more punitive, you could undoubtedly play the titles backwards, starting from the third up to the first: in this way you would find yourself in the 'last chapter of the more complex but, at the same time, less diabolical mechanics, pallowing you to create a kind of training necessary for some newbies.
The structured nature of the levels, finally, makes the game very suitable for portability: some ports for Switch have problems in terms of gameplay, requiring hours of play (which is not always possible if you are not at home): Crash levels allow you to play the game anywhere, and the amount of content available makes the title very long-lived, creating a package with an excellent quality / quantity / convenience ratio.
