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Is Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy a fairly challenging game?
- Thread starter Laws00
- Start date
It's harder than I remember for sure.
That is, if you are a completionist and want to ace all the levels and do the time trials.
Just getting through the levels is more than fair.
Anyway, I'm having a blast getting my ass kicked, I had an horrible week, but this game put a dumb smile on my face.
That is, if you are a completionist and want to ace all the levels and do the time trials.
Just getting through the levels is more than fair.
Anyway, I'm having a blast getting my ass kicked, I had an horrible week, but this game put a dumb smile on my face.
funkystudent
Member
Native Fortress >>> Anor Londo
FTFY
privitsan02
Member
No its not that bad. Crash 1 simply hasn't aged well and people aren't used to those tight controls today.
I had some issues with Road to Nowhere a few days ago, but it's definitely doable. It's really about patience rather than skill like the later titles, which are easier as well.
Also those saying Souls or Bloodborne aren't hard, you're not impressing anyone. They are definitely difficult games that require skill.
Best wishes.
I had some issues with Road to Nowhere a few days ago, but it's definitely doable. It's really about patience rather than skill like the later titles, which are easier as well.
Also those saying Souls or Bloodborne aren't hard, you're not impressing anyone. They are definitely difficult games that require skill.
Best wishes.
Some of us just come from a generation where every game required skill.. and you couldn't simply level up get better weapons and stock up on a shitload of items. Hell most games didn't even let you save and after 3 lives you had to start aaaaaaall over again.
themagicalkitsune
Member
Why is tension so high in the first page lmao
Was it the dark souls comparison?
Anyway Crash 1 is probably the 'hard' game of the three, though to me it's only hard if you try to get all the gems, which means clearing a stage without dying and breaking all the crates.
I recall Fumbling in the Dark giving me a hard time during my gem run.
Was it the dark souls comparison?
Anyway Crash 1 is probably the 'hard' game of the three, though to me it's only hard if you try to get all the gems, which means clearing a stage without dying and breaking all the crates.
I recall Fumbling in the Dark giving me a hard time during my gem run.
Uno Venova
Banned
Tell me you aren't glad those days are over.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Crash 1 is some bullshit still. But otherwise no the games aren't particularly hard.
I said Crash 1 was bullshit, not hard for reference.
Storm Brewer
Neo Member
Only played Crash 1 ps1 edition recently, but that was like 4x easier than rayman 1 on ps1 which I also played recently. So as far as platformers go, it's not even the toughest good platformer on ps1.
Both are great games but rayman leans a little too hard on either having lightning reflexes or memorizing a level to get through some of the insane bullshit in that game.
Both are great games but rayman leans a little too hard on either having lightning reflexes or memorizing a level to get through some of the insane bullshit in that game.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Crash Bandicoot (1) is solidly challenging
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strike Back is pretty challenging
Crash Bandicoot (3): Warped is pretty challenging but becomes quite a bit easier with the double super-slide and bazooka later in the game.
All three are amazing, especially Crash 2 and Crash 3. Can't think of games more worth your time than these gems.
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strike Back is pretty challenging
Crash Bandicoot (3): Warped is pretty challenging but becomes quite a bit easier with the double super-slide and bazooka later in the game.
All three are amazing, especially Crash 2 and Crash 3. Can't think of games more worth your time than these gems.
Stallion Dan
Member
I got the platinum in one of them.
Nah, Slippery Climb > Sen's Fortress.
WrenchNinja
Member
ResourcefulStar
Neo Member
At first, like everyone, I found the Souls comparisons to be silly, but having given the subject some thought I believe I can prove that Crash Bandicoot is objectively harder than the Souls games.
1. There's no character progression system. You have to do a level 1 run.
2. The first two Crash games don't give you any equipment and you are stuck with unarmed attacks. In Dark Souls, even if you do a starting equipment run as a Deprived, the game is still merciful enough to give a Club and a Plank Shield. Crash Bandicoot 3 does have one (and only one!) boss weapon, but you only get it after you complete 80% of the main story areas. If you have it, you're good enough not to need it.
3. Touching an enemy hurts you. Remember those Dark Souls II grab hit boxes everyone made fun of? At least they were telegraphed with startup animations and had some recovery time if the enemy whiffed. In Crash Bandicoot, every enemy effectively has a 0 frame grab that automatically triggers when you get close. Some enemies even have ranged attacks on top of that! It's like giving Dhalsim's moves to Zangief!
4. There's no blocking and, until Crash Bandicoot 2, no rolling. The roll is a joke. It offers no invincibility frames at all. It's a worse defensive move than low Agility fat rolls in Dark Souls II. You can attack with it, I suppose, but you need nerves of steel to use it for this purpose because of the grabs everyone has. Mistime it even slightly and you'll get punished.
5. Even if you can handle the enemies, there are traps and environmental hazards all over the place in every area. It's like Sen's Fortress: The Trilogy.
6. Mimics are everywhere. The red ones aren't too bad, but the green ones will kill you if you simply touch them.
7. The Estus Mask can only hold up three charges. Dark Souls gives you 10 to start with and allows you to get up to 20 with Kindling. The third Estus Mask charge does give you a bit of temporary invincibility, but good luck getting that many, and even if you do, you'll probably fall in a bottomless pit.
8. Not only will the Crash games not replenish your Estus Mask charges when you revive at a bonfire chest, they will actively take away all of your Estus if you die by falling while you still have some. The games do start to give you one (measly!) Estus charge if you repeatedly die at the same place, but it's still less than what Dark Souls hands you by default. At least you get to keep your Soul Fruits when you die, not that there's much you can buy with them.
9. The Darksign in Crash Bandicoot has limited charges. If you're out of them and you die, you get sent all the way back to the Firelink Shrine instead of the latest bonfire chest you've opened. There's no Lordvessel, so you can't just teleport back.
10. To get the true ending in all three Crash games you have to open every chest and collect every item. Bloodborne only requires you to
to get one of the endings. In Crash Bandicoot, you have to find literally everything.
You can't argue with the facts.
1. There's no character progression system. You have to do a level 1 run.
2. The first two Crash games don't give you any equipment and you are stuck with unarmed attacks. In Dark Souls, even if you do a starting equipment run as a Deprived, the game is still merciful enough to give a Club and a Plank Shield. Crash Bandicoot 3 does have one (and only one!) boss weapon, but you only get it after you complete 80% of the main story areas. If you have it, you're good enough not to need it.
3. Touching an enemy hurts you. Remember those Dark Souls II grab hit boxes everyone made fun of? At least they were telegraphed with startup animations and had some recovery time if the enemy whiffed. In Crash Bandicoot, every enemy effectively has a 0 frame grab that automatically triggers when you get close. Some enemies even have ranged attacks on top of that! It's like giving Dhalsim's moves to Zangief!
4. There's no blocking and, until Crash Bandicoot 2, no rolling. The roll is a joke. It offers no invincibility frames at all. It's a worse defensive move than low Agility fat rolls in Dark Souls II. You can attack with it, I suppose, but you need nerves of steel to use it for this purpose because of the grabs everyone has. Mistime it even slightly and you'll get punished.
5. Even if you can handle the enemies, there are traps and environmental hazards all over the place in every area. It's like Sen's Fortress: The Trilogy.
6. Mimics are everywhere. The red ones aren't too bad, but the green ones will kill you if you simply touch them.
7. The Estus Mask can only hold up three charges. Dark Souls gives you 10 to start with and allows you to get up to 20 with Kindling. The third Estus Mask charge does give you a bit of temporary invincibility, but good luck getting that many, and even if you do, you'll probably fall in a bottomless pit.
8. Not only will the Crash games not replenish your Estus Mask charges when you revive at a bonfire chest, they will actively take away all of your Estus if you die by falling while you still have some. The games do start to give you one (measly!) Estus charge if you repeatedly die at the same place, but it's still less than what Dark Souls hands you by default. At least you get to keep your Soul Fruits when you die, not that there's much you can buy with them.
9. The Darksign in Crash Bandicoot has limited charges. If you're out of them and you die, you get sent all the way back to the Firelink Shrine instead of the latest bonfire chest you've opened. There's no Lordvessel, so you can't just teleport back.
10. To get the true ending in all three Crash games you have to open every chest and collect every item. Bloodborne only requires you to
gather three samples of a specific item
You can't argue with the facts.
Doctor Decimate
Member
Crash 1 is hard because it's aged horrendously and tbh it's sorta frustrating to see it compared to games that are hard because they're designed well with that intent, whereas Crash 1 is just old and hadn't 100% figured out a good harmony with 3-D platformer controls + camera + level design until the sequel
Theslammer
Member
Crash 2, having done 12 levels, is nowhere near as brutal as Crash 1. My God, is Crash 1 hard. At least they fixed the save system, which artificially increased the difficulty of the original game.
That said, I'm having a great time! I did find a colored gem in Crash 2 (found NOTHING in Crash 1 besides clear gems), and I might try to do that since I've never seen the "real" ending to 2 (I'm assuming there is one).
That said, I'm having a great time! I did find a colored gem in Crash 2 (found NOTHING in Crash 1 besides clear gems), and I might try to do that since I've never seen the "real" ending to 2 (I'm assuming there is one).
of course I am, plus thanks to indies there are more than enough games to scratch that itch.
Falchion
Member
Lmao dead. I think they just seem harder because they weren't developed for modern, hold handing tendencies.
MegaSackman
Member
Slippery Climb yeah... Absolutely every jump is the world cup final.
I find hilarious how the game throws me an Aku Aku mask after some deaths, like "here, this will help". Bless you Aku Aku, I wouldn't know what to do without you...
I find hilarious how the game throws me an Aku Aku mask after some deaths, like "here, this will help". Bless you Aku Aku, I wouldn't know what to do without you...
Steve McQueen
Member
Quite simular to me tbh. Orient Express controls are very tricky. Spend more than 10 lives to finish it in one go. I suck, I know
So first off, I want to say that I think calling a difficult game "like Dark Souls" is lazy shorthand that is usually inaccurate so I'm kind of sick of people using it.
Also, I think the reason why people struggle with Crash 1 so much is that it's just not a well balanced game. There are difficulty spikes throughout.
This is part of why "the Dark Souls of platformers" argument is inaccurate - yes, Dark Souls and its ilk are hard, but they have a fairly stable difficulty curve. Sure, someone playing Bloodborne will struggle at first, but I don't think you'd ever see someone argue that Central Yarnham is harder than the Forbidden Woods or Nightmare of Mensis. The difficulty ramps up fairly reasonably.
Meanwhile, Crash 1's difficulty is all over the place. Native Fortress is considerably more difficult than any level before it, and then the following level, Up the Creek, is considerably easier. Native Fortress should be in the last third of the game when the player has gotten a feel for jumps and precision platforming, not the first third. I think this lack of a natural difficulty curve is why people are struggling so much with Crash 1 in N.Sane Trilogy.
Meanwhile, play Crash 2 and you'll see the difficulty curve is way more logical and pronounced. A lot of people talk about dying on the first stage of Crash 1, because it has a couple of jumps that are hard to make if you're not familiar with Crash's jump arc (which, in the first level of the game, you probably won't be). Meanwhile, Crash 2's first level has a number of jumps that don't have pits, so you can get the hang of how Crash's jump feels before getting into the real thing. It's much better design, and much more beginner friendly.
So tl;dr: Crash 1 is a hard game because it has a bad difficulty curve. Crash 2 and 3 are much more accessible because they do a much better job of easing the player into the game's mechanics.
Also, I think the reason why people struggle with Crash 1 so much is that it's just not a well balanced game. There are difficulty spikes throughout.
This is part of why "the Dark Souls of platformers" argument is inaccurate - yes, Dark Souls and its ilk are hard, but they have a fairly stable difficulty curve. Sure, someone playing Bloodborne will struggle at first, but I don't think you'd ever see someone argue that Central Yarnham is harder than the Forbidden Woods or Nightmare of Mensis. The difficulty ramps up fairly reasonably.
Meanwhile, Crash 1's difficulty is all over the place. Native Fortress is considerably more difficult than any level before it, and then the following level, Up the Creek, is considerably easier. Native Fortress should be in the last third of the game when the player has gotten a feel for jumps and precision platforming, not the first third. I think this lack of a natural difficulty curve is why people are struggling so much with Crash 1 in N.Sane Trilogy.
Meanwhile, play Crash 2 and you'll see the difficulty curve is way more logical and pronounced. A lot of people talk about dying on the first stage of Crash 1, because it has a couple of jumps that are hard to make if you're not familiar with Crash's jump arc (which, in the first level of the game, you probably won't be). Meanwhile, Crash 2's first level has a number of jumps that don't have pits, so you can get the hang of how Crash's jump feels before getting into the real thing. It's much better design, and much more beginner friendly.
So tl;dr: Crash 1 is a hard game because it has a bad difficulty curve. Crash 2 and 3 are much more accessible because they do a much better job of easing the player into the game's mechanics.
how does that description not apply to meat boy too tho lmao.
yeah you gotta time your jumps but its not ~*~hard~*~
Trigonometrize.
Member
The games overall aren't, but The High Road time trial gold is the Dark Souls of platformers.
BodiesWithoutOrgans
Member
Fuck crash 1 it's so hard 
that damn ice bridge
that damn ice bridge
CloudStrife_ca
Member
I've been pissed off enough to quit Crash 1 a couple times but its still alot of fun and I keep going back to it.
Crash 1 is certainly challenging, but manageable with motivation and a LOT of patience. With practice and many repeat attempts you improve to a point that you actually begin to wonder how you found it difficult to begin with...until you start playing the time trials(I still have about 4-5 left to platinum and I lost motivation to keep trying any longer).
Crash 2 and 3 shouldn't present much problem though.
Crash 2 and 3 shouldn't present much problem though.
EchoChamber
Member
Fuck crash 1 it's so hard
Sometimes i want to know why someone wants to resurrect the dead.
Zap Rowsdower
Banned
The remake versions of 1 and 2 have worse physics so they're less lenient than the original versions.
Big difference here is how you approach completion: if you just want to beat the game and you won't bother with gems or time trials... then it's pretty challenging but not too tough. If you're going for 100% completion though, you're gonna have a hard time. The no deaths gems in the later levels are challenging enough in Crash 1, but the time trials will test your patience. Just making it through the levels though is something most platform players will be able to do even if some levels will drive you crazy.
Crash 2 is easier but the time trials are still very strict.
Crash 3 is easy, even for 100%.
Crash 2 is easier but the time trials are still very strict.
Crash 3 is easy, even for 100%.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Crash 1 isn't hard. It's just bullshit. It breaks a lot of established rules and introduces the type of gimmicks that make the game harder because who the fuck would expect that, not because the challenge is off the wall.
Especially the original game which didnt save your boxes or let you retry bonus rooms and challenge rooms.
I don't think it's an especially difficult game bar about 4 levels.
Especially the original game which didnt save your boxes or let you retry bonus rooms and challenge rooms.
I don't think it's an especially difficult game bar about 4 levels.
It's legendary for being bullshit
Thriftweed
Member
Crash 1 seemed pretty fair to me apart from Road to Nowhere/The High Road, I really struggled with those. Stormy Ascent wasn't that bad once you get into the groove with it. I gave up on time trials at Native Fortress.
Crash 2 was easy until the fourth warp room, then I found those levels really cheap and annoying. The last batch of levels were a bit better.
Crash 3 was pretty easy overall.
Crash 2 was easy until the fourth warp room, then I found those levels really cheap and annoying. The last batch of levels were a bit better.
Crash 3 was pretty easy overall.
Host Samurai
Member
I replayed them a few years ago on the PSN and they were not difficult but not piss ass easy. I'd say they were a good challenge.
Where did this "harder than Dark Souls" thing come from?
Where did this "harder than Dark Souls" thing come from?
Spring-Loaded
Member
Time trials for High Road and Stormy Ascent were pretty damn hard.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Am I the only one who enjoys The Road to Nowhere, but hates the High Road? The turtle jumping is whack, I don't remember it being that annoying in the original (of course it's been like 20 years so who knows...).
That looks kinda cool haha.yes
JimmyRustler
Member
Well, I am doing time trials on Crash 1 as we speak and it sure does remind me of playing Dark Souls with some levels being equal to some Souls bosses.
Been trying the Native Forrest time trial for 2-3 weeks until I finally beat it. Then some other levels I would just breeze through. Well, 13 more Gold relics to go for me.
I don't stress myself as I'm confident that I'll get them eventually. I constantly seem to have an insanely hard game going. Just earlier this year it was Uncharted 1 on Brutal. Took me 3 months to beat it.
But yeah, to answer OPs question: Crash 1 is insanely hard. Am I mean the main game by itself already. Time trials then are on a whole new level.
Been trying the Native Forrest time trial for 2-3 weeks until I finally beat it. Then some other levels I would just breeze through. Well, 13 more Gold relics to go for me.
I don't stress myself as I'm confident that I'll get them eventually. I constantly seem to have an insanely hard game going. Just earlier this year it was Uncharted 1 on Brutal. Took me 3 months to beat it.
But yeah, to answer OPs question: Crash 1 is insanely hard. Am I mean the main game by itself already. Time trials then are on a whole new level.