Crash Bandicootfirst hit the PS1 in 1996, which was almost exactly a year after the PS1 launched in North America. It wasNaughty Dog’sfirst big hit and taking that into mind, Sony rocketed Crash up as one of their mascots with such memorablecommercialsas the ones with Crash yelling at Nintendo to get Mario out. There is no denying the identity that he holds with the PS1 era.
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Two years laterInsomniacentered the scene withSpyro the Dragonin 1998. It too was a well reviewed exclusive platformer for the system. So the big question is this: Who was and is the bigger mascot for PlayStation? This article will pit the original three games against each other while comparing spinoffs and general eras of both franchises as well. Who will win? Place the bets now and read on to find out.
8The First Game: Spyro
For an introduction into the world that Naughty Dog was trying to create,Crash Bandicootwas a good first step. However, the lack of story, standout characters, and the level difficulty made the overall balance not favorable to most fans at the time.
Spyro the Dragon, however, was an instant hit among casual players and reviewers. It came out of the gate literally charging through with dragon horns all shiny and new. The semi open-world segments allowed players to explore akin toSuper Mario 64’sdesign mentality. Insomniac had a clear vision for what they wanted and achieved it.
7The Second Game: Crash
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Backwas everything missing and more from the first game. There was a story with laughable moments. Plus the level difficulty was better balanced and they were more varied as well. Who didn’t love riding that polar bear?
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rageis just as good as the first, but that is it. In a way it was more of the same, which isn’t a bad thing especially to those that loved the original. However, in a competition, the second Crash game wins for improving upon the first.
6The Third Game: Crash
The argument here forCrash Bandicoot Warpedwinning overSpyro: Year of the Dragonis pretty much identical to the previous entry. In a way both games were more of the same. Both reviewed well, but what sticks out for the third Crash game comes down again to its innovative levels.
Having the game themed around time travel was a good way for Crash to fight against medieval knights, dinosaurs, and World War II era zeppelins. What started out as a simple island hopping adventure really evolved.
5Racing: Crash
Crash Team Racingwins by default because Spyro never received any racing games. After the third entry that was it for Insomniac for the series they created. They then went on to helmRatchet and Clank.
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Naughty Dog, however, had one more idea up their sleeve before handing the keys, literally, over to Universal Interactive, their parent company. It may have looked like a cheap knockoff ofSuper Mario Kart, but Crash and his pals proved that they too had ideas for the kart racing genre that was starting to bloom. There is a good reason why it was remastered last year.
4PS2 Era: Crash
After Naughty Dog and Insomniac both left their respective series behind to start fresh on the PS2 hardware, Crash and Spyro started to take a dip. Based on reviews, nearly every game that came out during the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube era were received with moderate reviews.
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That said the first non-Naughty Dog game,Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, was a good attempt at emulating the formula. The only real downside were the load times on every platform. So there are no real winners in this era, but because of that game, andCrash Twinsanityto a lesser extent, the victory mildly goes to Crash.
3PS3 Era: Spyro
Crash Bandicoot was barely around for the first wave of HD consoles. So like the racing entry, this victory goes to Spyro almost by default.Crash of the TitansandMind Over Mutantwere not received well. Neither were most straight up Spyro games, but that all changed when the series took a big leap forward.
In 2011 the firstSkylandershit shelves to critical acclaim. It can be thanked for popularizing the Toys To Life genre, which bloomed for a brief period before going away a couple years ago. The point isSkylanderswas a big hit for its first few years.
2The Remakes: Crash
Unless one counts Skylanders again for this current generation, both Spyro and Crash were almost completely missing. That all changed when Crash was reborn via the HD remakes ofCrash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Because the reviews and sales were to Activision’s liking, it paved the way for Spyro to get the same trilogy remake treatment along with the aforementioned remake ofCrash Team Racing.
Since the second and third original Crash games beat out Spyro’s second and third entries, one can deduce that that same opinion will hold true here. The victory also goes to Crash for, again, making both series come back in a big way.
1Winner: Crash
Overall one can’t go wrong with any of the originalCrash Bandicoot, orSpyrogames. This is especially true given their treatments in their respective HD remakes. However, as the numbers will show, Crash did win more entries thus making him the definitive PlayStation mascot. Yes, he is no longer owned by Sony so calling him that is a bit of a misnomer.
The same is true for Spyro as well. Look at it this way though. Crash was first thus he should be the definitive crown jewel of the PS1 at least, right? Anyway it would be nice to see both series make aresurgencefor the next generation of consoles in a proper way. For now, the originals are here to stay.
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