Crash Bash is a 2000 party video game created by Eurocom Entertainment Software with help from Cerny Games and released by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fifth game in the Crash Bandicoot series and the first in the series to focus on party-style gameplay. The game features 28 mini-games that can be played in three different modes, along with eight characters from the Crash Bandicoot series.
Crash Bash is the first game in the series not made by Naughty Dog. It is also the last Crash Bandicoot game to be released only on a Sony console, as later games were available on more platforms. Critics had mixed opinions about the game. They noted its similarity to Mario Party but considered it fun for multiplayer games. However, some felt the mini-games lacked originality and the gameplay repeated too often. The graphics were praised for looking like earlier Crash Bandicoot games.
Gameplay
Crash Bash is a party video game with eight characters who each have different abilities and skills: Crash, Coco, Tiny, Dingodile, Cortex, Brio, Koala Kong, and Rilla Roo, a new character. The game includes 28 mini-games grouped into seven categories, each with several variations. The categories are: "Ballistix," where players drive hovercraft to move steel balls away from their goal; "Polar Push," where players ride polar bear cubs to push opponents off an icy arena; "Pogo Pandemonium," where players jump on pogo sticks to color squares on a grid; "Crate Crush," where players kick or throw stone crates to reduce opponents' health; "Tank Wars," a battle involving tanks, mines, and missiles; "Crash Dash," a race around a circular track; and "Medieval Mayhem," a set of challenges in a circular arena. The game supports up to four human players using the PlayStation Multitap.
Crash Bash has three game modes: "Adventure," "Battle," and "Tournament." In Adventure mode, one or two players must win all 28 mini-games to collect trophies, gems, and crystals by completing challenges. Mini-games are accessed through "Warp Room" areas, starting with four mini-games in the first Warp Room. A trophy is earned by winning three rounds of a mini-game. After earning a trophy, players can return to the mini-game to win a gem or crystal by winning one round under special conditions. Once a set number of trophies, gems, and crystals are collected, the Warp Room's "Boss Arena" becomes available, where players must defeat a boss character by reducing its health. Beating a Boss Arena grants access to the next Warp Room. After winning three of the four Boss Arenas, players can compete in challenges to earn gold or platinum Relics by defeating computer-controlled opponents. Adventure mode ends when all trophies, gems, crystals, and Relics are collected.
In Battle mode, players quickly compete in any mini-game previously won in Adventure mode. These games can be played as individuals or in teams. In Tournament mode, players compete in four mini-games in a row, earning points for each win. The player with the most points wins the tournament. In both Battle and Tournament modes, the number of rounds needed to win a mini-game can be set between two and seven, and the difficulty of computer-controlled opponents can be adjusted to "easy," "medium," or "hard."
Plot
The Adventure campaign is a story about Aku Aku and Uka Uka, who try to end their argument through a competition between teams that fight on their behalf, as the brothers are not allowed to fight each other directly. During the campaign, Uka Uka plans to use the crystals collected by the player, but Aku Aku discovers this plan. The ending depends on which character the player chooses. If the player selects a character from Aku Aku's team, Aku Aku hides the crystals and sends Uka Uka into space. If the player selects a character from Uka Uka's team, Uka Uka uses the crystals' power for his own goals. If two players complete the campaign with characters from each team, the characters play a special game to decide which team wins.
Development and release
After the release of Crash Team Racing in 1999, the creators of Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog, started making Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for the PlayStation 2. Soon after, Naughty Dog was bought by Sony Computer Entertainment, while Universal Interactive kept the rights to the Crash Bandicoot game series. When Naughty Dog’s agreement with Universal ended, Universal’s president, Mark Cerny, left the studio and started his own company, Cerny Games, to continue working with Naughty Dog and Sony.
The first Crash Bandicoot game made without Naughty Dog’s help was Crash Bash, developed by Eurocom. Mark Cerny and Michael John of Cerny Games helped design the game. Naughty Dog shared all of its Crash Bandicoot art for the game’s development. Jon Williams of Eurocom, Grady Hunt of Sony, and Vijay Lakshman of Universal were the game’s producers. The programming team included Dave Pridmore, Stuart Johnson, Julian Walshaw-Vaughn, Steve Bak, and Kris Adcock. Graphic artists were Matt Dixon, Steve Bamford, Clive Stevenson, and Jon Parr. Audio was created by Steve Duckworth. Sean Krankel and Ricci Rukavina of Universal added mini-game designs. A character named Rilla Roo was created because no suitable player characters were available from the Naughty Dog games. Matt Dixon said the idea for Rilla Roo came from Mark Cerny, and the design was done by lead character artist Steve Bamford. The game was shown at E3 2000 and released in North America on November 8, 2000, with a European release on November 29. This was the last Crash Bandicoot game made only for a Sony console. Later games were released for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.
A demo of Spyro: Year of the Dragon can be accessed by entering a cheat code on the game’s title screen. A demo of Crash Bash can be found on Spyro: Year of the Dragon’s title screen. Entering a different code on Crash Bash’s demo screen unlocks a debug menu, which gives access to a nearly complete early version of the game. All levels are available, but the final hub area in Adventure mode is missing, requiring a GameShark device to play those levels. The Japanese version of the game includes Fake Crash, a look-alike of Crash who appeared in earlier Crash Bandicoot games, as an unlockable character.
Reception
Crash Bash received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Reviewers often compared the game to Mario Party and the then-upcoming Sonic Shuffle. They noted the game lacked depth and originality but found the multiplayer experience enjoyable.
Shawn Sparks of GameRevolution praised the variety of mini-games but disliked the need to complete the Adventure mode to unlock multiplayer mini-games. Matt Helgeson of Game Informer appreciated the challenge and creativity of the mini-games but found the Adventure mode boring and without clear goals. Greg Sewart of Electronic Gaming Monthly said Eurocom tried to move away from the board game style of Mario Party by using a more action-based format, but he believed this effort failed. He also criticized the Tournament mode for grouping similar mini-games together, making it hard for players to win three rounds. Dean Hager of Electronic Gaming Monthly noted some mini-games were awkward to control and said too many power-ups and chaos made it hard to focus. Sewart and Hager both said the "Ballistix" mini-games were the most fun. Doug Perry of IGN liked the variety of mini-games, but he and Daniel Erickson of Next Generation found them repetitive. Ryan Davis of GameSpot called Crash Bash "run of the mill" and criticized the unbalanced AI.
The graphics were praised for looking like Naughty Dog games, but Helgeson and Human Tornado of GamePro disliked the distant camera, which made characters appear crowded in some games. Davis liked the game’s explosion, particle, and lighting effects but said they were too frequent, causing distractions and slowdowns.
Perry described the music as "kooky and light" and said it sounded like Naughty Dog games, with "thumping vibes and bubblegum Congo drumbeats." Davis called the audio "standard," noting background music that matched different environments and limited character sounds, but warned the audio might become boring quickly.
According to the NPD Group, Crash Bash was the 16th highest-selling console game in December 2000 in North America and the 7th best-selling PlayStation title. In the United Kingdom, the game earned a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), meaning it sold at least 300,000 copies.