Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a collection of platform games released in 2017. It was created by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the PlayStation 4. The compilation includes updated versions of the first three games in the Crash Bandicoot series: Crash Bandicoot (1996), Cortex Strikes Back (1997), and Warped (1998). These games were originally made by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. Later, the trilogy was released on Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One in 2018.
Before the trilogy was announced, the Crash Bandicoot series had not been active since 2010. Vicarious Visions did not have the original game code, so they rebuilt the games using 3D shapes provided by Sony and Naughty Dog. They decoded old file formats and recreated missing animations, textures, and music by comparing old videos, artwork, and feedback from online fans. Updates included clearer textures, better lighting, a new soundtrack with live instruments, and the addition of Coco, Crash’s sister, as a playable character in all games. These changes kept the original gameplay and features for speedrunning intact.
Critics generally praised the trilogy for its accurate but improved visuals, consistent design, and nostalgic value. However, some older control methods, uneven difficulty levels, unpolished vehicle sections, and changes to jumping mechanics were criticized. The game sold 20 million copies worldwide by June 2024.
Gameplay
The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a collection of the first three Crash Bandicoot games: Crash Bandicoot (1996), Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997), and Crash Bandicoot: Warped (1998). These games were originally made for the PlayStation and later updated for newer gaming systems. The trilogy follows Crash Bandicoot, a character who looks like a bandicoot but acts like a human, as he moves through 3D levels to stop Doctor Neo Cortex and his helpers. In each game, players control Crash or his sister, Coco, to defeat enemies by spinning, jump between platforms, and break crates to collect Wumpa Fruit (100 pieces earn an extra life). Aku Aku masks protect the player, and having three of them makes them temporarily invincible. Levels include settings like jungles, ancient ruins, snowy areas, sewers, and scenes from past times. Some levels include vehicles and chase sequences. Clear gems are given for breaking all crates in a level, while colored gems are earned by completing specific tasks.
This compilation, called a "remaster plus," rebuilds the original games while keeping their level designs. It improves the visuals with better lighting, detailed textures, and new cutscenes to create a consistent look across all three games. The audio includes a new soundtrack, updated sound effects, and re-recorded voice acting. Coco, who was playable in some levels of Warped, can now be played in most levels of all three games with the same movement rules but new animations. Time trials, a feature from Warped, were added to the first two games along with online leaderboards. The trilogy includes a save system that works for all three games, with automatic saves after finishing each level. Loading screens show tips to help players find hidden items and alternate paths.
Development
Before the N. Sane Trilogy was announced, the Crash Bandicoot franchise was not active, with the last game being Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 in 2010. Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg said, "I don’t have official news, but as a person, I love Crash Bandicoot. Those were some of my favorite games as a child. I hope we can find a way to bring him back." Andy Gavin, co-founder of Naughty Dog and co-creator of Crash Bandicoot, suggested making an HD version of the first four games or starting the series over. Jason Rubin, another co-creator, hoped Activision would "bring Crash back to his best days" and believed the character remained popular among fans aged 18 to 49.
In June 2013, Gavin proposed a new version of the series to make it more appealing, suggesting a return to Crash’s origins and his conflict with Cortex. He recommended using modern, open-world gameplay while keeping the fun, cartoon-like style and fast-paced action that made the original games famous. He noted that Crash once had a "cool" and clever tone, which he felt was missing in later games. In November 2013, an Activision representative confirmed the company still owned the Crash Bandicoot rights and was exploring ways to restart the series. In July 2014, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House said reviving the series was still a possibility.
The remastered games were developed by Vicarious Visions. The team had to rebuild the games almost entirely because the original code was missing and few materials were available. The original game engine was designed for the first PlayStation and could not be used for modern systems. Vicarious Visions used 3D models from Sony and Naughty Dog, stored in old, compressed formats that needed decoding. These models helped create the basic shapes of levels, but other details like animations, character designs, and music were missing or needed to be recreated.
To stay true to the original games, Vicarious Visions compared video footage of the originals with their prototypes to match timing and gameplay. The team, led by producer Kara Massie and creative director Dan Tanguay, studied concept art, influences like Looney Tunes and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and used fan guides to confirm details. Fans in the quality assurance and design teams gave feedback to keep the games authentic. Speedrunning features were kept or expanded to please dedicated players. The team called this process "Remaster Plus" instead of calling the games remakes.
A major goal was to recreate Crash’s jumping mechanics, which required many tests to match the original feel while making the games easier for new players. The team kept the challenging platforming but added clearer hints, like visual warnings for dangers such as electric enemies in Cortex Strikes Back. The "N. Sanity Beach" level was used as a model to set standards for audio, animation, lighting, and level design across the trilogy.
The remaster used modern technology to improve visuals and sound while keeping the original games’ style. Textures were upgraded from small 16×16 or 32×32 pixel images to large 1,024×1,024 or 2,048×2,048 pixel images. Dynamic lighting was added to create realistic effects like rain and longer views of environments. The team used their own Alchemy engine to add modern graphics, though some levels needed new methods due to missing data. Audio improvements, led by Justin Joyner, included better sound quality and live recordings while keeping original music files and some sound effects. Adding Coco Bandicoot as a playable character in all three games was decided early, with Massie using the time-travel idea from Warped to explain her presence in earlier games.
Release
The N. Sane Trilogy was announced at E3 2016 on June 13, 2016. In April 2017, a contest was held for fans to submit ideas for idle animations for the character, with the winners announced the following month. The compilation was released for the PlayStation 4 on June 30, 2017. Two additional levels were added as post-launch downloadable content: "Stormy Ascent," a level originally designed for the first game but cut due to its difficulty, and "Future Tense," a brand new level created by Vicarious Visions for the third game.
The N. Sane Trilogy was ported to Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One, and was initially set for a release date of July 10, 2018; the date was later moved up to June 29. The Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Xbox One ports were developed by Toys for Bob, Iron Galaxy, and Vicarious Visions, respectively. The Switch port in particular was not originally intended until a lone engineer at Vicarious Visions successfully ported the game's first level to the platform, proving it was feasible to port the entire trilogy. Sega published the Japanese Switch version on October 18, 2018, while Sony Interactive Entertainment published the Japanese PlayStation 4 version.
In the United States, the N. Sane Trilogy was the second best-selling game in its first month. In the United Kingdom, the N. Sane Trilogy was the best-selling game for eight consecutive weeks since its initial release. Its release also saw the biggest launch of a game in the first half of 2017, behind Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy sold over 2.5 million units in the first three months of its release, increasing to 10 million by February 2019. By June 2024, it had sold 20 million units worldwide.
Reception
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy received "generally favorable" reviews on all platforms, according to Metacritic, a website that collects game reviews. The trilogy was praised for its improved graphics, with reviewers like Alvaro Alonso of HobbyConsolas and Peter Brown of GameSpot comparing the bright, cartoon-style visuals to modern animated movies. Paula Croft of MeriStation, Jonathon Dornbush of IGN, and James Kozanitis of GameRevolution highlighted the detailed environments, better lighting, and expressive animations, which gave the games a fresh look while keeping their classic charm. The sound design, including newly arranged music and updated sound effects, was generally praised for making the games more immersive. However, Evan Slead of Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that the new music sometimes felt less intense than the original soundtrack. Jordan Helm of Hardcore Gamer said the sound effects and voice acting lacked some of the original personality and had mixing issues. Reviewers praised the Switch version for its portability and good performance, though it had lower resolution, less detailed lighting, and occasional frame rate issues. Danielle Partis of Pocket Gamer mentioned the absence of Crash's famous victory dance, while Louise Blain of GamesRadar+ appreciated changes that made the character Tawna more inclusive.
Reviewers praised the trilogy for keeping the original games' level layouts and gameplay. Cortex Strikes Back and Warped were considered better due to improved level design, variety, and mechanics like sliding and double jumps. The first game was often described as the hardest and least polished, with frustrating jumps caused by unclear hitboxes or camera angles. Vicarious Visions, the developer, added features like extra checkpoints, auto-saving, and time trials, which were seen as helpful improvements. However, the controls and fixed camera angles felt outdated by modern standards, especially in the first game, causing frustration for new players. Vehicle levels in Warped were criticized for having unresponsive controls.
The ability to play as Coco Bandicoot in all three games was a popular addition, though reviewers said her moves were similar to Crash's. Evan Slead suggested Coco could have had unique abilities to stand out. Time trials with online leaderboards and hints on loading screens were praised for making the games more replayable and easier for newcomers. A unified save system and the ability to switch between games were seen as helpful, though some reviewers, like Epyon of Jeuxvideo.com and Sammy Barker of Push Square, pointed out that loading times made transitions between games feel less smooth.
The trilogy was seen as a great way for fans to relive the charm of the original PlayStation games. However, some reviewers, including Danielle Partis, Andy Kelly of PC Gamer, and Ashley Oh of Polygon, said the game's difficulty and mechanics might be too challenging for players who are not familiar with the original games. The trilogy's simple, linear design contrasted with modern platformers, making it feel old-fashioned to some, though others, like Epyon and Davide Mancini of The Games Machine, believed its challenge was still enjoyable. Alex Olney of Nintendo Life and James Kozanitis suggested playing the games in reverse order to ease into the trilogy's difficulty before playing the first game.
After the trilogy's release, players noticed that jumping felt less precise, with characters often slipping off edges. A fan theory, supported by Reddit user Tasty Carcass, suggested the remaster uses "pill-shaped" collision boxes for characters' feet, unlike the flat boxes in the original games. This shape, common in the Unity engine, causes characters to slide off edges instead of landing securely. Twitch streamer DingDongVG showed that Crash's jumping arc is faster, leading to quicker landings. Vicarious Visions confirmed these observations, explaining that the remaster's mechanics, including the altered collision system and faster jump arc, made the first game harder. Kevin Kelly of Activision advised new players to start with the second or third games, which are easier, before tackling the first. No patch to fix the jumping mechanics was ever released. In 2025, Andy Gavin criticized the trilogy for making all jumps the same height, leading to floaty gameplay.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy won the "Best Remake/Remaster" award at IGN's 2017 awards. It was also named the "Best Remastered Action" and "Best Remastered/Remade" game by Game Informer's readers and staff. The trilogy was nominated for the Tappan Zee Bridge Award for "Best Remake" at the New York Game Awards 2018 and won the "Game, Classic Revival" award at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards. It was also nominated for the "Original Light Mix Score, Franchise" category and the "People's Choice" award at the Italian Video Game Awards.