This is Crash Bandicoot, the game that became the PlayStation mascot

Crash is a marsupial scientifically altered by Dr. Neo Cortex. This villain’s intention was to control him and turn him into another soldier in his army of mutant animals. However, Crash managed to escape and in 1996 gave life to one of the most famous stories. This game would initially be called Al O. Saurus and Dinestein and would have a theme of time travel and fusions between humans and dinosaurs. However, the idea did not take shape and became what we know today.

The first studio developing Crash Bandicoot was Naughty Dog, until 2000, and it is thanks to this company that this saga became popular in the late 90s. During that same period of time Sony Computer Entertainment, what is today Sony Interactive Entertainment , distributed the deliveries, but this was not the initial idea of ​​​​the then newbie in the industry. Sony opted for this project to create a PlayStation mascot, one as friendly as Mario from Nintendo and Sony from Sega.

Thus, the intentions were not aimed at creating an exclusive video game for its newborn PlayStation 1. However, and as an unexpected twist in the plot, Naugthy Dog did want to make a platform title, a genre so popular in those days, which He gave life to Willy, since this was the protagonist’s first name. However, in development, the famous boxes that are destroyed along the way of the game became relevant and gave it the name Crash, which in Spanish means crash or blow.

Universal Sound Studios was responsible for the sound effects, especially in the second installment, which distinguished this game so much from others. And in this way PlayStation and Sony presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (3E) in 1996, the event of gaming most important of the time, to this iconic video game that changed the history of the industry and remained in the retina of PS1 players. This is the story of the saga of Crash Bandicoot, the unofficial mascot of the most successful company of the 90’s.

Golden Era of Crash Bandicoot

There are those who say that Crash should be left where it belongs, the PlayStation 1 and with few visits to the PlayStation 2. The truth is that this is a franchise that began in 1996, extends until the near 2020 and it is possible to venture into the Wumpa Islands, a fictional place in southern Australia where the story is set, aboard a PlayStation 5.

Sony Computer Entertainment signed a contract with the Naugthy Dog studio to make three video games, but this company produced four, three platform games, which became so famous, and one racing game, which wanted to rival the monopoly of this genre established by the Mario Kart games. All exclusive to the first console in Sony history.

At that time PlayStation collaborated with the cause, but was not the distributor, this work was carried out by Universal Interactive Studios. The success of these titles was so immediate that between 1996 and 1998 the first three installments were developed, the third being the one with the shortest working time, with just 10 months in the making. However, that did not prevent his fame.

Decline of Crash Bandicoot

In 2000, the same year as the launch of the PlayStation 2, Crash Team Racing was released and with this, the most commercially successful era in the history of the saga. It remains for history that the first three levels that were designed for the 1996 Crash Bandicoot were especially difficult to be the first that the fans would see. gamersso they were moved to the end of the plot.

In addition, Crash Bandicoot 3 showed improvements to the gameplay and added collectible relics that became virtual cult objects for lovers of this crazy marsupial. Even this last game in the saga made by Naugthy Dog was made at the same time that the racing title was being developed, so the work effort of the programmers was titanic.

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex from 2001 was the first to be run by another studio and to expand its lines of influence to other game systems, thus leaving behind the love affair between Crash and PlayStation. Specifically, this series of video games was and is available on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, the Nokia N-Gage, cell phones, PCs, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

Other Crash Bandicoot games

From 2002 to 2008, 10 more titles of this charismatic character saw the light of day and from that year on, distribution passed into the hands of Activision, now owned by Xbox since 2023, except in Japan, where Sega has been doing this work since 2018. With During the installments, other characters such as Tawna, Crash’s girlfriend, and Coco, a villain who arrived to fight side by side with Dr. Neo Cortex, intervened.

During the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo (3E), Sony revealed that it had reached an agreement with Activision Blizzard, owner of the franchise, to once again make the game a PlayStation exclusive. Thus, a contract was signed between the two companies to create a remastered title of the first three PlayStation 1 video games, this time for the PlayStation 4.

The product was named Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and was published on June 30, 2017 by Activision. A year later, and as a strategy to attract more players, it was released for the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. Finally, this installment was followed by one for the same platforms, but based on the races that PS1 players loved so much.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (2020) was the first to be available for the PS5, this was followed by a mobile game, the most recent dating back to 2023 and is the first to venture into online multiplayer mode. In conclusion, although Sony’s initial intention was to create a mascot as popular as Mario or Sonic, the success of Crash Bandicoot was so rapid that this animal was never officially recognized as the company’s mascot. A label that was not given by PlayStation, but by the children and young people of the last decade of the 20th century and who today are the most romantic and nostalgic adults.