Video Game Review: Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon team up in a holiday must-have

Grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, lend me your ears.  Video games are not all created equal, little ones need entertaining games to play too and, I am not just speaking about Fortnite.  Do you have a young niece or nephew that isn’t yet ready for big league games or an avid gamer who likes the classics that you have yet to buy a gift for?  I have got a great suggestion for you!  Mid last year, Activision released a remastered version of the Crash Bandicoot series as a collection.  The collection was a surprise hit, inspiring them to start to remaster another beloved series, Spyro the Dragon, released last month to rave reviews.  These two series have been fused into one piece of nostalgic glory that is the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon bundle, six games for the price of one!

                Many of the holiday releases are just not suitable for younger audiences due to the increased popularity of online multiplayer and the foul-mouthed citizens that pollute its airwaves.   This delightful bundle has no such features so children and teen alike can game in a harassment-free environment.  The gameplay is simple enough that even a five-year-old can master it but intricate enough to enhance skills that can be important to developing minds.  Both Spyro and Crash are platformer games that require a mix of timing jumps and pattern recognition.  They have a more complex collection system that will have older gamers trying to smash every crate or find every gem on a level.  Thanks to the old school level system, the games are very casual and not time draining but, are varied enough that an extended gaming session can be rewarding.  Each land you visit is vibrant and colorful with interesting characters and varying enemies to defeat as you progress.

                Neither game is extremely challenging, with Spyro being the more relaxed and open world while Crash is more linear and level based.  In Spyro, each world has five levels to beat before moving on to the next world with the clear goal of freeing all your dragon friends and defeating Gnasty Gnork.  In Crash, you are trying to save your sister and the world from Dr. Cortex by collecting the crystals at the end of each level.  Both games feature bosses that need beating before advancing to the next world but with Spyro, you can play the levels in any order but, in Crash the boss is always the last stage.  There are however some difficult levels in each game that will require some patience with a combination of trial and error to resolve.  I burned more than a few lives trying venturing back through a level to find that last box to 100% the level. 

                Some of the in-game mechanics can get some getting used to; Spyro’s dash doesn’t always head the direction you are facing which can cause untimely deaths and Crash’s jumping can be a little floaty, causing you to slip off platforms if you don’t land just right.  These problems alone are not enough to hinder the enjoyment of these classics as you leap your way over, on, and through enemies with relative ease.  Some of the dialogue in Spyro could have been improved upon as the original game had no voice acting and just textual dialogue between characters but with the added voice acting, some of the dialogue falls flat.  Luckily, Crash doesn’t suffer from this problem since he is a silent protagonist.

                Overall, both of these games are worth enjoying, whether you are buying them for a kid just starting their gaming journey, an old pro who played the originals or, maybe just for yourself as a way to recapture the past. This is a hard deal to pass up for those who love bargains and gaming since you get six full-length games for the price of one and since games these days are finding ways to microtransaction gamers after the initial purchase, that is something to be duplicated. 

4.5 out of 5

Full Disclosure: While I played Crash to completion, I have only finished the first Spyro game and have yet to complete the other two. I thought it more important to get this review out to see if I could sway anyone to try out these two great installations. I will definatly be finishing up the Spyro series soon!

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