Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is a smash hit, and for good reason. The remastered trilogy keeps wholly intact all three original Crash games, while bringing their visuals and sounds into the modern era.
For many, these games are their childhood, and now they look as good as they deserved to look all those years ago. But as close as N. Sane Trilogy stays to the source material, 100% is a very hard mark to hit. There’s a few instances where the Trilogy deviates — and we’re going to count the (biggest) ways.
Playable Coco
The biggest difference between the original and the remaster is the addition of Coco as a fully playable character. In the original games, Coco was only playable in a few specific vehicle-based stages in Warped, while Crash himself tackled most of the usual platforming stages.
In N. Sane Trilogy, however, once you beat the first boss of Crash 1, you can choose to play as Coco instead of the usual mad marsupial. Coco functions exactly the same as Crash, with only minor hitbox alterations — so it’s mostly just a cosmetic difference, but it’s nice to see her get promoted from second banana to main hero for a change.
Speed Boosts
Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back gets a bit of a speed-up in the remake by way of the Speed Shoes. Crash fans may recognize these, as they’re a renamed version of Crash 3‘s Crash Dash.
Upon beating the final boss in the remake’s version of Cortex Strikes Back, you’ll get the ability to make Crash sprint — something he couldn’t do in the original game. This means that any stage in the game can be returned to for a hot-stepping second attempt, which no doubt has speedrunners excited.
And speaking of speedrunners…
Time Trials
Every speedrunner’s best friend. Time trials have been added to the first and second games, and the third game’s times have been altered to accommodate for the more mechanical changes of the game. Don’t worry — this doesn’t mean you can’t get 100% in the first two games without doing Time Trials. Instead, finishing all the Time Trials with a Gold score or better will get you there.
Physics Changes
Not everything is additions though. As mentioned earlier, there are some under the hood changes to Crash that are likely the reason why many are finding these games much more difficult than they remember.
Most importantly, the rate at which Crash falls has been sped up, and he has a tendency to slip off thin platforms now that he didn’t before. This makes already difficult stages like the infamous “The High Road” level even harder than it already was in the original game.
The developers have actually commented on and confirmed this issue, but for now don’t seem too inclined to fix or alter it. You’ll just have to play that much more carefully on stages like The High Road and the new DLC stage, Stormy Ascent.
That’s just a few of the changes that 20 years of gaming evolution have brought everyone’s favorite bonkers Bandicoot. If you’d like to see another article with more of the changes, let us know in the comments. And good luck on The High Road. You’ll need it.
If you want some extra help navigating the revamped Crash games, check out our collection of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy guides for all the tips you’ll need:
- Crash 2 Colored Gems Locations Guide
- Crash 3 Colored Gems Locations Guide
- Ultimate Guide to Relics in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- How to Break Metal Boxes & Other Boxes in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- How to Make Invisible Platforms Appear in Crash Bandicoot
