Crash bandicoot

 Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise created by Naughty Dog as a flagship title for Sony's PlayStation console. The series began with the development of the first game in 1994, inspired by the emerging capabilities of 3D consoles and games like Donkey Kong Country (1994). The protagonist, initially conceived as "Willy the Wombat", evolved into Crash Bandicoot, a goofy, genetically mutated eastern barred bandicoot who escapes the clutches of the mad scientist Doctor Neo Cortex. The original trilogy—completed by Cortex Strikes Back (1997) and Warped (1998)—along with the kart racing game Crash Team Racing (1999), received critical praise for their vibrant visuals and polished gameplay. After Naughty Dog's departure following Crash Team Racing due to creative exhaustion and ownership issues, the franchise transitioned from Sony exclusivity to multiplatform releases under multiple developers and publishers, including Universal Interactive, Vivendi Games, and eventually Activision.

Gameplay centers on 3D platforming with a linear or hub-based level progression. Players control Crash through linear, obstacle-filled levels viewed primarily from a third-person perspective, with occasional shifts to a side-scrolling perspective and levels in which Crash flees a pursuing hazard by running toward the screen. Core mechanics include jumping, spinning to defeat enemies, and collecting Wumpa fruit for extra lives, alongside breaking crates for bonuses and gathering crystals, gems, and relics to unlock content. Later entries introduce abilities granted by defeating bosses. Set in a fictional archipelago with diverse biomes, and including time-traveling and multiversal elements in later games, the series features a cast including Crash, his sister Coco, allies like the protective spirit Aku Aku, and villains including Cortex, Uka Uka, and various mutant henchmen.

After a period of declining critical reception during the multi-developer phase in the 2000s and a hiatus in the early 2010s, the series experienced a successful revival beginning with the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (2017), a remastered collection of the original trilogy, followed by the remaster Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (2019) and the new entry Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (2020). Crash Bandicoot established Naughty Dog as a major video game developer and positioned the character as the PlayStation's unofficial mascot. The series sold 50 million units across the series by 2007 and inspired merchandise, media adaptations, and scientific nomenclature.

Naughty Dog was founded as JAM Software in 1984 by childhood friends Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, their first project being the educational game Math Jam (1985). Their following titles were Ski Crazed (1987), Dream Zone (1988), Keef the Thief (1989), and Rings of Power (1992). After completing Way of the Warrior (1994), Gavin and Rubin relocated from Boston to Los Angeles to work with publisher Universal Interactive. During the trip, they decided to create a 3D platformer to capitalize on emerging console capabilities, drawing inspiration from the pre-rendered visuals of Donkey Kong Country (1994).

Production of the new project began in October 1994. To create the characters and setting, Naughty Dog contracted cartoonists Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson. The game's lead character was tentatively named "Willy the Wombat" and was envisioned as a goofy, Zorro-like Tasmanian marsupial. The character would ultimately become a bandicoot for the species' appeal and relative obscurity. During the game's alpha phase, Naughty Dog demonstrated the game to Sony Computer Entertainment to secure a publishing deal with them.

The Crash Bandicoot series centers on 3D platforming gameplay, where players control the protagonist Crash in linear levels filled with obstacles, enemies, and environmental hazards. Crash can move in all directions, and the controls do not change with his position. The majority of the games take place from a third-person perspective in which Crash moves into the screen. Certain levels are played from a traditional side-scrolling perspective, while other levels, in which Crash flees from a large obstacle such as a rolling boulder, angry polar bear or dinosaur require him to move toward the screen. Some levels involve Crash mounting and steering an animal that accelerates uncontrollably, requiring him to maneuver around obstacles and bypass enemies. Throughout the series, Crash commandeers a variety of vehicles, such as a jetboard, jet pack, motorcycle and biplane.

Crash's primary maneuvers including jumping and sliding. His defining ability is the spin attack, a cyclone-like whirlwind motion which can defeat enemies by launching them off-screen; knocked enemies can strike other enemies in their path. In games starting with Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash can earn new abilities by defeating bosses. Crash of the Titans and Crash: Mind over Mutant feature beat 'em up combat as well as a "jacking" mechanic in which Crash can mount and control large mutant enemies called Titans.

At a certain point within the levels, bonus areas are accessible via a platform bearing a question mark. In these areas, Crash must navigate to the end of the path while grabbing an assortment of collectibles. Dying in a Bonus area will not deplete a life, and results in the player respawning next to the Bonus platform within the level. In the original game, bonus levels are accessed by collecting tokens in the likeness of Crash's girlfriend Tawna, Cortex, or Cortex's assistant Doctor Nitrus Brio. Tawna's bonus rounds are easy and plentiful, and enable the player to save their game. Brio's bonus rounds are more difficult, featuring more TNT crates and requiring more precise jumps. Cortex's bonus rounds, of which there are two, are the most difficult, and grant Crash a key that unlocks a secret level.

The levels in the original Crash Bandicoot are presented in a linear progression on a map. Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back introduces a series of five hub areas, each granting access to five levels that can be played in any order. Crash must retrieve a crystal from each level and defeat a boss to progress to the next hub area. This level progression system resurfaces in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, and Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure. Subsequent games showcase either a branching map (as in Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time) or open-world exploration (as in Crash Twinsanity and Crash: Mind over Mutant).