CRASH BANDICOOT DAVID CROOKES A classic game with enhanced graphics

Vicarious Visions, Naughty Dog Activision PS4 Rs 3,901 Before Naughty Dog created the wise-cracking adventurer Nathan Drake and threw him into numerous set pieces in the acclaimed Uncharted series, the developer produced another PlayStation star called

It was 1994 and Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin had decided to work on a 3D action-platform game in which the main character would run into the screen, tackle obstacles and collect things. Two years later, and with the developer having created its own programming language and compression software in a bid to get the game running fluidly on the PSOne, the game was ready. It sold six million copies and Crash became the Sony console’s unofficial mascot.

More than 20 years later, Crash is back, stomping the same old ground as he did all that time ago when he sought to stop Brio and Cortex from taking over the world while attempt- ing to rescue his girlfriend, Tawna. In fact, put that original game next to this refashioned, new version and you’d be hard-pressed to see much difference.

Aside, that is, from the modern animation, hugely enhanced graphics, up to 1440p rendering, cool motion blurring, superb sounds and a rethink of how the game plays for a more demanding gamer on a platform that allows for greater technical prowess. For this is for the PS4 and it has never looked or felt better.

You can’t help but play this game with a smile on your face. Indeed, to pull off something as unique and yet as familiar as this is a masterstroke, with the developer straddling the fine line between a remake of a classic and straightforward remaster. We actually got a glimpse of the old Crash in the final installment of Drake’s Uncharted adventures but while that allowed us to reacquaint ourselves with the basics, the pangs of nostalgia for those who remember this the first time round come flooding back as you remember how cool, exciting and progressive gaming in the 1990s proved to be.

That said, does show its age. As you progress at speed, spinning to dispatch nasties, bouncing on boxes to collect fruit, leaping over gaps and avoiding constantly moving obstacles, you do realise how far we’ve come from such rudimentary mechanics. It’s about as arcade as you’re going to get, not that such a thing is a harsh criticism, but if you’re after something to tax your brain, then it’s not going to satisfy quite as well as the more fluid and expansive titles of today.

But that is missing the point. The three

games here— hence the trilogy—really do dazzle. You’ll admire the cartoon-like scenery and, if you’re that way inclined, may even cheer the artists for essentially ripping up the originals and putting in a ton of effort to make the fires glow more intensely and the blades of 3D grass stand starkly. It’s quite a feat to take low-resolution graphics and work on them to such a degree that they are not only enhanced but still bear a striking resemblance to the original. Sometimes you think of retro games with rose-tinted glasses and are shocked the reality doesn’t match the memory. This turns such a thing on its head.

One thing you’d remember if you played the original, though, is that it is a damn difficult game more so when it comes to the racing. THE INDEPENDENT