Let us Pay Our Respects to two Dead Mascots

[Zeta]

Well, I played through a little bit of the new Crash & Spyro crossover games, and while they're not "God, shove a fork into my brain to stop the pain" awful (Like Crash 4 and Spyro 4 were), they're nothing near good.

The most telling thing about the quaility of both games is that NEITHER is a platform game.

That's right - they put two platform mascots together in a tie-in game, and no platforming is involved. They're both mini-game collections. There's some platforming trim around the mini-games, but each world is basically a big Sonic Advance 3-style hub that lets you play rip-offs of various arcade games (most noticably Tubin').

These poor bastards. Ever since Naughty Dog and Insomniac dropped their respective franchises, they've been slumming. Finally, like JLo and Marc Anthony, they attempt a poorly thought out join venture and all it does is confirm the death of their careers. Let's take a retrospective on what each franchise had to offer.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash was nothing special. He really didn't do anything that hadn't been done before. However, he was the first popular platform hero on the PSX. Despite the fact that Mario 64 did everything that Crash did, only 100 times better, Crash managed to win the hearts of those souless bastards who both hated Mario and Sonic.

Crash soon gained a strange sequel that improved gameplay in some areas, and made things worse in others.

Finally, Crash 3 was released near the end of the PSX's lifecycle. Arguably one of the best platform games ever on a Sony console, Crash 3 was full of pleasant suprises and classic platform action.

Then Crash was dropped by Naughty Dog in favor of an elf and a weasel, and Crash wandered around - confused for several years. Eventually he appeared in Crash 4, which was like the Sonic Heroes of Crashdom.

Crash wasn't really a special character. He was literally the lovechild of Sonic the Hedehog and Taz. He just happened to give a small niche of gamers something that they couldn't really get anywhere else. He managed to develop real talent near the end of his career, but was tragically cut down as he approached his prime.

He coulda been a contender.

RIP - Crash Bandicoot.

Spyro the Dragon
Anyone who's experienced one of the classic Spyro games can tell that it's a special experience. Suprisingly, despite the world-wide popularity of dragons - no one had ever made a dragon-based platformer of note before Spyro. Spyro took all the skills you would expect of a dragon - flame breath, flight, super strength - and boiled them down into a very interesting and marketable package.

The art of Spyro's games was stunning. Pastel-covered and sweeping fantasy landscapes, as well as a trippy cast of supporting characters, gave one the feeling that they were playing in a cartoonized version of a Tolkien book. "Lord of the Ring Babies" - if you will.

The gameplay, based entirely around exploration and tricky aerial manuevers, was very interesting at times. You could charge at high-speed throughout the levels, or stop and glide everywhere -taking a leasurely exploration route.

Sadly, Spyro was eventually infected with "Chaotixitis". The poor little dragon was soon saddled with a largely unnecessary cast of supporting characters that made no sense at all. Even though he was a dragon, Spyro was soon surrounded with non-sensical and bland generic animal characters. Monkeys, cheetahs, penguins, kangaroos.

One would think that creatures like Gryphons or Unicorns or Centaurs would fit more in with the fantasy theme of Spyro, but obviously the creators of Spyro started scraping the bottom of the barrel, character-wise, after the first game.

Like Crash, Spyro had a grand 3rd game that packed everything that was great about Spyro into a single volume.

Then Insomniac apparently decided to mimic Naughty Dog and dropped the license, too.

Spyro 4 was not just a bad game compared to the other 3, there was nothing redeeming about it at all. While previous installments of the series had included 30+ stages, Spyro four ironically had only about 4 stages. Making it something that would've been more home on the 3DO than the Playstation 2.

Poor Spyro. He was a pretty original character, even if his sidekicks were all random and boring animals that didn't fit in with Spyro at all.

RIP - Spyro the Dragon.

And so that brings us up to now. Both game studios that once handled both licenses got two dual sets of mascots. Jak and Daxter and Ratchet & Clank.

Jak and Daxter started out as a total clone of Crash - however, a drunken night of GTA and the game producers decided to turn the happy little elf into a drunken, gun-toating, psychopath. Er, good call, guys.

Ratchet and Clank, meanwhile, always had guns from the start.

Jak 2 was pretty dismal, because it tried to mix aspects of multiple game genres, and because the characters didn't fit the theme of the game at all.

Ratchet and Clank 1 and 2 was a hoot to play - even though the characters are as bland as Spyro's sidekicks, the weapons system makes the whole series feel like what a 3-D Megaman game SHOULD be.

However, with the third games of both series coming up, I'm sure it won't be long before R&C and J&D are sold to some talentless hacks of game developers.

And then, gentle gamers? And then?

We'll have "Ratchet, Jak, Clank, and Daxter in: The Shameless Search for more Money".

Let us pray that Sonic never crosses over with any freaky licenese. I never want to see "Sonic & Sly Cooper".

[plasticwingsband]

I liked Jak and Daxter. I thought it was, y'know, peppy.

[Zeta]

I liked Jak and Daxter. I thought it was, y'know, peppy.

Yeah. I liked it, too.

It's the second one, I hated. The idea of turning a happy little elf into a gun-toting gansta is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in the gaming industry. Ever.

[Squirrelknight]

Yeah, I respect Jak 1 for its Miyamoto-esque design approach... I hate Jak 2 because it's a GTA wannabe... It's like the douche bags we had back at the old board-- You could tell the game was trying its hardest to cool and "edgy"... It was just stupid though. Jak and Daxter trying to be tough is like Mickey Mouse trying to be cool by putting his cigar out on Minnie Mouse's ass...

That would be pretty funny actually.

[Rlan]

Somebody, please, just CLONE Ratchet & Clank Directly and put Earthworm Jim in it. He'd fit PERFECTLY, what with the array of guns and space missions, just forget EWJ3D ever happened!

[Green Gibbon!]

I sure miss Jim.

The problem with the recent crop of platform heroes is that they're just not very appealing. I didn't like Crash or Spyro even before their collective descent into the inferno.

[Ngangbius]

The problem with the recent crop of platform heroes is that they're just not very appealing. I didn't like Crash or Spyro even before their collective descent into the inferno.

I never really cared for Crash or Spyro either--though, I only played the first game of each series and that led me to such a negative first impression that I did not bother to try the games that followed.

As for statement of recent platforming heroes not being appealing like in the past--not so sure that it is true as there were always crappy Mario and mostly Sonic-rip off characters since their births.

Jak & Daxter was a great game. Nice, colorfull graphics, an interesting cast of characters, decent gameplay, and excellent level design(I really like how all the levels connect to the main villiage areas), makes it one of the top PS2 platformers on the system despite being on the short and easy side.

Jak II, however...

My problem with Jak II is the platforming bits is fun, excellent. Jak has a lot more moves and the guns are great and that jetboard device is a blast to manuver. Daxter is also more entertaining here than in the first game(Drunk Daxter is the funniest event in the game).

It's Jak's forced 'badazz d00d' attitude adjustment and the GTA-styled missions I have a problem with. It doesn't help that the city is huge and traffic is always congested meaning that there is some idiot driver between you and some precious minutes in completing your mission in time. This are the type of missions that I failed over and over again because the passenger couldn't get into or out of the hovercab in time or I failed to deliver a package in time all because of the police shooting you in a congested area. I wound up screaming at my TV because of failing at the last moment. Nice work, Naughty Dog.

Supposedly, Daxter is playable at one point but unfortunatly I'll never see it because I have to complete another GTA-mission to advance the story. I'm stuck on the shooting the special police force cars and appearently, none of my guns work and it's already tricyk controlling the hovercar in this traffic. ARRRGH!

If Jak II just featured the platforming bits, included the guns and hover jetboard, took place in a smaller city, and kept Jak mostly mute without making him some moody angst-ridden bad boy, I would have enjoyed it.

[The Almighty Bunghole]

The last non-Sonic/non-Mario platformer that I played that I actually enjoyed was Rocket Knight Adventures.

I think platformers are a lost art almost.

[Bo]

I liked Croc on Saturn. Whatever happened to him? I know he did some sell-out game on the PSX wtih LifeSavers as a sponsor, or something.

[Rlan]

You do get to play as Daxter for a small part of the game, but it's pretty short, and nothing more than a parody of the Crash-style gameplay. Imaging one of those "run away from something" sections of Crash, and you get the idea. Daxter does a little spin too.

[Spazz]

I think Ty the Tazmainian Devil was dead before he was even alive. Wasn't that game like a Knuckles rip-off where a big jewel got broken up and you had to find all the pieces?

[Segaholic2]

Croc 2 was on Dreamcast. I'm not sure if it was any good.

I have yet to play any of the Ratchet & Clank or Jak & Daxter games, though I've been meaning to try them for a while.

Crash sucks and Spyro was okay.

[Esrever]

Rayman 2, people, Rayman 2! It's all about Rayman 2.

Rayman 3 was all right, too, but not nearly as good.

[Kishi]

Rayman was one of the first PS games I ever played. I rented it a couple times and had a lot of fun with it. I especially liked how each one of the last few levels posed a unique challenge, like reversed controls or a race against a dark Rayman.

I've never played any of the sequels, and that's mainly because I hate the way he's rendered in 3D. There's no huge departure from the original 2D art, but whatever details are different really throw his appearance off for me. I think it's in the eyes or the nose. Or the sudden need to be XTREME.

However, the "Ray-Man" commercials for Rayman 2, chronicling the adventures of a fat balding guy in a dirty undershirt (named Ray), were great.

[Zeta]

Rayman 1's original art and supporting cast were great. It was some sort of wacky, amazing, wonderland in which the inhabitants were all living Neutrons, Protons, and Electrons.

Then after Rayman 2 stuck Rayman on a generic alien planet and completely replaced Rayman's friends with a bunch of ugly and awkward-looking aliens - ugh.

And of course, the gameplay somehow managed to loose all the original charm and creativity of the original's 2-D challenges and became a soulessly mediocre 3-D platformer.

[Esrever]

Are you kidding me? Rayman 2 is one of the greatest 3D platformers of all time! There is nothing mediocre or generic about it, as opposed to Rayman 1, which was mediocre in every possible facet, save the gorgeous visuals.

And there is nothing "XTREME" about Rayman 2. It is a refreshingly innocent platformer with rock solid gameplay, lush visuals and ten thousand pounds of charm. If you've actually played it and still don't like it, then either you don't like 3D platformers or you're crazy. I can't think of any other explanation.

[Spazz]

I thought the demo on the Dreamcast was pretty cool by itself, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with the whole game.

[plasticwingsband]

Croc: The Legend of the Gobbos was released on both PS & Saturn at the same time. The sequel, Croc 2, was PS only, however.

And you know what? I kinda liked how Jak II introduced some maturity into the sereis.

Daxter is awesome as well.

[Green Gibbon!]

I've never played the original Rayman, but I really liked Rayman 2. I agree with Es, the whole "xtreme" schtick didn't start until the third one, which I only played very briefly. Apparently that one was under the direction of someone else, as Ancel was working on Beyond Good & Evil.

The best platformer in recent memory is definitely Sly Cooper. When I first saw it at E3 2002, I was so disgusted I didn't even play it. I was a fucking idiot, because it's amazing. The all-purpose "sneak" button was a stroke of genius. Like, it has almost the same kind of profound, simple brilliance as when Miyamoto said: "Hey I know, let's make him jump."

The only thing I don't like about Sly are the mini-games. They detract from the main experience and they're honestly not that fun.

[Kishi]

With "XTREME" I was referring to Rayman 3--and since I haven't played it, specifically to its awful commercials and dodgy subtitle, "Hoodlum Havoc."

[Esrever]

Oh! Well, yeah, that was pretty stupid. I never saw the commercials, but I always found it weird how they tried to make Rayman 3 look all badass on the console version cover art. :(

On your recommendations, GG, I started playing Sly Cooper the other night. I still don't own a PS2, but my girlfriend does, and I played through the first world while she was working on a term paper. It is pretty neat, and for whatever reason, playing it reminds me a lot of the surprisingly-good-but-still-not-THAT-good I-Ninja. (It's much better than I-Ninja, though.)

[daytonafathead]

Does anyone remember the old Crash Bandicoot commercials where that guy in a Crash Suit was walking around, doing stupid things? I don't remember any of the commercials, but i reamember that they were funny. Also, the other best commercials for a game were the Sonic Adventure 2 commercials with the "Subject A: Good hedgehog. Subject B: Bad hedgehog" where there were real hedgehogs in a lab and the bad hedgehog that represented Shadow killed the cow that was lowered into his cell. Good times, good times...

[Kishi]

I think the Crash commercials that everyone loved (as far as I know) were the ones for the first game, in which the guy in the suit stood outside Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington and taunted everyone inside with a bullhorn.

Of course the guy-in-suit gimmick promptly wore out its welcome as the series progressed, but it was certainly popular enough to be ripped off in print ads for other games (see: guy in Woody Woodpecker suit for the failed Woody Woodpecker racing game and guy in elephant suit for Running Wild, a failed animal-themed...racing game).

As for the actual content, I don't think any game commercial since then so shamelessly made it obvious that its mascot was out to get the establishment until Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, and that ad had none of the self-conscious sense of humor that the Crash ad did. It was more like Sega's stupidly aggressive "Sega does...WHAT NINTENDON'T!!!" propoganda from the 16-bit era. Le sigh.

[j-man]

Banjo Kazooie/Tooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day remain my two favourite 3D platformers (or platform series), more so the latter. The mix of subtle English wit, toilet humour and movie parodies make it a joy to play even after 3 years. Rare can work magic with seemingly lame characters or plots...'tis just a shame they sold out to Microsoft.

Failing that, you can't fault Abe's Oddysee/Exoddus or Ape Escape - both classic-but-overlooked titles. I dunno what happened to Ape Escape 2, did it even come out? And we all know how Oddworld went downhill after moving to Xbox and making the game that should have been a) on the PS2, and b) good - Munch's Oddysee.

[Green Gibbon!]

I dunno what happened to Ape Escape 2, did it even come out?

I don't know about the UK, but it was finally released here last summer by Ubi Soft. Two years after it was released in Japan. Apparently, a number of US publishers rejected it and I guess they were right because it sold like ass. It's still an excellent game, but there isn't much evolution from the first one. Same stuff, new stages, and there's alot of problems with the visual field... it seems to have been designed for widescreen resolution, so for those of us who are still stuck with old-fashioned sets, the only options are to play with a distorted picture or never, ever be able to see enough of what's around you. Oddly, there's also alot of picture clipping as the environments scroll, which is a problem I don't recall ever seeing before.

Now, there was a puzzle game called Ape Escape 2001 or something that was never released here. (That was for the PS1, I believe.) Apparently, the series is really popular in Japan. They even had McDonald's happy meal toys at one point.