Dan Severn's Moustache
Patent Pending
I've borrowed this idea from Mitch's film thread as video game serials have become just as recognizable as most film serials nowadays, and it's a way that we can openly discuss video games, as there is kind of a lack on the forum. You can choose you're own format. Ascending to descending or descending to ascending, it doesn't matter. And feel free to add your own choices. (credit to Mitch for those last two sentences)
I'd thought I would start off with one of my favourite game franchises: Crash Bandicoot. I was a Playstation kid and whilst I played a few other famous games, like an occasional dip into Spyro, and MGS when I was a little older, for the most part, Crash was a massive part of my childhood. I've personally played all of the Crash games, and this is my personal list of them from best to worst. Note that I won't be ranking the iOS games as they are severely limited in capabilities and it just doesn't feel right to me. They're better than Boom Bang though, know that.
1: Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
2: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
3: Crash Twinsanity
4: Crash Team Racing
5: Crash Bandicoot
6: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
7: Crash Bash
8: Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure/N-Tranced
9: Crash Tag Team Racing
10: Crash Nitro Kart
11: Crash Bandicoot Purple
12: Crash: Mind Over Mutant
13: Crash of the Titans
14: Crash: Boom Bang
A very strange spectrum indeed, from probably my favourite video game ever to one of my most hated. Crash Bandicoot 3 was an absolute masterpiece. It improved on every area that the already outstanding Crash Bandicoot failed to deliver on and added a lot more replay value to the game, as well as improving the bosses. The only issue I have with Crash 3 after speaking with someone who prefers 2 is that there's slight overkill on the vehicle stages, but even then only one of them controls badly, and it's very far from the worst control I've seen, so it doesn't take away from the gameplay experience. Crash 3 is to put it simply my favourite game ever.
Crash 2 gets second, for having the same sublime engine that Crash 3 retained, although there are some slightly larger issues, such as the boss battles being far too easy, and a lack of the excellent addition of power-ups in Crash 3. Despite this, Crash 2 is still a must play.
Crash Twinsanity gets third for an excellent change in pace in the series, and despite being short, feeling like a big adventure and a much needed expansion to the series with excellent, and yet challenging gameplay. It's nowhere near Crash 2 or 3, but iron out some of the flaws like glitches and annoying music, and it could close the gap at least.
CTR actually did have a large impact on cart racers, as it introduced the drift mechanic as a speed boost, which is now common place in the Mario Kart games. Combine it with fun gameplay, and loads of unlockables and play time and it is certainly worth your time. Though to be fair, Mario Kart 64 is a better all around racer, but CTR is certainly worthy of being one of the best Mario Kart clones, and it's a hell of a lot better than Sonic R from Sega.
The original has issues with control and gameplay that were ironed out in Crash 2, but is still a fun game and an excellent start to the series. Wrath of Cortex is probably the most underrated game of the series, and the music is excellent, though poor control and graphics hurt it. Crash Bash is a fine party game, but pales in comparison to Mario Party. The GBA games were paired together as they were very similar, and whilst it's a good throwback to the second and third games, it does suffer from limitations due to it being a GBA game, as well as paling to the second and third games in general.
Tag Team Racing and Nitro Kart both didn't really work as they paled in comparison to CTR, and there was no real need for another cart racer, as well as the fact that they were mediocre. Crash Bandicoot Purple was a good idea on paper, but the levels and overworld sucked, and it was just forgettable.
I don't like the two newest additions as they feel like completely different games, but they're part of the main series, which irritates me. The titan gimmick got old very quickly, and the character designs are ridiculous. They aren't bad, but they are NOT faithful to the original games in the slightest, and I have a grudge against these games for that. I put Mind Over Mutant over Titans as some gameplay flaws were ironed out in MoM, and N Brio is one of my favourite Crash characters.
Crash Boom Bang is a piece of fucking shit. Easily the most disappointing game I have played, and it narrowly avoided being compared with games such as Crazybus and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties on some of the worst games I have ever played.
I'd thought I would start off with one of my favourite game franchises: Crash Bandicoot. I was a Playstation kid and whilst I played a few other famous games, like an occasional dip into Spyro, and MGS when I was a little older, for the most part, Crash was a massive part of my childhood. I've personally played all of the Crash games, and this is my personal list of them from best to worst. Note that I won't be ranking the iOS games as they are severely limited in capabilities and it just doesn't feel right to me. They're better than Boom Bang though, know that.
1: Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
2: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
3: Crash Twinsanity
4: Crash Team Racing
5: Crash Bandicoot
6: Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
7: Crash Bash
8: Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure/N-Tranced
9: Crash Tag Team Racing
10: Crash Nitro Kart
11: Crash Bandicoot Purple
12: Crash: Mind Over Mutant
13: Crash of the Titans
14: Crash: Boom Bang
A very strange spectrum indeed, from probably my favourite video game ever to one of my most hated. Crash Bandicoot 3 was an absolute masterpiece. It improved on every area that the already outstanding Crash Bandicoot failed to deliver on and added a lot more replay value to the game, as well as improving the bosses. The only issue I have with Crash 3 after speaking with someone who prefers 2 is that there's slight overkill on the vehicle stages, but even then only one of them controls badly, and it's very far from the worst control I've seen, so it doesn't take away from the gameplay experience. Crash 3 is to put it simply my favourite game ever.
Crash 2 gets second, for having the same sublime engine that Crash 3 retained, although there are some slightly larger issues, such as the boss battles being far too easy, and a lack of the excellent addition of power-ups in Crash 3. Despite this, Crash 2 is still a must play.
Crash Twinsanity gets third for an excellent change in pace in the series, and despite being short, feeling like a big adventure and a much needed expansion to the series with excellent, and yet challenging gameplay. It's nowhere near Crash 2 or 3, but iron out some of the flaws like glitches and annoying music, and it could close the gap at least.
CTR actually did have a large impact on cart racers, as it introduced the drift mechanic as a speed boost, which is now common place in the Mario Kart games. Combine it with fun gameplay, and loads of unlockables and play time and it is certainly worth your time. Though to be fair, Mario Kart 64 is a better all around racer, but CTR is certainly worthy of being one of the best Mario Kart clones, and it's a hell of a lot better than Sonic R from Sega.
The original has issues with control and gameplay that were ironed out in Crash 2, but is still a fun game and an excellent start to the series. Wrath of Cortex is probably the most underrated game of the series, and the music is excellent, though poor control and graphics hurt it. Crash Bash is a fine party game, but pales in comparison to Mario Party. The GBA games were paired together as they were very similar, and whilst it's a good throwback to the second and third games, it does suffer from limitations due to it being a GBA game, as well as paling to the second and third games in general.
Tag Team Racing and Nitro Kart both didn't really work as they paled in comparison to CTR, and there was no real need for another cart racer, as well as the fact that they were mediocre. Crash Bandicoot Purple was a good idea on paper, but the levels and overworld sucked, and it was just forgettable.
I don't like the two newest additions as they feel like completely different games, but they're part of the main series, which irritates me. The titan gimmick got old very quickly, and the character designs are ridiculous. They aren't bad, but they are NOT faithful to the original games in the slightest, and I have a grudge against these games for that. I put Mind Over Mutant over Titans as some gameplay flaws were ironed out in MoM, and N Brio is one of my favourite Crash characters.
Crash Boom Bang is a piece of fucking shit. Easily the most disappointing game I have played, and it narrowly avoided being compared with games such as Crazybus and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties on some of the worst games I have ever played.