"Crash Bandicoot", the hero who wanted to dethrone Mario and Sonic (almost)

Crash Bandicoot runs after the fame of Mario and Sonic, here in "Crash Bandicoot: It's about time" -

As Super Mario turns 35 (the

35-player

has been available since Thursday), another essential video game hero is back.

Almost a mascot.

Ah Sonic?

No.

Rayman?

Rabbids?

No more.

Lara Croft of course.

Always not.

This is Crash Bandicoot, well known to seasoned gamers, less to the general public.

After the remakes of

and

 for its 20th anniversary, the long-nosed eastern peramele (or bandicoot, that's it) offers itself a new unprecedented adventure with

, on PS4 and Xbox One.

Gone are the days when Crash wanted to impose himself as the new Mario or Sonic, as the mascot of the new PlayStation.

Finally, its creators, the Naughty Dog studio.

It was time !

Crash Bandicoot 4 is available!

Download it on PS4: https://t.co/09ThG60xKd pic.twitter.com/gpffqd114x

- PlayStation France (@PlayStationFR) October 2, 2020

Come on let's make the Sony mascot

“At its beginnings, Naughty Dog was two guys barely 20 years old, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin,” says Gaëtan Boulanger, author of 

, soon to be published by Editions Pix'n Love.

In the early 1990s, they just released

, their version, a quasi-clone, of

on 3DO, which stands out as the game of the machine.

After this success, their publisher Universal Interactive signed them for three games, which would become the first three

.

"

We find in the game the three episodes produced at the end of the 90s by the studio Naughty Dog in remastered version.

- Activision Blizzard

However, the new PlayStation has just been released, and does not have a mascot like Nintendo with Mario and Sega with Sonic.

The duo say modestly that they will create the

for the PlayStation, and why not the mascot of Sony.

Except that the manufacturer is not (yet) aware, and does not necessarily want a mascot.

Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin are of course inspired by Mario, so it will be a platform game, but in 3D.

Sonic's butt

"It is the era of the 3D rocker with also 

,

or

 ", details Gaëtan Boulanger.

And that's where Sonic's butt comes in.

Huh?

"It's a joke, but since the game is in 3D and no longer in side-scrolling

2D, the player will see the character from behind and therefore his buttocks.

was nicknamed

during a period of development.

It was therefore necessary to put the package graphically, even if in the end we rather see his shoulders, more in height.

"

Since the plumber and the hedgehog are caught, Naughty Dog seeks inspiration for their hero from the cartoon side.

“They were fans of cartoons à la Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes, they wanted a game in this slightly crazy spirit, which one does not find in Japanese games, wiser, explains the specialist of the studio.

Crash is also very reminiscent of Taz, the famous Tasmanian Devil from cartoons.

He will be first a wombat or a potorus, will be called Willie, before becoming Crash Bandicoot, creation of the mad scientist Doctor Neo Cortex whose projects of world domination he tries to stop.

Rififi behind the scenes

To help them design the character and his world of Australian islands and tropical jungle, Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin call on artists Joe Pearson and Charles Zembillas, who claim, along with producer David Siller, to be the true creators of Crash and accuse Naughty Dog of wanting to discredit their work and rewrite history.

A story told in detail and testimonials in a long format from the Polygon site for the 20 years of the game.

Tomorrow is # CrashBandicoot4 and it's high time to lift the veil on our new project 🤲

The Naughty Dog Story!

🍎📦 @ GagReathle looks back on the origins of this exceptional Californian studio thanks to some thirty interviews, including the two founders!

pic.twitter.com/AfpGJYG4Py

- Pix'n Love Editions (@Pixnlove) October 1, 2020

In terms of video games and gameplay, the first

, released in 1996 on PS, remains classic, apart from the switch from 2D to 3D.

"Critics and the community of the time find it moreover less innovative than its competitor, good old Mario with

, its open camera, its enriched gameplay", specifies Gaëtan Boulanger.

The title remains a success nonetheless, Sony made it its big game of 1996, and even became its publisher with Universal Interactive.

But does he become his mascot?

“It could have been, if Sony had had the exploitation rights, but they stayed with Universal.

"

An unofficial mascot

Crash Bandicoot nonetheless remains their gondola head, and an essential game character, until Japan, the land of Mario and Sonic.

A sales success, and an unofficial mascot?

The time of a console generation.

Because in 2001, Universal Interactive was bought by Vivendi, which ended the PlayStation exclusivity.

Crash BandiCoot becomes multiplatform, and is no longer developed by Naughty Dog, acquired by Sony.

The studio will fly to other adventures with

(then

and

), while several studios will take turns on future

games

, without the same aura.

The last

both a good surprise and a beautiful tribute, could not better bear its title: it was about time.

Culture

EXCLUDED.

“Whether you love or hate 'The Last of Us Part II', this is the game we wanted to make,” says creator Neil Druckmann

Culture

Super Mario is 35 years old: "Today, I associate more a Mario game with follies between friends on" Mario Kart "or" Super Smash Bros. "

"

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