Crash Bandicoot

Crash Bandicoot is the mascot protagonist of the franchise formerly built by Naughty Dog on PlayStation — a mutated bandicoot foiling experiments by Doctor Neo Cortex. Activision later became the long-term steward of the brand.

In marketing, Crash was positioned as Sony's counterweight to Nintendo platformers — loud attitude, Western humor, and brutal difficulty curves on narrow crate-filled paths. The original trilogy still earns praise for pacing and animation that punch above their polygon budgets.

The stretch from roughly 2001 through 2016 includes many spin-offs without Naughty Dog's involvement — reception varies. Most guides point newcomers to the originals (or the N. Sane Trilogy) plus Crash 4 when they want a modern sequel.