Gaming News How was Crash Bandicoot different from Super Mario 64 back then? The developer explains why the mascot retained its identity
We can safely say that the year 1996 was particularly important with the arrival of several big names in 3D and platforms, such as Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot. The first one revolutionized its genre somewhat and of course it’s not easy for the second one not to be completely influenced by it…
Back in the nineties
It’s been almost thirty years – twenty-eight years to be exact – since Super Mario 64 was released on Nintendo 64: A real tidal wave for the industry, pushing us to discover 3D as a person, exploration and supporting platform. However, in contrast, he released a serious competitor just two months later: a certain Crash Bandicoot, exclusive to the PlayStation. Also a 3D platformer, but much more linear.
This week in the magazine Retro Gamer 256, developer Dan Arey (now creative director and senior gamer designer at Nantic) spoke about his perception of his two titans in the ’90s when he worked at Crystal Dynamics. At the time, he was involved in the Gex: Enter the Gecko project, a 3D platformer for the N64. and the arrival of Super Mario 64 clearly turned everything on its head.
When Mario 64 came out, everyone changed their perspective on things. We all realized that 3D platforming is incredible, but also that it needs to be done carefully.
It is not for nothing that Shigeru Miyamoto’s game is being considered one of the best video games in the history of the medium and that’s why we want to take Dan Arey’s word for it.
Solid impact on the supports
After his time at Crystal Dynamics, Dan Arey is finally brought to a certain studio called Naughty Dog. Aside from that, The latter seduced him into hiring him by showing him and his colleagues technical demos of the first Crash Bandicoot:
Dan Arey when he worked at Naughty Dog
If you think about it, Crash Bandicoot ran tracks in 3D with occasional sections in 2D. But it was all very focused on the mechanics and it was really the idea of Naughty Dog founders Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin.
When I was at Crystal Dynamics, we saw some early demos and wondered how they were able to bring so many polygons to the PlayStation. They had pre-calculated the polygons that couldn’t be seen with the fixed camera. So it felt like there were a lot more polygons being transferred to the system than ever before.
By maintaining greater linearity in level design and cleverly optimizing the PlayStation’s performance (albeit lower than the Nintendo 64) Crash Bandicoot therefore knew how to maintain its own identity in a time when many wanted to emulate Super Mario 64.
In addition, this diagram was kept for a long time: Dan Arey was essentially working on Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped when he moved to Naughty Dog. but also later the legendary Jak, who exceptionally continued to explore a more ambitious and open 3D. Great career.
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