Game #1020: Crash Bandicoot - The Huge Adventure

 Crashing into the GBA.

 About 10 years ago I played the second Crash game on the GBA, and it was pretty good so I made a mental note to get the first game, Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure sometime. And, 10 years later, here we are.

 The Huge Adventure does a decent job at adapting Crash to the little handheld, featuring bite-sized levels that pay homage to its big brothers on home consoles. Most stages are 2-D platforming affairs, using the GBA's ugly-but-trademark digitalized sprites, as well as some swimming stages, some running-towards-the-camera-chase stages and a few flying stages, the latter ones being the least fun. While stages are brief you do get everything that classic Crash had to offer, a pink gem on every level, a silver gem for breaking all boxes as well as colored gems that open up secret areas on some stages, heck, there are even time trials and the platforms that take you to bonus stages! It feels very complete.

 At first you start off with Crash 2's basic moveset, the jump, the slam, the slide and the spin attack, but as you defeat bosses you unlock new moves, just like in Crash 3, the super slam, the tornado glide, the double jump and the running shoes. The tornado glide and the double jump don't feel very good, however. I don't remember if this holds true for its sequel, but when you double jump Crash stops for a few seconds before the second jump goes off which threw me off a lot at first. As for the Tornado glide, it seems like the sections that require it to proceed are a bit too tight, and mashing B hoping you glide isn't the most precise of maneuvers. 

 The game has 20 levels, as well as a secret 21st level. It is super short, you can probably finish the game in 20 levels, provided you aren't going for 100% completion. Still, for a handheld game it works. I do want to gripe about the level design, as some of the latter levels can get a bit nasty, with obstacles that are impossible to know are coming until you get hit by them, heck, I remember having to deal with a few leaps of faith here and there, praying that I'd land somewhere safe. On the flipside, the game is super generous with extra lives, so when you are rockin' over 60 spare lives, losing a few to cheap deaths doesn't feel too bitter.

 I quite liked The Huge Adventure, as I feel it did a great job at adapting the game to a handheld. On the other hand, I do wish some of the level design was a bit tighter, and a few more levels wouldn't have hurt either. Still, not a bad way to kill some time.

 6.0