It started with Spyro
I recall viewing the inclusion of my old friend Spyro the Dragon in the first Skylanders game with a fair degree of venom, and I’m sure many others felt the same. Not that I’ve an issue with reboots, you understand— the previous attempt at rebooting my purple pal was, if nothing else, an extremely spirited effort. When one is prepared to shell out on such incredible voice talent as Elijah Wood, Gary Oldman and Mark Hamill (to name but a few) I’m convinced that plot and characterization are being treated with the priority owed to them. Such, after all, is the purpose of a reboot: to breathe fresh life and new tales into beloved characters such as Spyro.
This was not, as I saw it, what Skylanders had in mind. Aside from the horrifically ugly character redesign—the last nail in the coffin for the era of all mascots who don’t wear red and claim to hold qualifications in plumbing—it felt very much to me that Spyro was merely shunted into the first instalment of that franchise in an effort to squeeze a bit of extra cash out of those Spyro fans who had recovered from whatever adverse effect this scaly monstrosity had on their bodies and minds. Slapping his name onto the title means very little when he’s one of a massive ensemble of over thirty characters, each one of whom might as well be the lead for all the difference it makes.
a face only a mother could love, not that Spyro has a detailed enough backstory to have one
Now, all this preamble serves, if you like, to qualify the following statement: I am thrilled that the upcoming Skylanders title features Crash Bandicoot. Let me explain.
More gems than Moneybags
See, unlike the inclusion of Spyro in the first game, the Skylanders franchise is now snuggled comfortably within the hearts of young fans and critics alike. Reviews of the past three games have been rather positive and, since the games revolve heavily around the physical purchase of new characters, I think it’s safe to assume that the Toys for Bob office is now, at the very least, gold-plated.
Moneybags would have thoroughly approved of DLC
So, on the one hand, it’s clear that this franchise doesn’t necessarily need the help of that beloved bandicoot. Or, to take it one step further, we could even argue that Crash has much to gain from Skylanders himself. After all, we are not far from being graced with the remastered original trilogy, long awaited by patient fans, and it will do no harm at all to its sales if Crash has recently been reintroduced. Of course, that being the case, Crash could hardly be redesigned in a manner similar to Spyro, else he wouldn’t be recognized by these new fans come the remaster, would he? Which brings me on to my second point…
Washing off the makeup
Cortex has returned to his beautiful former self
The other major reason, in my mind, that the inclusion of Crash differs from the inclusion of Spyro lies in the character design. Rather than reboot the character, Skylanders has—rather magnificently—debooted him instead, if you like. Gone are the bizarre tattoos from his hands (courtesy of those strange redesigns featured in the Titans games, the less said of which, the better) and, similarly, gone is the unsettling elongation of the head of Dr. Neo Cortex, returning instead into its comfortingly nefarious rectangle.
Cortex himself bears some praise, incidentally: from the footage I’ve seen thus far, it appears Lex Lang, the man who has voiced Cortex with a wonderfully flamboyant mischief since Crash Twinsanity (possibly, to my mind, the best game of the franchise) has returned once again. Add to this the welcome return of an oblong Aku-Aku and a level design that is spot-on down to the aesthetic of the crates themselves, and what we uncover is a very different beast to the aforementioned bastardization of Spyro.
Shall I compare thee to a Wumpa Fruit?
It strikes me that this level pack is, ultimately, a labour of love. The developers have, quite deliberately, drawn inspiration from the very best of the Crash Bandicoot years, and presented us with a new, high definition Crash and Cortex which, despite their modernity, merge seamlessly into the characters which I, and many others, were brought up on.
Well, either that or the very nostalgia trap that I began this article by bemoaning has succeeded in gripping my wallet within its cold, joyless snare. I’d like to think that I’m too focused to allow that to happen, but—oh, was that Fake Crash in the background of the trailer?
