Vicarious Visions Addresses 'Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy' Difficulty

Earlier this month, “Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy” was released by Activision, and fans thought the remake/remaster of the first game was a lot more difficult than the original. Vicarious Visions, the developer of the game, has now published a blog post detailing the game’s handling, physics and difficulty.

First, Vicarious Visions said that it had to unify the original "Crash Bandicoot” trilogy’s design. The developer says that it chose to use the handling from “Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped” as the “N. Sane Trilogy’s” starting point because it represented the “most improved and modern approach” as it’s able to provide players the most control.

“We went through rounds of internal testing, user testing, and iterations to get each game’s handling to just the right place. In the end, we ended up tuning jump differently for each game, so that the jump metrics are the same as the originals,” Vicarious Visions said in its blog post. “However, there are a few subtle differences in ‘Crash Bandicoot,’ chief among these being the fact that you fall more quickly upon release of the X button than you did in the original first game.”

READ: Why 'Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy' Is Harder Than The Original Games

Twitch streamer DingDongVG first pointed out the difference in how crash jumps in the “N. Sane Trilogy” and the original “Crash Bandicoot” game. He noticed that Crash’s jumping arc in the remake/remaster is a bit faster than the original. This simply means that Crash now lands slightly quicker after jumping.

The developer also confirmed that its game engine features a different collision system than the original games. This combined with the added physics is also why some jumps require more precision. Vicarious Visions says that they iterated on the collision and physics of the “N. Sane Trilogy” in order to make it fair for all players, while also still being faithful to the original games.

Earlier this month, Redditor TastyCarcass speculated that Vicarious Visions was using “pill shaped” collision boxes for Crash’s feet. This makes Crash’s feet more rounded when landing making it a lot easier to slip on the edge of flat surfaces. It seems like Vicarious Visions has confirmed this to be true.

Finally, Vicarious Visions acknowledged the difficulty of “Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.” The developer says that the first game in the remastered trilogy is a lot more forgiving than the original in terms of the save and checkpoint systems.

Vicarious also added dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) on “Crash Bandicoot.” This allows the game to give players additional Aku Aku masks and checkpoints if a player fails a certain number of times in a level.

READ: More 'Crash Bandicoot' Games Might Be Coming Soon, Activision CEO Teases

“An increased precision is now required in the first game, which makes the gameplay experience different,” the developer said. “Particularly if you are a new player, you may want to start with the second and third games first, and then come back to try ‘Crash Bandicoot’ after you’ve had more practice.”

Vicarious Visions also teased that it will be sharing some big news during San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, July 20. The developer will be joined by Activision, Naughty Dog and Dark Horse during a “Crash Bandicoot” panel.