Crash Bandicoot The Huge Adventure

🎮 Game Boy Advance ⏳ 6 hours ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Portable Crash Adaptation #

This Crash Bandicoot GBA entry is an impressive effort to bring Naughty Dog’s iconic platformer to the Game Boy Advance. Developed by Vicarious Visions, it reimagines the series’ familiar 3D gameplay into a 2D side-scrolling format while keeping the core mechanics intact, running, jumping, spinning, and collecting Wumpa fruit across linear but varied stages. The game includes staples like hidden gems, bonus rounds, and boss fights, giving it the same sense of progression fans expect from the series.

Side-Scrolling Focus #

For people familiar with his franchise, it is like playing a Crash game that almost only has the side-scrolling platforming levels, even though it does have a couple of different sections here and there, but for the most part, this is how this title feels like. Visually, it does a great job of replicating the vibrant and cartoony aesthetic of the PlayStation originals. The sprite work is sharp, animations are smooth, and backgrounds capture the tropical and mechanical themes Crash is known for.

Responsive Yet Accessible #

The controls are tight and responsive, which is crucial for the game’s mix of platforming and precision jumps. That said, the handheld format does introduce some limitations, though I admit that I played this using a full-sized controller, so it was a non-issue for me. Levels are shorter and more straightforward, the variety of environments isn’t as wide as in the console entries, and the overall challenge is tuned to be more accessible.

Satisfying Completionist Experience #

I highly recommend trying to 100% this one, it is as satisfying as the versions for regular non-handheld consoles, and sometimes it is an even more pleasant experience since this is meant to be simpler, shorter and more concise, so not a big journey to 100%. Despite these constraints, it stands as a faithful and entertaining portable Crash game, one that retains the spirit of the franchise while adapting cleverly to the GBA’s hardware.