Crash Bandicoot Co-Creator: Remake Completely Botched Jumping Mechanics

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Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy has become a favorite for both old fans and new players, reviving interest in platform games. However, many players have a major issue with the remake—the jumping mechanics. Since jumping is the core aspect of this genre, this is a significant problem.

There has been much discussion about why the jumping feels off, with some saying it feels “broken.” Recently, a possible explanation came from Andrew Gavin, co-founder of Naughty Dog. In a detailed post on GamesRadar+, he explained where Vicarious Visions, now known as Blizzard Albany, made mistakes.

“The Game’s Fundamental Jumping Mechanic Feels Worse Than The 1996 Original”

Gavin noted, “On the original PlayStation, we only had digital buttons—pressed or not pressed. There were no analog sticks. Players needed different jump heights, but our options were limited. Most games used a basic method: detect a button press, then trigger a jump of fixed height. This was not great for platforming.”

Crash Bandicoot’s approach was different. Gavin explained, “The game detected when you pressed jump, started an animation, and then measured how long you held the button. As Crash jumped, we adjusted physics and force based on how long you kept the button held. Letting go early resulted in a shorter jump, while holding it down gave you maximum height.”

When they remade Crash, they nailed the visuals. It looks great, stays true to the original, and captures the spirit. But they completely messed up the jumping mechanics.

For some reason, the remake changed this system. Gavin mentioned, “They reverted to fixed jumps. They soon realized Crash couldn’t make half the jumps effectively. So, they made all jumps maximum height. Now, every jump in the remake is large and floaty. The precise little hops between platforms feel awkward. The jumping mechanics feel worse than the 1996 original, even though it’s on much more powerful hardware.”

Crash in front of a bridge, in Crash N.Sane Trilogy

Fans complained so much about the jumping that Activision’s editorial manager, Kevin Kelly, wrote a blog post soon after the game’s release to address concerns. He stated, “We studied the three titles and chose the jumping style from Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped as our starting point because it gave players better control. We tuned jumps differently for each game to match the originals.”

Kelly claimed the only difference is that you drop faster after letting go of the X button, requiring more precision. However, this doesn’t solve the issue of the floaty jumps. Gavin mentioned that less control over jumps and faster falling makes Crash much harder to handle than in the PS1 days.