With the upcoming release ofCrash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, the newest entry in one of thehardest video games made for kidsand a sequel that fans havebeen begging for, questions are abound over the story and which locations the game will take place in. But there are much bigger questions at hand, such as where the entry will fit in to theUncharted/Crash Bandicootuniverse.
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The two franchises are clearly parallel universes of one another, either that or Crash Bandicoot is a figment of Nathan Drake’s imagination, made up to cope with his PTSD after murdering thousands of men. Or vice versa, as Crash Bandicoot has spun a lot of wild animals in to an early grave too!
10Locations
Most of the firstUnchartedgame was set on one island, and about a third of the game is based in and around a castle, which just so happens to be a setting for a third of the firstCrash Bandicootgame too. Not only that, but very specific levels are eerily similar, not just in its theme, but even the layout. The firstUnchartedfeatured extremely linear hallway-like levels that take place in the jungle with tons of temple ruins, as did many levels inCrash Bandicoot. And bothCrash Bandicoot 2: Cortex StrikesBack andUncharted 2: Among Thievesfeatures levels on snowy mountain tops and inside ice caves.
9Protagonists Hunting For Treasure
Whether its to help save the damsel in distress or to take back a family heirloom that is rightfully theirs, for one reason or another, both Crash and Nate are obsessed with sharp shiny objects that are more often than not worth millions of dollars. And the two PlayStation icons will go to great lengths to find them, often risking their own lives and putting their loved ones in danger too, having to solveinsanely hard puzzlesand overcome some treacherous death traps.
8Villains Taking Advantage Of Crash and Nate
In every single entry of theUnchartedseries without fail, Nate becomes a pawn of the antagonist and is coerced in to doing something he doesn’t want to do. It makes players wonder why Nate is considered thebest PlayStation hero. Generally, mid-way through the game, instead of Nate hunting the treasure for himself, the villain, whether it’s Lazarevic or Marlowe or anybody else, will force Nate into searching for the treasure just to hand it over to them. In everyCrash Bandicootgame after the first one, Crash is a victim of the same thing, as he is forced to collect crystals and gems for Cortex’s personal gains.
7Tawna And Elena Are The Same Person
It isn’t just because Tawna is the love interest of Crash, and Elena is the love interest of Nate, and they are both blonde with blue eyes that makes this similarity so peculiar. Though it may seem like a huge leap, looking at the finer details almost proves that Elena is the literally humanized version of Tawna. They are wearing theexact same topeven down to the color, and in the first entry of each series they are both trapped in a castle by two crazy villains and are reliant on Crash and Nate to help them escape.
6The Upstream Jet Ski Levels
These levels are so similar, not just because of the indistinguishable look, but in the gameplay too. The player has to ride in between bombs bobbing up and down in the water whilst riding upstream. Though this level was first seen inCortex Strikes Backon a jet board, it was developed inCrash Bandicoot 3: Warped, which is one of the reasons why it’s thebest Crash Bandicoot game.
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What makes this similarity even stranger is that players control Coco Bandicoot on the jet ski levels, and Elena is sitting behind Nate on the jet ski inUncharted.Meaning that from behind, one character just looks like a more animated version of the other.
5Levels In The Sequels Taking Place In A Sewer
Crash Bandicoot might be considered by some as one ofPS4’s overrated platformers, but the second entry in the series,Cortex Strikes Back, really came in to its own and introduced more variety in level design, and the same could be said aboutUncharted 2: Among Thieves. Early on in both games, there are a couple of levels that take part in a sewer, and considering that the levels are both at the same point in each game, that’s more than just a coincidence, right?
4“Strange Fruit” Treasure
As one of the staples of theUnchartedseries is finding all of the hidden treasures scattered around the levels, there was one treasure inA Thief’s Endthat didn’t have a proper explanation or even a real name. This treasure looks a lot like a Wumpa fruit, the fruit that Crash eats to gain health. As treasures inUnchartedare usually used to tell more of a back story, fans should refuse to think this was merely a fun Easter egg.
3Waking Up Stranded On An Island
There are a lot of references toCrash BandicootinUncharted 4: A Thief’s End, from the strange fruit treasure to literally playing the originalCrash Bandicootgame on an old PlayStation in the Drake residence. But the biggestCrash Bandicootmoment of the game went under everybody’s radar.
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Hours after the boat chase scene, Nate wakes up face down on an island with a mouth full of water and sand. He slowly gets up and makes his way through the jungle, which isexactly the sameas the opening level ofCrash Bandicoot.
2The Slippery Climb
In the first Crash Bandicoot game, there is a level calledThe Slippery Climb, which is known for being the hardest level in the entire franchise. In the level, Crash has to climb his way up a bunch of bricks and rocks all the while the heavens are wide open, making every platform slipperier than it should be. And after Nate became stranded inA Thief’s End, in the chapter “Marooned”, he also has to find his way to the top on the side of a giant cliff edge. And he gets soaked in a monsoon while he’s at it.
1Crates Everywhere
If it was for some handy crates randomly and conveniently laid across jungles and other tropical environments, Nate would have been shot up by blood thirsty pirates a million times over by now. Though the future games in the series made sure there was an excuse for those crates dotted around, the firstUncharteddidn’t quite have an explanation. But maybe, just maybe, they were left behind by a crazy critter years before.
