Crash Bandicoot and Mario have had very different careers. While the original first three Crash Bandicoot games are some of our absolute favorites of all time, these two video game icons aren't on the same level in terms of average game quality and overall recognizability. Mario is a phenomenon and Crash is well-liked but on his way back up.
There are a few things the Crash Bandicoot games seem to do better than Mario and some obvious aspects Mario wins out in.
10 Crash Does Better: Better Early-Game Difficulty
Is there anyone out there that thinks Mario games are difficult from level one? Most of the time, they're so easy a newborn could play them up until the 3rd or 4th world. That's not true for every Mario game, but it's true for a lot of them. On the other hand, Crash Bandicoot can be difficult right from the first level. This type of platforming requires more pixel-perfect accuracy on the player's part and its a bit more unforgiving in its enemy placement and what it expects from the player. Obviously, this can be both a good and a bad trait but it is something Crash games do consistently more often than Mario games.
9 Mario Is Superior: Better Overall Difficulty Curve
That said, the difficulty curve is exponentially better in Mario games. These things are built from the ground up most of the time often with genius video game directors at the helm. So of course, the overall ramp in difficulty throughout the game is almost perfect in many Mario games while Crash games tend to have peaks and valleys (some of them with a lot of valleys). The best example we can remember from recent memory is the Secret Zone in Super Mario 3D Land. The game had already been ramping up in difficulty over the course of the game, but unlocking the Star, Mushroom, and Flower extra Worlds at the end required players to brave their way through some truly unforgiving levels. It was just so much fun!
8 Crash Does Better: Better Animal Companion Levels
Don't get us wrong, we love Yoshi and think that their usage in Mario games is always done well, but it could be better. There are very few "Yoshi Specific" levels in Mario games that basically require players to use them and even the ones that do (like in Mario Sunshine) don't do it all that well. In contrast, Crash games tend to have plenty of levels where either Crash or Coco ride on animal friends or vehicles in a runner-type level format like the tiger, boar, polar bear, dinosaur, hamster wheel, plane, motorcycle, or jetski.
These levels are always designed as runners and are in no way completable while not riding an animal/vehicle. Mario rarely has any levels similar to this, and when they do try something similar like with the Manta-Ray and Plessie levels, they're never all that challenging or fun.
7 Mario Is Superior: Better Usage Of Its Overall Cast
Mario has slowly collected quite the cast of characters over the years, what originally started with Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pauline slowly grew to encompass even characters from other series. Nowadays Mario is always seen hanging around with at least Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser, Bowser Jr, Kamek, Wario, and Waluigi. And, most of this cast has received their own spinoff game over the years like Super Princess Peach, Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi's Wooly World, and Wario World. Meanwhile, the Crash cast doesn't really get their own games, and we're sure if they did not many people would buy them.
6 Crash Does Better: A More Unique And Varied Cast Of Oddballs
Although the cast is less popular, that isn't to say that fans don't like the cast from the Crash games. In fact, they're more uniquely designed and more creatively written than most of the Mario crew. Take one look at the proportional difference between Tiny Tiger, N. Cortex, and Ripper Roo and you'll understand why these characters are more creative. They just have such varied silhouettes and designs! Plus, their backstories involve more than being a "princess" or a "plumber". They might be a band of misfits, but no one ever gets these misfits mixed up or forgets about the big-name ones.
5 Mario Is Superior: Most Games Just Have More Content
As time went on, the amount of content in every new release has drastically increased. Gone are the days of making a game exceedingly hard to add to its replay value because most games just have so much in them there's no way anyone can afford to replay them! Mario games have long since been following this format with every new game having an insane amount of collectible stars, shines, or moons and tons of worlds to explore. For example, Super Mario Galaxy 2 has a mind-blowing 242 Stars to collect.
In contrast, since Crash hasn't released any "new" games recently other than the remakes, we can safely say their level of content just falls short.
4 Crash Does Better: Has Some More Unforgiving Platforming
Mario games have surprisingly misleading levels of depth to their movement and min-maxing of efficiency. Just take a look at any Super Mario Sunshine or Mario 64 speed-run to see just how fast you can beast levels once you master the movement and understand the physics of each game. But, the developers don't expect this level of involvement from each player and as such tend to make their levels a bit more simple in terms of Platform complexity. Meanwhile, Crash fans know that the developers are trying to punish them and they're all for it. The unforgiving parts of Crash games are way more soul-crushing than any of the Mario examples.
3 Mario Is Superior: Has Better Platforming As A Whole
But, if we're talking about the variety in types of platforming or ways to platform, Mario absolutely had Crash beat way back in the days of Sunshine. Mario games constantly innovate the Platformer genre and almost singlehandedly keep it alive throughout the years with sheer quality. Each new release adds what seems like a whole new dimension of platforming that feels so intuitive to use in the moment, just check out what they did with Luigi's Balloon World!
This could be Cappy, The F.L.U.D.D, the planet/space system in Galaxy, or even just the suits Mario wears. Crash might have meaner and more classic platforming mastered, but Mario doesn't even know how to think inside the box, and that's something to be valued.
2 Crash Does Better: It's Main Character
How is it that in over 30 years Mario is still such a boring white-bread MC? The guy has experimented with so many art styles, professions, gameplay formats, and even crossovers yet we couldn't describe Mario in 3 words without using physical descriptors. He's just not very complex as a "human" and Luigi is the perfect proof of that. Fans love Luigi because he's flawed and because he has a personality, and Mario just doesn't stack up. Meanwhile, the one thing that Crash has in spades is personality. The guy doesn't talk, but he absolutely gets his cheeky and weirdo personality across in his animations and facial expressions. His wackjob state of mind is a ton of the reason why people love him so much, and its weirdly enough the main way he himself is better than Mario
1 Mario Is Superior: Has Better Music Hands Down
Things can be ended on an unfair note. Basically, there are a good amount of Crash Bandicoot games that have come out over the years, but none of them have an "outstanding" soundtrack. There are a lot of fantastic pieces spread throughout all the games, but not an absurd amount. In contrast, the soundtrack in each Mario game is almost always incredibly and remembered by fans for years to come. This is all to say that Mario games just have better music on average.