Crash then seizes the opportunity to escape, with Cortex in pursuit. Brio's warning that the Vortex was unstable, Cortex rushed the newly evolved Crash into the Vortex, which rejects him. Cortex eventually subjects these creatures to the Cortex Vortex, a device designed to brainwash animals and make them obedient to him. Brio has created a machine known as the Evolvo-Ray, which is capable of giving animals anthropomorphic traits. Crash Bandicoot, a peaceful bandicoot, who is slated to become the army's general. On one of these islands resides Doctor Neo Cortex, who along with his assistant Doctor Nitrus Brio are trying to create an animal army known as the 'Cortex Commandos' to achieve world domination. Somewhere southeast of Australia rest three little islands, teeming with wildlife. StoryД¬ortex (right) and Brio (left) put Crash under the Evolvo-Ray. There are three Islands on the game, between which 32 levels are divided as follows (the six boss levels are indicated in bold):ДЎ - Sunset Vista and Slippery Climb are swapped in the NTSC-J release of the game. The game is over once Crash loses all of his lives, but the player can choose to continue by selecting 'Yes' at the game over screen.ДЄlso scattered around the levels are Wumpa Fruit where collecting 100 of them will earn the player an extra life. If he collects all 3 masks, he'll become invincible for a short amount of time. Crash can protect himself from damage by picking up an Aku Aku mask. If Crash touches an enemy or a hazard, he loses a life. The gameplay in Crash Bandicoot is noticeably simpler than the series' later iterations, as Crash doesn't learn any new skills throughout the game.

When the game was developed, Naughty Dog had only ten employees working for them. The company had shopped the prototype around and after reaching a deal with Universal Interactive Studios, began developing the game further into what is known today as Crash Bandicoot. In its development stages, both the game and the character were initially called Willie the Wombat.

Crash bandicoot prototype