Hidden demos within video games are nothing new. Many classic games featured demos that gave gamers a taste of the year's most anticipated titles. While most of these demos only featured one or two levels, the Crash Bash demo in Spyro: Year of the Dragon allowed players to access nearly the entire game.
Crash Bash was Sony's response to the Mario Party series. A group of friends play through a series of mini-games as their favorite Crash Bandicoot characters to win various trophies, crystals and gems. To get gamers hyped about Crash Bash's upcoming launch, the developers decided to include a secret demo in Spyro: Year of the Dragon.
By holding down L1, R1 and square after the egg breaks the sign at Spyro's home screen, players could access the hidden Crash Bash demo. However, it isn't really a demo. A klutzy programmer put a beta development copy of Crash Bash in Spyro: Year of the Dragon instead of an actual demo.
Developers would often add debug menus to development copies and send them to video game publications. Reviewers could change the game's setting through the debug menu if they got hung up on a certain level. This allowed them to see the game in its entirety without taking the time to master it.
To unlock the debug screen, simply press left, right, left, right, right, left, right, right, right, left, right, right, right, right, left, right, right, right, right, right at the demos title screen and start the game. Once it starts, pause the game. A cheat menu will appear at the bottom of the screen that will grant players access to nearly all of Crash Bash.
The only thing missing from the demo is the 5th Warp Room section. However, all the levels are still on the disk itself. Gamers will need to use a PlayStation GameShark to unlock all the levels in the 5th Warp Room.
The hidden Crash Bash demo in Spyro: Year of the Dragon may be the best unlockable on the original PlayStation. The fact that gamers can unlock nearly the entire game by simply entering a cheat code is still hard to believe. Although playing Crash Bash through Spyro: Year of the Dragon isn't the most ideal way to experience the game, the cheat is still worth trying just to see all the little tweaks it has to offer. Those whostill have an old Spyro: Year of the Dragon lying around might want to give the hidden Crash Bash demo a try.