It's a great edition the Crash nsane trilogy, dont get me wrong, which makes the games more fun, but Crash 4 transforms the IP into a platform with tons of new ideas, content, and variety. It's truly a great platform.
...I think the original Crash games are more a product of nostalgia than actual quality of the games.
I'll back you as much as I can...
I never found a way to enjoy the original 3 Crash games, the play mechanics felt clunky and dull; it was platforming tailored to the limitations of early 3D but then compromised by it by just having lanky jump physics and a long-churning/all-direction spin attack to avoid precision, plus the showy into-the-screen sequences which are iconic for the series but are irritating to play. Part 4, I didn't play (because again, I didn't like 1-3) but from play sessions I've watched, I've seen it do things like reward exploration (the old games seemed to just have extra space for setting up the graphic stage design and sometimes hiding apple boxes, but doesn't 4 have alternate routes on levels?)
The only ND game I've really ever truly loved is Jak 1.
Not saying everybody is insane for the acclaim (and I only played maybe 20% of Unch 2-3-4 and the first area of TLoU1; their shooting play in Uncharted 1 didn't sell me on this being a good direction for the company and the parts I played of the subsequent products had the same issues despite the production value... actually, it's kind of sad we didn't get "Uncharted Racer" since CTR and even Jak X were fun.) I just find a lot of the gameplay to criticize and in my case be turned off by in Naughty Dog games, and albeit I wouldn't take a stand against them being "quality" games, if somebody says they have reasons for liking a certain platformer (like, say, Crash 4) well above the classic Crash games, I have reason to believe them.
...Spyro meanwhile is such an odd-bird of a platforming game IMO, I'm always surprised and happy for its popularity. Most platformers are based on there being a slim hero who you can keep oriented in 3D easily because you're basically playing to the center of gravity and controlling a stick with feet (even chubby Mario is played via center mass,) but Spyro is this big tank-like figure (not that he's huge, but four-foot platforming heroes are rare and very often odd to play as; it's like every other platformer is the on-foot sections of Blaster Master and then Spyro is Sophia.) It's amazing to me that this series works and is craved for more, I hope Toys for Bob get to see this through.