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Not long ago, he had ruled out Crash Bandicoot. After those three amazing original games on Naughty Dog’s PlayStation, Activision Blizzard produced mild sequels until the franchise seemed dead. Then 2017 brought a compilation of great remakes of those games with the N. Sane Trilogy. Hope flickered. Still, I never would have thought that my favorite Crash Bandicoot game would come out in 2020.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is out October 2 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (I played on a PlayStation 4 Pro). I understand if you’re too busy waiting for the next-gen machines to come out in November to be excited for a 3D platformer on PS4 and Xbox One.
But if you’ve ever loved Crash, whether it’s through the PlayStation classics or experiencing the fantastic remakes, then you should be interested in It’s About Time.
Return to basic
Crash Bandicoot 4 comes from Toys to Bob. That’s the team behind the Spyro remakes. Staying true to the original is important to any remake, but Toys for Bob has applied that same spirit to this sequel to Crash. As with the original games, It’s About Time is a simple 3D platformer. It uses the same formula from the Crash Bandicoot trilogy. You can explore linear levels by navigating through a combination of corridor-based 3D sections and 2D areas.
Compared to the crazy stunts of Mario or the high speeds of Sonic, Crash can seem simple. But the beauty is in that simplicity. The best Crash Bandicoot games focus on precision platformers set in beautiful cartoon-inspired levels.
Rather than trying to turn Crash Bandicoot into an open-world experience or a fight-based action game, Toys for Bob has used that original formula to create an experience that is familiar yet remarkable. Sometimes we have this unfair demand that all sequels be reinvented or innovated. Crash Bandicoot 4 shows that often all we really need is a fresh take on an old idea.
Above: Make friends with masks.
Image Credit: GamesBeat
Masks and marsupials
Not that Crash Bandicoot 4 doesn’t have any new tricks to make it look like more than a retread. As he progresses in the adventure, he comes across four magical masks. These serve as power-ups that grant you special abilities. A mask slows down time for a short time. Another reverses gravity, so it can tip onto the roof. These tricks add some needed variety and excitement.
Occasionally you will also play as new characters. In most levels, you can control Crash or his sister, Coco. Each has the same abilities that you will recognize in the original games. Some levels have you play as Tawna, who uses a grappling hook and can do wall jumps. Then there’s Dingodile, which has a giant vacuum that can suck up boxes (I got some vibes from Blinx while playing it). You can even play as the villain from the Neo Cortex series, who can turn enemies into platforms with a ray gun.
I remember Crash Bandicoot 3 trying to add variety to its stages with vehicle tiers. Suddenly you will find yourself flying an airplane or riding a motorcycle. Those are a bit too much for me. I am playing a 3D platform. I want, you know, jump. Having these different characters with their new abilities does a much better job of adding variety without diverging too much from the main experience.
Creativity unleashed
Crash 4 has the level design and precision to make a great 3D platformer. Art elevates the experience. These stages are beautiful and bursting with creativity. I mean, sure, you have an ice level. But it is also a scene inhabited by zombie fishermen. A dinosaur-themed level may not look all that special, but its sprawling foliage and bright colors make it pop like a scene from an animated movie.
And when it comes to animation, the characters and enemies are expressive and fun to watch. Toys to Bob’s animation work on the Spyro remake blew me away, and that very experience makes Crash 4 endearing and full of life. Crash 4 even looks better than those beautiful remakes of the PlayStation trilogy, thanks to its brighter colors and more cartoon-inspired character designs.
Boss battles are another display of incredible creativity. As much as I like the original Crash game, they always had weak boss fights. Not so for Crash 4! These fights are full of surprises that test your skills on the platforms.
Above: This level has some Fury Road vibes.
Image Credit: GamesBeat
Play your way
Crash games can be tough. It’s part of the fun. Crash 4 offers a good challenge too, but you can ease the difficulty. No, you just don’t select some kind of easy mode. Instead, you can play with or without a life system. Of course, the original Crash (and most of the older 3D rigs) have lives. If you die when you have lives, you restart at a checkpoint. You run out of lives and start a level from the beginning.
To be sure, some players will continue to crave the bets that arise from the threat of a “game over.” But most people will be happier playing without lives. In that mode, if you die, you always return to the last checkpoint.
He still has a way of rewarding you for a good game. If you beat a level while dying only a few times, you get a gem. You also get gems for collecting wumpa fruit (the coin or ring version of Crash). Before, getting 100 wumpa fruits would give you an extra life.
Obtaining gems unlocks new costumes for Crash and Coco. This is a fun incentive not only to beat a level, but to perfect it. So if simply beating the game is too easy for your tastes, you will have more challenges to unlock all these gems and costumes. You can also find ribbons in each stage that you can only grab if you reach them without dying. These unlock extra difficult bonus levels. Oh, and when you clear each stage, you also get access to the N. Verted version of that level, with its own set of gems to unlock. N. Verted not only reflects the layout of the stage, it also adds an odd color effect that makes it harder to see where you are going.
This is the way to handle difficulty. Make the basic experience challenging but easy enough for most people to overcome, but it offers additional levels and tasks that can put a player’s skill to the test.
Above: Crash’s levels are beautiful.
Image Credit: GamesBEat
The best crash so far
The original Crash games are classics. For years, it seemed like we would never get a new game as good as them.
But now, I feel safe saying that Crash Bandicoot 4 is the new best game in the series. He captures that fun yet simple platform from the original, but his creative levels, skin skills, and clever bosses help him beat the PlayStation trilogy.
The remakes reminded us that those old Crash games are great, but It’s About Time shows us that this character and the franchise have a future.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is out October 2 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The publisher gave us a PS4 digital code for the purposes of this review.
