A sequel almost 22 years in the making, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time marks Toys For Bob’s first full creative endeavour with the Crash license. This time around, Toys For Bob don’t just faithfully reimagine the Bandicoots’ plight against an ever-scheming Cortex, they take it a step further, or should we say several steps further, branching throughout time and space to deliver an experience that is both familiar and refreshing.
It’s about time!
Crash and Coco find themselves at the mercy of another diabolical plan as Cortex and N. Tropy quite literally tear through the fabric of space and time to do their evil bidding. Time puns aside, and ignoring several decades worth of forgettable and sometimes unforgivable Crash games, we must seek out the all-seeing, all-powerful Quantum Masks if we are to have any chance of defeating the nefarious duo. The humour and overall feel for the world and its characters immediately strikes you, this feels like a direct sequel made with respect and affection for the original trilogy.
The resemblance to the original trilogy is present throughout Crash Bandicoot 4. From the Crash 1 inspired map, to the hidden coloured gems and time trial relics, Toys For Bob knew what worked and brought them back. They also reinvigorated the gem system, added a plethora of skins and new Challenge Tapes and N’Verted Modes to promote replayability. When you start the game you will be given the choice between playing on modern or retro mode, the latter removes the shadow that helps for positing when jumping and gives you limited lives. This seems like an unnecessary addition, but for die hard fans it is there for you to enjoy. No achievements are locked behind either mode, so playing on modern mode makes the most sense. The skins and the changes to gems reflect a modern approach to replayability, you can comfortably finish the game by just collecting wumpa fruit, whilst the completionists have plenty to sink their teeth into. The Challenge Tapes and N’Verted mode shouldn’t been seen as exclusive to just the completionists as they are a genuinely enjoyable challenge to attempt after each level.
Crash Bandicoot 4 is a vivid and vibrant game that is bursting at the seams with colour, lore, and details that are sure to leave you with a smile. The attention to detail and the overall world building genuinely blew me away; the beauty and the nuance of each world left my eyes exploring every corner of the screen. It really feels like heart went into every polygon. The levels didn’t feel like linear backdrops to spin and smash your way through, they felt like a properly crafted world that you just so happened to be spinning and smashing your way through. What is more, we aren’t limited to just a linear path either, the classic level DNA has evolved as the game flexed and flaunted its ability to naturally guide us from running away from the screen to side scrolling to rail grinding. The only thing lacking here was a traditional soundtrack which was vaguely present, packing no real character and seemingly hiding behind the typical sound effects that litter each level.
Along the way we have the pleasure of bumping into some familiar faces and playing as them for the first time. Tawna is by far the best with her controls expanding on Crash and Coco’s, whilst Dingodile and Cortex offer different perspectives and gameplay. However, Cortex and Dingodile’s unique moves sometimes cause a lot of unnecessary deaths when you forget Cortex can’t double jump and Dingodile can hover.
The other characters are woven into the story in a very smart way, with their levels and timelines crossing over with Crash and Coco’s. These aren’t Christopher Nolan-esque overlaps, but the ways in which they do cross over was pleasantly enjoyable to see. These levels are infrequent enough to leave you looking forward to the next one. These levels were well designed and offer the same smart checkpoint system that is present in the rest of the game. Keep dying in the same spot? The game will offer up a new checkpoint to hopefully alleviate some of the struggle.
Each of the masks alters the world in exciting and often challenging ways. It was refreshing to see new ways to play, especially ones that took a little while to master. It was slightly disappointing that the masks didn’t cross over, as it would have been fascinating to try to slow down time whilst playing upside down and turning platforms on and off. I also wanted more screen-time for the masks as they only really had less than a minute dialogue each across the entire game. The game is so focused on the levels that the cutscenes are often short and to the point. It isn’t necessary, but I would of loved to have seen the story revel a little more in the characters and plot wherever possible.
An area in which Crash 4 did revel a little too much however, was towards the end of the game. The final few levels felt like a prolonged live encore from your favourite band, you are enjoying it, but part of you wouldn’t have minded had it ended a little sooner. It seems bizarre to complain about the game feeling as though it is dragging on too long, especially as this game is what I have looked forward to for 2 decades, but I felt it had concluded well and I didn’t need another 10-15 more levels. Perhaps the problem wasn’t helped by the latter levels doubling down on difficulty, making my runs drop from 4 gems per level to sometimes just 1; especially when you couple that with some levels consisting of over 300-400 boxes.
Final thoughts
Overall, Toys For Bob have made a game that they think represents Crash in the modern day and they’ve have done so with love and care. Crash Bandicoot 4 pays tribute to the original trilogy whilst intelligently iterating its systems and gameplay for a modern audience. This game is everything Crash needed to become a childhood favourite for an entirely new generation; it is the best place the franchise has been for a very long time and it looks to have a bright future ahead of it.
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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
The Good
- Familiar yet refreshing!
- Great classic characters
- Replayability with new modes and challenges
- Quantum Masks flip levels on their heads
The Bad
- Drags a little towards the end
- More screen time for characters would've been great