Crash Bandicoot is back and it’s about time. Back in June, the game developer Toys for Bob announced the next installment in the beloved franchise. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time looks to reunite old gamers with a friend from their past. In 2018, Activision, Toys for Bob, and Visceral Visions proved that the world was once again ready for platformers through the huge success of Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy and Sypro Reignited Trilogy. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time released earlier this month on October 2nd, 2020. Since its release, we have have been jumping and spinning our way through levels.
Going into this review, we were feeling rather optimistic about what we experienced during the Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Beta. Prior to playing through Crash 4, I had limited experience with platformers. Growing up, I did not own an original PlayStation, so I did not play through the original Crash Bandicoot and Spyro titles. The first time I completed a Crash level was while playing Uncharted 4. Between that cameo level and the beta, I was excited about what Crash 4 had to offer.
Gameplay
At the start of the game, the player is asked if they want to link their account with their Activision account; doing so will grant the player a free skin for Crash and Coco. The player is then taken to the main menu, which allows the player to start the story, player co-op, or edit the game’s options.
First, let’s break down the game’s multiplayer options. The multiplayer game option is called Bandicoot Battle. In this co-op game mode, 2 to 4 players can compete in two different game types. The two game modes are CheckPoint Race and Crate Combo. In both of these game modes, players pass the control to other players after hitting a checkpoint or failing. We recommend not doing either of these game modes until you have completed the campaign.
The Campaign
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time‘s campaign picks up after the events of Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Uka Uka has helped Dr. Neo Cortex & N. Trophy break out of their time prison and consequently ripped a hole in the fabric of space and time. Alerted by the quantum break, Aku Aku wakes Crash from his nap and sends Coco and Crash to investigate. After finding Lani-Loli, Loli explains the team must go through the quantum rifts to stop the evildoers behind the tears.
Along the way, Crash and Coco encounter friends and foes to help and hinder them on their journey to save the universe. At times, a certain event will happen in the level indicating a crossover. At various points in the story, you can unlock these crossover levels and gain the opportunity to play as Dr. Neo Cortex, Dingodile, or Tawan. Once the level progresses to the point of that trigger event, the player resumes playing as Crash.
Throughout the campaign, the player must gather the four spirit masks and master their abilities to progress through the game. Each mask has its own unique ability and name. The five masks in the game and their abilities are as follows: Aku, Aku (Damage Protection), Lani-Loli (Phase Shift), Kupuna-Wa (Slows Time), Ika-Ika (Inverts Gravity), and Akano (Darkmatter that Spins Continuously). Utilizing these five masks properly will determine if you can complete the campaign.
Level Objectives
Each level can be played in either modern or retro style. Modern allows the player to resume the level from the checkpoint box and die an unlimited amount of times. Retro gives the player a set amount of lives to complete the level. Once a player has completed the base level they can play through it on N.Verted mode. On N.Verted mode, the level objectives are the same, but the layout is backwards and neon. For anyone with epilepsy or sensitivity to strobe lights, avoid playing on N. Verted Mode.
On each level, the player can earn up to six gems. These gems unlock level specific skins. Each level contains a set amount of boxes, fruit, and a hidden gem. The player is also rewarded with a gem by dying fewer than 3 times. If you complete the level quickly enough, you will unlock a relic. Some levels also contain special VHS tapes known as Flashback Tapes. In these Flashback tapes, you can see some of Dr. Neo Cortex’s experiments and other historic moments.
Problems with the Game
While playing through the Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time campaign, a few issues became blatantly apparent. The game’s shooting system is flawed. It is hard to shoot precisely and the hit detection system can make a clear hit on an enemy or a box “miss” the target. This particularly blatant with certain enemies and the player could die or lose a shield, even though the enemy died first.
The game’s collision system also has some issues outside of combat. At times while wall jumping or leaping to platforms, the interaction was not always the same. The button commands used to wall run would sometimes cause you to hit the wall and then just fall off. This also was an issue when jumping to platforms or land on the edges of boxes. Instead of landing on the platform or being able to squeeze by, the character would fall to their doom.
Later on in the game, when the player must use Ika Ika to progress, the game’s gravity rules are inconsistent. If the player is upside down and were to hit an object the same way they would while being upright, then they would die and restart at the previous checkpoint. On the final two stages, the game seems to ramp up its difficulty from a 7 to a 10, making you want to power slam your controller.
Audio and Graphics
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time feels great to play outside of those technical problems. Each of the variety of skins that you can unlock feels unique and makes the game feel less stale. Oddly, a modified version of the skin does not appear when using the masks, which feels odd. Each level design is cute and provides a bit of a challenge. Sadly, long loading screens in between each level dampened the experience. The map is a nice way to get around, but detracts from the story a bit. The worlds are colorful and the enemies do not get repetitive unless you die a lot.
Although N. Verted mode is a great addition to the game, the harsh colors and strobing lights wreak havoc on your eyes. Despite changing the lighting in my room multiple times, playing through multiple levels of N.Verted mode was very taxing on the eyes. Definitely take your time with those bits and maybe take breaks between levels.
The music in the game sets the mood of each level. Sadly, throughout the game, there were a few audio desynchronizations. During certain boss fights, if a boss said a line before the start of an action sequence, the boss would not repeat the line if you died. Instead, you would see the boss’s mouth moving with no words coming out. This also happened a few times during cutscenes where the audio did not match what was being shown.
Overall, though, the audio and graphics for the game feel and sound great. The voice acting is enjoyable and the character dialogue does not get old even if you have to listen to it on repeat due to dying a lot.
Controls
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time‘s controls are fairly simple to grasp, but a bit difficult to master. This makes it easy for kids and inexperienced players to pick up the game and complete early levels. However, at later levels, an inexperienced player will struggle to complete the rage-inducing objectives.
The Left Trigger allows the player to see number of times they’ve died, boxes destroyed, and fruit collected. RT and Y turn on and off your mask abilities. Tapping A once allows the player to jump once and twice allows for a double jump. The X button controls the character’s spin ability. The back button allows you to see what you have completed in each level, while the start button lets the player alter some of the game’s settings.
Finally, the B button controls a multitude of abilities to almost an aggravating level. Holding B will make the character crouch. Pressing B while pushing the left joystick in a direction will cause the player to slide that way. Pressing B while in the air causes the character to slam to the ground. And last but not least, pressing B then quickly double-tapping A will give the player a boosted jump.
This layout can actually cause more deaths than you might think. In later stages, having to alternate between masks using this controller layout can make the game rather infuriating. I cannot even tell you how many times I died during the Cortex Castle level. Let’s just leave it as “a lot.”
Replay Value
Between replaying levels to gather collectibles, perfecting a level, side missions, and N.Verted mode, the game will provide you with at least 20 to 30 hours of gameplay. Furthermore, N.Verted mode makes each level feel different than it’s normal version. Instead of 43 levels, the game effectively has over 100 levels when you include the Flashback Tapes.
If you are not in a rush to complete the game, Crash 4 makes for a fun party game. If you are not great at platforming, then Crash 4 will burn you out. This inspired us to go back and play through the N.Sane Trilogy completely.
Despite the heavily increased difficulty once you hit The Sno@XX Dimension, the game was a lot of fun! The variety of playable characters and skins for Crash and Coco by themselves made the different levels entertaining. The game’s controller layout is definitely its weakest area, but, overall, our time with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was rather enjoyable.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 for $59.99. With the Holidays and Black Friday just around the corner, Crash 4 can make a great holiday gift.
A copy of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was provided for review on the Xbox One.
