Twenty-two years is a long time for anything, but in videogames it might as well be two hundred years. The rate at which technology moves, and the way markets shift to consumer demands is so fast that looking at the gaming landscape from the late nineties compared to now makes it seem almost unrecognisable. The Crash Bandicoot franchise effectively ended following Naughty Dog’s departure from the franchise after their 1999 Crash Team Racing. Whilst there were certainly lots of Crash games that released between 2000 and 2010, none of them ever really saw the same kind of critical or commercial success that the original trilogy of games did. Activision lost interest in the franchise but briefly revived in 2017 for the N Sane Trilogy which went down a treat with players who yearned for a return from the crazy Bandicoot. It seems that if you ask you shall receive and due to the excellent sales figures of the trilogy pack a fourth mainline Crash Bandicoot title was put into development. Whilst it would not be helmed by Vicarious Visions who were responsible for the N Sane Trilogy, it would be in seemingly good hands with Toys for Bob who were fresh off their well-received remaster of the original Spyro trilogy. So, how do you evolve a formula as simple as Crash Bandicoot to feel like a true step forward for the series, but also remain firmly in the same mindset as the original three games? It’s About Time that we found out the answer.
Following the events of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, doctors N. Tropy and N. Cortex manage to escape their prison by ripping a hole in the fabric of time and space, giving them access to the multiverse. Their evil minds realise that why should they be content with just trying to take over one universe, when they can rule over all of them? But in their tampering with time and space they unleash the power of various new ‘quantum masks’.
With the help of Aku-Aku, Crash and Coco must find the quantum masks and reunite them so that they can repair the damage, but they won’t be alone as they are assisted by Tawna and Dingodile who have been ripped from alternate universes and just want to go home.
Following the events of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, doctors N. Tropy and N. Cortex manage to escape their prison by ripping a hole in the fabric of time and space, giving them access to the multiverse. Their evil minds realise that why should they be content with just trying to take over one universe, when they can rule over all of them? But in their tampering with time and space they unleash the power of various new ‘quantum masks’.
With the help of Aku-Aku, Crash and Coco must find the quantum masks and reunite them so that they can repair the damage, but they won’t be alone as they are assisted by Tawna and Dingodile who have been ripped from alternate universes and just want to go home.
So, to answer my question, how do you make classic Crash Bandicoot fit in with modern sensibilities? You slap on a multiversal storyline of course! I say that in jest because it is actually a logical leap from the time travel narrative of Warped to now be leaping between different universes. The story itself is far more fleshed out than all three of the original trilogy’s stories, in fact (for better or worse) the game’s length about matches the length of the first three titles combined. There are full blown cutscenes, as well as plot twists, unlikely alliances, and multiple playable characters. For the most part, this does feel like exactly the kind of game Naughty Dog would have made for Crash Bandicoot 4 back in the nineties but given the extra oomph of modern storytelling to bolster its gameplay.
But don’t worry, Toys for Bob hasn’t turned Crash into the next grand narrative driven adventure title, the focus is still firmly on the simple to learn but tough to master platforming, as well as providing a wealth of hidden collectibles and time trial challenges to complete. When I said that the length of the game is around the same as the three original games combined, that was just in its story. It took me around twelve hours to complete Crash Bandicoot 4, but I had only scratched the surface of the wealth of side content that there was to master. Each level has eight hidden gems to unlock, plus there’s the time trials, reversed ‘N-Verted’ levels, new ‘Flashback’ levels (which must be unlocked by finding each main level’s hidden VHS tape), plus there’s three new playable characters (Tawna, Dingodile, and Cortex) who each have their own missions and playstyle. The game is positively bursting with content, and if you have the patience this game will last you dozens of hours as it will require absolute mastery of all the game’s mechanics, and memorisation of every inch of every level.
But don’t worry, Toys for Bob hasn’t turned Crash into the next grand narrative driven adventure title, the focus is still firmly on the simple to learn but tough to master platforming, as well as providing a wealth of hidden collectibles and time trial challenges to complete. When I said that the length of the game is around the same as the three original games combined, that was just in its story. It took me around twelve hours to complete Crash Bandicoot 4, but I had only scratched the surface of the wealth of side content that there was to master. Each level has eight hidden gems to unlock, plus there’s the time trials, reversed ‘N-Verted’ levels, new ‘Flashback’ levels (which must be unlocked by finding each main level’s hidden VHS tape), plus there’s three new playable characters (Tawna, Dingodile, and Cortex) who each have their own missions and playstyle. The game is positively bursting with content, and if you have the patience this game will last you dozens of hours as it will require absolute mastery of all the game’s mechanics, and memorisation of every inch of every level.
Levels themselves are also much longer than before. Where the original three Crash titles had levels that would only last you a couple of minutes at a time (once you’d got the feel of it down anyway), the average Crash 4 level is probably around three times larger, lasting you anywhere between six and ten minutes. This is good and bad for different reasons. It’s clear that Toys for Bob poured their hearts and souls into the design of each and every level because they’re just so highly detailed, and they’re far more complex than anything seen in the original trilogy. However, that’s also the problem. They’re often too busy to be able to adequately focus on the obstacle directly in front of you, and once you get onto the later levels in particular it feels like they’ve intentionally created some of the most fiendish platforming sequences ever put in a videogame. If you thought Crash 1 was hard, then Crash 4 is damn near impossible at times.
To alleviate this steep difficulty increase you can play Crash 4 in one of two modes. ‘Classic’ or ‘Modern’. Classic is what it says on the tin, limited life pool, if you run out of lives then it’s game over and you’ll need to restart the level. Modern ditches the lives and allows you to keep retrying for as long as you have the patience to. You still need to complete the levels in under a certain number of lives to be able to unlock all the gems, but it does make the game significantly less frustrating as I can almost guarantee you’ll be stuck replaying particular sections dozens of times before you succeed.
I played on Modern difficulty the entire time and I don’t think I ever finished a level with the gem life target of three deaths or fewer, and some of the later levels had death counts nearing triple digits. I wouldn’t say I’m an exceptional Crash Bandicoot player, but I’ve had more than enough experience with these games to know that I don’t think I could have ever completed this game on Classic difficulty.
Crash’s movement speed is significantly faster than in previous entries meaning that your reaction time will need to be a lot faster than before. Toys for Bob have also elected to make the iconic Wumpa fruit collectibles gravitate towards you now in a similar fashion to the nuts & bolts in newer Ratchet & Clank titles which helps speed up gameplay significantly and is a very welcome addition. But despite this increased fluidity you’re hampered by the awkward camera. Considering Naughty Dog nailed the camera for all three of the mainline Crash games back in the nineties you’d think Toys for Bob would be able to cope with it today, but unfortunately that’s not the case. The camera angle shifts so often and is usually hovering very far away from where Crash is, making it difficult to judge distances for jumps, and very difficult to see some of the items that are along the path. The camera often pulls out to give you a sense of scale of the environment, and this goes back to my praise of the care Toys for Bob have put into the levels, but this desire to show off their craft makes the actual game kind of a pain to play.
To alleviate this steep difficulty increase you can play Crash 4 in one of two modes. ‘Classic’ or ‘Modern’. Classic is what it says on the tin, limited life pool, if you run out of lives then it’s game over and you’ll need to restart the level. Modern ditches the lives and allows you to keep retrying for as long as you have the patience to. You still need to complete the levels in under a certain number of lives to be able to unlock all the gems, but it does make the game significantly less frustrating as I can almost guarantee you’ll be stuck replaying particular sections dozens of times before you succeed.
I played on Modern difficulty the entire time and I don’t think I ever finished a level with the gem life target of three deaths or fewer, and some of the later levels had death counts nearing triple digits. I wouldn’t say I’m an exceptional Crash Bandicoot player, but I’ve had more than enough experience with these games to know that I don’t think I could have ever completed this game on Classic difficulty.
Crash’s movement speed is significantly faster than in previous entries meaning that your reaction time will need to be a lot faster than before. Toys for Bob have also elected to make the iconic Wumpa fruit collectibles gravitate towards you now in a similar fashion to the nuts & bolts in newer Ratchet & Clank titles which helps speed up gameplay significantly and is a very welcome addition. But despite this increased fluidity you’re hampered by the awkward camera. Considering Naughty Dog nailed the camera for all three of the mainline Crash games back in the nineties you’d think Toys for Bob would be able to cope with it today, but unfortunately that’s not the case. The camera angle shifts so often and is usually hovering very far away from where Crash is, making it difficult to judge distances for jumps, and very difficult to see some of the items that are along the path. The camera often pulls out to give you a sense of scale of the environment, and this goes back to my praise of the care Toys for Bob have put into the levels, but this desire to show off their craft makes the actual game kind of a pain to play.
There are also lots of brand-new mechanics introduced into the game. Throughout Crash Bandicoot 3 you unlocked new moves to allow Crash to traverse some of the new environmental hazards, and the majority of these moves make the jump into Crash Bandicoot 4, and so that means from the outset you’re pulling off more complex moves than you were in any of the previous games. But the quantum masks also introduce new moves which significantly change how Crash navigates the environment. Depending on the mask you’re wearing you’ll be able to phase objects in and out of existence, slow down time, invert gravity, or even make yourself glide. These masks only appear at certain locations in levels and Toys for Bob certainly do get their mileage out of them and explore these mechanics to their very limit, with one of the final levels in particular requiring you to navigate a floating TNT and Nitro crate labyrinth utilising these masks where one wrong move will either send you plummeting to your death or blown to bits. Its again in these later levels where the masks become almost a gimmick rather than an exciting new gameplay avenue. They’re used to make the game harder, rather than more fun.
The new characters, Tawna, Dingodile, and Cortex all have their own individual playstyles too. Tawna comes with a grappling hook that will zip her around environment’s, Dingodile uses his vacuum to suck up and spit out anything in his path, and Cortex relies on his laser gun to transform enemies into platforms for him to navigate the environment. None of them are as fun or fluid to play as Crash and his sister Coco (who share the same moveset), and I’d often find myself forgetting their playstyles because they were so wildly different to the usual Crash Bandicoot rhythm.
I’ve harped on about Crash 4’s level design a few times now and Toys for Bob really have crafted a beautiful game here. Rather than employing the same visual style that Vicarious Visions did for the N Sane Trilogy, Toys for Bob have instead given Crash 4 a look that feels slightly more inspired by the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. It’s a lot more cartoonish and angular looking, and it does look lovely, but it’s a very different look and can take a small adjustment period for anyone that’s played a lot of the N Sane Trilogy.
Like Crash 2&3, Crash 4 has a wide variety of world designs for its levels which range from a Mad Max inspired post-apocalyptic future, the prehistoric past with dinosaurs roaming around, swamps, and even the ancient past of 1996 (the horror).
It all runs like a dream too. Playing on my Steam Deck I was hitting a consistent 60FPS at 720p in handheld mode, and retaining that 60PFS at 1080p when docked. I did have a small issue with the game needing to be restarted every so often because it would think I was using a keyboard & mouse rather than a controller and so wouldn’t respond to the Steam Deck’s button inputs, but I can’t see that being an issue on the console versions.
My biggest issues with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time stem from the absurd difficulty spikes seen near the end of the game. These spikes don’t utilise any of the new gameplay mechanics well, and serve only to frustrate even the most seasoned of Crash fans. Aside from that, Crash 4 is a delightful return for the mad marsupial and proof that even after twenty years a solid gameplay loop is really all it takes for any franchise to make a comeback. If you’re a fan of the original Naughty Dog games or the Vicarious Visions remasters, then Toys for Bob’s return to the classic era of Crash Bandicoot will be right up your street.
The new characters, Tawna, Dingodile, and Cortex all have their own individual playstyles too. Tawna comes with a grappling hook that will zip her around environment’s, Dingodile uses his vacuum to suck up and spit out anything in his path, and Cortex relies on his laser gun to transform enemies into platforms for him to navigate the environment. None of them are as fun or fluid to play as Crash and his sister Coco (who share the same moveset), and I’d often find myself forgetting their playstyles because they were so wildly different to the usual Crash Bandicoot rhythm.
I’ve harped on about Crash 4’s level design a few times now and Toys for Bob really have crafted a beautiful game here. Rather than employing the same visual style that Vicarious Visions did for the N Sane Trilogy, Toys for Bob have instead given Crash 4 a look that feels slightly more inspired by the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. It’s a lot more cartoonish and angular looking, and it does look lovely, but it’s a very different look and can take a small adjustment period for anyone that’s played a lot of the N Sane Trilogy.
Like Crash 2&3, Crash 4 has a wide variety of world designs for its levels which range from a Mad Max inspired post-apocalyptic future, the prehistoric past with dinosaurs roaming around, swamps, and even the ancient past of 1996 (the horror).
It all runs like a dream too. Playing on my Steam Deck I was hitting a consistent 60FPS at 720p in handheld mode, and retaining that 60PFS at 1080p when docked. I did have a small issue with the game needing to be restarted every so often because it would think I was using a keyboard & mouse rather than a controller and so wouldn’t respond to the Steam Deck’s button inputs, but I can’t see that being an issue on the console versions.
My biggest issues with Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time stem from the absurd difficulty spikes seen near the end of the game. These spikes don’t utilise any of the new gameplay mechanics well, and serve only to frustrate even the most seasoned of Crash fans. Aside from that, Crash 4 is a delightful return for the mad marsupial and proof that even after twenty years a solid gameplay loop is really all it takes for any franchise to make a comeback. If you’re a fan of the original Naughty Dog games or the Vicarious Visions remasters, then Toys for Bob’s return to the classic era of Crash Bandicoot will be right up your street.