When I played the demo version of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, I was raving mad about the obviously incredible gem before me. In just those three short levels, a microcosm of what I’d soon learn the full game had to offer, it was apparent that developers at Toys For Bob were aiming to redirect the former PlayStation mascot into the limelight. The demo was invariably classic Crash, often more for the better than the worse, and recognized a need for modern sensibilities.
As it turns out, my excitement was warranted. Holistically, Crash 4 is a significantly better game than I could have ever predicted. The additional 35 levels still deliver a strong sense of what came before, and within them also lie the makings of something that is undeniably its own. Crash 4: It’s About Time is a marvel of a game, a testament to old gaming conventions with a flourish of modernity. The latest entrant in the series is perhaps the best – and a decent contender for GOTY 2020.
Developer: Toys For Bob
Price: $60
Platform: PS4, Xbox One
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS4 code for review
Crash 4 is something of a metacommentary. It unabashedly denies the existence of any continuity that may have occurred between 1998’s Crash Bandicoot: Warped and now. Even the subtitle, It’s About Time, is as much a joke about the state of the franchise as it is a summary of the game’s story. Twenty-two years after the events of the third title, the evil doctors Neo Cortex and Nefarious Tropy have escaped their timeless prison through a rift in space-time. This rift also brings forth the presence of Lani-Loli, a sentient interdimensional mask, who warns Crash and company that holes between dimensions are being opened with potentially devastating consequences. To close them, Crash and his sister, Coco, must travel across the dimensions and find the other quantum masks.
Crash 4 plays much like anything that came before it (assuming we’re also denying the existence of the more unsavory titles). Players control the Bandicoots, smash crates, and collect myriad treasures, all while navigating perilous platforming. Parts of the formula haven’t aged too well, like awkwardly running into the camera during an infamous chase sequence. But these traits can’t really be removed either. Without them, it just wouldn’t be a Crash game.
There are a few things that set Crash 4 above and beyond its predecessors. The quantum masks, for one, diversify gameplay and enable new level design. The gravity-defying mask Ika-Ika, for example, turns players upside down, allowing for stages to take unique advantage of top-down design. Akano grants the unwieldy power of dark matter: With it, the bandicoots can jump higher and farther, letting the game experiment with less claustrophobic platforming.
The main plot pulls on the most predictable threads of stories involving interdimensional travel. We’re not here for anything overly analytical or relatable to the current human condition. Instead, Crash 4’s story is almost entirely pulled forward by its eclectic and tasteful cast of characters and its deepened backstory.
While traversing timelines, Crash and Coco run into a handful of past frenemies, all of whom are playable in selected levels. At first, they’re not formally a part of Crash’s crew and only show up when the Bandicoots have ostensibly backed themselves in a corner. These moments are often punctuated by an explosion and reveal that the events of a prior level, then inexplicable, were because of the meddlesome side characters. They’re given weight in the total narrative, too. They’re flawed and motivated, well-designed and intriguing.
An alternate timeline version of Tawna, Crash’s ex-girlfriend, is easily the most compelling, Once the damsel-in-distress, Tawna is a martyr for her cause, independent, and strong-willed, sometimes to her detriment. Like the other cast members, she tends to show up only when the Bandicoots need her most. But unlike them, there’s intention behind her heroism. Her new design is also one of the best creative liberties the designers could have taken, erasing her impossible portrayal of fickle female beauty standards and supplying her with an appearance that is reflective of the ongoing body-positivity and LGBTQ movements. She’s not the strongest feminist icon in gaming, but her transformation from an object of male-driven fantasy to a veritable queen is an advancement I’m here for.
The other playable side characters, Dingodile and Cortex, are reformed villains of Crash’s past. They’re fine characters with their own motivations and flaws, but their own problems aren’t as serious. Like the quantum masks, they mostly exist to break up the monotony and diversify the gameplay.
Each side character has a weapon that doubles as a platforming tool. Tawna’s hookshot reels her towards far-off platforms. Dingodile’s vacuum gun sucks up explosives and yeets them at barricades in his path. Cortex uses a ray gun that can “blockify” enemies, turning them into platforms to make up for his pitiful vertical. They’re all welcomed editions that also present some minor inconsistencies.
For Tawna to fly towards distant platforms, the game must first display a prompt for the right shoulder button. Even when prompted, however, Tawna’s hookshot doesn’t always hit its mark. New accessibility traits in Crash 4 make it fairer than Crash Bandicoot games of yore, but several times I questioned the fairness of death brought upon by Tawna’s inaccuracy. Likewise, the projectile-based weaponry of Cortex and Dingodile aren’t always easy to aim. Shots often whiffed, especially when I was playing with the directional pad.
While Crash 4 loses some gameplay integrity through its side characters, one mite detail almost makes up for it. I’m surprised at how affected I am by Crash 4’s use of highlighted cursors beneath airborne characters and enemies. It’s such a small and obvious change; one that drastically improves readability. The original trio of PlayStation classics had its share of problems even for the time. They weren’t the first 3D platformers of the generation, but they were some of the most unique. Their levels were tight and unidirectional, like a 2D platformer, but they had the depth and mobility characteristic of the 3D genre. So it was sometimes difficult to pinpoint Crash’s position along the z-axis. The games’ questionable boundaries and hitboxes didn’t help either. That’s hardly a problem anymore.
The overall presentation is coherent. Stages are tied together by an elegant hub-world that illustrates the theme of whatever dimension the bandicoots find themselves in. It’s not spastic and jumbled, like the overworlds of Crash Bandicoot: Cortex Strikes Back and Warped, where Crash could find himself in the south pole and then Egypt before being dumped back into the former.
For completionists, Crash 4 is a daunting task. Each stage has six clear gems to collect: Three for finding wumpa fruit, one for smashing every crate, one for beating a stage within three lives, and one cleverly hidden gem. Then each stage has an “N. Verted” version, where it’s flipped along the z-axis and given an artsy visual effect. Of course, with each N. Verted stages come six more gems to find. If that’s not enough for you, Crash 4 also reintroduces particularly well-hidden colored gems. There are four of these, and finding them opens a secret area in a later stage. For those keeping count, that’s 460 total gems to collect.
But Crash 4’s holy grail is likely to be its 38 N. Sanely Perfect Relics. It’s a Sisyphean task that asks players to find every crate in a level without dying. Thus far, I’ve managed to best the first two dimensions in their entirety. But the next level is always harder than the last. The whole ordeal is tiresome if rewarding; especially as I approach the game’s penultimate level – which is perhaps the most difficult level I’ve ever played in a game.
It wouldn’t be so frustrating if it wasn’t for the game’s lascivious desire to make this experience as laborious as possible. For the vast majority of these perfect relics, players will develop a ritual of restarting the level upon death, which will force them into an abysmally long loading screen. This process will be repeated, sometimes dozens of times for a single stage. It’s all done in pursuit of the game’s true ending, a necessity for those wanting to see the full picture. There are other collectibles beyond this, too. But by now I’ve belabored the point as much as Crash 4 has.
On the other hand, it’s difficult not to respect the hardened intimacy Crash 4 demands. It’s the same rapport the original Crash Bandicoot games established with their players, and it’s far-and-away an improvement on anything Crash has given us since then. The trophy hunting is tedious, yes. But Crash 4: It’s About Time is an incredible game regardless.
I’ve waited some time for a new Crash game that falls in-line with that trifecta of original games. Crash 4 neatly fills a hole in my heart. It’s smooth sailing for the most part, but now and then a wave of frustration rocks the boat. Whether this is tedium or a callback to retro feel is for players to decide. It doesn’t receive a perfect score from me, though there were times when I thought it might. It’s unlikely to beat out narrative juggernauts like The Last of Us Part 2 and Final Fantasy VII Remake at this year’s GOTY awards, but a nomination amongst those titles is certainly deserved.
The Final Word
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time finds a comfortable place amongst the franchise’s finest. An improvement on Naughty Dog’s classic formula, it’s sure to go down as one of the best games of 2020.
– MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
