Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is about TIME. It took long enough, but now that it is finally here, and I can safely say it was worth the wait. Since its 1998 campaign, which was a massive success, by the way, Crash Bandicoot has been attempting a comeback in recent years. Starting with the Toys for Bob’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, released in 2018, to the Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, released in 2019 by Beenox, Crash Bandicoot have remained fresh in the minds of fans.

While the name may suggest that it’s a follow up on the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane trilogy, it is by no means the fourth installment in the trilogy. It instead follows the timeline of the 1998 Naughty Dog trilogy. Crash Bandicoot: it’s About Time is set following the events after the Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.

Sequel Backstory – A Hole In Time

The most significant difficulty in developing a sequel of such magnitude usually has to balance the high expectations of old fans without making the first-timers on the game feel left out. Well, as far as I can tell, Toy for Bob managed to do that, so well indeed that the game often feels like it continued right from where it stopped with the Warped trilogy. If you recall, the Warped ended with Drs. Neo Cortex, Uka uka, and Nefarious Tropy being locked up in a time-space prison. It’s About Time begins right from where the three of them finally find a way to execute a prison break. 

The only flaw in their grand prison break plan was that they somehow blew a hole in Time and unlocked a multiverse. Crash and Coco are now tasked with searching for the four quantum masks and fixing the multiverse chaos. To gather these masks, they would need to travel across various universes in search of them. Of course, fans of Crash Bandicoot are not new to the concept of masks as they have always played an essential role in the Bandicoot franchise and gameplay since forever.

Fix A Catastrophe With Uniquely-Powered Masks

Each of these masks has its particular way of affecting the gameplay of the Crash Bandicoot 4. Not just the gameplay, but each Mask has a personality of its own and can confer upon its unique wearer power. So, let’s talk about them. The first and probably my favorite is the Kupuna-Wa mask, the Mask of Time. Having the appearance of an older adult from Moana, the time mask can slow Time down, as the name implies. It is best used when you are facing fast-moving enemies or obstacles. The phase mask, called Lani-Loli. With this Mask, players get to phase the barriers out of existence. Although not all objects can be affected by this Mask, those that can be vaporized have come with blue wisps.

The phase Mask always sounds frantic and frankly sounds more comical than scared. Ika-Ika is the Mask of gravity, with the ability to flip platforms upside down. It is still a pleasure watching his two faces, with their opposing personalities, engaged in banter. Finally, and my least favorite Mask is the dark matter mask, Akano. This Mask makes you spin in the air after a jump. I hate that it gives you little control of the spin’s direction, but it can be instrumental in defecting projectiles. Akano is a foodie; despite his hard exterior, he can be very tender towards his brother’s Mask, Lani-Lali.

New Features To Revive An Old Franchise

Toys for Bob does a great job in pitching the new without losing sight of the old. The developers introduced improved graphics, a beautiful background filled with flashy fauna and flora. In a bid to offer the best of both worlds, the game allows you to select between Modern and Retro mode. The modern mode, best suited for new players, gives unlimited lives in each level. But don’t be deceived, it is keeping track of your deaths, and some perks can’t be unlocked in each level after three deaths. The Retro mode, this is where the veterans excel, gives limited lives to collect lives on the go.

Another new feature, in terms of gameplay, is what I have named the jump circle. This is a small circular shadow on the floor every time you make a jump. This circle acts as an indicator, helping you predict how high your jump is and where you would land. Honestly, this is a welcomed development seeing that you no longer have to keep guessing these things. However, if you find this circle distracting, you can always turn it off, but I don’t see why you want to make the game harder, especially since it is already hard enough.

More Characters, More Fun

The game also introduces more playable characters; instead of the traditional two, we can play other characters like Tawna, Dingodie, and Neo Cortex. Of course, Crash and Coco remain the stars of the game; the game you to even interchange between both characters. Unlike crash and Coco, whose gameplay routine involves a lot of jumping, sliding, and running, the other characters bring a unique play style and skill set peculiar to them. Neo Cortex and Tawna requires more strategic playing and the use of gadgets to overcome obstacles. Tawna has a grappling hook, and Neo Cortex has a ray gun with which he turns enemies into platforms that he can hop on; unlike Crash and Coco, he can’t double jump. Dingodile’s power is in the vacuum he carries with which he can suck up bomb boxes and fire them back at enemies at will.

For the First time, Crash Bandicoot is branching out into the multiplayer mode scene. So now you can play against other players in groups of 1-4players. The only downside here is that in the Bandicoot Battle mode, the multiplayer mode involves players taking turns to play against playing against or with each other. 

It Has Been Fun.

In conclusion, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is simply amazing. Not without its faults, yet the game leaves a good nostalgia feeling in fans without losing neophytes to the franchise. While the graphics and animations give the game a goofy unserious feel, the game mechanics will surely test your resolve to continue. It can be quite tricky even for the retro players, albeit the learning curve isn’t so steep, so your muscles would soon catch up. Crash Bandicoot 4 is one of the most engaging platformers of 2020 and is worth every second spent on it.