Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time on PlayStation 5 is every bit the difficult, satisfying experience it was on last gen consoles. But the improved performance and new functionality make it the optimal place to experience Crash's new lease on life.
Infuriating or ingenious, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time made its mark last year.
The long hiatus of one of PlayStation’s iconic mascots came to a close in 2020 when Toys for Bob developed the fourth “mainline” Crash game. Surprisingly, time was kind to the bandicoot and Toys for Bob showed a great deal of care in remaining faithful to what made the series such a powerhouse in the nineties.
Crash Bandicoot 4 reviewed well and rightfully so. An eye for tricky platforming, vibrant worlds, and a firm grasp on cartoonish humor give Crash Bandicoot 4 the feeling that it never truly left, merely taking a long break to perfect itself.
As cheeky as It’s About Time may be for a subtitle, it has an added layer for me. Crash Bandicoot 4 is the first Crash game I’ve truly ever sunk my teeth into. As a slightly young one, the Nintendo 64 was my platform of choice, then a Gamecube. By the time I had a PlayStation 2, Crash had disappeared from the gaming lexicon in a major way. Trapped mainly to one console, I was surprised that Crash had little staying power and it didn’t seem like any follow-up games outside of Crash Team Racing had an impact. I dabbled a bit in the N. Sane Trilogy and was confident after an appearance in Skylanders that Activision had enough data to justify investing in a full game.
Personally, I’m glad that I held out until Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time released on PlayStation 5. Based on content and quality, the game seemed to lack very little on last gen. But now, Crash is able to fully stretch his legs with the extra available horsepower.
Considering the amount of fast-paced, precision platforming involved in Crash Bandicoot 4, perhaps the biggest draw of the PlayStation 5 version is the ability to play the game at 60 frames per second. While I am not well versed in the magic 60 FPS brings to games, many of my gaming friends speak to its ability to make action drastically smoother. Despite having no experience with Crash Bandicoot 4 on PlayStation 4 or at 30 frames, the PlayStation 5 version runs undoubtedly smooth.
Crash’s movements are insanely fluid. Jumping and spinning across levels strikes a thrilling chord. For a game like Crash Bandicoot 4 where players are constantly timing precise jumps and dodging out of harm, the 60 FPS presentation adds a new layer of accuracy and perhaps will give players more of a chance to hone their skills.
This is an important feature for Crash Bandicoot 4 because the game is incredibly difficult in sections. I’m a veteran of NES era difficulty and have plowed through several indie games that relish using difficulty as a feature. In that regard, I felt at home with the ebb and flow of Crash‘s difficulty spikes. Players will find themselves dealing with the tricky jumps and traps found in the original PlayStation games. Toys for Bob worked a kind of miracle at being able to translate the brutality of Crash into today’s fabric of Super Meat Boy and Dark Souls.
Be warned: Crash Bandicoot 4 is not a walk in the park. But I don’t think it should be. After all, there’s difficulty levels for that! The concept of unlimited or limited lives, checkpoints, and replaying levels to master them is somewhat novel. At first, I struggled with Crash Bandicoot 4 because I was trying to get all the boxes in a level or discover everything, becoming mildly frustrated at constant failure. Eventually, I learned to let go and just play through levels to enjoy the ride. And what a ride it is.
Crash Bandicoot 4 uses four Quantum Masks that alter the basic gameplay, adding new twists into gameplay. Crash is granted the ability to phase objects in and out of reality, invert gravity, slow down time, and hover in the air. It was one thing for Toys for Bob to mimic and expand upon the original feel of Crash Bandicoot, it was an entirely different feat to incorporate these abilities into levels, giving them additional layers of challenge.
Various levels in Crash Bandicoot 4 feel like gauntlets of gameplay. Multiple mask abilities might be incorporated in levels where players need to time jumps, slide across railings, and tussle with bad guys. Though some levels may feel aggressive in their difficulty, it’s never painful, or at least not too painful. The Quantum Mask abilities never struck me as a gimmick, instead providing new opportunities for platforming expression.
Coupled with main levels that feature Crash and Coco, players will have alternate levels where they can play as Tawna, Dingodile, or Neo Cortex, who all feature alternate ways to play with differing move sets. Flashback levels are found by finding a tape hidden in story levels. These Flashbacks are typically a greater test of skill and are meant to be optional challenges that don’t affect story progression. Finally, main levels have an N. Verted mode that acts as a mirror version of the level and adds a unique visual filter. In the quest to reach a 106% completion in Crash Bandicoot 4, there’s a wealth of stuff that players can obtain and getting some of the gems will test anyone’s mettle.
PlayStation 5 users will also be treated to Crash Bandicoot 4‘s stunning 4K visuals. Looking between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions, it’s pretty apparent which one is the sharper, more colorful version. The cartoon graphics of Crash’s world have a different kind of vibrancy to them and really pop on the screen when in motion. Toys for Bob peppered each level with a vast amount of detail that isn’t just in the center of the screen. Each dimension Crash visits feel like a living world with ridiculous characters. And while it may not breathe shocking new life into the game’s basic story, it still makes everything look better than ever.
Faster loading times make deaths and navigating the game as painless as possible. Features like save transferring and generational upgrades are smart moves on the part of Activision. Though I wasn’t blown away by the DualSense implementation, it’s an effort. The PlayStation 5 addition I was truly pleased by was the use of Activity Cards. From the game’s menu, players can access challenges and check their progress on the fly. It’s nice to see a third party developer take the time to make use of these cards in an intelligent way that gives players a useful tool to monitor achievements.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time on PlayStation 5 is without question an improvement upon last gen. If for any reason you owned the game on PlayStation 4, there’s no excuse not to experience how absolutely crisp and clean the game is on updated hardware. The core experience remains difficult, fun, and nostalgic, hitting all the right notes a classic Crash game would. Is there a chance for a Crash 5? Let’s just hope it’s a matter of time.
