Crash Bandicoot is back and it’s about time! We couldn’t wait to dive in and have some fun with the new Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.
This new adventure is a direct sequel to the original Crash trilogy, and sees Crash and his friends being challenged to save the world after the nefarious villains Neo Cortex and Dr. N. Tropy escape their interdimensional prison and set out to conquer all dimensions.
Crash Bandicoot 4 delivers more of the over the top action platforming that the series is known for, players will be challenged to jump across platforms, avoid obstacles and dodge enemy attacks. With platforms and obstacles often moving, precision and patience is the name of the game here. But with so many obstacles and enemies to face one thing is guaranteed – you will die, a lot! It’s almost as entertaining to watch your kids cringing to watch you play as it is to play the game, they wince at every move hoping it will work out for you and Crash.
Gameplay is fast-paced and you will need to be very quick on the trigger. You’ll be challenged to jump, spin, wall run, rail grind and even rope swing to progress through the game, also blasting every crate you see along the way to collect the Wumpa fruit. As my husband said, “Crash is not a braking kind of guy, he’s more of a go for it kind of guy.” Luckily there is a good checkpoint system in place to ensure you don’t get too frustrated.
The Quantum Masks are new to the series, these powerful protectors of time and space will allow players to bend the rules of reality. Crash and Coco will need to use the masks to overcome the challenges, from defying gravity with Ika-Ika, gravity mask, to slowing down time with Kupuna-Wa, time mask, or phase-shifting elements in and out of existence with Lani-Loli, phase shift mask, and creating a whirlwind of energy with ‘Akano, dark matter mask. This brings a variety to gameplay that will have you yearning for just one more level.
The levels add even more variety, from facing sword wielding octopus pirates (yes, that means eight swords) and fish bone throwing sharks in a creative pirate stage to florescent flying dragons and beautiful cherry blossom trees in a Chinese-inspired stage and, one of my favourites, a Mardi-Gras type stage with jack in the boxes and merry go round horses.
Players can look forward to switching between playing as Crash or Coco throughout the game. But there are also alternate timeline paths to explore where you can replay past events from another character’s perspective. You can play as Tawna (but being from an alternate universe she doesn’t mind lending a hand with her hook shot), Neo Cortex (testing out the villain’s ray gun is pretty cool) and even as Dingodile for the first time ever (complete with tail swipe and vacuum gun).
With a new art style and a modern take on this classic platforming experience players will enjoy the content Crash Bandicoot 4 offers in this multidimensional adventure, whether you’re a fan or new to the series. This is the first installment in the Crash series in over 10 years, and with new gameplay mechanics, new abilities thanks to the Quantum Masks, new playable characters and new worlds as well as the N. Sanely hard Flashback levels and N. Verted mirror mode if you’re looking for a game to challenge you Crash Bandicoot 4 may just be the one for you.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is available for the PS4 and Xbox One for a recommended retail price of R1299. We played and reviewed the game on the Xbox One.
You can watch a gameplay trailer for Crash Bandicoot: It’s About Time below:
Thanks to Prima Interactive for sharing this fun game with us.
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