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In the beginning there was Crash Bandicoot, and it was good. Then came Crash Bandicoot 2 and Crash Bandicoot 3 – Warped, and between them they rewrote the rule book from which platform games on the original PlayStation were to be judged. Then, the developers, Naughty Dog, were left behind as Universal sold the franchise and all manner of lesser attempts made by new developers followed on the PS2 and original Xbox. They looked like Crash games, but unfortunately they didn’t play like Crash games; the game mechanics just never felt right. The original three set the standard and all the follow up games were just pale imitations.

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When James Cameron returned to make Terminator Dark Fate (2019), he ignored what were, in his (and my) opinion, inferior offerings that had been released since his epic Terminator 2. Terminator 3, Salvation and Genisys were conveniently forgotten and he made Dark Fate a direct sequel to his truly spectacular T2 from 1991. And that’s what Activision have done with ‘Crash Bandicoot 4 – It’s About Time’. It is marketed as a sequel to the first three Crash Bandicoot games and thereby ignores the subsequent PS2 and onward efforts released during the intervening twenty-two years. But the twist is that this time the creator hasn’t returned to save the day. It isn’t a Naughty Dog product, this time having been developed by ‘Toys for Bob’. So the big question is: would it be a worthy successor to the original trilogy, or another ‘close but no cigar’ effort, failing yet again to properly capture the feel of the first three games?

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First impressions are rather good. Once a couple of introductory screens are navigated you are straight into the first level, which looks really familiar. In fact it looks uncannily like the very first level of the original Crash game (but in high definition), a lovely touch. You start along the path jumping on boxes, spinning various enemies, avoiding pits of death and large rolling stones, collecting Aku-Aku masks and triggering TNT boxes in a classy nod to the genius of the very first game, providing a warm nostalgic glow to those that have trodden that road before. And then, before you know it, things start to change. The familiarity fades, the level design deviates and almost without realising you find that you are exploring entirely new ground. It’s a great way to start off and gets a big thumbs up from me.

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Graphically it looks amazing. You are working your way across a series of islands, very much as in Crash 1, with each having its own very different and individual theme. The artwork and animation is bright, clean and colourful, and is generally very impressive. The fifth island that you encounter in particular - Mosquito Marsh, has a circus / funfair theme that is quite beautifully represented.

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But looks mean nothing if the gameplay isn’t there. Well rest assured, it is. Within the first sixty seconds you know that everything is going to be ok. The best compliment I can give the game is that it feels as if it was coded by Naughty Dog. Fans of the originals can stop reading here, safe in the knowledge that they can go and buy it. But if you want to know more, read on…

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Most importantly (because this is what every game after Crash 3 got wrong) the jumping and spinning mechanics are perfect. The feel of the original trilogy has been recreated brilliantly. Your movement is precise and I particularly liked the wobbly animation that lets you know when you are too close to a platform edge. When I first played the 2017 N.Sane Trilogy remake of the original three games, something I initially struggled with was the jump and spin attack distances which didn’t seem quite right, but here they immediately felt bang on.

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But this isn’t simply a Crash 1 rehash. There are many new twists to the tale to be mastered. Crash can swing on ropes, grind along rails, get shot out of cannons and make use of all sorts of other new and inventive gameplay tweaks. You are introduced to each gently and most feel natural and intuitive. Double jumps and slide jumps are not just useful, they are necessary in reaching some otherwise inaccessible parts of a level, essential in gaining one of many rewards available. As the game progresses you also have the opportunity to play as alternate characters: Coco, Doctor Neo Cortex, Dingodile and Tawna, three of whom have their own unique moves and gameplay. There are levels where you don a ‘Quantum Mask’ allowing you to perform special abilities such as altering the landscape upon the press of a button or turning Crash into what appears to be a mini-tornado, allowing much longer jumps or using it to deflect and kill enemies. The Quantum Mask sections are invariably especially challenging, controlling the spinning Crash, or timing the landscape changes to coordinate with tricky slide jumps can be particularly awkward.

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Within each level you earn a crystal each for collecting 40%, 60%, and 80% of the boxes and one more for collecting them all. There is a hidden crystal on each level to find and you also gain a crystal for completing a level using less than three lives. If you collect all six you are awarded a ‘skin’ allowing you to change your character’s appearance. If you can complete a level perfectly without losing a life you gain an additional artefact. There are also a number of coloured gems to find throughout the game which are unlocked in one level by completing a simple but hidden puzzle and then used in another to reach previously hidden areas.

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The islands (and the levels on each of the islands) have to be completed broadly in order, though some offshoots to your path open up along the way. Once unlocked and saved you can then replay them in any order you choose. The level design is quite brilliant, well thought out with a fantastic variety of traps and enemies to catch you out. At the end of each island there is the traditional ‘Boss’ battle, some of which can be acutely difficult until you learn the required patterns to progress.

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There is one issue that must be addressed. In other reviews I have seen comment that the game is: “too easy”. Now this surprised me, as “easy” is a word I would have never associated with a Crash Bandicoot game. Having played it, I can now confidently state that this comment is down to the two different ways in which you can play the game. In the first, ‘retro mode’ you play like the original games, collecting Wumpa fruit to earn lives as you go. When you are out of lives it is ‘game-over’ and you have to start again, no further forward than the start of the level that you had reached. The second gameplay option has no lives counter, if you die you simply return to the previous checkpoint (there are half a dozen or more checkpoints per level) and carry on. This effectively gives you unlimited lives to clear each checkpoint and frankly any game with unlimited lives is going to be significantly easier. Playing the original way, which was certainly my preferred way, there is no way that this game is easy. I found it to be at least as hard as the first Crash Bandicoot, which, to be fair, was at times utterly brutal. Once you get familiar with the early levels you can navigate them relatively unscathed, but every time you reach a new level, or a boss, you can burn through lives at a ridiculous rate. I have been playing (a lot) for over a month now and have just made it to the fifth of ten islands, with progress becoming ever increasingly difficult. In true original Crash style, some levels require really intricate timing and coordination and, also in true original Crash style, you will often find yourself swearing and wanting to put the controller through the screen in frustration. But as was in the first games, the frustration is always with yourself. Everything that kills you can be seen and generally can be predicted.  Clearing a level is tough. Clearing a level and achieving all boxes is more difficult but possible. But clearing a level with all boxes and finding the hidden crystal without losing a single life is bastard hard and means the replay value here is huge.

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So all in all things are looking really good. I have only a few minor irritations to report. The first is that I struggled with learning the timing of the slide-jump. This move is necessary in ‘Crash Compactor’ to find the hidden gem and in other levels to reach all boxes, but it took me far longer than it probably should have to perfect the move. Maybe that is just me and my chunky fingers, but I found it unnecessarily fiddly, especially when it had to be accompanied by another well timed button press to switch the landscape mid-jump when in Quantum Mask mode. There are also some fairly long loading screens where not much happens, including a completely black screen before the start of some levels which displays just long enough to leave you wondering whether the game has crashed (no pun intended!) I find it difficult to believe that in this day and age we still have to sit and look at what is, in effect, a ‘loading – please wait’ screen. I would like to think that the combined programming intelligence on display here could have found a more elegant solution to smooth the transition between levels. Finally, controlling Crash in what I will call his ‘Tornado’ mode feels more imprecise than it needs to be, particularly in trying to spot the long jumps, though to be fair these are helped a little by Crash having a very obvious yellow landing circle which has replaced the smaller and less distinct shadow used in the original games. This may look less natural but does enable you to judge jumps a little easier.

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These are small niggles though and are massively outweighed by all the fantastic little touches on show. I haven’t mentioned the ‘N.Verted’ mode which you can unlock, allowing you to replay horizontally mirrored versions of previously cleared levels with a completely altered colour palate and a limited field of view. I haven’t mentioned that some levels can be replayed later on with different characters with subtle gameplay differences. I haven’t mentioned the two player mode whereby you pass the controller every time you die or reach a checkpoint and the game keeps score. I haven’t mentioned the superb cut scenes, or the ‘flashback tapes’ that can be collected which open up levels that appear in the original Crash bonus level style, complete with low-resolution graphics and a crackly, slightly distorted display. The developers have added whistles and bells to whistles and bells which results in this being one of the most complete platforming experiences it is possible to find.

 

Overall this is an absolute triumph. It looks and sounds fabulous and has recreated the feel of the original trilogy to perfection while expanding massively with a great variety of new gameplay options. It is as hard as a Blacksmith’s anvil, while at the same time being scrupulously fair and enormous fun, and perhaps most importantly has that: “I’ll have just one more go” appeal essential for any platform game, allowing you to progress a little further each time as you grow ever more proficient. It has been beautifully designed with obvious love and fabulous attention to detail and is, quite possibly, the best platform game that I have ever played, certainly the equal of any 3D Mario game.

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I can’t give higher praise than that.

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This was the most expensive video game that I have ever bought and it was worth every penny.

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Buy it.

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AG 07/12/2020

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© Words and pictures copyright grapeswriting.com 

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