Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Review for Xbox One

Wake up, get your good shoes on, and get yourselves ready because it’s about time. It took over 20 years, but thanks to developers Toys for Bob, Crash has finally gotten a direct sequel/reboot, and they meticulously crafted and delivered the best Crash Bandicoot game yet. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time has honored its predecessors by being one of the best platformers I’ve played in recent years.

Crash 4 has subverted critics’ expectations by being a modern platformer that keeps the integrity and feel of the original game while enhancing it for a newer generation of gamers and making it more accessible to players not as familiar with the franchise or genre. Fear not, there are options for Crash Bandicoot elitists who want to experience the game the old fashion way by selecting retro-style, which enables limited lives, and by turning off the new accurate shadow underneath you to help while you’re jumping. This game is no walk in the park, however, and you can rest assured that this installment is just as challenging as the old games

Crash Bandicoot 4’s campaign takes about 5-6 hours to beat. However, each level has different objectives to complete and if you are able to clear enough objectives, your expertise and skills are rewarded with a sweet, stylish skin to wear with Crash or Coco. These skins are each unique and beautifully designed, wear them with honor! Each level has a Time Trial mode to race against an NPC ghost to hone your own speedrunning abilities. Each level also has an “N. verted mode” which allows the player to replay that level but inverted horizontally and with some sort of interesting graphical gimmick (like making everything on screen appear psychedelically) which adds more objectives and a new layer of difficulty to each level while seamlessly integrating countless hours of replayability into the mix. 

For being a platformer, this game offers a lot of content. You have the option to play main stages as Crash or Coco Bandicoot, who mechanically both play exactly the same. Alongside with the main two, there are three other playable characters who have their own levels and unique play styles which add a nice little zing to game progression in between the main stages. 

The game is split into several worlds that each have their own distinctive aesthetic, unique enemy npc’s, and time period theme. At the last level of each world is a boss fight where Crash or Coco will have to beat down the evil baddies. Each of these boss fights are unique, have great background music and most of them are challenging yet fun. 

In addition to memorable characters of the franchise returning, the game also brings in four new magical masks that each give Crash an awesome outfit and useful ability that further escalates the fast-action gameplay. These masks, however, are only usable during specific points in specific stages, so you can’t abuse their awesome power. I will not spoil what each mask does but they are all very fun to play with and serve as fun abilities that the player has to learn to use well in order to progress.

One of the game’s biggest strengths is how animated and alive the world of Crash 4 is, as well as its inhabitants. The music is energetic and thrilling, which mirrors the gameplay. The cutscenes and scenery are gorgeous and can leave you feeling like pausing for a moment to appreciate the view. The background is usually full of little visual or audible details that add to the immersive experience of playing the game and exploring its world. Character dialogue and interactions throughout the game are charmingly comedic, well written, and naturally delivered as well. While you are playing, you will be pleasantly surprised by the love put into the little background details of levels.

Toys for Bob clearly understands what makes for a good Crash Bandicoot game and again, they delivered. The graphics and scenery are captivating, the physics and how Crash moves feels right and not too floaty, the level design is all fast paced and delectably creative, it’s a challenging game chocked full of challenges to beat- making it worth a fully priced game. I only wish the game had some more optional online multiplayer features but I thoroughly enjoyed this platformer. 

Rate: 9/10

Check Out the Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Release Trailer:

For more information on the Crash Bandicoot franchise, please visit www.crashbandicoot.com and follow @CrashBandicoot on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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