Crash is back for a third time in Crash 4: It’s About Time. Following two remakes, Crash returns in this brand new game for the first time in twelve years. Taking place after the events of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, (thus omitting the events of the fourth and final canonical game of the original series) Crash 4 has the titular character once again facing off against the now joined forces of Neo Cortex & Nefarious Tropy, He, his sister Coco, and Aku Aku & Quantum Mask Lani-Loli work together t0 stop them from interfering with the fabric of space-time before all of existence collapses on itself.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a 2020 platformer game, it is developed by Toys for Bob, and published by Activision. It is currently available for Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

Editor’s Note: A review copy for Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was provided by Activision in support of this coverage. Near complete to complete spoilers for Crash 4 may be present in this review

Activision goes all in on Crash with a new entry for the first time since 2008.

After many, many, many (and many still) years Activision has returned to one of it’s most beloved properties in Crash Bandicoot. Having attempted a reboot in 2008 that was in fairness moderately successful enough to garner it’s own sequel, Activision gave the Crash franchise another life by remaking the first three games from the ground up as well as it’s racer Crash Nitro Team Racing. While it ignores the events of then canonical final game of the original 90s series, it’s quite clear that the Crash of old is here to stay at least for another good while. In Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time you play as Crash, Coco, Cortex, and an alternative timeline version of Crash’s ex girlfriend Tawna as well as former enemy turned ally Dingodile as Crash and co. use the new Quantum Masks to control space-time to stop Cortex and Tropy from destroying existence from where it stands.

Meet the new and improved Crash in Crash 4: It’s About Time.

THE GOOD: In Crash 4, Crash and Coco are out relaxing at home before Aku Aku senses a disturbance; the return of Cortex & Tropy to their world. Going off in a nearby temple Crash discovers a Quantum Mask known as Lani-Loni who is one of several that can control certain aspects of reality such as bending time and space. Quantum Mask are essentially the elders of Aku Aku and the Guardians and like Aku Aku, Lani-Loni has several relatives. Lani-Loni decides to trust Crash and co. having seen them befriend Aku with finding his own brothers to fix the fabric of time that has been broken by Cortex & Tropy’s return. Crash and the others race through time and space against Cortex and Tropy before meeting an alternate version of Crash’s ex-girlfriend Tawna who lends her assistant while simultaneously doing her own thing. As Crash, Coco, and Tawna along with Aku Aku & Lani-Loni try to stop Cortex and Tropy, Crash’s former enemy Dingodile has reformed and opened a restaurant. Following his restaurant being burned down by a rivaling restaurant Dingodile begins inadvertently aiding Crash and the others across space time. Crash finds most of the Quantum Masks and face off against Cortex. only for Cortex to be betrayed by Tropy upon his defeat who reveals his new ally; an alternative female version of himself from alt Tawna’s universe. Cortex agrees to help Crash defeat the Trophies out of spite. With their combined forces they beat the Trophies, collect all the Quantum Masks, and save space-time. The group take a trip to the future to celebrate their victory, but Cortex plans his own betrayal taking Quantum Mask Kupana-Wa to travel back to the past of Crash’s invention in an effort to stop it. Past Cortex refuses to stop the experiment and Present Crash & the others send Present Cortex to the ends of the universe. Crash accidentally intervenes in Past Cortex’s experiment on Past Crash essentially ensuring the timeline is mostly intact. Dingodile reopens his restaurant, Cortex is on a beach, and Crash, Coco, Tawna, and the masks play games on N. Sanity Island. A dimensional rift opens in front of Cortex revealing Uka Uka who was previously thought to be dead is alive.

The Crash crew are playable again for the modern age with a new dimension jumping story.

Toys for Bob being the quality developers they are had a lot to work with by trying to make the Crash formula feel refreshing and new & damn did they nail it. From it’s humor, character direction, and insanely difficult gameplay Crash feels as good as it ever has. Even with the nostalgia Crash 4 does what many years-long sequels fail to accomplish and that’s riding on it’s past glory while also providing something new. This is mostly done through the Quantum Masks and their unique abilities, but there’s also new mechanics for it’s platforming such as wall running. Admittedly the newer aspects feature in Crash 4 aren’t many, but it doesn’t have to be and it’s partly why being a fan of a series and hoping for a new entry & getting it years later can be so frustrating. Often times we don’t get a mix of nostalgia and something new it’s either one or the other. Granted I’ve only recently become a Crash fan having missed out on the series during my childhood, but this issue applies to almost everything that takes a hiatus and comes back. And it says a lot that Crash was gone for over eleven years and still pulled it off. Crash 4’s faithfulness while also trying something new is one of several reasons why Toys For Bob have become such a fan-favorite developer.

Enemies become friends in Crash 4.

THE BAD: Just like the originals Crash 4 is am extremely difficult game so if you aren’t prepared for patience and turbulence then you’re probably going to be in for a very bad time. I honestly can’t stress enough how hard this game actually is and there are times when deaths feel cheap often coming out of nowhere, but you get the hang of your landings and such fairly quick. In regards to the story I personally think time travel has been done to death the last half a decade. but I will admit that for the continuation of Crash that Activision & Toys For Bob are going for it makes. Clearly, they want to reboot the series without alienating fans of the original nor abandoning the original plot so to work around this without too much plotholing or a full on reboot time travel actually works fairly well to circumvent the direction.

New powers and abilities prepare Crash for a grand comeback for years to come.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Crash 4: It’s About Time brings a classic flavor to a modern aesthetic with a blend of old school platforming and time-bending level jumping. While the story does have a bit of redundancy it’s done so in such a way that still respects the original trilogy while given a ton of options for Crash’s full-fledged revival in the near future. Co-op, secret tapes, unlockable costumes (for free) and multiple endings provide tons of hours of replayability and in most cases you’re going to want to experience everything the game has to throw at you.