I can’t think of a better platformer released in the past several years. Crash 4: It’s About Time is an absolute must buy and it’s truly about time that Activision returned Crash to his former glory. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another 20 years before we get another sequel.
It's About Time is not only a solid sequel to the 3rd version of Crash Bandicoot series, but is also one of the best 3D platformers of the 8th generation of video games. One that manages to build on all the good elements from its predecessor and add much more to it.
I liked this more thatn the original trilogy. Colorful graphics, nice gameplay, controls are precise, and difficulty is very challenging if you want to 100% the game.
The game is more or less perfect and it really is by all means one of the best 3D platformers propably ever made. The difficulty is really not the best to be honest, it can feel absolutely brutal sometimes and it might take a lot of tries to get right. However the way that is designed with some of the hardest challenges being some of the best in the whole game so once you do it feels really nice. For anyone though who actually want to do everything in the game then it can be unbelievably difficult even for the more expert crash fans. In any case the game is huge, it has a ton of content with some of the most creative level design I ever ****'s a truly fun expertly designed game and it looks incredible, the graphics are outstanding making the world of Crash Bandicoot coming into life with some breathtaking environments.
Although the game has some flaws, Crash 4 is a joy to play thanks to a great deal of content. The platforming action will bring a smile to your face, no matter if you're a fan from back in the day or if this is your first Crash title.
Crash Bandicoot 4 – It’s About Time is one of the best platformers of this console generation, a gorgeous title and must buy for fans of the series. It does, however, feature extremely high difficulty hampered by not-perfect controls.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a solid platformer and a continuation of a series whose vibe and design still hasn’t been recreated in other titles. It’s a relief to see Crash’s legacy continue over 20 years later in a way that feels true to form.
It’s a shame, then, that some of the level design choices don’t really pair up with the engine Toys for Bob has built this love-letter to 90s platforming games in. Loose and floaty physics, an abundance of different mechanics that often feel part-baked, and some design choices that feel sadistic – rather than simply difficult – leave this approach to Crash Bandicoot feeling less like a true sequel, and more like a licensed spin-off.
This is an EXTREMELY polarizing Crash Bandicoot game. On the one hand, the main gameplay is amazing. The reason I rank it so "low" is because 106% is a mistake and an afront against god and nature. Buy the game for everything that ISN'T full completion, don't make the same mistake I did.
Way too much of this game is based on trial and error. I mean, you really can't actually see what's coming up quickly enough to respond before memorizing what's going on a lot of the time. But aside from that, I've been trying to get 100% with all the relics, and I've died SO MANY TIMES in ways that seem to go against expectations of game mechanics; In other words, the game wasn't programmed well enough for the level of difficulty that's implied. I have a library of videos from this game where my deaths clearly shouldn't have happened. It's not as big of a deal if you're just doing gems or playing casually, but when you're playing a 4 minute long level (when played fast) where dying means starting the whole level over, and the physics or hit detection randomly wigs out, it leads to playing the first half of a level about 10 times more than the rest of the level, leading to a mind-numbing level of repetition, and a seriously uneven playing experience.
I just saw the swinging grapple pole reset while I was in the middle of jumping to it... On a casual first playthrough, this game was overall pretty fun, albeit loaded with deaths as you keep figuring things out that you can't see.
Ugh, and that's another major flaw is that level boundaries aren't indicated in a clear fashion, so there are a LOT of deaths from just figuring out where those boundaries are. One clear example: Nitro Processing level. There's one spot where sharp gears are at the borders, seemingly to indicate where to not go, and yet there are spots where you can go past them, and other spots where you die before hitting it... There's very little consistency. Another obvious example is in Crash Landed, in the side-scrolling section of the gravity-switch mask; There's one spot where you have to invert gravity to get a box, but if you do the same thing right next to that box, it's instant death. As a long-time gamer, I feel like these choices don't respect the necessity of clearly defining game mechanics for the gamer. I shouldn't have to die every time I figure out what the developer actually meant. This game was made for serious gamers to throw their controllers. Shame on me for being a completionist. Heed my warning; Getting 100% isn't about getting good at this game as much as it is a test of tolerance. Don't try getting the platinum. It's not going to feel like a prize after you've let this game occupy that degree of your mind and time. Casual playthrough: 9/10
100% playthrough: 5/10
This was my second attempt to get into Crash after the N.Sane trilogy and the series just does NOT gel with me, even with the new modern mode with checkpoints, apart from which, the game feels insanely archaic. Controls and physics just feel off, the double jump is one of the clunkiest I have ever encountered in any video game, and the fact that Crash cannot hold on to ledges never managed to quite sink into my brain because it has been a standard not only for platformers, but video games in general for literally DECADES. The locked camera makes it very hard to correctly appraise distances and positions when you're going into or out of the screen. All of this maybe could've been fine if the level design was a little more forgiving, but every level is just one long series of frustrating traps designed to immediately kill you, many of which require trial-and-error to even get a sense of what's going on. Look towards the king of platformers, Mario, on how to do this better: In every level, a mechanic is first introduced in its most basic form and without severe repercussions, then it is GRADUALLY expanded upon and made more challenging throughout the level. Whereas Crash just says: FU, it's sink or swim right from the get-go. Not fun. The game certainly looks good, but could've definitely used more clarity in its visual design because sometimes you can't even accurately make out hazards until it is too late. Music and sound are OK I guess. Story doesn't matter at all, it is fourth-grader s**t and I soon started skipping through all of it. Once again, take a hint from Mario: It's OK not to have a super-deep story in a platformer, but if you don't, then don't interrupt the game with dumb*ss superfluous cutscenes all the time.
SummaryThe devious villains Neo Cortex and Dr. N. Tropy have finally escaped their interdimensional prison, leaving an evil scientist sized hole in the universe. Now they’ve got their eyes set on not only simply conquering this dimension, but ALL dimensions, and it’s up to Crash and Coco to save the day. N. Sanity Beach is where Crash’s adventu...