A Lifelong Crash Bandicoot Fan Reviews Crash 4: It's About Time 

well, you got me at "the majestic marsupial... and i'm not talking about myself", thanks for the laugh

The only thing that annoys me is when a side character level ends and you have to redo the level with crash again.

I can only imagine what a Spyro 4 would be like. Man. Sure would make a lot of people happy.

I think a crash level builder or a crash “death run” (like from gmod or cod4 mod) would be a crazy good online game mode. I also enjoy that classic crash skin.

lmao the hidden puns on the skin names are great mother clucker... big horn eneregy the devs sure didn't hold themselves back

Just a reminder, we are 11 days away from the 15th anniversary of shadow of the colossus

I'm playing in retro mode and already have 99 lives before the 3rd map and it pretty much doesn't matter what mode your on at that point. Its hella hard and love the review as a huge crash fan myself.

I'm over here like, there was more than the original trilogy? Lol

Positive vibes, I don't see enough of that, and I don't just mean on your channel, but on youtube in general. Thank you so much for making a video on such a lovely and colorful game. If I wasn't already subscribed, this video would've sold me.

I also consider myself a life long crash fan. Isn't this game just the best gift that keeps on giving?? Crash 3 are my first memories, and Crash 4 literally came out on my birthday. It's been a dream

Nice review, though I wanna let you know that N. Sane Trilogy was handled by Vicarious Visions, not Toys for Bob (TfB did the Switch port of NST)

CB4 was really good, but it's like they forgot to add a "Normal" Mode into the game and just tried to make it as difficult as physically possible. The last section of Cortex Castle is the most un-fun moments I've had in years.

So nice to see you in high spirits! Hope you're doing well :D

Your beatbox rendition of the crash theme put the biggest smile on my face, thank you.

The extra content like the skins and the “collect all boxes without dying” are so absurd there’s no way I’m ever going back to complete most of these. The base game like the platform of and giving it a Crash feel is fantastic though, aside from the length of the levels

As a lifelong Crash fan, this may be the first game in the series that I don't finish. I don't mind difficulty in games and I came in fully expecting some really frustrating levels. The problem isn't that Toys For Bob created frustrating levels. The problem is that it is pretty much all they created. Previous games featured some extremely difficult moments and segments. But, in my opinion, those moments and segments represented a small portion of previous games. After the first level or two, things simply never let up in Crash 4. I wouldn't mind it so much if I was continuously replaying very short, hard as nails levels (thinking of Super Meat Boy). But these levels become excruciating long and I'm finding very little joy playing each over and over. This is just one man's opinion. If you're personally enjoying this game, I will certainly respect your opinion. This game just hasn't been fun at all for me. All of the great things I know are there have been overshadowed by cryptic crate placement, painfully long levels and difficulty bordering on sadistic. There will be some who will say "git gud" but that has nothing to do with it. I've achieved N Sanely Perfect Relics in all levels I've played so far. I just haven't enjoyed doing it. TLDR: I think Toys For Bob went too far with the difficulty and, in the process, removed most,if not all, of the previous games' fun factor.

I chose retro. And it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought. Gaining lives is really common and easy. I got to 99 unintentionally more than a few times. At the final level dying 40 times, there are more golden fruit and your life count will slowly go up. So I ended up gaining almost as much as I lost

You nailed it with that theme song beatbox! Thanks for the review of one of my childhood's wonderlands and keep up with the good work.

Jak and Daxter was my Crash Bandicoot. I'm so jealous of everyone slightly older than me whose childhood is getting such a gorgeous facelift. All I got was that god-awful crossover game for the PlayStation move.

Crash bash wasn’t a masterpiece but it was incredibly fun and I still play it with friends to this day.

Programmer's perspective on load times: A really easy way to load a level in a game is to clear out all the memory and just reload the entire thing from scratch. Whatever engine you're using will usually have a single, easy command to do this, too - LoadLevel(1) or something equally quick - so it's an easy trap to fall into. There are lots of solutions - what a game like Crash should do, is have the level split into pieces - the "static" stuff - things that don't change between runs, like platforms - and a "dynamic" piece - enemies, boxes, anything that needs to be reset on a load. When the level needs to be reloaded, you just discard the "dynamic" piece - whatever's left of it, anyway - and recreate it from disk. It's still using a sledgehammer to down a finishing nail, but if they'd reload only the things that could have changed, it would massively cut down on the load times.

Right before the game went live while I was waiting to play I told my friend, "all I want from this game is for it to be BRUTALLY difficult" I was not disappointed

As also a long time fan, yes, this is the sequel to Crash 3 I've always yearned for. Currently kicking my arse but I'm determined to not only finishing this game 106%, I'm gonna do it in Retro. I'm really happy Crash is back, and with all the Spyro references TFB has given us, it's probable Spyro 4 may be in the horizon. I also hope for an actual good crossover game of the two franchises.

What comes to my mind when I think of crash music is the Atlasphere level music from Crash N-tranced on GBA. My first Crash game, and I will always defend it as the best post naughty dog game.

nothing brings back childhood memories to me more than classic ps1 games

I wasn't a huge fan of Crash as a kid, I was 11 when it first came out and didn't get to play it till a few years later when I was looking for more "mature" titles. I've come to respect it a lot more now though. There's a common expression in the 3d design world that the first mistake people make when they learn 3d is forget everything they know about 2d and this was definitely the case with early 3d platformers such as Bubsy 3d. What made crash age so well is that they didn't forget. Rather than working with large open spaces simply because they could they'd restrict one of the spacial or time dimentions to keep the focused feel you get in 2d. Rather than loading a whole level in to memory they'd stream assets in and out in a similar way that tilemaps were edited on the fly on 2d consoles massively increasing the amount of geometry a level could have and rather than jankily rotating fixed polygons to achieve animation they invented a method which gave them the same freedom of expression that was possible with sprites.

Retro difficulty is not hard honestly, it throws lives at you. I had 99 lives about 3 worlds in and I don't think it ever dipped below 90. So essentially after say, the first world or so when you're low on lives. It barely makes a difference.

Just to say, I'm probably the guy you imagine like a "soulsborne speedrunner", but trust me, that's not enough to think this game is nothing, I'm actualy completing the platinum trophy and dude, this is fucking hard

For anyone who is finding it hard to unlock skin, you only need to get 6 out of 12 gems for each level after a certain point on story, so it really shouldn't be a problem.

Not only are the levels harder and way longer than any previous Crash game but you then have to break every box without dying even once and then beat the Nverted versions and then beat the time trials! And all the flashback tapes. Jeez! This games difficult becomes absolutely no joke once you decide to go for 100% haha But over all I do think it's fantastic. Crash 2 remains my favourite of the series but that's probably nostalgia more than anything else. Crash 4 is a close 2nd though. I'm very happy we got a proper worthy sequel that's both new and old at the same time.

I really enjoyed the new one. But damn is it hard. Like Jak II. When introducing new mechanics it gets unforgiving especially in Cortex Castles. Enjoyed the story and look forward to Crash 5 Edit: I can finish this game but never finish Crash 1 both the original and remake. Double jumping is a lifesaver.

This game couldn't have come out at a better year. Crash and Spyro were always there for me to play if I ever had a tough day at school and now as an adult in her twenties during a global pandemic, Crash is back! I think these two are just always gonna be there to rescue me when I need them, best childhood heroes :-) P.S. Omg yes, please can we get Spyro 4!?

God tier thumbnail derrat,you really cracked me up!

Great review!

The load times can’t be helped with current gen tech I feel, although next gen is basically around the corner so there’s that. Can’t wait to play this in couple months

Great review, Max. Looks like I'll be getting this.

Crash was my whole childhood, so so happy they did it justice 😊

Crash 4 is a dream come true! Now I just need Spyro 4, Sonic Adventure 3, and inFAMOUS 3.

I love and hate this game so much. And it seems it's not just me either, I'm not the only person who said this which surprised me: "I find myself playing only one level a day, once I finish I just quit the game". That's not normal. I finished Crash 1 in a week, Crash 2 in three days, and crash 3 in another week. There's a lot that makes this game so good and so bad at the same time, but what do annoy me a LOT is that if you start playing the game wanting to grab all boxes, and just that, ignoring any secret gem or anything like that, the game stops being fun. As soon as you start wanting all boxes, you also find yourself wanting not to die, wanting those tapes, and so on and so on. And every time you get to the end to have two to seven mistery boxes the devs have hidden into their asses, you can hear them laughing at you. And that's what makes this game so hard to play. It's not hard. It's just mocking you. Mocking you for not going out of your way to find those hidden boxes, at the same time that wants you NOT to go out of the box because if you die more than three times you won't get the gem, and so on. There's a lot that makes it infuriating to me, at the same time, they fixed so many bad things from the original trilogy making it better. If, you can turn off your completionist, and I'm not talking the 100% kind, I'm talking about the all boxes kind, then you can have a fun time. Even playing classic mode is easier because this game fills the level with wumpa fruits. It's just... By design, the game is hard and punishing, while making sure it makes you feel like the worst player ever just because you didn't found everything. I believe an easy fix was just, making the levels shorter, that would make the game that much more enjoyable to me. XD When the game is hard just for being hard, for laughing at you for not being good from the start, to tease you every single time you lose a box, it's annoying. Actually I never felt so mad in the original trilogy for missing a box. But in this game, I feel rage. I feel spite. XD

Good review, this sounds exactly like what I was hoping for! ...just not looking forward to the load times when I have to restart a level, but it was the same with the N. Sane Trilogy and I still loved that game

Jusat btw, Tasmanian Devils have been reintroduced back into the wild recently so yeah those marsupials are back too

Awesome man! :D Thanks for letting me know about the game! Looks amazing

I've been playing crash for ever since I was a young child just like you Max and no other platformer has quite grabbed me this way I can't wait to play this game it'll probably be four or five years before I get it but here's to hoping

Only correction I have: Vicarious Visions did the Crash N. Sane Trilogy. Not Toys for Bob

FINALLY. Someone who does not complain about the difficulty. I'm a long time fun, just like you I started on Ps1 (still have it, still works). I also don't think "lives" are really a difficulty in the game, rather the actual platforming is. On some of the final levels I died 40 times but still had plenty more to spare. Can't wait to plat this game....or do I

I totally agree with the multiplayer platformer. It would be so cool if they came up with a way to race, while grabbing boxes and wampa fruit to earn a score with skins. It would keep me playing instead of just for the 100

People aren't talking about how difficult the game is normally, they are talking about how difficult the Platinum is. No mention of that?

I just purchased this game yesterday for PS5 and for only $20…I think it’s a steal at that price. Im enjoying it very much and it’s hard to put down…I highly recommend this game to new and seasoned Crash players.

Your impression of the Crash theme actually made me laugh, just wanted to say that

im surprised you didn't mention how the dimensional map had different remakes of crash 4's main menu based on which location you were in, i thought it was awesome personally

i believe crash twinsanity was the perfect modernization of the crash formula and i dont understand why others dont see this

One thing I never NEVER got with Wrath of Cortex is that it broke the trend of each game having an explanation of how Cortex got back to the wumpa islands, in favor of Uka Uka acting like he's the C.E.O. of EvilCo reviewing company performances. Even Twinsanity continued it by bringing a frozen Cortex and Uka Uka back from the arctic wastes (although I don't know how when they thawed out, Cortex didn't just keep getting zapped by Uka Uka... Maybe they broke apart, or Cortex thawed first and then ditched him.) In a way, this sets him up for future games- OR not, just because he's... Actually HAPPY being trapped in a void of nothingness- but it isn't unreasonable to think of him getting out. I think Crunch was a great idea, though. I mean, Nintendo had Mario paired with the peak of "Player 2" characters Luigi and countered with brash doppleganger Wario, Sega had Sonic paired with helpful wannabe Tails, and countered with lone wolf Knuckles, and Crash was paired with Coco- so what better way to bring in a third character other then the bandicoot solder Crash was SUPPOSED to be?

Great video, although I don't think I ever played this game but once or twice before. I laughed so much when you emulated the theme song lol

I'm glad they focused on making a stand alone game that won't die with it's servers. They can add a online mode in a patch or in the ps5 version.

I completed the final sequence on penultimate level for my wife on the first go and immediately thought I should have updated my LinkedIn profile to reflect it!

You not only excel in presenting complex stuff to us but you also make sooo in depth and well crafted reviews on literally anything... You deserve 99999999 subs, 1 billion dollars and infinite girlfriends.

I love how your video has a more cheery style its nice to hear you sound happy love it love it love it

WE NEED A CRASH BASH REMAKE

Agreed with the online point tho. Kinda strange to see Activision NOT shoehorning an online mode on anything... and that being not a good thing But in this case, it'd be pretty great, specially to show off your skins and platforming skills

N sane trilogy Crash bash and crash team racing are what I grew up on as a kid and I absolutely loved twinsainty

I thought I was getting too old for platformers when it found the game to be surprisingly harder than the typical Crash I remember.

Me, I normally wait a long time after release before buying a game, but ever since I was introduced to the whole "gauging interest" thing, I've reserved preordering for the very best franchises I want to see more of. The N.Sane Trilogy's quality convinced me that the OG Playstation mascots needed this treatment, and I've never regretted it since. Even among those however? This game comes out on top. I may not consider this my all-time favorite, but Warped had been a serious contender before, missing only the feel that the toughest of tough platformers can bring. This game, as evident by all the talk about the difficulty, has that factor in _spades._ While before Reignited I was worried that "the Skylanders company" was involved, they and Beenox have thoroughly proven their pixel producing prowess. The Bandicoot is finally back, and it's about time too! Hopefully the old adage of "Crash goes, Spyro follows" keeps holding true.

Love this review, I too have been waiting for years for a new Crash game, as well as a new Spyro game, you just earned a new sub

I'm late to the train here. I've did my first playthrough of Crash 4 on Retro. Although I died significantly more times in this game than any other Crash titles, Retro is VERY forgiving because the game just *showers* you in wumpas. Which is understandable, theres a lot more boxes in these levels than in the past Crash games, but the point still stands. In the Polar Riding section of the game, I've died to it 40 times (not because it was difficulty, but because I was very hellbent on nabbing all the boxes). Now, the amount of lives I've actually lost in that level for pulling that stunt? Just a measly 5. Its understandable that Toys for Bobs recommend Modern, but it's not for the reason you think. Crash 4 levels are still Crash levels, regardless of length, you can get through them pretty quickly with patience, until the very end where platforming gets pretty brutal, but short enough that one level is enough for a session. The real reason Modern's there is because kids these days don't have the patience. When you get a game over, you start over from the beginning, which is enough discouragement to stop kids from ever touching the game again. That sounds silly, but I've had moments I would've quit games from because I've lost hours of progress from one mistake. It was pretty awful. Retro is poorly design in a sense that this game rewards you with too many wumpas. Its not the mode's fault, but a fault with the game as they've added more ways to get gems, and made 3 of those tied to wumpas. If they replaced wumpa gems for box percentage in Retro, and messed with how much wumpas you can get, Retro would've at least feel like a Classic Crash game under Retro. There are barely sections in this game where you've actually lost more lives than you can get 100 wumpas. This isn't to say that Crash 4 should've made Retro harder, but rather point out how Retro in its entirety second thought was a second thought with how forgiving it is with its core game play. Imagine Crash 1's bridge levels, but there is A LOT of ? Boxes in between checkpoints, enough to give you at least 1 life. That in a nutshell is Crash 4 before Cortex's Snaxx level (Crate Escape I believe?) Toys for Bob wanted Crash 4 to be challenging, but in a way that keeps the kiddies playing from start to end. Retro is not that, the game's level progression and 106% completion is. I'm sorry for the rant about Retro but I was disappointed in how Retro mode is implemented. I love the game still, but all in all, it feels like you can remove Retro completely and nothing of value would be lost. But, what is a Crash game without that iconic extra life sound effect?

I hope the developers doesn't add pointless features, seriously I find this the best Crash ever.

Toys for Bob only did the Switch version of the N.Sane Trilogy, which was them essentially just porting over Vicarious Visions’ work, as they are the ones who developed the N.Sane Trilogy. Also, in regards to the skins, you use the combined regular clear gems from the regular levels, along with the inverted clear gems from the N.Verted levels to unlock the skins. Not just the regular levels.

About the loading time, I played the PC port and that was not an issue, now I know not everyone has or can afford an average or powerful PC but just wanted to point out to people not to worry about that if you're gonna play the PC version...

I love it but i just cant help but miss the classic character designs its making me not want to buy the game. its like if you are going to redesign characters just reboot the series instead of making it the forth entry

I like the difficulty being tougher than the trilogy, but this game really like doing devilish things like having to intentionally die to get all boxes, putting boxes that outside of camera view and some sections being brutal with obstacles. The first time game made me die 50+ times is bears repeating. My god, the bear "hitbox" isnt big enough to break all boxes easy peasy and so you have to be precise if you want break 4 boxes at once otherwise you overjump or go too much right or left. That said, when I saw that you need get tape on each level WITHOUT DYING, it made me question why even put gem for finishing level less than 3 deaths if there is tape that forces you have no death.

I think the only real gripe I have with the game no one else is pointing out is "WHO THE FUCK PUTS CHECKPOINTS IN A CRASH BANDICOOT BOSS?!"

My only problem is the n.sanely perfect relics (finishing a level by collecting all boxes without dying once) And the fact that you have to collect it in every level to 100% the game

Yes the fiery boxes don't fit in quite well with the others. Boxes are supposed to be more predictable wether in time or number of hits. Maybe if they made them flip state more abruptly and like each second... right know it's not so obvious which ends up slowing everything down. I don't know it's just a box no big deal lol

I think load times been patched now. About half the time to load a level. Still 20 seconds but 20 secs is better than 40.

I died about 150 times on the last level before the final boss. That damn level! It was an awesome level. But the difficulty!

I was worried this game may feel a bit off but this has allayed those fears a bit. The load times probably won't bother me because Sonic 06 and Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly very much made me realise what long load times really are.

I agree with everything you said 100% but with a couple things to add: 1. We were kids once! I've played hard games all my life, don't underestimate kids! 2. The riding sections are broken, polar/alien control fine but the hitbox is waaaay too small! You want that n.sanely perfect relic? Be prepared to go through a whole level + load times over and over again! Edit: 3. Oh actually! I do disagree on one thing, I went straight into retro mode and capped my lives to 99 easily, some of the tougher sections bought it down considerably but I find the game very generous with lives as well, to me there probably isn't a real difference between modern and retro, especially if you want to 100% the game and you have to not die anyways.

The only post naughty dog crash that is perfection is crash twinsanity. IT DESERVES A REMAKE. Remake is in finish it cause it didnt completely finish. They had to crunch time to release with spyro. But I pray for a crash twinsanity remake. It's also technically crash 5

I hate the modern difficulty … retro with the circle indicator ⭕️ under character OFF is the only way

I had completely discarded this game on the notion that long-awaited sequels are almost always disappointing, but this looks so colorful and fun. Great review!

I chosed retro and I have no problem with 1 shotting stages with all boxes. As a Crash expert, there is no way I would pick modern difficulty, it's better playing Crash as it was intended.

Crash was also my earliest experience with gaming, specifically Wrath of Cortex! It's a series special to me, this game was such a treat

Awesome video laughed super hard at you mouthing the theme haha

Also I haven't even played Spyro 2 or 3 yet because the extra characters make the games look too gimmicky compared to Spyro 1. Even in Spyro 1 the segments where you have to fly got wearing on my nerves during a completion run. Although it's mostly fine because you're still Spyro and flying as a dragon would.

The game, when just running through, is tricky but not too bad. I actually never played modern because I feel like getting 100 wumpa fruit for an extra life is always satisfying. What makes the game hard is completion. For the blue gem, I started with 99 lives, and ended with 47.

I played Crash 1 when I was 3 and being babysat at someone’s house. Since then I loved and played the original trilogy and Team Racing. I loved the N Sane trilogy just as much of not more than the original. I honestly was very nervous when 4 was announced and shown but was very very happy to see that 17 years of waiting for another truly great new Crash game paid off. It’s probably even my favorite Crash game. I feel like this game is meant for Crash fans more than kids. That or the same level that the original trilogy was in. The original games (3 was the easiest tho) were also pretty difficult. Heck, I never beat 1 until years later on the N Sane trilogy I honestly like the look of Crash 4 more than N Sane. N Sane does have better graphical fidelity but I think the style of 4 more than makes up for it and will hold up much longer. N Sane looked great to me when it came out but now it’s showing its age when I look at Crash 4 then back at it. Like Vicarious focused a bit too much on realism. And the lighting issues of the levels. I do love how it looks in cutscenes and I love how the villains look, but in gameplay it looks kinda off and I’m not too fond of N Sane Coco anymore lol

This game felt like it started at the difficulty that Crash 4 ended at.... AND I LOVE IT! Crash 4 is genuinely one of the best 3D platforrmers of all time, and I hope other struggling franchises *cough cough Sonic cough cough* try and take some notes. Amazing graphics, music, controls, level design, animation, etc. A complete 10/10 for me.

Namco's patent for mini-games on loading screens expired for quite some time, and yet there's not even a single studio that cares about making players look aimlessly at a empty screen waiting for a game to load.

The issue i have with this not its difficulty its the controls aren't precise and inconsistent. Its not hard id keep dying bc Id miss a ledge that id make by doing the same thing later. Especially with the mask that makes spin and jump super far. Cuphead was fair n consistant in that regard

I agree and would go as far to say the worst thing about Crash 4 is the load times. I beat the game and I want to go back and try to 100% it but the thought of having to restart the level and wait for load times every time I die while I am aiming for a perfect run... I just can't do it

My brother is getting it so I'm gonna nick it as soon as he beats it.

The only Crash game I ever played was Crash Titans and I loved that game, once i get next gen i'll definitely pick up Crash 4 at some point

Fun fact: The A in Crash and D,I, and C in Bandicoot are in the middle of the title, so when you cross your eyes a bit you see, A D I C.

YESSS WOOOO GET THE GOOD VIBES!! this video makes me smile!!!

I realized that i am sharing the same taste for video game , for once I am thankful of the RU-vid algorithm that brought me here !

I think they may just do a spyro 4! At the beginning there's a spyro Easter egg in the form of a rubber dingy on the beach 😁

The high road was hard but most importantly, it was cheap and unfair because the collision landing in Crash bandicoot 1 was bad very bad. If they add the shadow below Crash, it would make the first entry more enjoyable.

This game is great. I am trying to platinum it and this task is more difficult then souls platinum. I have bloodborne and DS3 platinums. There is no doubt that everyone can play it and have fun. My score 9/10.

I am so excited hearing this from someone else whose played crash since childhood in the 90's I can not wait to play this when I get my ps5 ^_^

Interesting. Never thought of platformer games in that way before. Usually play them because it brings a level of focus and challenge for me. To give credit, Crash Bandicoot level design has improved in quality over the years in comparison to Super Mario, simply because Nintendo kept to traditions. Never out of the boundaries of a sunny mushroom kingdom at least. While I miss seeing Crash Bandicoots smiling like a crackhead, I appreciated the fact that the studio is willing to go out of any boundaries to modernise.

You my man are an amazing review person 👌. Ive had a few looks back and forth with this game and decided to not buy it but now after watching ur video im sold hahaha 😁. Awesome review