The now 24-year old franchise released their newest addition, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and long time fans have some things to say, both good and bad. Even with nearly two dozen games under their name, the Toys for Bob developers still experimented with the new game to keep the Crash Bandicoot franchise fresh.
That said, whenever developers experiment with games through characters, game mechaꦉnics, and so on, sometimes things just don't work quite as well as it should. So here are five things that went well in the franchise, and five things that could use some love.
10 Right: Quantum Masks ꦇ
via Nicholas Kole
Apparently Aku Aku and Uka Uka aren't the only sentient masks in the Crash Bandicoot franchise anymore. Welcomed to the Bandicoot team are four fresh faces with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:quirky designs and personalities that complete the Quantum Masks.
Each in charge of an aspect of reality, the four members are Lani Loli: The Phase Mask, Akano: The Dark Matter Mask, Kapuna Wa: The Time Mask, and Ika Ika: The Gravity Mask. Like Aku Aku's role in the previous games, these masks don't just make for ext❀ra fun cuts🐟cenes. In the same way Aku Aku gave Crash extra protection, these new masks also give Crash and Coco new gameplay mechanics.
9 ๊ Wrong: Too Many New Moves
Each Quantum Mask awards Crash (or Coco) with a special abi💝lity, namely:
- Lani Loli phases objects in and out of existence (using alternate dimensions)
- Akano lets the player do a long hover spin
- Kapuna Wa slows time
- Ika Ika gives the player the power to control gravity.
Now, although the new move set is interesting and intriguing for players to experiment with, playing with these new powers transition from exciting to tedious real quick as the design of the levels forces players to use the powers to much. A definite charm of the Crash Bandicoot franchise comes from using 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a simple move set to maneuver through a complex level. But when the game stacks complexities between level designs and game mechanics, it can feel overwhelming.
8 Right: New Playable Characters ♎
Along with some new faces are some old fan favorites, even if some of them (and by some I mean just Tawna) may be unrecognizable with their complete character makeover. Expanding further than just the title-named hero, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time adds three more playable characters, namely Tawna, Cortex, and Dingodile. Not just that but each characters comes with unique techniques that speak to their style. Tawna has a grappling hook to show off her agility, Cortex and his ray gun t🅰o showcase his big brain, and Dingodile's unwieldy vacuum gun for his rowdiness.
7 𓆏 Wrong: Not Enough Of Them
The addition of the new playable characters bolstered a lot of hype for the game which may lead to disappointment as fans don't get to play as much of the trio as they'd like. During the levels players do get to play as either Tawna, Cortex, or Dingodile, it feels as if the games is just teasing them💜 since one can play as them for the first half of the level before they run into Crash or Coco, and the gameplay is handed over to one of the bandicoot siblings for the second half of the level. It would've been better if Toys for Bob just allowed players to lavish in the new playable characters for the full level.
6 🐼 Right: Quirky And Fresh Level Designs
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time really ran with the concept of bigger and better. Although Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time keeps to the core platforming style for most of the game, th𒁃ere are also new level designs and inventive challenges that expand 🐼the game from just a world to a whole universe.
From futuristic, sci-fi world with gravity-defying wall-running to a grungy Guitar Hero-esque 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:boss battle against Doctor N. Gin, the levels themselves are 𒆙intriguing enough to keep players glued to the controller.
5 Wrong: Depth Percepꦿtionꦐ
When jumping through the expansive worlds of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, one starts to notice a few kinks, namely, the misleading depth perception. A pre-existing issue with the older Crash Bandicoot games, its faulty depth perception only frustrates players when it leads to ill-timed or inaccurately distanced jumps especially as a platformer. And it's kinks like these that can make the game fee𒀰l﷽ less challenging and more unfair. And although Toy for Bob addressed this with the shadow to let players know where Crash will land, it feels more like band-aid solution than solving the actual problem.
4 Right: 🀅Multiplay🌃er Mode
Reputable as a solo platformer, Crash Bandicoot never advanced into the multiplayer scene in its main games 🏅until now. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time allows🔯 players can compete against each other in Bandicoot Battle. Here, friends of 1-4 participate in either Checkpoint Mode, a time trial-esque race through levels, or in Crate Mode where winner is whoever gets the most crates. Although there's still no multiplayer story mode, it's nice to fans now able to share the beloved bandicoot experience.
3 🅺 ✤ Wrong: Not Quite Multiplayer
Although Bandicoot Battle labels itself as a multiplayer competition between a group of 1-4 it's still not quite a multiplayer game. In Bandicoot Battle, players don't quite get to play together but more so play one after the other, taking turns to run through a level and comparing times and scores afterwards. A little nostalgic in that many fans played Crash Bandicoot with friends by taking over the controller every other death, it's a bit of nostalgia n🐈o one really misses.
2 Rig🦩ht: New Skins
Although everyone's favorite bandicoot pulls of his iconic blue jeans and sneakers like nobody's business, a wily bandicoot deserves a little more flair to his style. In Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, players can now unlock ౠskins for Crash and customize h♛is style.
From pirate to rockstar to triceratops, this game has a quirky selection to match its cartoony style. That said, skins are also not exclusively to Crash as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:players can ಞalso look up Coco's fashi🎀on game.
1 🐻 Wrong: Crash's Iconic Da♓nce
Sometimes, some things should just be left alone. Crash's iconic dance evolved over the years with minor tweaks here and the🅰re, for example, the three pelvic thrust later reverting to the running man 🐟in the N. Sane trilogy. And although it put some fans off, it was minor enough to not spark an outrage and keep the nostalgia of the game. However, Crash's dance in this game is completely new and honestly, a little excessive. Keeping the iconic dance the way it was would've done a better job in keeping the spirit of Crash alive as well as the nostalgia.