There are moments in “Crash Bandicoot 4”: it is time, you will come to a crossroads. In fact, there are not many, not the literal meaning in the true sense, but the spiritual level. Define your kind, reveal your exhausted, dying heart, and tell you your true identity. “Crash 4” is a game that forces you to go deep, deep into your soul and ask yourself: How bad is it that I want an extra box?
Crash 4 is basically difficult. The bastard Toys For Bob, the former Skylanders studio, has since turned to the recent “Crash and Spyro” trilogy remake and led the trend. He clearly took the original trilogy’s infamous as a template. Crash 4 is a direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, the last correct entry for Naughty Dog. Since then, all Crash platformers-including another platformer directed by Mark Cerny! -It seems to have been edited quietly, because Activision appeared on the PlayStation in the mid-90s with a messy, VHS vague nostalgia.
Regardless of whether you think the broken window, the unusual difficulty of grasping the controller until the plastic audible squeak is the cause of making or breaking the Crash game, it may define your experience of Crash 4. Artificial speed will definitely aggravate the development of things, but at some point, it will change from challenging to simple embarrassment. This challenge stems from deliberate clumsiness, which is one of the many new mechanics of the game. Sometimes frustration can overwhelm everything the game has to offer, but this is only sometimes, and it does provide a lot.
There are two main ways to play Crash 4: the “modern” mode, and what Toys For Bob says-cruel to anyone who realizes how far the 90s is-the “retro” mode. Retro is the crash you will remember: you collect Wumpa fruits to get life, and when you run out of life, you can go back to the last save (Mario style), and now the gems that can unlock the skin are obtained in the traditional way . The modern mode is the suggestion of the game (so, I play it most of the time), it is much harder than the retro mode: gems are still your overall goal, but you can collect a certain percentage of levels to get a complete W state Fruit, smash all crates, complete a level with a death toll of 3 or less, and find a hidden fruit somewhere along the way. There is no life, so when you die, you can return to the last checkpoint indefinitely.
Undoubtedly, this is the biggest change in the way Crash 4 is played from the original version, because the secret of the original version is not so much difficulty as difficulty, as it is their tension. The tension has entered the retro mode, because every crate, every Wumpa, every divine life is essential, and every risk is calculated. Risking death in the box? Death, in exchange for another life? In modern mode, tension is optional: you can reliably collect three or four of the five or six gems in a level by simply reaching the level and smashing most of the crates, so whether the level Feeling nervous is up to you to decide whether you want to get everything or just want to improve. If you can choose not to be nervous, then whether nervousness is really nervous is another question.
However, the problem is that once you use modern mode, you will have a hard time looking back, especially when all the things Crash 4 throws at you and how it works. The stories here are stupid. Children like to watch TV. This is where Neo Cortex and N. Tropy and all the common pun bad guys have torn apart in time and space. There are also four special Quantum Masks, such as the traditional Aku. One of Aku needs to close the crack. Or something similar. The result is that you can carry four new toys with you: Lani-loli, which can move things (crates, obstacles, enemies) into and out of existence with the push of a button;’Akano, which allows you to rotate infinitely and float in In the huge gap, the previously unstoppable force is blocked, and the previously unbreakable force is shattered; Kapuna-wa, which allows you to temporarily slow down time; and Ika-Ika, which allows you to reverse the direction of gravity .
Most of them are excellent, very cleverly combining the standard abilities of Crash and Coco (you can play a role I like at any time) and some of their new features-two jumps, which require some habit, and the BioShock Infinite style Glide Glide, it’s fun for a short time, but sometimes it doesn’t respond to your input. F or example, when driving fast, avoiding other enemies, standing up in huge gaps, and juggling other things, I am completely confused and excited about the in and out of high-value crates, obstacles, enemies and lethal explosive Nitros. And empower yourself when it’s right. Some implementations are very clever-especially some of the extra collaborations that are eye-catching for the proper advanced watchmakers-most of them play the extremely demanding nature of the excellent Crash game, as well as the instant mix of quick-shot puzzles-the platform makes them stand out.
However, “Crash 4” struggled with some inaccuracies. Most levels only have one quantum mask at a time, but I started to be afraid of the’Akano masks’, these masks are helpless and useless, as painful as quantum mechanics considers. Infinite rotation makes Crash or Coco move like a rotating top, never being completely still, the result is a kind of clumsy, clumsy platforming, which usually depends more on you being rude by repeating their pranks repeatedly Strengthen your own way and hope to have a little luck instead of really mastering a particular art.
Sometimes, Crash and Coco’s platforms are usually clumsy. Bandicoots seems to be struggling with depth perception, occasionally but at least hilariously miss the simplest ledges and jumps just by judging things as long or short mids, and makes me wish that one of the “Quantum Masks” is just a pair Nice dual focus. The 3D formatting of the levels does not help, they are still linear, but you can dynamically switch between side scrolling and the original Crash’s signature “forward scrolling”-very interesting and occasionally annoying when you find yourself slightly off . Contrary to the original shadow of Crash, it contains a yellow landing indicator, which is useful but can also indicate how clumsy you are being asked to fight.
These are real problems, but they are also secondary to the correct solution to Crash 4. Most of its platforms are great, throwing more or less the kind of complex, confusing, and only findable things you can only find in the last ten levels of Crash 3 from the beginning ( Again, it’s not easy. I prefer the accelerated slope of Crash 3 compared to the instant tilt here, but it’s fun).
It is also very generous. There are countless modes to try to enhance the level, and Toys For Bob does not need to be implemented, but it can still be achieved, for example, through the keyboard mode, prompting you to hand over the controller to other players. In each level or death point, or a kind of “battle” mode, you two can play a level at the same time, one is like a “car crash” and the other is like “coco”, a quick battle. This is based on the traditional time trial, unlocking many extra, completely tortuous bonus rounds by finding secret VHS tapes, and provides a new “N conversion” mode for each level you beat, which can be controlled Switch back to the front end, and frankly, I don’t even try.
I didn’t even mention another key part of Crash 4, which is where it really sings. At different times, you will be reintroduced to some of the most popular characters with fans. These characters have levels that you can already beat, playable parallel timeline versions, and involve completely different systems. Neo Cortex is a small jumper with dashes and lasers. It turns enemies into different kinds of platforms. The other is Tawna’s return. Tawna is the cheesy “reward round baby” that has been edited in the original version. He came here in the form of an alternate universe, a real badass action hero, waving extremely satisfying Grappling hook and roundabout kick. There is more, I will not spoil, but this is the trick to the way I love, play your own way in the first half, then join the fork in the second half, you will switch back to Crash or Coco and play again, but everything is Slightly different.
This is a simple trick, but with a little talent. Obviously, Toys For Bob can make the most of what you get, and its effect is to make you feel that this is a studio you really care about. Crash 4 is beautiful and beautiful, it has every think head, system and mechanism you can think of from the original design, which is very interesting. Goofy, breeze, passionate fun. There are almost no nodding and cheeky Easter eggs, there are many secrets, and there seem to be countless ways to play an already excellent platform game, with at least three of the four new features.
Yes, the studio may literally have a hard time understanding the notoriety of the original, but it also pays attention to the rest of these games, and in addition to some particularly dense rose colors, there is a follower who also watches for a reason. The gaming glasses of that era. This is “Crash 4: It’s Achievement About Time”, which is a very much anticipated sequel. Follow the better parts of the original, but also surprisingly close to your idea of the original. A flawed gem, but equally brilliant.