It’s been years since Toys for Bob took the reins from Naughty Dog’s legacy, but people are still arguably recovering from the trauma of 106% completing Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. You remember the original trilogy. Those games were tough, sure. But this? This was a different beast entirely. It’s a game that looks like a Saturday morning cartoon but plays like a soul-crushing gauntlet designed by someone who really, really hates crates.
Honestly, it’s a miracle the game works as well as it does. Most "legacy sequels" feel like a cheap cash-in, but this one actually understood the physics of the PS1 era while cranking the complexity to eleven. It didn't just bring back the orange marsupial; it reinvented the platforming genre's ceiling.
The Brutal Reality of the N. Sanity Perfection
Let’s get one thing straight: finishing the story in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a delight. The colors pop. The music hits those nostalgic notes. But the moment you decide you want that platinum trophy or even just the basic completion skins, the game turns into a psychological thriller.
The N. Sanity Perfect Relics are the culprit. To get one, you have to break every single crate in a level without dying once. In previous games, if you died before a checkpoint, you just lost the crates you'd gathered since the last box. Here? One mistake at the very end of a ten-minute level means you start the entire thing over. It’s grueling. I’ve seen grown adults lose their minds over a single missed nitro crate in Cortex Castle.
The level design is significantly longer than anything we saw in Warped. While a classic Crash level might take you two to three minutes, these stages can push seven or eight. That is a long time to keep your focus perfectly sharp. One slip of the thumb on the Quantum Masks—specifically that gravity-shifting Ika-Ika—and it’s back to the loading screen.
Those Quantum Masks Change Everything
Adding the masks wasn't just a gimmick. It fundamentally altered how we think about 3D space in a platformer. Lani-Loli makes objects phase in and out. It sounds simple until you’re mid-air, jumping toward a platform that doesn't exist yet, and you have to time the button press perfectly so you don't fall into the abyss.
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Then there’s Akano. The dark matter spin. It lets you glide across massive gaps, which is fun, but it also makes you a giant, uncontrollable purple hitbox. Trying to navigate the precision platforming of the Snaxx Dimension while spinning like a caffeinated top is arguably the most stressful thing I’ve done in a video game in the last decade.
Why the Perspective Still Trips You Up
One major criticism—and it’s a fair one—is the depth perception. Even with the "yellow circle" drop shadow that Toys for Bob added to show exactly where Crash is going to land, people still miss jumps.
The 4K environments are so dense and detailed that sometimes the actual path gets lost in the visual noise. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But when you’re trying to land on a tiny floating platform in Tranquility Falls, sometimes the background art is so distracting you just... whiff it. It’s a common gripe on forums like Reddit and ResetEra, where players constantly debate if the game is "fair" or just "mean."
The Hidden Complexity of the Timeline Levels
You aren't just playing as Crash and Coco. The game forces you into the shoes of Tawna, Dingodile, and Neo Cortex.
Tawna plays like a standard action hero with a hookshot. Dingodile is a slow, heavy tank with a vacuum gun. Cortex? Cortex is a nightmare for anyone who likes traditional platforming. He can’t double jump. He has a dash and a ray gun that turns enemies into platforms. These levels often merge into the main Crash levels halfway through, forcing you to replay the hardest sections of a stage you’ve already beaten, just with a slightly different crate layout. It feels like padding to some, but to others, it’s a brilliant way to show the story from different angles.
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The N. Verted mode is another layer of "why did they do this to us?" It flips the levels horizontally and adds weird filters—like a neon glow or an underwater effect—that make the timing even harder to read. It's completionist bait at its most extreme.
It’s About Time and the Speedrun Culture
If you want to see what human perfection looks like, watch a speedrun of this game. The movement tech is insane.
- Slide Spinning: This isn't just for show anymore; it's the only way to get Gold and Platinum Time Trial relics.
- Triple Spin: Forget the Death Tornado spin from Crash 3. You now have a timed triple spin that gives you a massive speed boost if you rhythmically press the button.
- Slide Jumping: Combining the slide with a jump at the last possible frame gives you the arc needed to skip entire sections of the map.
Professional runners like Caddicarus or The_Happy_Hob have documented the absolute grind required to master these mechanics. It’s not just about muscle memory; it’s about understanding the frame data of a bandicoot.
Is it Actually Better Than the Originals?
This is where the fan base splits down the middle. If you value a tight, 5-hour experience that you can master in a weekend, the original Naughty Dog trilogy (or the N. Sane Trilogy remake) is probably your winner. Those games are focused. They don't overstay their welcome.
However, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is objectively a more "complete" game. There is more content here than in all three original games combined. The boss fights are creative—the battle against N. Gin on the stage with the giant drum-playing robot is a legitimate highlight of the series. The writing is actually funny, too. It doesn't take itself seriously, poking fun at the convoluted timeline and the fact that they skipped "Wrath of Cortex" and "Twinsanity" in the official numbering.
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The difficulty is the only thing holding it back from being the "perfect" platformer for everyone. It’s a 10/10 game for the hardcore, and maybe a 7/10 for the casual fan who just wants to see the ending.
Handling the Post-Game Grind
If you are jumping into this now, don't try to get everything on your first pass. You will burn out. Seriously. The "Flashback Tapes" are hard enough—they are 2D side-scrolling puzzle rooms that require absolute precision. They tell the backstory of Crash and Coco being tested in Cortex’s lab back in 1996, and they are some of the best content in the game, but they will test your patience.
The real way to enjoy this game is to treat completion as a long-term hobby, not a weekend project.
What You Should Do Next
If you're looking to actually conquer this game without breaking a controller, start by ignoring the crates. Just play through the story. Get a feel for the Quantum Masks. Once you've seen the credits, go back and try to get the "3 deaths or less" gems.
Don't even touch the N. Sanity Perfect Relics until you have the Triple Spin unlocked, which you get after beating the final boss. That extra speed is the only way to make the backtracking in levels like Toxic Tunnels bearable.
Watch world-record speedruns for the Time Trials. Even if you aren't a pro, seeing the "lines" they take through a level will show you shortcuts you never realized existed. Most importantly, use the D-pad if you’re struggling with the analog stick; many long-time fans find it way more precise for the 2D sections.
The game is a masterpiece of design, but it demands your total respect. Or your total submission. Either way, it’s a wild ride.