"It's the sense of adventure": Crash Bandicoot 4 developer Toys for Bob on what to expect from a sequel 20 years in the making

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is, quite frankly, about to steal all of your time, with more levels, new features, and challenges than you can shake a Nitro Crate at. In fact, tis sequel is so ambitious that we asked Toys for Bob's Lou Studdert to give us the lowdown on exactly what to expect from Crash's return to video games. 

"The original trilogy had a unique style of gameplay that I don't think any other platformers really ever had," says Studdert. "And so what we wanted to do, and the reason we call it Crash Bandicoot 4 is because we're continuing that gameplay and that play style. But we're also continuing the story as well." 

It's About Time is very much the Crash Bandicoot experience that you know and love, then, featuring the series' now iconic blend of 3D and 2.5D platforming that's just as demanding on your reflexes as you may or may not remember it to be, as Studdert explains.

"We spent a long time looking at that core DNA; that tense, precise, perspective shifting platforming. So we're asking a lot of difficult questions. We're requiring, you know, skill of execution, as far as the gameplay is concerned. But then on top of that, it's also the humour, it's the sense of adventure, these lush worlds, and the fun, old school animation vibe that the game gives off."

Thankfully, Crash 4 has a safety net for those who found the original trilogy's old-school penalty system too much to handle, as Toys for Bob have developed two separate playstyles for the game in the form of modern and retro mode, with the former removing the classic finite life system and game over states of the latter.

"What we found when we were making the game is that there's really two different mentalities of players", explains Studdert. "Some people really want that kind of authentic, original trilogy, old school punishment. And some folks want to be able to play through the game and build up that skill level to be able to get through."

And we don't make the levels any easier. These are the same levels of the game, it's just whether or not you want that old school ecosystem of collecting Wumpa Fruit to get lives to be able to push through the level. And what we figured out is also if we take away needing to collect Wumpa fruit for lives, then what does it do? And so we've actually developed a really cool system where in both modern and retro, Wumpa is a new goal for a level and so depending on the amount of Wumpa you get in the level, you're gonna get gems, similar to you getting a gem for breaking all of the crates in a level."

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is out now on PS4 and Xbox One. You can pick up your copy right here!