We’re less than four months away from the first numbered Crash Bandicoot game since 1998. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 2,, picks up right where Crash Bandicoot: Warped left off, give or take a couple of decades.
At the end of Warped (spoilers?), the villainous Neo Cortex, Dr. N. Tropy, and Uka Uka were left stranded on a distant planet. It took a good 20 years and change, but the trio finally escaped, tearing a hole in the fabric of space-time in the process. The only things standing between the bad guys and total domination of the multiverse are Crash and his sister Coco.
Aiding Crash and Coco on their quest is a series of new face coverings known as the Quantum Masks. These four guardians of space-time lend their power to the bandicoots as they run, jump, stomp, spin, and collect fruit all over the place. So far developer Toys For Bob has only revealed two of the masks. There’s the Time Mask, which slows time when worn, and the Gravity Mask, which flip-flops gravity when equipped. As demonstrated in the screenshot below, Crash’s outfit changes when wearing a mask.
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I want action figures, which doesn’t seem like a big ask given the game’s developer. Toys For Bob, the studio behind the legendary Star Control, fed mascot-platformer fans’ hunger with the toys-to-life series Skylanders throughout the 2010s. The studio also worked on the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy remake with Vicarious Visions, and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. With the original developers of Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog, busy making everyone feel things with The Last of Us Part 2, Toys For Bob is the logical studio to pick up the torch.
Fans can expect a healthy mix of the original trilogy’s gameplay. They’ll run towards the camera. They’ll run away from the camera. There will be side-scrolling bonus levels and plenty of twists on the old formula. New playable characters will join the mix, including the relatively evil Dr. Neo Cortex.
Check out our first glimpse at gameplay in the announcement trailer below. Warning: may contain Fatboy Slim.
Love that ending.