Crash Bandicoot 4 is real. After several early leaks and mysterious new merchandise, we’ve gotten our first look at Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. For those who’ve played the original trilogy (or the excellent remasters), much of the gameplay shown off will be familiar. Still, there’s a few key changes that look set to spice up the classic Crash formula.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can view the new trailer below.
Here’s everything new we noticed in Crash 4.
Crash has a brand new model
Crash has been given a very cute facelift for It’s About Time. The differences between this model and the PlayStation 4’s N. Sane Trilogy aren’t huge, but the tweaks give Crash a much neater appearance.
The first big change is to his overall facial structure. His mouth now blends more smoothly into his upper torso, his eyes are less glassy and his body is overall more cartoonish. It lacks the detailed fur of the N. Sane design and doesn’t have a belly button. (It’s anatomically wrong for a Bandicoot to have a belly button in the first place.)
His clothing has also been given a bit of a tweak. He now wears jeans instead of three-quarter board shorts and his shoes are longer and more stylised.
Overall, the new design is much cuter and modernises Crash’s early aesthetics well.
There’s new movement mechanics
The original Crash trilogy was guided by fairly basic movement mechanics. While there was the odd motorbiking or jetpack level, Crash was mostly grounded when it came to avoiding obstacles. Running, jumping and spinning all make returns here but there’s also a handful of brand new moves you’ll be able to pull off in the game.
The first and coolest of the lot is the sliding mechanic seen above. Crash appears to be able to traverse levels via sliding on ropes, branches and energy beams. There’s even a whole level that seems to be a big sliding challenge.
The second new mechanic is wall jumping. When Crash wears his new sci-fi suit, he’s able to leap between vertical walls. That brings us to our next big change.
Crash Bandicoot 4 introduces powered costumes
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is introducing some brand new costumes for Crash. We’ve seen diving gear, biking gear and multiple outfit customisations in CTR: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. This go around, costumes will have a direct impact on Crash’s abilities.
There’s been two major outfits shown off so far: a mask-related tribal outfit and the space suit seen above. While exact powers have not been confirmed, the space suit appears to be magnetised. This allows Crash to walk on ceilings to avoid enemies or pull off the previously mentioned wall jump.
Two 90s-themed outfits are also available with pre-orders of the game and it’s likely we’ll see many more of these customisations in future, with each one bringing a new power or style of gameplay.
Coco and Cortex are both playable
Coco Bandicoot and Cortex have both been playable in past Crash Bandicoot games, but it seems like Crash 4 is giving them a bigger chance to shine. Previously, Coco was relegated to special one-time levels like the jet ski and tiger jump levels (or as a skin for Crash in the N. Sane Trilogy) while Cortex was treated as a sidekick in Twinsanity. Now, both characters appear to have complete platform-style levels of their own.
Cortex in particular looks very interesting to play. He’s equipped with some kind of blaster that creates platforms, a mechanic that will no doubt play a unique role in the game. Whether both characters will be playable in every level is currently unknown.
There’s brand new collectables
In a blink-and-you’ll miss it moment in the trailer, Crash hurtles through space during an on-the-rails level. Surprisingly, the items he’s collecting aren’t wumpa fruit. Instead, they appear to be some kind of glowing grape. While wumpa fruit does make several appearances in the trailer, it seems there’ll also be a whole range of new collectables on offer.
Whether these are unique to the on-rails levels is unclear.
Other Crash Bandicoot games aren’t canon anymore
In the final trailer scene, a new mask asks Crash and Coco how many times they’ve defeated Cortex. Their answer — “three” — is both a subtle nod to the audience’s experiences with past Crash games and an indication that the other (poorly reviewed) games in the Crash Bandicoot franchise are being completely ignored for this sequel.
With such a severe dip in quality between the original titles and their sequels, this move isn’t surprising.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is set for release on October 2 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Stay tuned for more news as we approach the release date.
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