Even more, I'm impressed with how the Quantum Masks add new wrinkles to Crash’s classic gameplay in a way that feels true to the spirit of the franchise. These masks pop in and out of the game at predetermined times, so you can’t access them whenever you want, but I was always excited when one showed up. I especially liked the Kupuna-Wa mask, which slows time, so I could platform across falling objects and dodge fast-moving projectiles. For example, one mask allows you to invert gravity so Crash can run along the ceiling, while another lets you transform into a spinning vortex that floats over large chasms. Throughout his journey, Crash collects a handful of Quantum Masks that grant him new superpowered abilities. While Crash’s platforming feels like it fell out of a time warp, this bandicoot does have a few new moves. A “modern” difficulty allows you to play with unlimited lives, which removes some of the sting, but distant checkpoints still tested my patience, as they forced me to routinely jumped through a familiar hoops in order to return to the platforming section that tripped me up. The thrill of mastering Crash 4’s most challenging levels is rewarding, but some of the deadliest pitfalls come out of the blue, which means you have to replay sections over and over again to memorize each level's layout. On the other hand, Crash 4's precise platforming sequences demand practice.
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On one hand, the controls are more responsive than ever, and I loved bounding from one precarious platform to the next while smashing crates full of Wumpa fruit. However, this experience is more about the journey than the destination, and Crash’s platforming remains faithful to his early adventures in ways both good and bad. Every level is full of wacky sights and sounds that made me smile, and I couldn’t wait to see where I was headed next. In yet another, I navigated a busy skyway, miles above a futuristic metropolis. In another, I bounced off dinosaur heads and over creeping lava flows. In one set of levels, I battled seahorse-like pirates while dodging cannon fire. With Crash 4, developer Toys for Bob sends Crash and his sister Coco on an adventure through space and time. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time proves the classic formula still works in 2020.
And yet, those limitations helped produce one of 1996's most memorable platformers. In some sense, Crash Bandicoot’s gameplay was a product of those limits of technology as much as it was any single creative vision. However, Crash’s movement was limited in ways that seem restrictive by today’s standards. The camera zoomed in and out of the action and panned around the character, which seemed novel at the time. Crash didn’t freely traverse an open world he marched down tightly designed digital tunnels.
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The early Crash Bandicoot games of the ‘90s were partially experiments in how to navigate 3D space.