Crash Bandicoot 4 is a charming, challenging throwback

The Crash Bandicoot series has always occupied a strange place in the pantheon of platform games. It doesn’t offer the sheer joy of movement and discovery that has propelled the Super Mario games, nor the technical spectacle that drives each new Ratchet and Clank title. Even still, there’s something distinct about Crash: the over-the-shoulder perspective, the bouncy movement, the oh-so-’90s vibe. It has smaller ambitions, but is much more focused as a result. And it turns out none of that has changed in the latest entry.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is the first mainline Crash game since 1998, back when the series was a PlayStation exclusive developed by Naughty Dog, a studio now best known for Uncharted and The Last of Us.

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