There hasn't been a game that feels like a Crash game since Wrath of Cortex in 2001, and that game wasn't that good anyways. It was decent, but nothing when compared to the original trilogy, that trilogy that I always felt it was underrated and that it made me so happy got recognized and appreciated a lot in the last couple of years thanks to what's probably my all time favourite game now, the N. Sane Trilogy.
That adaptation was so FUCKING good, but the challenge was to now actually grab that and create a new game with it. One that is faithfull but that also updates some stuff, because the original trilogy is quite old by now. But you know what? Crash Bandicoot 4 nails it! And it nails it so God damn well.
The main things from Crash 3 are still here, spinning, the dash, the double jump (unlockable from the start this time around), all the crates and a few new ones. It does bring back some stuff from Crash 1, there are no pink cristals, but there's a total of 12 gems to unlock per level, which the maximum I've done on one was 11, so there's a ton of replayability, specially since half of those gems are part of the new N.Verted mode, which not only mirrors the level but throws interesting visual twists to it. And that's not even talking about the time trials and tapes that unlock hard special levels (and so far I was only able to unlock one of them). The game map is also akin to Crash 1, with a linear level selection.
There are a few changes made to make the game more fair/easy, the jump is way more forgiving, I feel like I can be more exact on where I want to be, and panic save myself more often as well. The circular thing that tells you where Crash is going to land also helps a lot, and of course, the lack of lives, which means infinite tries, instead it counts your deaths (My record was 140 deaths on one level, tho there was a lot of suicides trying to catch four crates, I spent an hour and half in one 5 second spot just trying to catch all the crates there). The last two changes are optional, you can turn them off, if you want, but the game seems to have been designed around this. Each level awards you a gem for dying a maximum of 3 times over it's course, and the wumpa fruits are not rendered useless, as collecting them can give you up to three gems at the end as well. And of course, the game is fucking super fucking hard.
It's easily the hardest game I've played in the series. and unless the Crash of Titans series are harder, it's the hardest overall. The bonus levels in specific are assholes, it requires pitch perfect precision, timing and a good sense of enviorment as well to actually complete these with all the crates. And actually, the game is probably easier if you just ignore most of the boxes... But who does that? The game can be very frustrating, but it's also incredibly rewarding, and with more precise jumping mechanics, this time it's really all on you.
The masks were the thing I was most worried about, because they are giving up game changing powers, but these powers actually blend so well with the gameplay, and instead of making things easier, each power actually brings different challenges and puzzles that would be impossible in previous games.
The new characters (Tawna, Dingodile and Cortex) are a mixed bag. I want to give props to make them all actually feel and play differently from one another, and Tawna feels really nice to play as (and I'm not a furry, but those thighs), but Cortex and Dingodile, while not horrible to play as, have mechanics that just don't feel as pleasing to play as the others, and I'm talking about mostly the jumping system of both, but other than that, pretty cool, pretty cool.
There is a couple bugs here and there, none that game breaking, mostly visually, like the time trial clock being there in the first run of a level, tho not interacteable, and slippery floor where the slippery part was actually floating above the floor. I also managed to clip over some platforms like twice, but thank God, because that saved my life. I hope they patch these up tho.
And that's it. sorry for the big text, but I'm so passionate for this series, and this game just did such a beautiful job at keeping what the games are about and what makes them fun, and that's such a rare thing for franchises as old as this one, specially those that change teams often. So thanks Toys for Bob, I really love it!