Dakota Foote

Toys For Bob knocked it out of the park. This game is the perfect balance of the old school Crash with new mechanics. I was worried about the extra playable characters, I was worried the masks would be too gimmicky and not fun. Not only are the extra characters fun but you can skip a majority of their levels if you want. And the masks are so. Damn. Fun. Even though their powers are unlike anything in the first 3, it feels like it blends in the world well. I love that they scrapped the warp rooms and switched to the map style from the first game. You can tell the developers know and love the original games well. It's jam packed with great levels and references. This is not another corporate Crash game that's desperately trying to shake things up ala Crash of the Titans. And yes, the game is extremely difficult, as it should be. This game isn't for newcomers, it's for Crash experts. And while that may be a risky choice because it's not accessible to a majority of players, I think it's wise to target people like me who can beat the first 3 games with our eyes closed. I'm so glad I wasn't able to beat the standard game in an afternoon. I only have one major complaint, and that's the time trial relics. When you beat the game, you don't get access to a run button and instead have to constantly spin in order to be fast enough to get a relic. Not only that, but rather than simply getting one relic per level like the other games, you HAVE to get platinum on every level. That's just cruel and I'm not even gonna attempt it. I honestly don't have a problem with perfect relics, people think that aspect is ridiculous but that's much more manageable than constantly pressing square through a long level. You can at least take your time with the perfect relics and it's a great throwback to getting the gems in the original Crash. Small complaints, the jet board and polar bear don't control as well as they do on N. Sane trilogy. I want to give this 5 stars but the lack of a run button and having to constantly spin to get gold or platinum really is a massive mistake.