Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Theme Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is a 3D platforming video game published by Activision, developed by Toys for Bob and is the eighth mainline title but the fourth one chronologically in the Crash Bandicoot series.

The game was first properly teased on the 18th of June 2020, where several video game news reporters were sent jigsaw puzzles that revealed a new, mysterious mask character.

The next day, the 19th of June, the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee filed a rating for the game, revealing its title, placeholder box art, and a short plot synopsis. Said box art also revealed the game's developer, Toys for Bob, as well as the game being slated for release on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Four new masks can be seen on the artwork.

On June 21st, a live-action teaser featuring the 100% ending of Warped and the title of the game was unveiled through the official Crash Bandicoot social media channels. The announcement trailer came out on June 22nd, 4pm BST.

During Summer Games Fest, an official trailer was shown, showcasing new worlds and four new Quantum Masks, known as the Phase Mask Lani-Loli, the Dark Matter Mask Akano, the Time Mask Kupuna-Wa, and the Gravity Mask Ika-Ika. Using Lani-Loli, the player will be able to change phases of certain elements, while using Akano, the player can hover and glide over the platforms or even break and knock back things that the normal spin can't, while using Kupuna-Wa, the player will be able to slow time to a crawl, and while using Ika-Ika, the player can reverse gravity to manuever on ceilings and wall run.

Story
"Neo Cortex and N. Tropy are back at it again and launching an all-out assault on not just this universe, but the entire multiverse! Crash and Coco are here to save the day by reuniting the four quantum masks and bending the rules of reality."

- Official PlayStation Store description.

Following their defeat at the hands of Crash Bandicoot in Crash Bandicoot: Warped 22 years prior, Uka Uka attempts to liberate himself and Doctors Neo Cortex and Nefarious Tropy from their prison in the past. His latest effort rips open a hole in the fabric of space and time, and causes him to pass out. Cortex and N. Tropy swiftly escape, abandoning Uka Uka, and discover that the rift they use links their universe to the rest of the multiverse, and decide to make use of it to conquer all dimensions. To ensure success, the pair create a generator capable of opening other space-time rifts and recruit aid from Doctors N. Gin and Nitrus Brio to provide an army in anticipation of their enemies' interference. Meanwhile, Aku Aku, Uka Uka's older twin brother, senses the disturbance in space and time and quickly rushes Crash to N. Sanity Peak. Upon arriving, he comes across Lani-Loli, whom Aku Aku recognizes as one of the Quantum Masks – four ancient witch doctor masks that have great power over space and time, and who would only appear if something has opened up the multiverse. Lani spots a rift and suspects there is trouble, leading to Crash and his sister Coco agreeing to follow him across the multiverse and find the other Quantum Masks, while combating the chaos Cortex is creating.

During their adventures, the pair meet an alternate version of Tawna, Crash's old girlfriend, who offers her help while undertaking an adventure of her own. At the same time, Dingodile, who recently retired from villainy to run his own restaurant, finds himself caught up in the chaos when his business is burned down by a rival restaurant and he is sucked into another dimension by a spacial disruption. While Dingodile does not interact with Crash's adventure at first, his actions inadvertently assist Crash and Coco at various points in space and time. Crash and Coco find two more of the Quantum Masks, named Akano and Kupuna-Wa, and defeat N. Gin and N. Brio. After facing and defeating Cortex, N. Tropy betrays him and reveals that he and his new partner (later revealed to be an alternate version of N. Tropy from Tawna's universe) are going to remake the multiverse and subsequently erase Cortex, Crash, Coco and the Masks from existence. A furious Cortex agrees to team up with the bandicoots and the three rescue the last Quantum Mask, Ika-Ika, and eventually meet up with Dingodile and Tawna. Together, the team successfully track down and defeat the two N. Tropys and the Quantum Masks destroy the Rift Generator, sealing all the space-time disruptions.

However, after taking a celebratory trip to a futuristic city, Cortex betrays the group and steals Kupuna-Wa, using her to travel back in time before the events of his first bid for world domination in an attempt to avert Crash's creation. Ultimately, he is unsuccessful in both convincing his past self to abandon the experiment and killing the present Crash, Coco and Aku Aku, who followed him from the future. As the Quantum Masks banish him to the end of the universe, the past Cortex proceeds with the experiment, preparing to brainwash the past Crash with the Cortex Vortex; the present Crash accidentally destroys the Vortex's power source, causing it to malfunction and reject his past self, thereby ensuring his own creation. Dingodile rebuilds and reopens his diner, Cortex relaxes on a beach and enjoys the peace and quiet, and Crash, Coco, Tawna, Aku Aku and the Quantum Masks play video games at their home on N. Sanity Island. Following an epilogue narrated by Crash detailing the fates and whereabouts of the game's characters, Cortex's relaxation is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Uka Uka.

Playable

 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Coco Bandicoot
 * Tawna
 * Dingodile
 * Doctor Neo Cortex
 * Fake Crash
 * Fake Coco

Bosses

 * Doctor N. Gin
 * Louise
 * Doctor Nitrus Brio
 * Doctor Nefarious Tropy
 * Doctor Nefarious Tropy (female)
 * Doctor Neo Cortex

Supporting

 * Aku Aku
 * Uka Uka
 * Quantum Masks
 * Polar
 * Nitros Oxide
 * Shnurgle

Cameos

 * Chick Gizzard Lips
 * Cortex's Mother
 * Cortex's Father
 * Crunch Bandicoot
 * Elementals
 * Evil Twins
 * Koala Kong
 * Mega-Mix
 * N. Trance
 * Nina Cortex
 * Papu Papu
 * Penta Penguin
 * Pinstripe Potoroo
 * Pura
 * Ripper Roo
 * Spyro the Dragon
 * Stew
 * Tawna
 * Tiny Tiger
 * Zem

Levels
There are 64 distinct levels in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Most are divided among ten different hub worlds, accessible through the Dimensional Map or the Level Stats of the pause menu. There are four types of level:


 * Twenty-nine "main path" levels, typically playable only as Crash or Coco. These must be completed to progress the story.
 * Five boss fights, the final levels in every other dimension.
 * Nine "timeline" levels, which are alternate versions of main path levels. They include a brief segment playable as either Tawna, Dingodile, or Neo Cortex, followed by the rest of the main level as Crash/Coco with altered crate placements. While they provide context to events that occur in the story, they are not necessary to progress.
 * Twenty-one "flashback" levels, unlocked by collecting a main level's flashback tape. These too are optional, and aren't connected to a specific hub world. Eleven are exclusive to Crash and ten are to Coco.

Levels are played in sequential order (as opposed to the "Warp Room" style of gameplay common to previous Crash Bandicoot games); however, unlocking new playable characters opens previously locked timeline levels from earlier in the game.

Each non-flashback level has an N. Verted Mode, which mirrors the level, places a visual filter over it and has its own set of N. Verted Gems to collect.

Other Levels

 * Flashback Levels

Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode is introduced in this game as species of battle of bandicoots with 1, 2, 3 and 4 players that will control: Crash, Coco, Fake Crash and Fake Coco in two modes: Checkpoint Race and Crate Combo. The checkpoint race is a race of checkpoints that will who's reach in the checkpoints until the end of the level first than the other players will win and the crate combo is a combo of crates that will who's have the bigger score than the other players will win.

Skins
See: Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time/Skins

Art Scrapbook
See: The Art of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

Gallery
See: Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time/Gallery

English

 * Andrew Morgado as Fake Crash
 * Cherise Boothe as Kupuna-Wa
 * Chris Fries as Additional Voices
 * Corey Burton as N. Gin and Nitros Oxide
 * Eden Riegel as Coco Bandicoot
 * Edward Bosco as Additional Voices
 * Fred Tatasciore as Dingodile, Akano and Happy Ika-Ika
 * Greg Eagles as Aku Aku
 * Jonathon Lipow as Additional Voices
 * Jon Olson as Additional Voices
 * JP Karliak as Nefarious Tropy
 * Keith Silverstein as Additional Voices
 * Lex Lang as Neo Cortex
 * Misty Lee as Polar
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Lani-Loli
 * Roger Craig Smith as Nitrus Brio, Commercial Disclaimer
 * Salli Saffioti as Additional Voices
 * Sarah Tancer as Nefarious Tropy (female)
 * Scott Whyte as Crash Bandicoot
 * Ursula Taherian as Tawna Bandicoot
 * Yuri Lowenthal as Additional Voices
 * Zeno Robinson as Downer Ika-Ika
 * Unidentified Voice Actor as Uka Uka
 * Unidentified Voice Acrtress as Fake Coco

Japanese

 * Kenichi Ogata as Aku Aku
 * TBA as Crash Bandicoot
 * Haruna Ikezawa as Coco Bandicoot
 * Masaaki Itatori as Neo Cortex
 * Shunsuke Sakuya as N. Gin
 * Mitsuru Ogata as Nitrus Brio
 * Masaru Ikeda as Nefarious Tropy
 * TBA as Nefarious Tropy (female)
 * Akiko Toda as Tawna Bandicoot
 * Keisuke Ishida as Dingodile
 * Setsuo Itō as Lani-Loli
 * Hiroshi Nakamura as Akano
 * Keiko Domon as Kupuna-Wa
 * Noriaki Sugiyama as Ika-Ika
 * TBA as Nitros Oxide
 * TBA as Polar
 * Ryūzaburō Ōtomo as Uka Uka

Spanish

 * TBA as Aku Aku
 * TBA as Crash Bandicoot
 * TBA as Coco Bandicoot
 * Ferso Velázquez as Lani-Loli
 * Erick Selim as Akano
 * Rommy Mendoza as Kupuna-Wa
 * Óscar Gómez/Óscar Garibay as optimistic and pessimistic Ika-Ika
 * Enrique Suárez as Neo Cortex
 * TBA as Nefarious Tropy
 * TBA as Nitrus Brio
 * TBA as N. Gin

Portuguese

 * Pierre Bittencourt as Aku Aku
 * Alex Barrone as Crash Bandicoot
 * Luiza Caspary as Coco Bandicoot
 * Claudia Victória as Lani-Loli
 * Antonio Moreno as Akano
 * Leonardo José as Dingodile
 * Milton Levy as Doctor Nefarious Tropy
 * Lia Mello as Doctor Nefarious Tropy (female)
 * Isabella Guarneri as Kupuna-Wa
 * Ricardo Rossato as Doctor Neo Cortex
 * Fred Mascareiras as Doctor N. Gin
 * Caio César Oliveira as Doctor Nitrus Brio
 * Michelle Guidice as Tawna Bandicoot
 * Reinaldo Gonzaga as Happy Ika-Ika
 * Daniel Figueira as Downer Ika-Ika
 * Rodrigo Firmo as Nitros Oxide
 * Unidentified Voice Actor as Uka Uka

Trivia

 * The title is a reference to the timespan between the release of Crash: Mind Over Mutant and It's About Time.
 * It's About Time is the second game to be known as Crash Bandicoot 4, after The Wrath of Cortex ' s Japanese release.
 * The game was dedicated to the memory of Aku Aku's original voice actor Mel Winkler, who passed away earlier in the same year.
 * This is the first game since Crash Nitro Kart where Crash is voiced by someone other than Jess Harnell.
 * Additionally, this is the first game since Crash Bash where Debi Derryberry doesn't voice Coco.
 * This is the only game in the series where the Japanese cover doesn't use the Japanese Crash design.
 * This is the first mainline Crash game to introduce the Skins.
 * According to the opening cinematic, Cortex and N. Tropy have attempted to escape their prison 22 times, which also happens to be the number of years that have passed between the release of Warped and It's About Time.
 * This is the only Crash Bandicoot game to feature enemies in the bonus rounds, which also feature their own nitro switch crate.
 * One of the achievements is named Twinsanity.
 * Its the first ever Crash Bandicoot game to be released on the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
 * So far its the only mainline level based Crash Bandicoot game to feature cutscenes in levels.
 * Its the first Crash Bandicoot game to have masks as the main collectable instead of Gems and Crystals.
 * Its the first mainline level based Crash Bandicoot game where some levels are played by more than one character.