Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Timereleased just a few days ago and so far, quite a few fans have enjoyed the game. It took over twenty years for a new installment of the series to be officially released after numerous spin-off games and branching titles. However, one key component that a number of players noticed and appreciated aboutCrash Bandicoot 4was the design of the world map.
The latter two games in the originalCrash Bandicoottrilogy that released back in the late 90s featured a warp room layout, which let players access levels in a streamlined fashion. This format was also featured in theN. Sane Trilogyreleased a couple of years ago. Though, shockingly enough, the level map layout ofCrash Bandicoot 4is reminiscent of the very firstCrash Bandicootgame released in 1996.
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The firstCrash Bandicootinstallment featured a world map that has Crash physically moving from one location to the next. WhileCrash Bandicoot 4also features this world map structure, it seems like a rather interesting design choice, given how the warp room layout was featured in both the second and thirdCrash Bandicootgamesand theN. Sane Trilogy. However, Paul Yan, one of the co-heads of Toys for Bob, the studio that developed the game, gave a good reason for reviving the world map format.
Yan stated that the game was initially supposed to possess the Warp Room format, given that this game is a direct sequel toCrash Bandicoot 3. Though, as time went on, Yan and the other developers wanted to make aCrashgame that was both approachable to new players, but also possessedthe difficulty thatCrash Bandicootis known for. The developers found that the correlation between game difficulty and building confidence within players aligned with the idea of having Crash physically move from one area to the next.
Another important quality that Yan and the developers wanted to emphasize withCrash Bandicoot 4was the story. Having this linear format of moving the player from one level area to the next allowed for a more succinct narrative. This in turn also falls in line with the number ofplayable charactersfeatured in the game.
It’s amazing how something as seemingly innocuous as a map screen can help contribute to the overall structure of any given game. WithCrash Bandicoot 4especially, it allows for more players to experience the game outside of longtime fans of the series who are used to the merciless difficult of the earlier titles. Luckily, Toys for Bob included aretro modefor returning fans of the series that offers high difficulty right from the beginning.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Timeis available now for PS4 and Xbox One.
