Best Games Like Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Key Takeaways

• Crash Bandicoot 4
  brought back the original trilogy’s difficulty in 2020, making 100% completion a daunting task.
• Fans of
  Crash Bandicoot
  may enjoy platformers like
  Sackboy: A Big Adventure
  and
  Yooka-Laylee
  .
• Celeste
  and
  Super Meat Boy
  offer challenging gameplay akin to
  Crash 4
  , providing a fun and engaging experience.

Activision delighted Bandicoot fans in October 2020 when the company released Toys for Bob’s Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time. The game took the series back to its roots, with linear platforming and box collecting making a welcome return. The series also bought back the original trilogy’s punishing difficulty. Completing Crash 4 normally isn’t too taxing, but beating it 100% can be an absolute nightmare. Grueling flashback tapes, developer time trials, and longer levels with more boxes to break are among the new challenges.

Fans who have been around since the original games and new fans of the series will likely be searching for similar platforming games like Crash Bandicoot to play next. These games embody the goodness of the series’ 3D platforming, the challenge it brings with every level, and the infectious charm that is present in every single game featuring this beloved marsupial.

Updated on November 6, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Players were elated to find out that Crash Bandicoot received a brand new game after fans had lost hope. Controlling the original PlayStation mascot across a host of challenging levels that bring new levels of challenge and creativity to the table is an unforgettable experience for players with a nostalgic connection to this marsupial. It’s easy to see why players who check out It’s About Time would love to play through more games like Crash Bandicoot, and they’ll have several amazing options to choose from if they want to scratch the itch the fourth game left behind.

1 Astro Bot

A Modern Platforming Classic Perfect For Fans Of PlayStation Franchises Like Crash Bandicoot

No one expected Astro Bot to establish itself as one of the best 3D platformers of the current generation. The sheer creativity on display in every level coupled with smart callbacks to previous PlayStation classics make it clear why so many fans hail Astro Bot as an excellent evolution of the gameplay loops seen in Astro’s Playroom.

Players who want to check out more games like Crash Bandicoot will love playing through this love letter to the PlayStation brand. As one would expect, there are more than enough references to this iconic marsupial in the game, making some of its levels stand out in the eyes of fans that pay homage to the series’ legacy.

2 Super Mario Odyssey

One Of The Greatest 3D Platformers Ever Made That’s A Must-Play For Fans Of The Genre

It was clear that the Nintendo Switch needed to hit the ground running after the disastrous failure of the Wii U. The ingenious design of this console was a step in the right direction, but what helped the Switch enjoy one of the best launches for a Nintendo console were the games jam-packed in this experience.

Both Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey came out in the same year, which turned the Switch into a must-have console. Odyssey was praised to the moon and back for letting players enjoy the smoothest platforming in a Mario game to date, coupled with an open-ended structure and excellent level design that is perfect for players who want to check out more games like Crash Bandicoot.

3 It Takes Two

Switches Up The Gameplay Loop Constantly But Retains The Core Essence Of 3D Platforming Gameplay

It Takes Two came out of nowhere and cemented itself as one of the best co-op video games ever made. The story may not be its strongest suit, but the imaginative gameplay of this charming 2-player title does a great job of selling the experience, with the gameplay loop changing constantly to let players enjoy a fresh and stimulating experience.

However, throughout this adventure, the 3D platforming base that the other gameplay loops build up on is as solid as they come. This means that players can always look forward to fun, snappy platforming that never overstays its welcome and lets players traverse the world in style when paired with the abilities Cody and May have in every level.

4 Sackboy: A Big Adventure

A Charming Platformer PlayStation Fans Will Love

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a spinoff to the LittleBigPlanet series that was released on PlayStation 4 and as a launch title for the PlayStation 5 in November 2020.

The game ditches the 2.5D perspective of the LittleBigPlanet games in favor of 3D and gives Sackboy far more moves than ever before to create an enjoyable and fleshed-out platforming experience. The game isn’t the strongest platformer on the market by any means, but it still offers a thoroughly enjoyable time for fans of the genre and carries over the charm and unique visuals of the L ittleBigPlanet games.

5 Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair

A Sequel That Improves On Its Predecessor And Makes For A Fun 3D-Platforming Collectathon

October 2019’s Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is the sequel to 2017’s Yooka-Laylee, which tried to be a modern take on the classic ’90s collect-a-thon Banjo-Kazooie but struggled to impress.

Playtonic Games went a completely different route with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair by shifting from 3D to 2D, with Donkey Kong Country being the new source of inspiration. The game was far better received than its predecessor and is one of the strongest side-scrolling platformers of the 2010s. Interestingly, the game lets players tackle the final level at any point during the game; however, the stage is brutally difficult unless players collect members of the “Beetalion” by completing levels.

6 Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

Bundles A Classic With Excellent Open-Ended Level Design For The Expansion

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury was released in February 2021 on the Nintendo Switch and bundled the Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World with a new game titled Bowser’s Fury.

Super Mario 3D World was originally released in 2013 and offered an interesting combination of 3D exploration with classic 2D-level design and gameplay mechanics of earlier Super Mario games. Meanwhile, Bowser’s Fury is an open-world platformer that draws inspiration from Super Mario Odyssey by offering enormous explorable spaces packed with things to do and collect.

7 Celeste

Boasts Excellent Movement Coupled With A Poignant Story

For those who relished in Crash 4‘s difficulty, Maddy Makes Games’ Celeste may be the best option. The platformer requires players to make countless precise jumps and dashes, especially if they want to grab all of the hidden strawberries. Despite this, Celeste never gets too frustrating, which is a testament to the quality of its gameplay and level design. The game has a generous checkpoint system of resetting players at the start of each screen, and the playable character’s movement feels tight and responsive, ensuring that mistakes always feel like the fault of the player and not the developers.

8 New Super Lucky’s Tale

Elicits The Energy Of Classic Collectathon Platformers

New Super Lucky’s Tale is an excellent choice for fans of classic collectathons like Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64. The platformer differentiates itself from Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time with its difficulty, as Playful Studios’ game is aimed at more casual players. New Super Lucky’s Tale may not be up to scratch with some of the top games on this list in terms of sheer quality, but it’s still an enjoyable 6-10 hour adventure.

As the name suggests, New Super Lucky’s Tale is an enhanced version of Super Lucky’s Tale. The game comes equipped with an improved camera angle and remixed levels.

9 Spyro Reignited Trilogy

An Updated Release Of One Of The Most Beloved 3D Platformers

Spyro Reignited Trilogy should jump out to fans of Crash 4 as Toys For Bob developed both games. Similar to the N. Sane Trilogy, Reignited Trilogy is a remaster of the franchise’s three PS1 games. Spyro is comparable to Crash in many ways, with one of the most prominent being how both games’ levels are simple to complete but challenging to 100%.

The main difference between Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is that Spyro leans more into the collectathon side of the genre than tricky platforming gameplay. Across the three Spyro games, players will need to collect Dragon Eggs, Orbs, Talismans, Gems, and more.

10 Banjo-Kazooie

A Classic 3D Platformer That’s Loaded With Charm

There’s a reason why Banjo-Kazooie has been mentioned so many times in this list. The game is one of the most influential platformers of all time, with its open levels packed with collectibles to find being a blueprint for many of the genre’s releases. Collectibles in Banjo-Kazooie include musical notes, Jinjos, Honey Comb Pieces, jigsaw pieces known as Jiggies, and more.

Although fans have been crying out for a modern sequel or remake for years now, the classic game still holds up and can be played on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S thanks to backward compatibility and Rare Replay.

11 Super Meat Boy

A Hardcore Platformer That Is Perfect For Fans Of Crash Bandicoot’s Harder Stages

Like the aforementioned Celeste, Super Meat Boy is a great choice for fans of Crash Bandicoot 4‘s punishing difficulty. The indie game was a huge success, with Team Meat announcing in January 2012 that the game had surpassed 1 million sales. The game was influential to not just modern platforming but modern gaming as a whole for three reasons. Firstly, it proved that gamers were still interested in difficult games at a time when they were becoming increasingly easier; secondly, it proved – alongside games like Braid and Spelunky – that indie games could be major financial successes; and thirdly, it popularised unlimited live systems.

Despite being over a decade old now, the game doesn’t show signs of aging and is still the fun and engaging challenge that it was back when it first hit stores.