Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Guide PS4 PlayStation 4

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is a PS5 and PS4 sequel to the original PS1 trilogy from Naughty Dog. This brand new game goes back to that old style of gameplay while reviving it for a modern audience. It's tough, but excellent fun, earning an 8/10 in our review.

In this Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time guide, we'll be going over everything in the game. Here, you'll find tips and tricks to get you started, as well as a comprehensive guide to finding all the collectibles and beating all the bosses. This includes finding all the Crash and Coco skins, all Hidden Gems, and more. We'll also tell you about all the Trophies and how to get the Platinum.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Guide: Where to Find Every Gem, Flashback Tape, and Other Collectibles

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time on PS5 and PS4 has a lot of collectibles to find, and you'll need to locate everything in order to fully complete the game.

Wumpa Fruit: These are the multicoloured fruits you'll find in crates and dotted throughout each level of Crash Bandicoot 4. You want to collect as many of these as possible, because doing so fills up a meter, which earns you clear gems. When playing in Retro mode, collecting 100 of them will give you an extra life. To learn more about Modern and Retro modes, see our guide: Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time - What's the Difference Between Modern and Retro Modes?

Boxes/Crates: Every stage contains many wooden boxes or crates for you to break open. There are various types of box, but the important thing is finding as many of them as you can. If you find every box in a level, you'll earn an extra gem at the end.

Gems: There are various types of gems in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. There are six clear gems in each level, which can be earned by collecting Wumpa Fruit and boxes, or beating a level without dying more than three times. There's also a hidden clear gem on each level. Then there are four coloured gems, which are secret gems you'll need to search high and low for. Finding every gem helps you to reach 100% completion and beyond.

Time Trial Relics: Once you've beaten a level, you'll unlock the ability to run a Time Trial on it. Every level except for boss fights has a Time Trial, and you need to complete these and beat the necessary times in order to earn Relics. The hardest ones are the Platinum Relics.

Flashback Tapes: These special collectibles are found on some levels throughout the game. Collecting them unlocks new, challenging stages to play through. To collect a Flashback Tape, you must play through a given level without dying before you find the Tape.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Guide: Collectibles Checklists, Bosses, Trophies, and More

Use the following guides to keep track of your progress through Crash Bandicoot 4.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time: All Collectibles Locations

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time: Trophies

Below, we have a full guide to all the Trophies in Crash Bandicoot 4. If you want to earn the Platinum, be sure the give our Trophy guide a look.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time: All Bosses and How to Beat Them

Want to know how to beat all the boss fights in Crash Bandicoot 4? We have a guide that explains how to win each boss encounter.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Guide: Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Let's go through the basics of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Controls

Here are the default controls for Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. You can change the button mapping in the options menu.

Button / Input Action
Left stick / D-pad Move
Right stick Camera
X Jump
Square Primary move
Circle / R1 Secondary move
Triangle / R2 Mask power
L2 Show HUD
Touch pad Level stats
Options Pause

Crash Bandicoot 4 Modern vs. Retro Playstyle - What's the Difference?

When you start up the game, it will ask you if you want to play with a Modern or Retro playstyle. What's the difference between these two options? Fortunately, we have a full explanation in our guide.

How Many Levels Are There in Crash Bandicoot 4?

There are 43 regular levels in Crash Bandicoot 4, five of which are boss battles. There are also 43 N. Verted Mode levels, and 21 Flashback levels.

That makes a grand total of 107 levels.

What Is N. Verted Mode?

N. Verted is a mode that flips every level in the game horizontally, like a mirror mode. When you play an N. Verted level, it will also have other changes; it might have a different art style, or be submerged underwater, for example.

To unlock N. Verted levels, you must first complete the level Trouble Brewing in the main story.

Watch Out for Hidden Boxes

There are a number of very well hidden boxes and crates in Crash Bandicoot 4. Some are so hard to find, you may never discover them on your own. Our best advice is to look absolutely everywhere. Even in the very first level, one box is hidden out of sight. Search behind things, off to the sides, bounce as high as you can on bouncy boxes — it's worth a couple of deaths to try and locate the darned things. If a level features Nitro boxes, you don't need to destroy these — there will be a green exclamation box at the very end that will destroy all of them when you spin it.

That wraps up our Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time guide. Are you playing Crash's brand new PS5 and PS4 game? Wump into the comments section below.