Over the past few years, Activision has been hard at work bringing everyone's favorite hyperactive marsupial back into the mainstream, starting with the release of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy back in 2017. Since then, fans have rejoiced at Crash's regained relevancy, especially when a brand new installment in the form of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time released late last year.
The series' newest installment released solely on the PS4 and Xbox One, and could be played on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S at a higher resolution. The Nintendo Switch was seemingly left out of the equation, but since Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy eventually released for Nintendo's hybrid handheld-home console platform, fans held out hope that Crash Bandicoot 4 would receive a similar treatment. Now, after Activision announced yesterday that the game will come to the Switch and next-gen platforms in March, many fans feel relieved, but some are skeptical about how Crash 4 will run on the system.
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Over the years, it has become quite a theme with the Nintendo Switch receiving many 3rd-party titles after their initial release along with some compromising tweaks in specs given the hardware's capabilities. Not to mention, some games such as Hazelight Studios' It Takes Two likely won't come to the Switch at all for the same reason. While fans can be sure to expect a native 4k 60fps experience on next-gen hardware, Lou Studdert, creative producer at Toys for Bob, stated that Crash Bandicoot 4 will run on the Switch at 1080p and 30fps in docked mode, while running at 720p and 30fps in handheld mode.
Although some may see this as a significant compromise, it's worth noting that this is rather impressive by Nintendo Switch port standards, especially given that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy ran on the Switch at 720p and 30fps while docked, and 480p and 30fps in handheld mode. Like with other Switch ports such as Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Studdert also mentioned that bringing Crash Bandicoot 4 to the Switch has been quite a task, given the game's amount of content in unlockable skins, levels, playstyles, and more.
According to Studdert, Toys for Bobs' engineers, artists, QA team, and more have been hard at work to ensure a seamless transition and that the game runs as closely on the Nintendo Switch as it did on the consoles it initially released on. Now, the Nintendo Switch will be home to all three of the most recent Crash Bandicoot games, including Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.
With remasters, new entries, and the upcoming mobile game Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!, it seems that Crash Bandicoot has spun his way back into the mainstream as fans both new and old enjoy a variety of Crash games. It will certainly be interesting to see what else Activision has in store for the series in the future.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is available now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game will release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 12th, 2021, and on PC sometime later in 2021.