Toys for Bob really did a wonderful job at updating and following up the original trilogy. In some ways, it feels like the series hasn't missed a beat in twenty years. It controls better and although there is still some problems with depth perception, the added marker for where you will land helps a lot. The visuals are great and the setpieces are very fun. The masks and additional characters add a layer of complexity to the platforming which feels rewarding when you learn the mechanics.

Crash, whether it's accurate or not, has a reputation for being hard and I feel that Toys for Bob perhaps over steered in that direction when making this sequel. Some of the challenge is quite fun but there are a number of areas that are just downright frustrating and there are a lot more cheap deaths. I'm very a completionist in games but I knew going in not to bother here. What they expect from you to get 100% or 106% is crazy. The levels have way more crates than previous games with a lot of them being hidden in ways that you would never notice in normal gameplay. Plus they expect you to get all the crates without dying once and these levels are long filled with tons of ways to kill you. On top of that, there's the inverted levels where you have to do it all again with a slight twist on the level that doesn't really add much. If you managed to do all that, then you'll definitely be sick of the levels before you start doing time trials. Because of this, I just mainlined the game which despite enjoying it and praising aspects of it made it end up feeling like a quick forgettable experience. I think the developers did a great job but they really need to design the optional content better if they make a sequel.