Update (March 11, 2021): Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time has received a now-standard basic technical upgrade in its move from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5, but those enhancements have done wonders. The jump to 4K and a consistent 60 frames per second take a game that already had vibrant, detailed art and make it even more pleasing to play.

As seems to often be the case, it’s frame rate, not fidelity, that makes the big difference here. With smoother animations, all of the game’s moving parts are proverbially well-oiled and running more smoothly. With more clearly articulated animations, the gameplay feels faster. And it can feel as if your reaction time has improved. In reality, the smoother animation allows you to detect and react to threats more quickly. The PS4 version, which I thought ran fine at the time, looks almost stuttery by comparison.