Crash Bandicoot 4 ad channels the madness of the '90s in the best way possible

The ads for Crash Bandicoot 4 are also a throwback to a bygone era

The newest commercial for Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time revives the wacky Crash suit ads of the '90s, and with the zany flair of Japanese TV to boot.

You can watch the commercial over on the Crash Bandicoot YouTube page, and we've embedded the extended version above. This comes complete with outtakes and bonus scenes, and quite frankly the more of this ad that collides with our eyeballs, the better. 

The ad opens with a Japanese family eating apples and minding their own business, but a giant lad in an orange fursuit soon crashes the party. The family is understandably surprised, but quickly recognizes this smiley intruder as the one and only Crash Bandicoot – or in katakana, Kurashu Bandikuu, as he was described in an old '90s ad that this new one is quite deliberately referencing. 

This ad is a symphony of Japanese TV and Crash-brand weirdness. It's got the same silly dance as the original ads, it uses the same apples-to-wumpas gag, and the father of the Japanese family that winds up tagging along with Crash has those extreme facial expressions down pat. I love that not even he can keep a straight face after some of these reactions, as evidenced by the first batch of outtakes around 1:40. Of course, the new ad looks a whole lot better, which is a pretty perfect parallel for Crash 4 as a whole. Based on what we've seen, it revitalizes the series' old-school platforming with a fresh coat of paint and some modern ideas, which is exciting to see after such a long hiatus on mainline Crash games. 

A demo for Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time is coming this week.