Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns review for Nintendo Switch, PC

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns is that it’s a 2D entry in a series that, until its release, had taken place entirely in 3D. The recent Prince of Persia reboot notwithstanding, you don’t usually see games lose that extra dimension.

Unfortunately, that may also be the only interesting thing about Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4. As you’d guess from the title, it’s the fourth entry in a series that had previously been entirely confined to sixth generation consoles (which is to say, PS2 and its contemporaries). To the extent any of them are remembered, it’s as middling Crash Bandicoot imitators.

The good news, such as it is, is that Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 can’t be described as a Crash Bandicoot imitator. However, the bad news is that it’s given up that tiny bit of personality in favour of being a wholly generic 2D platformer. It may feature the same characters as the previous games (so if you’ve spent decades wondering what happened to them, here’s your chance to find out), but when you get into the levels, none of that really matters since it’s all exactly as you’d imagine a 2D platformer to be.

Mind you, it could be worse. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 is undeniably functional. You can run and jump and throw your boomerang, and the game chugs along without any issues for all 40 of its levels. It looks a little cheaply made, as if someone tried to create Rayman Origins on a shoestring budget, but…it works, I guess?

Ultimately, it’s hard to know who Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4 is for and why it exists. If there are still Ty the Tasmanian fans pining away for the series’ PS2 glory days, they’re not likely to care much for this 2D take on a 3D series. And for everyone else, it’s hard to see why you’d want to play this instead of the many, many other 2D platformers out there that look nicer and have much more interesting gameplay.

Krome Studios provided us with a Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns Nintendo Switch code for review purposes.