Crash Bandicoot 4 Brings Back the ‘Banji-kyuusu’ Theme for a Commercial in Japan

People in Japan saw a bit of a wacky blast from the past with the return of the ‘Banji-kyuusu’ theme song in a new commercial for Crash Bandicoot 4.

Check out the new live-action commercial for Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time in Japan:

So, if you don’t have any idea what’s going on, this is ‘Crash Banji-kyuusu,’ the theme song for the Crash Bandicoot games in Japan. The theme not only appeared in the earlier PlayStation games but in a bunch of promotion and marketing for the series in Japan. Similar to the Crash Bandicoot commercials in the West, it featured a Crash mascot. Except instead of Crash Bandicoot going around causing trouble, he had this ridiculous dance and theme song going on.

Here’s a neat little Easter egg from the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back:

The secret music video is only available in the Japanese version of Crash Bandicoot 2. You can watch it by holding: Left + Circle + L1 + R1, upon booting up the game. Its credits show that it was sung by Japanese rap artist Banana Ice. After playing the video, it prompted players to reset their console in order to boot it up the usual way to play.

Crash Bandicoot 4 will release for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 2, 2020. A demo will be available for those who pre-order the game.