How to get the Crash Bandicoot Best Score Trophy in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

One of the most fun little touches in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was the addition of the Crash Bandicoot emulator in the game. This throwback to one of Naughty Dog’s most iconic games was a nice treat for fans to play through, but it also served as a not-so-gentle reminder of how difficult games used to be. Now that Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves is out, there are plenty of new players who will be discovering this all over again.

If you’re going for that illusive platinum achievement in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, you’ll need to get the Best Score! achievement, which comes from getting a score of at least 3500 in the Crash Bandicoot level. Need some help doing that? Here are a few important tips you need to know.

Wait Till the Epilogue

Though you first get to play the Crash Bandicoot game in Chapter 4 of the game, it is actually impossible to get the achievement until you pick the game up as part of the epilogue. Why is that? Well, there is an extra life to find in the epilogue chapter, which is worth an extra 500 points at the end of the game if you don’t use it. It is hidden in one of the boxes early in the level. Just smash all the boxes you see with Crash’s spin attack and you’ll find it.

The maximum score you can get in Chapter 4 is around 3200, so there is no point in grinding or getting frustrated just yet. Save that for after you complete the story.

Get As Many Items as Possible

Every apple you collect during your playthrough adds to your score. You don’t need to get every apple in a single run but you do need to collect most of them. Even more importantly, you need to collect the aforementioned extra life hidden in one of the crates early in the level. This is worth another 500 points, which is enough to tip you over the edge for the trophy.

Get Good

No real sugar-coating this one. This level is not easy. You have to go through the whole thing without dying once, collect the extra life and most of the apples along the way, and do it relatively quickly to get a high time bonus. In a game that doesn’t exactly try to challenge players, this is one of the more difficult trophies to get and might take several tries to get the timing perfect on some of those jumps.

Of course, if getting good isn’t an option, there is always cheating. If you’ve finished the game once, you can unlock the Slow Motion gameplay modifier. Open up the menu, select Extras, then Bonus, then Add-ons, and finally Game Play Modifiers. Slow Motion will make it significantly easier to get the trophy, so if you absolutely must cheat, go for it.