For years, Crash Bandicoot was considered a platforming legend that ultimately suffered from lackluster titles and spin-offs which never quite approached the brilliance of the original trilogy. However, Crash returned in a big way when Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was released in 2017, and contained remasters of the first three games by Visceral. It sold over 10 million copies within two years, and though its follow-up, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time!, didn’t reach the same heights of success, the Bandicoot and his friends were back.
This brings us to Crash Team Rumble. Announced at The Game Awards 2022 after a long period of rumors, it’s not a precision platformer like the mainline titles but a multiplayer-focused game where two teams compete. Developed by Toys for Bob, it’s out on June 20th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5. Is it a MOBA? A live service game? Another Let’s look at 12 things you should know before buying it.
Gameplay
Crash Team Rumble is a 4v4 multiplayer game that’s described as a “strategic platformer.” It sees Crash and friends competing to collect and deposit Wumpa Fruit in their goal, while the opposing team tries to do the same. You’ll smash crates, some containing five Wumpa while others have 15, or gather Wumpa Fruit out in the open. The first team to hit the score limit wins, and matches are quick, taking a few minutes. Quick and painless, and even more so if you’re getting rolled by the enemy team.
Characters
Along with Crash Bandicoot, there are seven other characters to control. There’s Coco, his sister; Tawna from Crash Bandicoot 4; Dr Neo Cortex, Crash’s archnemesis; Dingodile; Nitrus Brio; Dr Nefarious Tropy, the alternative universe version of Nefarious Tropy; and Catbat. Characters like Aku Aku, Uka Uka and Nitros Oxide also appear to lend support in specific situations.
Roles
Of course, these characters aren’t just cosmetic, and this is where the MOBA aspect of the game comes in. Each has one of three roles – Scorer, Blocker and Booster. The Scorers excel at collecting Wumpa Fruit; the Blockers are strong at defense; and the Boosters work to provide advantages to their teams by capturing Relic Stations and Gem Pads (more on that below). With each character having unique abilities and excelling at different stats, like Health, Mobility, Combat, Wumpa Capacity and so on, they each provide different play styles as you fight to complete objectives. They also have different Difficulty ratings, with some being easier to play than others.
Combat
Combat is essential in Crash Team Rumble, even if it isn’t the main objective (and you really should play the objective). You can fight against opposing team members, smacking them to stop their progress or keep them from scoring. That’s the Blocker’s purpose, though everyone can throw hands when the situation demands it. Similarly, nothing is stopping your Booster from scoring, so you have to watch out for everyone.
Maps
Thus far, three maps have been confirmed. Just Beachy, as the name indicates, is a beach-style level and is smaller in scale. It’s a good beginner area with its limited scale and danger. Tiki Towers is larger with more verticality and provides some towers and various vantage points for characters to platform and brawl. Finally, there’s Calamity Canyon, inspired by Crash Bandicoot 4’s Hazardous Wastes level. It’s also small in scale, with several platforms to navigate. Toys for Bob has yet to reveal other maps, but we’ll likely see more post-launch.
Relic Stations
Things would get dull quickly if it was all just back-and-forth scoring with some brawling. So you also have Relic Stations, which provide Relics when captured. These are used to earn different items or summon supporting characters. For example, Just Beachy has a Beach Ball that can break crates and knock back enemies. However, Tiki Towers has Uka Uka, which costs more Relics, but causes meteors to rain on the map, while your team has forcefields (that can damage opposing players). It’s kind of apocalyptic, but such is the Wumpa life.
Gem Pads
There are also Gem Pads. Capturing these grants a 30 percent boost to scoring. And yes, you can capture multiple Gem Pads to stack the effect, snowballing the enemy team and winning faster. This leads to some interesting strategies while playing. Do you rush the Gem Pads, helping your Booster and gaining an early Relic scoring advantage? Do you target the Boosters instead of prioritizing Wumpa depositing to prevent them from gathering Relics? Where should your Blockers post up, and who should you blame when everything goes wrong? The choices are almost endless.
Bots
As with many multiplayer titles nowadays, Crash Team Rumble will have bots. They’re available in Practice Mode and fill any empty slots in a match if you’re down a teammate. Whether bots are used to expedite matchmaking will ultimately depend on the game’s long-term popularity. But for now, they’re there if you need them.
Public and Private Lobbies
In addition to matchmaking with other players in Public Lobbies, there are Private Lobbies available, and you can party up with friends for either. Matchmaking during the closed beta was meant to pair new players against each other to help them learn the game. While expected to carry over into the game, like any multiplayer title, you should be prepared to fight equally skilled opponents as you improve.
Battle Pass
What would a multiplayer title be without a Battle Pass these days (seriously, if you know, please advise)? Crash Team Rumble also has one, providing cosmetics for players to unlock. The number of Tiers is unknown, but players can also participate in events to earn cosmetics. The individual price of a Battle Pass is also unknown (though it’s likely $9.99), but you get the Premium Battle Pass for Season 1 by purchasing the Standard Edition for $29.99. The Deluxe Edition provides the same, plus 25 Tier skips, the Season 2 Premium Battle Pass and the Proto Pack with skins and a banner, all for $39.99.
New Heroes and Powers From Challenges
Toys for Bob hasn’t spoken about any new characters coming post-launch or what the first season will look like in terms of content (aside from confirming seasonal events). However, it’s confirmed that heroes are unlocked by completing challenges in-game and not via the Battle Pass. This same rule also applies to powers. There is the question of whether the entire roster will be available or whether you’ll need to unlock them by finishing these challenges and earning more powers through other challenges. But the long and short of it is that everything that affects gameplay will be unlocked through gameplay.
Crossplay, Cross-progression and Cross-save
Crash Team Rumble will feature support for cross-platform matchmaking at launch, allowing players on Xbox to match with those on PlayStation. Whether you can disable crossplay or not is unknown. But there is cross-progression, so your unlocks carry over between different platforms. So that’s nice.