Crash Bandicoot’s venture into multiplayer has been inconsistent. For every Crash Team Racing, there’s a Crash Bash, Crash Nitro Kart, or a Crash Tag Team Racing. Although, the comparisons don’t go much deeper since those are the main multiplayer Crash games. Crash Team Rumble isn’t a kart racer, nor is a mini-game-focused party game, and is instead a team-based arena sport where players have to collect more Wumpa Fruit than the other team. It’s a unique spin on Crash, one that seems primed to deliver intense rounds of casual multiplayer and fade away all too quickly.
Crash Team Rumble’s intensity stems from its setup. Two teams of four players are dropped into an arena filled with boxes and various platforms, which change from stage to stage. Each team has to collect Wumpa Fruit and cash them in at their base, while also playing defense or going on offense when necessary. Lighting up certain gem platforms can open up Wumpa Fruit multipliers and cash in relics that are scattered around can unlock small upgrades like a spiky ball that plows through enemies or big, game-changing attacks like Nitrous Oxide’s homing space laser that tracks the enemy team.
There are a lot of variables and how teams interact with each piece depends on which of the three classes they pick: Scorer, Blocker, or Booster. Scorers like Crash and Tawna specialize in grabbing and banking Wumpa Fruit. Defenders like Dingodile deny areas and try to keep the enemy from scoring. And boosters like Dr. Neo Cortex and Coco specialize in capturing the aforementioned gem platforms, which sounds small, but grabbing those at the right time can swing a match. Everyone, however, has access to the same pool of equippable special moves that charge throughout the match and add even more customizability.
Alongside their different stats, each also has a few abilities that highlight their role on the squad. Coco can, for example, throw up a small barrier that boosts allies but also blocks enemies, an invaluable skill for keeping enemies off the gem platforms. Crash can slide, which is harder to aim, yet can send an opponent flying if it lands. Tawna also has her grappling hook from Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time that lets her zip around more quickly.
All of these different elements lead to chaotic matches where players are frantically trying to score and seal a victory. Shutting down a push or banking a big bonus to come out on top at the last second can lead to tense and cathartic moments that thrive in a multiplayer environment where both teams are anxiously screaming as the pendulum swings. There’s nothing that’s quite like Crash Team Rumble, and there is novelty in that.
However, Crash Team Rumble seems destined to have trouble finding an audience. It’s got some depth with its array of different characters, but it doesn’t seem like an experience that’s worth coming back to over and over again. It’s a party game that can’t be played in a party setting, either, since it doesn’t support local multiplayer.
There are many cosmetics to unlock like skins, hats, backpacks, music, score effects, and more, and Toys for Bob has even announced two seasons with battle passes, but these rewards don’t seem congruent to the more casual experience Crash Team Rumble is. It seems to be more of a game worth diving into just for a few matches and not one to endlessly grind away on. It being a premium title (albeit a budget-priced one) also throws up barriers that this game does not need.
Crash Team Rumble has some unique qualities since there aren’t many other sports-like, MOBA-adjacent games full of anthropomorphic science experiments trying to steal as much fruit as possible. It’s easy to understand, and the interplay between its roster gives enough room for it to be relatively spontaneous. But its short-term joys don’t necessarily translate to its long-term future, which could be troubling for such a multiplayer-focused experience, even one backed by a recently revived icon.