Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard is certain to resurrect some dormant properties, but thankfully we’ve had a number of new and remastered Crash Bandicoot titles in recent years, including the great Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Crash Team Racing, and Crash Bandicoot 4.
New Crash game?
During a recent episode of Windows Central Gaming’s Xbox Chaturdays podcast, members of the team indicated that the new Crash Bandicoot game being created at Toys for Bob would be featured at the Xbox and Bethesda showcases or soon afterr. The Windows Central crew was unsure of the name of the upcoming Crash game, but it was revealed that it would be a multiplayer game starring Crash Bandicoot and buddies.
Hopefully, the Crash Bandicoot brand will remain a multiplatform affair rather than an Xbox exclusivity.
About Crash Bandicoot
Crash’s original name was Willy the Wombat, and he was created by Charles Zembillas and Jason Rubin (alternatively spelt Willie). Following rejections from Universal Interactive Studios to name the character something more “family-friendly,” such as “Wez”, “Wuzzles”, or “Wizzie the Wombat”, Naughty Dog decided to name him “Crash” after his proclivity for breaking crates, as well as renaming a few characters to accommodate Crash’s newly-decided name.
Pinstripe’s species (along with his goons) was eventually changed from bandicoot to potoroo, and Crash’s from wombat to bandicoot, but no design modifications were made to either.
Crash started off as a regular bandicoot, roaming freely in the forests of N. Sanity Island. Neo Cortex kidnapped him in order to make him the commander of Cortex’s Cortex Commandos as part of his nefarious plot to control the world. Cortex and his right-hand man, Nitrus Brio, mutated him with the Evolvo-Ray, which gave him human sapience and rendered him anthropomorphic, and he went through a nine-month training program. Despite Brio’s warnings about the machine’s unreliability, Cortex sent Crash into the Cortex Vortex, a contraption meant to turn Crash into a genius and brainwash him into being completely obedient to Cortex’s every command. Brio foresaw that the machine would malfunction and reject Crash, enabling him to go. Crash eventually falls out of a window and onto the water below. Cortex, furious at his failure, started repairs on the Cortex Vortex and went on to the next candidate for brainwashing: Crash’s fiancée, Tawna Bandicoot.
Crash awakened disoriented and bewildered on the shores of N. Sanity island some time later. He set out on a journey to travel the Wumpa Islands and reach Cortex Castle in order to rescue Tawna and put an end to Cortex’s designs for global dominance. Crash soon meets Aku Aku, a witch doctor mask that watches over him and defends him from many threats, and who develops a deep, fatherly attachment with Crash.
On Crash’s trip, he encounters bosses that are desperate to block Crash from passing. The first was Papu Papu, the fat tribal head. Papu Papu was not a Cortex supporter; he attacked Crash because Crash woke him up from a slumber in his hut, which enraged him. Cortex’s first unsuccessful experiment, the crazed kangaroo Ripper Roo, had been abandoned in some ruins at the top of a waterfall. Then there’s the muscled Koala Kong in a mining shaft. Cortex’s security Pinstripe Potoroo followed, opening fire with his tommy gun in his office at the Cortex Power plant. Pinstripe mistakenly shot into Cortex Power’s generator after Crash fought him, shutting off power production for Cortex’s lair. Doctor Nitrus Brio is the last boss, and he is battled in his chemical lab. He first tried to fend Crash off with his chemical remedies, but he had to resort to drinking the brew himself, distorting his body into the Brio Monster. Following Crash’s defeat over Brio, a bunsen burner from Brio’s laboratory table is pushed over, igniting the castle. Crash runs through the lab and arrives in The Great Hall, completing his objective.
