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Crash Bandicoot is a video game series created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin. It is published by Activision, Sierra Entertainment, Vivendi Universal Games, Konami, Universal Interactive Studios, King, and Sony Computer Entertainment, with entries developed by Polarbit, Toys for Bob, Beenox, Radical Entertainment, Vicarious Visions, Traveller's Tales, Eurocom, King and Naughty Dog. The series debuted in 1996 with the Sony PlayStation video game Crash Bandicoot, premiered in North America on September 9, 1996. Most Crash Bandicoot games have either been platform games or released for Sony consoles and handhelds.
Most of the games in the franchise are platform games, although the series also includes other genres such as racing video games, party games and endless runners. Each game focuses on the titular protagonist Crash Bandicoot, an anthropomorphic orange bandicoot. It also features a large cast of other characters such as Doctor Neo Cortex, Aku Aku, Coco Bandicoot, Crunch Bandicoot, Doctor N. Gin, and Uka Uka. The latest game in the series is Crash Team Rumble, released in June 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.
Main series
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Crash Bandicoot Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 1996 – PlayStation 2006 – PlayStation Network |
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| Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 1997 – PlayStation 2007 – PlayStation Network |
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| Crash Bandicoot: Warped Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 1998 – PlayStation 2007 – PlayStation Network |
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| Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2001 – PlayStation 2 2002 – Xbox, GameCube 2007 – Xbox Originals |
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| Crash Twinsanity Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2004 – PlayStation 2, Xbox |
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| Crash of the Titans Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2007 – PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, Wii, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS |
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| Crash: Mind over Mutant Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2008 – PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS |
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| Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Original release date(s): October 2, 2020 |
Release years by system: 2020 – PlayStation 4, Xbox One 2021 – PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows |
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Racing
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Crash Team Racing Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 1999 – PlayStation 2007 – PlayStation Network |
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| Crash Nitro Kart Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2003 – PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance 2004 – N-Gage, Mobile |
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| Crash Tag Team Racing Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2005 – PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation Portable |
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| Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Original release date(s): June 21, 2019 |
Release years by system: 2019 – PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
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Party
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Crash Bash Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2000 – PlayStation 2008 – PlayStation Network (JP) |
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| Crash Boom Bang! Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2006 – Nintendo DS |
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| Crash Team Rumble Original release date(s): June 20, 2023 |
Release years by system: 2023 – PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
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Handheld
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2002 – Game Boy Advance |
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| Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2003 – Game Boy Advance |
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| Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2004 – Game Boy Advance |
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Mobile
Main article: List of Crash Bandicoot mobile games| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2008 – iOS, Zeebo, N-Gage 2.0 |
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| Crash Bandicoot: Mutant Island Original release date(s): July 30, 2009 |
Release years by system: 2009 – BlackBerry, Java Micro Edition |
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| Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 Original release date(s): May 25, 2010 |
Release years by system: 2010 – iOS |
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| Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! Original release date(s): April 22, 2020 (soft-test launch) March 25, 2021 (official launch) |
Release years by system: 2021 – Android, iOS |
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Spin-offs
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Skylanders: Imaginators Original release date(s): |
Release years by system: 2016 – PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U 2017 – Nintendo Switch |
Notes:
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Compilations
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy Original release date(s): June 30, 2017 |
Release years by system: 2017 – PlayStation 4 2018 – Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One |
Notes:
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Cancelled games
| Title | Cancellation Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Crash Bandicoot Worlds | 2000 | With the turn transition to the new millennium, Universal Interactive Studios wanted the series to make the transition from the PlayStation to the sixth generation consoles. Universal was considering Mark Cerny as the designer for the new game (which came to be Crash Bandicoot Worlds), and intended to have it distributed by Sony as a PlayStation 2 exclusive. Details about the game's progress and development are scarce, although Cerny has revealed that the game was to feature open, free-roaming environments, as opposed to the linear structure Crash Bandicoot was known for at the time. Universal was worried about handing the franchise over to a new studio after Naughty Dog's contract expired, which led them to bet on a safer approach of producing a game with similar gameplay mechanics to the previous instalments, a decision that resulted in Cerny being ousted from development. By the time the game was overhauled by Traveller's Tales and released in 2001 as The Wrath of Cortex, it was no longer exclusive to the PlayStation 2 due to Universal's new partnership with Konami, and the free-roaming aspect had been abandoned. |
| Crash Nitro Kart (Traveller's Tales) | 2002 | Following the release of The Wrath of Cortex, Traveller's Tales began working on a new racing game that served as a sequel to Crash Team Racing. This game was to be Crash Nitro Kart, but due to unknown circumstances Universal Interactive transferred development to Vicarious Visions. Few details have been revealed about Traveller's Tales' original vision, but it is known that the game was intended to mark Nina Cortex's debut in the series. |
| Crash Bandicoot: Evolution | 2003 | Traveller's Tales began working on a title called Crash Bandicoot: Evolution. A prototype for Crash Twinsanity, it was set to create a new form of gameplay for the Crash Bandicoot series as it would have utilized a large-scale story with gameplay combining platforming and RPG elements. As a work in progress, it has since become unclear what exactly was intended to be in the game. One of the only solid facts is that a character known as Foofie, an animal that could transform into different shapes, was going to appear. Only a handful of aspects were kept for Twinsanity, such as The Evil Twins as the villains and Crash teaming up with Cortex to defeat them. |
| Crush Bandicoot | 2004 | A game concept pitched by Magenta Software in 2004, Crush Bandicoot was intended to introduce Crash's evil twin called Crush, with Cortex being retained as the antagonist. The game was intended to feature zany, open-world sci-fi environments, and Crush would have been able to use a variety of vehicles. At least one playable test environment was created before the project was rejected by Vivendi Universal. |
| Untitled Krome Studios game | 2005 | After Crash Twinsanity's release, Krome Studios (known for their work with the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series) began working on a new Crash Bandicoot title for Vivendi Universal. Since the game was cancelled very early during development, no more than a few pictures and documents were produced, which cannot be publicly released due to legal issues, and all remaining staff were put to work on The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. |
| Cortex Chaos | 2005 | The name of a project started by Traveller's Tales Oxford Studio after the release of Crash Twinsanity. As the name implies, it was intended to star Dr. Cortex, who would have been evicted from the Evil Scientist League because of his fraternising with Crash Bandicoot during the events of Twinsanity. Cortex Chaos never got past the concept stage. |
| Untitled sequel to Crash Twinsanity | 2005 | According to Keith Webb, one of the main artists for Crash Twinsanity, there was a plan to develop a sequel to the game. The plot would have centered around Crash getting sucked into various TV programmes (namely a wild west show, an old black-and-white cartoon, a medical drama and a cooking show hosted by Rusty Walrus) by an invention created by Dr. Cortex. |
| Crash Clash Racing | 2005 | After developing Crash Twinsanity, Traveller's Tales Oxford Studio began developing another Crash Bandicoot game, a racing title which would have served as a direct sequel to Twinsanity. This game, called Crash Clash Racing, would have involved personalized cars for each character, all with the gimmick of fusing together with another car. It would have been set inside Crash's mind, with the tracks based around his dreams and memories. The project was eventually picked up Radical Entertainment and released as Crash Tag Team Racing, resulting in a product that was substantially different from the original concept. |
| Crash Tag Team Racing (Nintendo DS) | 2005 | Alongside the console releases, Crash Tag Team Racing was initially planned to also be released on the Nintendo DS. Due to the console's inferior hardware, this version was not going to be a direct port, but it was going to be as similar to the other versions as possible, and it was being developed by Sensory Sweep. The game was in development for 9 to 10 months before the studio was told by the publisher that it was going to be cancelled, as Mario Kart DS was scheduled to come out around the same time. |
| Crash Online | 2006 | Halfway through the year 2006, a small article was published on the Internet, listing several online PC games which were meant to be released by Sierra. Amongst them there was a mysterious project named Crash Online. The game was set for a release in 2007, but a small copy of its logo was in fact the only thing that has ever been revealed. It was probably going to be exclusive to China and would have required players to pay a fee for each play session. The game can be classified as vaporware, given that it was never publicly cancelled. |
| Untitled Toys for Bob game | 2008 | Around 2008, Toys for Bob created a pitch for a new Crash game, but it was ultimately rejected. |
| Crash Landed/I Am Crash Bandicoot | 2010 | Following Mind Over Mutant, Radical Entertainment started working on their next game, which was titled during various stages as either Crash Landed or I Am Crash Bandicoot. Development began on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and it was intended to be ported for Wii afterwards. A DS version was also being planned, but no team was ever decided for its development. There were a few contenders for the DS version such as Renegade Kid and WayForward, with Renegade Kid going as far as producing a playable demo as their pitch, while WayForward's pitch ended up being reworked into Galactic Taz Ball. The game was meant to be a reboot of the franchise, and would have provided a new origin story for Crash, marking the beginning of a series of new adventures. After being mutated by Cortex, he would have gotten entangled with the task of rescuing his fellow bandicoots. The game was cancelled due to layoffs at Radical on February 11, 2010, and was abandoned in favor of Prototype 2. |
| Crash Team Racing (2010) | 2010 | Crash Landed was being accompanied by a directly related spin-off, a racing game with the likely provisory name of Crash Team Racing (not to be confused with the 1999 game), that was being developed concurrently by High Impact Games. It was initially slated for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. It would have featured several playable characters as usual, but only Crash, Dingodile, Polar and a new character simply called Land Shark were finished before cancellation. The project was eventually retooled into DreamWorks Super Star Kartz. |
| Untitled Vicarious Visions game | 2012 | In late 2012, a photo taken inside Vicarious Visions' studio featuring a poster of Crash with a new design was leaked to the internet. Although it was later revealed that the poster was from a cancelled Crash Bandicoot game, any details about the game itself are still unknown. |
| Crash-N-Burn | 2014 | In 2014, Big Red Button, a studio founded by former Naughty Dog art director Bob Rafei, began working on a concept for a new Crash title that would have seen the series return to its original platforming roots, tentatively titled Crash-N-Burn. Although a proof of concept demo, created using CryEngine 3 and featuring Crash's original character design, was presented to Activision, nothing further is known about the project, and it is unclear if the studio was actually intent on making the game, given their commitment to the development of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric at the time. Footage from the demo was first released in September 2020. |
References
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