New Crash Game on Mobile

So, Activision have just held one of their regular earnings meetings via call. Predictably, they cited their successes from the past year, such as Call of Duty on the mobile, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled having won best sports game at the Game of the Year Awards in December 2019. They also talked heavily about how their mobile sector, headed by King, makes a staggering amount of profit for Activision.

As you may have guessed from the title, this soon lead to talks about several of their big-hitting independent properties moving to the mobile. That's not to say they're being replaced by mobile games, but instead will have mobile-based games to supplment their larger, console-led titles. After some digging from long-time Crash Bandicoot fans JumpButton and Motwera, it was discovered that Crash was, indeed, one of those properties.

In fact, the dug up press release details were as follows...

Calling all Bandicoots! Crash is back, this time on mobile! Embark on a brand new adventure with your favourite characters and put a stop do Dr Neo Cortex's evil plan to destroy the multiverse!

In this new episode, Dr Neo Cortex dispatched mutagen henchmen across the multiverse to enslave all dimensions. With the help of his spirited sister Coco, Crash must strike and bash Cortex's minions back to their own worlds!

Get ready to umph and wump your way into madness with this new Crash game!

THE MOST ICONIC 90's CHARACTER IS NOW ON MOBILE

Everyone's favourite bandicoot is back, this time at the swipe of your fingertips! Join the fight with Coco and Aku Aku to defeat Dr Cortex!

DO THE PERFECT RUN

• Jump, slide, spin and surd on iconic tracks of the Wumpa Island
•  Collect as many Wumpas as you can
• Spin through crates for special rewards
• Avoid TNT crates otherwise... BOOM!

UNCOVER THE HIDDEN PATHS AND SECRET PASSAGES

• Put your running shoes and spot all the secret hideouts
• Smack down crates and get to new tracks for exclusive challenges!

BUILD UP YOUR BASE OF OPERATIONS

• Unlock key buildings and create an arsenal of weapons
• Grow and harvest crops to produce powerful serums
• Access the Wumpa volcano to collect Blaze pods!
• Repair the Space Rocket and fly to the Space Station!

TEAM UP WITH COCO TO SAVE THE MULTIVERSE

• Locate Dr Neo's minions thanks to Coco's machine
• Load up with your serums, bazookas and rayguns!
• Go on the run and bash the evil henchmen back to their worlds!

There are a few too many exclaimation marks for my liking, but it all sounds pretty legit. In fact, JumpButton and Motwera did some further digging:

Firstly, you can sign up for the game now via a survey, as per JB's link here: bit.ly/3788uvs

Secondly, here are some of the new images in all their glory:

Okay. So. New Crash design. I must say, I'm not really digging it, but he still looks identifiable as Crash. We've also had a lot worse when it comes to the ol' bandiboy's design, so I'm not complaining.

Next up, the game is clearly going to be a hallway runner. That means Crash will constantly run away from the screen and you press left, right and jump buttons to collect wumpa fruit. It's all pretty standard stuff for the mobile, just with a couple more additions such as building a 'base'. How this exactly helps you in the game remains to be seen, but it's certainly... something, I suppose. Whatever it takes to beat Cortex's henchmen from the, uh, multiverse. N.Trance (5th) and Evil Twins (10th) incoming?

Objectively, Crash on mobile does make sense. We've had him there before, what with old supplementary games like Doc-a-Mok from Twinsanity, or Crash Nitro Kart 2 and Crash Nitro Kart 3D (both of which did well on the iOS stores). I think, if anything, this marks a sign that Activision have realised Crash is one of their heavy-hitters and are looking to create more content involving him.

So, what does that mean for a new Crash game for 2020 or 2021? Probably nothing, just that this is an addition for this year and for that, it's a welcome surprise.