If a new, mainline Crash Bandicoot game wasn’t enough to satiate your need for the old PlayStation mascot, a mobile spin-off called Crash Bandicoot: On The Run is also coming to your cellular devices and tablets this year.
After leaks and whispers of its existence spread across the internet this past week, King (known for its work on games like Candy Crush Saga) revealed On The Run today, and it’s an endless runner set in the Crash Bandicoot universe. The announcement trailer is mostly a cinematic that gives you a guided tour of what to expect. This includes new levels based on worlds in classic Crash games, customizable characters (we see what looks like Crash with blue fur at one point), the return of old bosses repurposed for the endless runner format, as well as cooperative multiplayer featuring Crash’s sister Coco.
Then finally we see just a little bit of gameplay, but only a few seconds of it. Check out the trailer below:
Pre-registration is live on King’s website, and signing up will get you that aforementioned Blue Hyena skin for Crash. Looking at the synopsis on the official site, it looks like On The Run will be following in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time’s footsteps in dealing with some time travel/multiverse nonsense. Franchise synergy is smart, as Activision appears to be really backing Crash again after the success of the Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled.
“In Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, Dr. Neo Cortex has dispatched iconic villains across the multiverse to take control of all dimensions. With the help of his sister Coco, Crash must bash Cortex’s minions back to their own dimensions!
Use Crash’s unstoppable energy and let the fur fly as you run, spin and slide your way to stop the dastardly Dr. Neo Cortex from destroying all worlds.”
In other news:
- Toybox Has No Plans to Fix Deadly Premonition 2’s Jank Ass Frame Rate
- Nintendo Apologizes For The Times Mario Walked Off the Level Due to Joy-Con Drift
- Former PlayStation Boss: Current AAA Game Development Is Unsustainable
Between On The Run and the upcoming Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, Crash is earnestly back in the spotlight in a way he really hasn’t been since the original PlayStation days. It’s About Time developer Toys For Bob has been positioning the game as a return to form for the series after long detours that deviated from the original trilogy’s style. Though it did have a little bit of controversy when an Xbox Store listing claimed the game was going to have microtransactions, which was a rumor Toys for Bob quickly shut down after the internet kicked up some dust about it.
The real question is now, however, will Spyro be getting this same love a year from now? The Reignited Trilogy, which remade Insomniac’s first three games in the series for modern consoles, did pretty well for Activision, and all this success has made remakes and remasters a key pillar of the company’s business. So let’s give the little purple guy a new game too, Activision.
