Much to the delight of long-time fans, the Crash Bandicoot series has seen a full revival just in the past few years. After an almost decade-long drought between mainline titles, Sony and developers Vicarious Visions, Toys for Bob, and Iron Galaxy revived Crash Bandicoot with a collection of remasters of the first 3 Crash games for the PS4 in 2017. Since then, Crash Team Racing has also seen its own remaster in 2019, and a brand new entry in the Crash Bandicoot series, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, was recently released in September of 2020.
Fans have made it clear that they hope Crash is here to stay, and now, it seems that Activision is utterly intent on keeping the Crash Bandicoot series alive and kicking. Back in July of 2020, Candy Crush Saga developer King announced Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! for mobile devices. Given that the successful mobile game developer was acquired by Activision Blizzard back in 2016, and that Activision has been a long-time publisher for the Crash series, King seems like a perfect fit to create a new Crash Bandicoot mobile game, but just what is it exactly?
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Anyone familiar with games like Temple Run or Subway Surfer will feel right at home with Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!, as it is a free-to-play endless runner mobile game. The game will see Crash and co. run, spin, and slide through both new and familiar levels filled with enemies, classic bosses, and craftable weapons. The game's initial announcement trailer reveals that it includes character customization, likely through microtransactions or unlockables, as well as co-op multiplayer with friends, where it seems one player can play as Crash while the other plays as his sister Coco. Although Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! is a mobile game, it is expected to have over 100 hours worth of content while players traverse 12 different areas.
It appears that players will be collecting the Crash Bandicoot series' iconic Wumpa Fruit while crashing into crates and collecting power-ups along the way. The game will have players face off against various bosses, such as Fake Crash, Nina Cortex, Nitrus Brio, and even Neo Cortex himself, who has dispatched an army of villains throughout the multiverse to gain control of all dimensions. Players will venture through familiar levels based on those from previous Crash Bandicoot games, such as Dino-Mite, based on levels from Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Sewer or Later and Snow Go from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and Great Gate from the original Crash Bandicoot game.
While Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! was previously only announced to release sometime during Spring 2021, its expected release date of March 25, 2021 was recently revealed by the iOS App Store. However, some fans looking into the mobile game may be puzzled by videos of gameplay footage uploaded by many YouTube users. This is because while Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! officially launches in most regions this March, King conducted a soft-launch of the game last April in select Asian countries such as Malaysia.
The game will be available for download on iOS and Android devices, and any users eager to be notified as soon as Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! releases can pre-register for the game on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store respectively. Like the game itself, pre-registering for it is completely free, and those who do so will receive an exclusive Blue Hyena skin for Crash upon the game's official release. Although the Blue Hyena skin didn't make an appearance in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, it was unlockable in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. It will certainly be interesting to see how Crash Bandicoot plays out in a mobile format later this year.
Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! is expected to release on March 25, 2021, for Android and iOS devices.
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