Do you like Crash Bandicoot? Do you like 4v4 multiplayer battle arena video games? Well sit down and read this preview because I have a game for you.

Revealed at The Game Awards, I was initially shocked and skeptical that the latest Crash entry, Crash Team Rumble, would be a team based multiplayer game. I grew up playing Crash so my immediate thought was would this be like Crash Bash? Is this another Mario Party? In short, no it’s not but that’s okay.

In Crash Team Rumble, you collect wumpa fruit and the objective is to score more wumpa than the other team to win the match. Your favorite characters like Crash, Dingodile, Coco, Cortex, and Tawna return. Each with its own move set and specific roles to play during the match. If you like to score wumpa, go with Crash. If you want more of a defensive type character, Dingodile is your best bet. If you’re craving something more of a support, agile role, Coco is the way to go. This doesn’t mean that you to have play them specifically to fulfill that need. You can pick a character you like best and play however you want, along with choosing a special ability that you can choose like a healing ring or spawn an enemy to attack the opposing team.

The arenas themselves are straightforward enough but there’s a tutorial and a bot mode if you want to practice. Collect wumpa and take it back to your “base” to add to your team’s meter. Along the way, there are various relics you can collect to unlock add-ons on the map like a beach ball which you can use as a shield to knock opposing players back a step. Layered with all these are gems you can snag that create a boost modifier so your teammates can add more to the wumpa meter. There’s also a special ability note that makes things harder for the opposing team like Uka Uka’s raining fireballs on the map or using Oxide’s UFO to track and damage characters.

It sounds simple enough but once you get into the matches, there’s a level of strategy involved as it goes on. Griefing the opposing team’s drop-off zone was common. Making sure you’re taking advantage of the gem pad boosts was another. And you don’t want to be caught empty-handed if the opposing team decided to unlock the special map ability first. For most of my matches, I often played to the style I wanted to, which was collecting relics and supporting my teammates with boosts and unlocks.

I’m sure there will be more reveals like new characters, arenas, and features that will be discussed later on but for the first time playing Crash Team Rumble, it was interesting just to take in the idea and see it executed to its intended, playable state. Fans will likely enjoy the nostalgia with plenty of customization through emotes, nameplates, and costumes. Hmm, sounds similar to another Activision-Blizzard game…

If you like Crash Bandicoot and don’t mind playing it with friends, Crash Team Rumble is worth taking a look at.

Crash Team Rumble releases June 20, 2023 on PlayStation and Xbox consoles and features cross-platform play. You can pre-order the game now and gain access to the beta which runs from April 20 to 24. The standard edition retails for $29 and Deluxe Edition $39.

The Deluxe Edition will include:

• Premium Battle Pass Unlock for Seasons 1 + 2
• Digital Proto Pack. Includes:
  • 8 ‘Blocky’ hero skins
  • ‘Pixelated’ Shadow
  • ‘Get On My Level’ In-Game Victory Music
  • ‘Blocky’ Hat
  • ‘Blocky’ Backpack
  • ‘Blocky’ Score FX
  • Unique Banner
  • 25 Tier Instant Unlock for Season 1 Premium Battle Pass

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• Source: https://monstervine.com/2023/03/crash-team-rumble-preview-whole-lotta-wumpa/