Crash Boom Bang!

Crash Boom Bang! is a Crash Bandicoot game published by Sierra and developed by Dimps. It was released on Crash's 10th anniversary, and is also his first appearance on the Nintendo DS.

Story
The game's story centers on a multimillionaire named the Viscount who uses the characters of the series to unearth a powerful object dubbed the "Super Big Power Crystal". The characters must beat their way through mini-games and challenges in order to eventually find the "Super Big Power Crystal" and whoever finds it wins $100,000,000.

The race starts in Port Town, with the winners traveling in a boat to a large desert. Legend has it that four stone tablets are buried somewhere in the desert, and the contestants are sent out to dig for them and bring them to the Viscount.9 According to the stone tablets, the actual location of the Crystal is hidden somewhere on the ancient map. Before he can investigate the matter further, Doctor Neo Cortex swoops in and snatches the map. As the two struggle for the map, the map is torn to shreds.

Cortex sends his loyal Lab Assistants to find the pieces of the map scattered throughout the big City and bring them to him.10 Now that the contestants know about the map, the Viscount decides to reveal his true intentions: the Super Big Power Crystal can grant a single wish who whoever obtains it, and the Viscount is willing to give a large sum of money to those who help him find it.11 Finding the Power Crystal is impossible without the Final Key, so the Viscount boards his plane to travel to the North Atlantic Ocean in search for the Final Key. But the plane is full, and only a select number of the contestants are able to board.12 Propelled to the skies by an explosive volcano, the contestants are able to board the Viscount's plane.

On the Viscount's ship, the Viscount tells the group the story of an explorer who found the Final Key, but was unable to find the Power Crystal. That explorer was the Viscount's grandfather. As the explorer sailed back to his homeland to recollect his thoughts, his ship crashed into an iceberg and sank, taking the Viscount's grandfather to a watery grave.13 "Sounds like a movie", remarks one of the attendees. The Viscount tells them to dive to the sunken ship and retrieve the Final Key, much to their shock, considering the near-freezing temperatures.14 Despite this, the group is able to find the Final Key before freezing to death. With all the pieces of the puzzle at hand, the Viscount victoriously enters the Tower, where the Super Big Power Crystal awaits its owner.15 Just as the Viscount is about to make his wish, Crash steps forward and makes his wish of a large pile of Wumpa Fruit, much to the Viscount's grief. "May peace prevail on Earth", says Coco.

Playable
†Unlockable characters
 * Crash Bandicoot
 * Coco Bandicoot
 * Crunch Bandicoot†
 * Tawna†
 * Fake Crash†
 * Pura
 * Dr. Neo Cortex†
 * Pinstripe Potoroo

Non-playable

 * Viscount
 * Aku Aku

Cameos

 * Uka Uka
 * Dr. N. Gin
 * Dr. Nefarious Tropy
 * Tiny Tiger
 * Polar
 * Lab Assistants

Reception
Crash Boom Bang received mostly negative reviews from critics and fans alike. IGN have given the game an overall rating of 2.0 and called the game "a real disappointment". GamePro also gave a low overall score of 5.9 and saying that it was the first real disappointing Crash game.

Sales
Crash Boom Bang sold poorly as well and is of now the worst selling Crash game ever with 0.08 million copies sold.

Trivia

 * This is the first, and to date only, game in the Crash series to be created entirely in Japan.
 * This also marks the first time Tawna is playable.
 * The game would get a sequel released for the Mobile Phones, but only in Japan.
 * Like Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash Boom Bang uses a different Crash model in its Japanese version.
 * The American and European box art shows the characters in their Twinsanity designs, but in the actual game the characters have their Japanese designs.