Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!
Developer(s)	King
Publisher(s)	Activision
Platform(s)	Mobile Phones
Release date(s)	April 22, 2020 (Soft test launch) March 24, 2021 (Official launch - iOS) March 25, 2021 (Official launch - other platforms)
Genre	Endless Runner
Rating(s)	9+
Mode(s)	Singleplayer Online Multiplayer (2-4 players)

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! (stylized as Crash: On the Run!) is a mobile game developed by King and is available on the Google Play Store and the App Store. It revolves around Crash Bandicoot and Coco Bandicoot roaming various locations in an endless runner style in order to collect ingredients to construct weapons and defeat villains such as Nitrus Brio, Dingodile, Tiny Tiger, Koala Kong, Scorporilla, Nina Cortex and Mr. Crumb.

Development

Initially, King wanted to develop a game with a new take on the runner genre. They later approached Activision with the intent of using those ideas for a new Crash Bandicoot game.

The game was first soft-launched in select countries on April 22nd, 2020.

A dedicated Twitter account for the game was registered in May 2020 but wasn't discovered until July 2020 when a teaser video of a TNT crate and the word "Loading..." was posted.

On the 9th of July 2020, the official announcement trailer was uploaded to the Twitter account, and the game was fully added to the Apple App Store, being made available for pre-registration on both platforms. A Blue Hyena skin for Crash, like the one from Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, was billed as a bonus for pre-registering.

On the 27th of October, 2020, a new trailer was released announcing the game would come out in Spring 2021. The release date was confirmed to March 25th, 2021, in a second trailer released on March 2nd 2021.

Seasonal events similar to the Grand Prix are planned for the game. The developers may add more playable characters than Crash and Coco depending on the game's commercial success.

Story

In this 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!

The game takes place after all existing Crash Bandicoot games, so that any past character or event may collide with it.

Seasons

See: Seasons

• Season 0 - Launch Party! (started 25th of March 2021, ended in 29th of March 2021)
• Season 1 - The Return of Nitros Oxide! (started 29th of March 2021, ended 3rd of May 2021)
• Season 2 - Running Outta Time! (started 6th of May 2021, ended 7th of June 2021)
• Season 3 - Battle of the Dragons (started 10th of June 2021, ended 12th of July 2021)
• Season 4 - Survival of the Fastest (started on 15th of July 2021, ending 16th of August 2021)

Gameplay

Basics

The base gameplay is similar to other endless running games like Temple Run or Sonic Dash. Crash or Coco run forward automatically, but the player can control them by swiping their finger left or right to dodge in that direction, swipe upwards to Jump, swipe downwards to Slide, swipe up then down to Body Slam and tap to Spin.

The main objective is to defeat Cortex's minions to earn Power Gems, which is done by throwing serums and bombs at them after a short boss fight. Serums must be crafted at Coco's Base before fighting, which requires specific materials to create. Additionally, the player must wait a certain amount in real time before they can collect a created item. Power Gems unlock new levels and their associated game modes, new gangs to battle against and new stations to craft ingredients.

Like in the main games, if Crash or Coco get hit by ether an enemy or hazard, run into a wall, or fall off the level, the player loses and has to restart the level from ether the beginning or the last Checkpoint Crate they broke. However, if they have a Aku Aku mask, they can be shielded by any damage. And if all 3 masks are collected, they will be invincible from all dangers for a short time.

If the player is short on materials, they can play a Collection Run to obtain more by breaking crates containing resources, getting a small amount of items for free in the vending machine by watching an ad, or by purchasing them with Crystals.

Game Modes

• Collection Run: run indefinitely to collect ingredients, which vary with levels. Exits are placed at junctions.
• Gem Run: a more challenging run with no checkpoint to earn a colored gem. Some requires to break all crates before reaching the end, destroy all spiders or catch all Wumpa Fruits. Each hub worlds have 4 colored gem, one per level. These challenges are accessed through exit warp pads unlocked in Collection Run after earning enough Power Gems.
• Challenge Run: a mode in which you are required to perform certain tasks (breaking crates or defeating spiders) to collect certain ingredients used in the crafting.
• Time Trial: race against the clock for a Sapphire, Gold or Platinum Time Relic. Breaking Time Crates freezes the clock for up to 3s.
• Battle Run: run through a level to defeat a Henchman or Boss, and earn a Power Gem with each successful run.
• Survival Run: run alongside 2 bots as long as possible before dying. Trophies are awarded every 10 seconds. As time pass, the game accelerates and a multiplier (up to 1.8) is added to the trophy count. The last surviving runner earns a bonus of 50 trophies to their score, and the second to last 10 bonus trophies. The only available levels are Turtle Woods, Dino Might! and Bear It (added on April 6th).

Coco's Base

See: Coco's Base

Coco's Base is the location and menu where players go in-between runs. From there, they can select Battle Runs against Henchmen and Bosses, Collection Runs and challenges. They can also craft Portal Weapons at the Labs or the Chicken Coops, and buy ingredients, weapons, skins and Crystals at the Vending Machine.

Elements

All Portal Weapons, Ingredients, Chickens and Eggs, Berries, Bosses and most Henchmen are defined by a mutagen Element:

• Nitro: "Green, sticky, glowy goo full of power!", an Element present throughout the Crash Bandicoot series and filling Nitro Crates.
• Frosty: "The bluest frost crystals.", an Element representing extreme cold temperatures.
• Inferno: "Flaming hot!", an Element representing extreme hot temperatures.
• Oxide: "Smelly, purple gas.", a gaseous Element with electromagnetic properties.

Skins obtained in the game can have bonuses against bosses of a specific Element.

Characters

Playable

• Crash Bandicoot
• Coco Bandicoot

Henchmen

In Battle Runs, Crash and Coco have to defeat gangs of villains consisting each of four henchmen and one boss. Henchmen can appear either as Nitro, Frosty, Inferno or Oxide. There are currently 15 different henchmen discovered, listed in order of appearance, with icons indicating what types they can currently appear as:

• Ant Drone : "Robotic Ant Drones from Neo-CorTECH."
• Crab : "Mutated armored crabs from N. Sanity Beach."
• Pink Elephant
• Mini Robot
• Araknid : "Robotic spiders from Neo-CorTECH."
• Lab Assistant : "The Lab Assistants are Dr. Neo Cortex's trusted henchmen."
• Iron Crate
• Electro Lab Assistant
• Zombot
• Thorn Thing
• Rok-Ko
• Wa-Wa: ""Wa-Wa is the elemental mask of Water.""
• Py-Ro: "Py-Ro is the elemental mask of fire."
• Lo-Lo: "Lo-Lo is the elemental mask of Air and has dominion over the forces of wind."
• Geary
• The Noid (cross-promotion, Running Outta Time! Seasonal Gangs only)

The following henchmen is known to appear in-game at some point, but is not available to fight yet:

• Pirate Shark

Bosses

Bosses can appear either as Nitro, Frosty, Inferno or Oxide. There are currently 17 bosses discovered, listed by order of appearance, with icons indicating what types they currently can appear as:

• Scorporilla : "She is a hybrid of a gorilla and a scorpion and the strongest and largest titan."
• Mutagen Nitrus Brio : "Doctor Nitrus Brio's mutagen form. Angry, green and has a fondness for spandex."
• Dingodile : "A pyromaniac genetically enhanced hybrid of a dingo and a crocodile."
• Fake Crash : "AKA Trash Bandicoot. A strange doppleganger of Crash Bandicoot."
• Nina Cortex : "The niece of Dr Neo Cortex and Coco's arch-enemy. She has bionic hands made for grappling and crushing soft objects."
• Robo Neo Cortex : "Made by Neo CorTECH. What every evil scientist needs, a robot version of yourself."
• Dr. Neo Cortex : "Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex. A professional evil scientist bent on world domination."
• Uka Uka : "Uka Uka is a voodoo mask spirit and Aku Aku's twin brother"
• Mr. Crumb : "Mr. Crumb aka Crooncrool Crumb is a vain, evil ghost obsessed with treasure."
• Tiny Tiger
• Fake Coco : "Is this Coco or a doppelganger?"
• Nefarious Tropy (female) (Running Outta Time! Seasonal Gangs only)
• Dark Spyro (Battle of the Dragons Seasonal Gangs only)
• Gnasty Gnorc (Battle of the Dragons Seasonal Gang only)
• N. Gin
• Koala Kong
• Nitros Oxide (Survival of the Fastest Seasonal Gangs only)

The following bosses are known to appear in-game at some point, but are not available to fight yet:

• N. Trance
• Pinstripe Potoroo: (25th Anniversary Seasonal Gangs only) "Don Pinstripelli Potorotti is a Tommy gun-wielding potoroo who, like Ripper Roo and others, got zapped by Neo Cortex's Evolvo-Ray."

Supporting

• Aku Aku
• Spyro the Dragon

Cameos

• Ajax
• Bentley
• Bianca
• Crunch Bandicoot
• Cyrus
• Elora
• Emperor Velo XXVII
• Evil Crash
• Hunter
• Komodo Brothers
• Megumi
• Moneybags
• Nefarious Tropy
• Pasadena O'Possum
• Penta Penguin
• Polar
• Pura
• Ripper Roo
• Ripto
• Sorceress
• Yaya Panda

Enemies & Hazards

• Rolling Stones
• Boulders
• Blobs
• TNT Crates
• Nitro Crates
• Turtles
• Scrubbers
• Spiders
• Spitter Plants
• Penguins
• Mummies
• Seals
• Flying Fish

Battle Runs

See: Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!/Battle Runs

Levels

The game features various areas inspired from previous levels of the first three original games. They are separated in islands (listed here by order of unlock):

Island	Level	Recharge Time	Collectible Items	Gem	Relic Times
Wumpa Island	Turtle Woods	2 hours	21 30 55 (60) 30		1:11:00 57:00 48:00
	Lost City	3 hours	37 26 25		1:16:00 1:09:00 59:00
	Temple Ruins	5 hours	18 37 45 28		1:17:00 1:09:00 59:00
	Dino Might!	6 hours	23 32 17 42		1:04:00 55:00 47:00
Ice Warp Island	Sewer or Later	3 hours	40 39 42		1:04:00 50:00 32:00
	The Lab	3 hours	25 54 49 22		1:10:00 55:00 43:00
	Snow Go	5 hours	31 20 16 37 34		1:10:00 57:00 45:00
	Bear It	6 hours	30 25 8 26		1:05:00 52:00 41:00
N. Sanity Island	The Great Gate	3 hours	37 20 13 31		3:00:00 58:00 49:00
	Road to Ruin	5 hours	17 30 19 13		3:00:00 59:00 48:00
	Beach Jungle	5 hours	26 10 45 19		3:00:00 59:00 48:00
	Upstream	5 hours 30 minutes	38 9 14 27		3:00:00 59:00 48:00

Items

See: Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!/Items

Items in the game are mainly used to engage in battle with Bosses and Henchmen or to repair and upgrade Coco's Base.

Skins

See: Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!/Skins

Gallery

See: Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!/Gallery

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	クラッシュ・バンディクー ブッとび！マルチワールド Kurasshu bandikū buttobi! Maruchiwārudo	Crash Bandicoot! Multi-World
Korean	크래쉬 밴디쿳: 온더런 keulaeswi baendikus: ondeoleon	(Same as English)
Chinese	古惑狼：全速冲锋 Gǔ huò láng: Quánsù chōngfēng	Crashing Wolf: Charge at Full Speed

Trivia

• The original prototype game called "Mylo" was created by King and was re-skinned with Crash Bandicoot and presented to Activision by King. They then signed off the early production of the game.
• During early production, the game went by the working title Crash Bandicoot Mobile, before being officially named Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! for the soft launch.
• This is the first time in the series where the Elementals are solo bosses.
• Many of On the Run!'s voicelines are recycled from Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. The game also reuses sounds such as when collecting Wumpas.