Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!
Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! is a 2021 mobile runner game, published by King under an exclusive license of Activision, its sister company. The game has references to earlier games in the series and was first soft-launched in select Asian countries on April 22, 2020. The game was released on March 25, 2021. Gameplay. "Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!" is a runner game in which the player controls either the titular character Crash or his sister Coco, who are tasked with saving the multiverse from domination by Doctor Neo Cortex and his minions. The  game's levels take place along three-lane paths. Crash and Coco can switch lanes, jump, and slide when the player swipes the screen, while tapping the screen causes them to perform a spinning attack. Progress throughout the game is driven by "battle runs", in which an enemy character at the end of a level must be defeated using an assortment of weapons such as serums, bombs and rayguns. To obtain these weapons, the player must also partake in "collection runs", in which Crash or Coco run through a level and collect ingredients. The weapons must then be crafted from  the gathered ingredients within a hub area referred to as "Coco's Base". The game features asynchronous multiplayer that allows players to compete with each other. Development. "Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!" was developed by King under the creative direction of Stephen Jarrett, with Nana Li as the lead conceptual artist and Gigi Chui as the principal designer. The development team adopted a mantra to make "the Crashiest "Crash" game ever", and set about achieving this by extensively studying and drawing upon the franchise's 25-year history. Relatively obscure characters within the franchise were incorporated, including the Scorporilla from  Crash of the Titans, a pink elephant character from a deleted "Crash Twinsanity" level, and Mr. Crumb, the antagonist of a little-known Tiger Electronics 99X title. The game's soundtrack was composed by a team led by Sebastian Aav, and consists of over 50 tracks with an eclectic range of genres including disco, metal, and funk. Both real and virtual instruments were used in the creation of the game's score. Release and updates. "Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!", under the tentative title "Crash Bandicoot Mobile", was soft launched on Android in select regions on April 23, 2020. King  officially announced a future wide release for iOS and Android in July. The game, now known by its final title, became available for pre-registration on the Google Play store. Those who pre-registered the game received the "Blue Hyena" skin from "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled" upon its release. In 2021, the game's first major update, labeled "Season 2: Running Outta Time", went live on May 6. The update featured the level Beach Jungle, a Survival Run for the level Dino Might, 19 time-themed skins, and the boss characters Tiny Tiger, Fake Coco, and the female version  of Doctor Nefarious Tropy from "". Beginning on May 7, The Noid was featured as a miniboss for a limited time, and pizza-themed skins were rewarded to players who defeated the Noid. The June update, titled "Battle of the Dragons", featured the level Upstream, "Spyro"-themed skins, and the boss characters Doctor N. Gin, Koala Kong, Gnasty Gnorc (the antagonist of "Spyro the Dragon"), and a dark form of Spyro that originally appeared in "". Reception and downloads. "Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!" received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic. Harry Slater of "Gamezebo" complimented the game's accessibility and presentation , but considered it to be a standard if solid auto-runner. Glen Fox of "Pocket Tactics" acknowledged the game's authentic presentation and responsive controls and enjoyed the multiplayer mode, but was disappointed by the low difficulty and lack of gameplay variety. Following its release on March 25, the game was downloaded more than 8.1 million times in one day. The game had also previously been downloaded millions of times from being launched in limited regions for pre-release testing several weeks prior to the game's official release.