Crash

"Crash Wumps The Competition!"

Crash Bandicoot is the eponymous protagonist of Activision's Crash Bandicoot franchise, debuting with the original PS1 game in 1996.

He is also a playable character in Nexed.

Real-World History
During a move from Massachusetts to California, Naughty Dog employees Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin decided to create a 3D action platformer for the PlayStation as a part of Naughty Dog's three-game deal with Sony. Originally dubbed "Sonic's Ass Game" (due to the camera being placed behind the main character during gameplay), the game's main technologies and concepts were developed throughout the fall of 1994.

The game's protagonist was originally dubbed "Willy the Wombat", as the developers wanted to take what Sega and Warner Bros. had done with Sonic the Hedgehog and Looney Tunes' Taz respectively and use an animal that was "cute, real, and no one really knew about". Despite being reworked into a bandicoot later on, the Willy name was kept until destructible crates were added to the game, becoming a central point of gameplay. Due to this, the name "Crash Bandicoot" was decided upon (although Naughty Dog had to debate the name with Universal Interactive Studios, who wanted the character's name to be "Wez/Wezzy/Wuzzle the Wombat" or "Ozzie the Otzel").

Crash's design was "51% by technical and visual necessity and 49% by inspiration", with no parallels between him and a real-world bandicoot being present. Crash's orange fur was chosen due to its compatability with the game's backgrounds and the capabilities of many televisions at the time, with other details such as his stomach color and pants being designed to work best with visibility and the PlayStation's capabilities. Crash was also designed to be "goofy and fun-loving" early on, as well as never speaking based on a theory that voiced video game characters were "lame, negative, and distracted from identification with them".

After the release and subsequent success of Crash Bandicoot in 1996, Crash would become a de-facto mascot for Sony Computer Entertainment up until 2000 with the release of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, the first game in the franchise to be multi-platform. In addition, Crash would recieve a number of spinoff games and reworked designs. However, Crash would enter a period of dormancy from 2010 (Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2) to 2017 (Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy), with a resurgence after the launch of N. Sane Trilogy with games such as Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

Gameplay Information
"After being mutated by the evil Dr. Neo Cortex, Crash set out on a mission to defeat the doctor and save his then-girlfriend, Tawna. He’s had a variety of n-sane adventures ever since, but when he’s not busy with saving the world, he’d much rather lay about on the shores of N. Sanity Island.

One day, though, Crash’s wise mentor Aku Aku informed him of a multiversal fighting tournament, fearing temporal consequences stemming from multiversal connections being formed. Having tangoed with the multiverse before, Crash was eager to jump into the fray without regard to potential danger, with Aku Aku tagging along to keep him safe."

Crash is a defense-oriented character; While his attack power and mobility aren't low by any means, many of his attacks exchange range for safer options. For example, his Neutral Special serves as a quick "get off me" tool and reflector, while his Down Special allows him to create obstacles for defense. Despite this, Crash is still able to get KOs just as easily as other characters thanks to his strong attacks.

However, Crash's lack of range leaves him unable to zone opponents, with his best zoning tool being the Down Special. In addition, Crash has a weak combo game, usually having to resort to punishes to pull them off. As such, Crash players should make the most of their defensive tools to catch mistakes and seek punishes.

Moveset

 * Crawl: Crash is able to crawl.
 * Wall Jump: Crash can jump off of walls.

Grounded Attacks

 * Jab: Crash throws a haymaker punch.
 * Dash Attack: Crash trips on his face and slides forward. Unlike most dash attacks, this can go off-stage.
 * Forward Light: Crash throws a roundhouse kick.
 * Up Light: Crash throws an uppercut.
 * Down Light: Crash performs a sliding kick resembling the one which debuted in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. This move can be canceled into a jump.
 * Forward Strong: Crash throws a dropkick resembling the Brick Breaker attack from Crash of the Titans.
 * Up Strong: Crash throws a backflip kick.
 * Down Strong: Crash performs a spinning kick which resembles the Gyro Jackhammer from Crash: Mind over Mutant. This is his best kill move.
 * Counter: Crash spins into the opponent.

Aerial Attacks

 * Neutral Air: Crash does a mid-air split, resembling the double jump animation from Crash Bandicoot: Warped.
 * Forward Air: Crash throws a low-to-high kick which resembles his animation while pushing objects in Skylanders Imaginators.
 * Back Air: Crash performs a sideways flip kick, referencing a scrapped attack from Crash Twinsanity.
 * Up Air: Crash throws a straight headbutt upwards.
 * Down Air: Crash performs the Belly Flop from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, crashing to the ground with his stomach. Grounded opponents hit by the move’s sweetspot will be buried, while airborne opponents can be spiked.

Grabs / Throws

 * Grab: Crash grabs the opponent with both hands.
 * Pummel: Crash headbutts the opponent.
 * Forward Throw: Crash spins around before tossing the opponent forwards, resembling the Twin Throw from Crash Twinsanity.
 * Back Throw: Crash spins around before tossing the opponent backwards, resembling the Twin Throw from Crash Twinsanity.
 * Up Throw: Crash chucks the opponent into the air, resembling the Twin Throw from Crash Twinsanity.
 * Down Throw: Crash tosses the opponent to the ground before belly flopping onto them, launching them away. This is his best combo throw.

Stage Intro
Crash jumps through a Time Twister portal from Crash Bandicoot: Warped, landing on the stage and entering his battle stance.

Taunts

 * Crash performs the Crash Dance, which debuted in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.
 * Crash spins a piece of Wumpa Fruit on his finger, an animation from Crash Bandicoot.
 * Crash spins around before posing with two peace signs, an animation from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.
 * Crash plays with a yo-yo.

Victory Animations
Crash's victory theme is an excerpt of the N. Sanity Beach theme from Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy.
 * Crash performs the Crash Dance.
 * Crash coughs up a Crystal from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, which he happily displays to the camera.
 * Crash spins into view before kneeling down and posing with his arms in the air with a “Ba-da-ba-daaaaaaah!”, an animation sourced from Crash Bandicoot.

Colors / Costumes


Trivia

 * Fruit Bazooka and Hog Wild were originally meant to switch roles (Fruit Bazooka being the Side Special and Hog Wild being the Level 2 Nexus Attack).

Gameplay-Related

 * If Crash is KO’d by the bottom blast zone, his shoes are thrown out of it. This is a reference to the pitfall death animation from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.
 * If Crash is KO’d in Stamina mode or by an Insta-KO attack, his spirit can be seen flying out of his body. If he was on his last stock, the spirit plays a didgeridoo. These both reference death animations from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back; The first occurs when Crash dies normally, while the didgeridoo variant occurs if he dies from a Nitro Crate explosion.
 * While Crash claps on the results screen as normal, he will regularly be interrupted by a crate falling onto his head. This is a reference to the "You Missed Boxes" sequence from the original Crash Bandicoot.