Crash Bandicoot brought us a new entry with Crash Team Rumble, a 4v4 game where the teams compete against one another to collect the most wumpa – the series’ staple fruit. You can choose which character to play as, each with their own specialties and weakness, and you can either get Wumpa, Relics, control Gem Clusters, or beat the crap out of the enemy, preventing them from doing these things.
Crash Bandicoot: 10 Best Characters Of All Time
Over the years, Crash Bandicoot has picked up a whole host of allies and enemies. And Dingodile.
All that said, which characters are present, and what are their roles and abilities? We have eight so far, with more already announced and even more who’ll appear in future seasons.
Updated on December 11, 2023, by Lucas Olah: The Bandicoot will only go so far without inviting his Dragon BFF. Crash and Spyro have a long history in the gaming industry and with each other, and it’s also been a while since both belong to the same company. Thus, with a big party-like game such as Crash Team Rumble, we all knew Spyro would show up, especially considering his villain, Ripto, managed to appear before him. So, Spyro and friends are here, and they’re pretty powerful.
13 Crash Bandicoot
The main character of the series is here to grace us with his presence, as he’s been doing for quite some time now. His controls are almost the same compared to Crash 4, with the sole difference of his slide being used with the right trigger – and the fact you can do it in the air now – and circle/B button doing an instant belly flop. His slide also pushes targets away, being useful for escaping people or throwing them off the platform.
The game gives each character roles, and Crash is a Scorer, meaning he’s focused on fast maneuverability to get lots of Wumpa and return them to base. Still, as the main character from multiple entries, he’s the safest choice for beginners and whoever has already played previous games.
12 Coco Bandicoot
Coco is another obvious appearance in a game such as this one. Crash’s younger sister is also one of the playable characters, and though she plays exactly the same as Crash in Crash 4, she has a unique moveset here, albeit both are still similar.
She essentially does the same as him except for the slide. Instead, she creates a Quantum Wall that blocks and pushes enemies away while boosting allies’ speed. She also has a speed boost when used in the air, making her one of the fastest characters in the game.
Her role is Booster, which focuses on retrieving Relics for their stations, as well as triggering Gem Clusters. Essentially, she is a support-type character, helping around wherever she can by unlocking extra powers and boosting the amount of Wumpa retrieved, hence the role’s name.
Both Crash’s and Coco’s body slam attacks are effective at stopping nasty Dingodiles waiting for you at the bank.
11 Dingodile
A fan-favorite villain who’s now retired from being a minion so he can work on his diner, Dingodile is also back from Crash 4. Since he’s also playable in Crash 4, you can expect most of his moves already; a spin, the ability to suck crates – and people – with his vacuum gun, with even a quicker version for emergencies, and the ability to hover with his gun too.
The biggest difference is that he can charge his attack, creating a powerful and fast spin attack that puts Crash’s and Coco’s spins to shame in comparison.
Crash Team Rumble: All Maps, Ranked
Your battles for Relics take place in (mostly) great locations.
His role is Blocker; a character who is dedicated to hunting enemies and stopping them from scoring. He’s one of the best at combat and has the largest health bar of all characters, but he’s also too slow to keep up with others. This is why you see many Dingodiles as ‘goalkeepers,’ waiting at the enemy bank to kick everybody’s Wumpa out of them.
10 Spyro
Spyro is here, and though there are minor button swaps, his movements are incredibly faithful to his games. He can charge freely, breathe fire, slam onto the ground with his horns, and glide, which can be a game changer, especially in Party Mode.
The most significant difference to his own games is a double jump he got, so you can press the button to jump and hold it to glide. Still, getting used to the extra jump doesn’t take too long. Thanks to his absurd speed and gliding, he’s one of the quickest choices in the game and has excellent mobility.
9 Ripto
Spyro’s villain from his second game, Ripto, is a very popular character in the fanbase. Thus, he got invited to the Rumble. He isn’t super quick, but he has good vertical mobility thanks to his Tsunami attack that sends him upwards, giving him a sort of a triple jump when needed.
He also compensates for his lack of mobility with great range. His primary attack is fireballs, and he can charge an electric strike to hit opponents in front of him who are a bit far and in need of being beaten.
8 Elora
Sadly, there’s not much to say about her at the time. Though she is confirmed, she’s not available to play yet. All we have are comments from patch notes, which insinuate that she will have healing abilities.
Crash Team Rumble: Every Relic Perk, Ranked
These items can give you a worthy advantage against your rivals.
For those unfamiliar, Elora is a faun and a friend of Spyro, and she first appeared in his second game, along with the aforementioned Ripto. Also, along with him, this will be the first time she’ll be a playable character. Still, unlike Ripto, who has a boss fight for move references, we have never seen Elora in a combat scenario, so her abilities will be completely new.
7 Dr. N. Gin
N. Gin can take a while to get the hang on, as he’s both fragile and has small damage output. Still, he has good mobility, multiple ways to knock people, and a good range for his attacks, perfect for poking and disrupting the enemy, even if your teammates will likely be the ones who will get the kill.
His primary attack consists of projectiles that chase opponents. They can escape, but the chase part makes it somewhat easy to hit. He can also double jump and hover with his jetpack, allowing him to go far, and there’s an upward boost on it, too, making him jump slightly higher than the average.
Still, he can propel himself upward with one of his special moves, regardless of whether you’re on the ground or in the air, and this attack knocks people away from you, helping you remove them from Gem clusters or their bank, disrupting the Wumpa delivery.
Lastly, he can throw a boombox on the ground, occasionally unleashing a sound wave that hurts enemies and pushes them away, yet another useful way to remove them from objectives. You have plenty of options to make the enemy team hate your guts.
6 Ripper Roo
Our favorite blue kangaroo, neglected multiple times, finally gets center stage as a playable character in a platform setting. With all the jumping around, he just fits.
Master of vertical movement, you can hold the jump button to bounce whenever you hit the ground again, being able to reach N. Sane heights with the Roo. He also can blast himself with a cannon. It takes a while to aim and obtain range, and it makes you vulnerable, but it’s one of the most effective methods of movement, making Ripper Roo one of the most mobile Blockers the game offers.
His main attack is pretty basic, but it knocks enemies back, and he can summon a bomb to roll around with, and you can press the button again to launch it. It’s one of the most efficient ways to deal with Gasmoxian Guards, considering the bomb’s damage and how easy it is to spam it, especially on a target that doesn’t move.
5 Dr. Neo Cortex
A hero can only be as good as their villain, and wherever Crash goes, Cortex will surely follow. Though Cortex has already debuted in platforming games, being able to walk around with him is still a fresh thing, and it’s nice to get more opportunities as well.
Also, based on his Crash 4 moveset, Cortex can finallydouble-jump. His dash continues, and he also has the benefit of attacking people from afar, making him quite exclusive in this category. A charged shot can turn enemies into animals, and he can also summon and drop a piano on a small area for some reason, in a very Looney Tunes fashion.
Crash Team Rumble: All Powers, Ranked
The tools that let you change the tide of the matches.
He’s also a Booster, just like Coco. The game marks Cortex as the character with the highest learning curve, and it shows; using him properly takes some time and dedication, but that gives him a lot more room to mess around with enemies. In fact, though he’s not a Blocker, he’s one of the best characters for combat, and if you master Cortex, you can have Dingodile or other Blockers running away from you.
4 Tawna Bandicoot
Tawna is also making her return from Crash Bandicoot 4. That means she’s the alternate version shown in that game rather than the one we’ve seen back in the original Crash game. Her kicks are a bit faster compared to Crash 4, and her grappling hook is back, and it can catch air itself and pull her forward anytime you use it – which is weird but both fun and funny. She can also send people upwards with her circle/B attack, and send them down again if she’s in the air, giving her some good combo possibilities.
She’s also a Scorer, similar to Crash. She’s more mobile, can carry more fruit than him, and she fights better, at the cost of being a more complex character to handle with a very low health bar. In other words, she’s a higher risk to use, with the chance of getting more rewards.
3 Dr. Nitrus Brio
The enemy of our enemy, Brio, is the former assistant of Cortex and still helps him sometimes but always has betrayal in mind. His gameplay is unique and tricky; though he’s a Blocker, he’s quite fragile. Still, his basic attacks are painful, and he can throw potions on the ground, letting him stay in the air a bit longer and safely hit people under him without being in close combat. He can also use his Slime Monsters to attack or even contest Gems.
But his signature move is his Hulk-like transformation. It takes a while to activate it, making you vulnerable, but it’s really hard to stop you during your transformation. Not even Dingodile’s powerful strikes will be a problem for you. He demands a bit more time to master, but his gameplay is very satisfying.
2 Dr. Nefarious Tropy
The master of time is here, and curiously, it’s the alternate version shown in Crash 4 rather than the one we know from Warped. That means we have a ferocious adversary since this N. Tropy was successful at killing her version of Crash.
She’s the most floaty of all characters, giving us a fun dynamic in the air where you can hold X/A to fall slower. You have a powerful slam attack that spreads spheres, causing extra damage, and you can shoot projectiles that hurt and push people away. Of all Blockers, she has the most maneuverability, making her a good Off-Booster since she can easily kick people out of Gems and Relic Stations.
You can cancel your slam attack with a jump, turning your double jump into a quadruple jump!
1 Catbat
Although they were introduced in a secret cutscene at the end of Crash 4, Catbat is a newcomer, and this is the first time we get to see them for good. And already being a playable character in their big break is pretty awesome.
Catbat has an interesting kit; they have a quadruple jump, making them one of the most effective characters in vertical movement, and they can dive into a specific position (you’ll see a target on the ground whenever you’re in the air). You can also cancel that with another jump if you’re diving toward a bad destination.
Catbat’s kit includes a burger, of all things, and it’s quite useful. It follows the target – to some extent – and will either heal them if the target is an ally or hurt and push them away if it’s an enemy. It will stay in place if no one is around, so you can grab it and heal yourself. Overall, that puts Catbat in an interesting position as the only character so far with healing abilities. Others would need to use the Healing Fridge for that.
10 Characters We Would Like To See In Crash Team Rumble
These are the characters we would love to see “Crash” this party.