Crash Team Rumble

To do: Cover the Wumpa League footage on a development page Lots of revisional changes (with more to come); probably worth a subpage Cover content remaining in the game from the final update alongside content that never actually made it into the game Prerelease content could also get a small subpage

Crash Team Rumble is a rather unique entry in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, being an online multiplayer platformer in which teams compete to gather Wumpa Fruit as quickly as possible. Its second season added several cooperative game modes as well.

Being developed by Toys for Bob, the game uses the same character designs and many of the same assets as their previous entry in the franchise, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time.

The game started out as a multiplayer title under the name "Wumpa League", before being delayed and presumably shelved for some time in favor of support for Call of Duty: Warzone and other Call of Duty titles during the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, the game is rather infamous among fans for being teased since It's About Time's initial release; over two years before it was officially revealed.

This was the last game Toys for Bob would develop under Activision's control, as the studio would split from the company and become independent in early 2024. Unfortunately, this left the game with a large amount of cut content, including four planned characters and one completely out of place goblin.

Unused Graphics#

Placeholders#

Placeholder icons for Hero Abilities, as indicated by the "REPLACE ME!" text overlay.

A similar placeholder for Badge Awards.

Placeholder graphics for Ripto. One of them depicting Ripto in a similar style to other placeholder graphics, and one oddly using a concept art of the Axotl Squirell from It's About Time.

Fruit graphics used as placeholders for the ping function.

A whopping 15 placeholder images. "Lava" is the codename for the game.

Alternate CatBat Backdrop#

To do: Add used backdrop for comparison

An unused Hero Backdrop linked to the character CatBat. The one used in game (labeled CP6575) depicts the level Rude Awakening from It's About Time, whereas the alternate version (labeled CP6575_2) depicts the level Run it Bayou.

General Rule Crash#

Graphics labeled RenderPose_VS_Crash_General, both with and without an alpha channel. Purpose unknown.

Interestingly, this outfit, originally featured in It's About Time, isn't currently available in the game (though the General hat is).

Disco Cortex#

An icon for a disco-themed skin for Cortex found in the files for Season 1. It was later replaced with the "Boogie Baddie" skin and released in Season 2.

Marketing Poses#

Models of the 8 vanilla characters in poses resembling those seen in marketing material; never used in-game. Interestingly, this version of Crash has a broken eye.

Default	Fixed

Unused CatBat Pose#

This pose of CatBat, based on its filename (A_CP36575_RenderPose_VS_Pose01), may be related to the previously mentioned graphics of General Crash.

Disco Cortex#

A disco-themed skin for Cortex found in the files for season 1. It was later replaced with the "Boogie Baddie" skin and released in season 2.

Dr. Boom#

Perhaps strangest of all, a model for Dr. Boom from Hearthstone can be found in MP_DEMO. A model for a robot vehicle is also present, seemingly based on this card from The Boomsday Project expansion. Purpose unknown.

Male N Tropy#

To do: Male N.Tropy has a model in the files. Rip it and post screenshots.

N. Gin's Rocket Attack#

N. Gin was originally going to be able to throw Rockets as projectile. This attack would actually make it into promotional screenshots leading up to N. Gin's release, suggesting it was cut rather late in development.

An unused model of the rocket.

An unused animation of N. Gin throwing the rocket.

Unused Announcer Lines#

To do: Add these lines, as well as videos of them.

Multiple voice lines referencing Nina, Tiny, and Pinstripe are within the game's data, likely pointing towards them being next in line for Season 4 before development was unfortunately cut.

Oddities#

Missing Audio Files#

The game contains references to several voice lines from the narrator that aren't actually present in the files.

vo_announcer_relic_power_ready
vo_announcer_select_hero_and_power
vo_announcer_a_teammate_requests_assistance
vo_announcer_countdown_bonus_round
vo_announcer_countdown_final_round
vo_announcer_countdown_match_round
vo_announcer_overtime

Instead of a generic "Relic Power Ready!" line, each Relic Power was given its own unique voice line for the final game. "Select Hero and Power!" and "A teammate requests assistance!" are messages that do show up in the final game (the latter appearing in a similar manner to the announcer's subtitles), though the announcer never says them aloud in game. "Bonus Round," "Final Round," and "Match Round" suggest that a game mode featuring rounds was planned for the game at some point. Similarly, the "Overtime" voice line appears to be a reference to a timer/overtime feature not found in any competitive game mode.

Nintendo Switch Online#

"platform_nintendo_switch": "Nintendo Switch Online",

A reference to Nintendo Switch Online can be found grouped together with the online services for other consoles. The game was never released for Nintendo Switch.