Crash Team Rumble (2023)

[Sonictrainer]

We have some info on Balancing Changes

https://www.toysforbob.com/blog/2023/Season1BalanceUpdate

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Hello Crash Team Rumble players, Toby here, Design Director at Toys for Bob. I’m writing this blog to share with you details about Crash Team Rumble’s first game balance update (live today!).

First off, thanks for playing –  it’s been a wild three weeks since launch.  We’ve been working on the game for some time and it’s been incredibly rewarding to see the Crash community battling it out in the race to 2000 Wumpa fruit.  On the hero team specifically, we’re happy to see that each hero has a devoted set of fans.  The last few days have been particularly exciting with the appearance of…a wild Ripper Roo.  Fellow Designer, Max has also enjoyed watching you get your hands on the bouncy, bomb-rolling, cannon-launching Roo sharing:

"The most fun part to me is seeing players already figuring out how to make the most of Ripper's frantic, explosive movements. Seeing someone panic to get back onto stage with a quick cannon launch is always exciting to see.  Ripper also has some hidden interactions with some of the Relic Stations. Did you know you can jump during Cannon Launch if you're wearing Ika-Ika? We're excited to see who can dig up the other secret strategies first!"

Now, let’s talk about game balance.  You can trust that we’ve been soaking up your observations and opinions on Discord, Reddit, and Twitter.  Thank you for keeping it civil and respectful!  Your feedback is immensely valuable and insightful.  In addition to that direct feedback from you, we also have Jesse and Brian from our Design team, here pouring over the data from your actual matches to see, for example, how strong “Greg” - the Gasmoxian Guard actually is.  Too strong?  Read on.

Today’s update contains the following adjustments.  We know that these do not cover all the valid concerns you’ve raised, but trust that we are continuing to work hard to address bugs and other game imbalances in the very near future.  In some cases (like N.Brio), what’s needed for high-level play balancing is different from balancing for new players, but we are pursuing good solutions in these cases.

1.) Doctor Nefarious Tropy, AKA N.Tropy.  Nefarious hardly covers it.  She’s incredibly mobile and is highly effective at knocking foes back.  Her win rate is statistically higher than intended, therefore her health has been reduced (-11%).  It’s possible we’ll have more changes for her soon.

2.) Tawna.  She’s also highly mobile, has lightning fast kicks, and that hook can punish when in the right hands.  Win rate has been a little low compared to other scorers, so we’ve increased her health (+17%).

3.) Flytrap Spitter.  Flytraps have a long history in the franchise.  We love them, and they’ve been underperforming, so they also get a health increase (+33%).

4.) Gasmoxian Guard.  You told us in the recent Twitter poll: Gasmoxes are the Power you find trickiest to deal with, so we’ve shortened their lifespan (-17%).

5.) Bots.  We know this is one of your top concerns and we have lots in the works.  Today’s update represents an increase in what we’ll call Wumpa collection efficiency.  More coming soon – we appreciate your patience.

Outside of the changes above, here’s a partial list of other items on our radar:

• Cortex transformation duration
• Catbat divebomb recovery time
• N.Brio brute transform interruption conditions
• N.Tropy tether cooldown
• Ripper Roo bomb spawn rate
• Overall Blocker role strength
• That blasted wall!
• Many bot improvements.

Thank you all again for playing.  We look forward to continuing to hear your voices online and engaging with you as the game evolves.  We have some exciting things in the works that we can’t share just yet – but stay tuned!

 

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Rumble is having a free trial for the next four days for anyone interested in giving it a try!

 

[Sonicka]

Cheers for the heads up :)

Tried booting up my original beta app before realising that you need to download their new trial app. Gutted I didn't have my unlocks from the beta (I suppose that only unlocks if you purchase the full game since this is a new trial). There was a sale on this game on the PSN store until the August 16th which "mysteriously" disappeared as soon as the trial version went live too... 

However, I've given this another go and played a dozen rounds as the characters and new maps on offer... and still can't find the appeal. It's a polished and smooth experience for sure, but just not a very fun / engaging gameplay experience just justify a purchase from me. If this was a FTP experience or was accessible as a bonus multiplayer extra to a main Crash title then I would have been down for it in small spurts, but there isn't enough of a hook for my investment right now. 

Maybe that will change with their recent announcement of the upcoming Crash Bash party mode? But realistically I think this is more a case of it not being a style / genre of game I enjoy. 

[Sonictrainer]

N. Gin's early access event starts today.

He's a Booster style character with a homing basic attack, where he throws 3 homing projectiles, a hover style double jump, where you can hold the jump button to use his jetpack to get high platforms and use a super jump, and uses a boom box as a mine, that sends shockwaves out around it but can be destroyed.

Due to his head missile and jetpack, he can't wear hats or backpacks though :P

[Sonictrainer]

Season 2 drops next week!

Also... Ripto from Spyro 2?

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Get ready to party in Season 2! #CrashTeamRumble is back with all new modes, maps and mayhem. Available September 12!

 

[Sonictrainer]

Here's an Event Calendar for Season 2

[mayday2592]

They really need to market this game more. At the very least, my worry about lack of modes is gone. Just wish this game got more time in the oven to stand out on its own with unique assets. Right now outside of skins and some stage props like banks, everything is ripped from IAT.

[Sonicka]

12 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

Here's an Event Calendar for Season 2

Oh my god my eyes hurt so much. XD 

That's good to see it's being supported by the developer at least though. 

Did this game improve with the inclusion of party games and so forth in the end for Season 2? Did TFB actually include mini games like you'd find in Mario Party / Crash Bash or did they just tweak stuff onto the existing maps and call it a new mode of play? 

[Sonictrainer]

5 hours ago, Sonicka said:

Did this game improve with the inclusion of party games and so forth in the end for Season 2? Did TFB actually include mini games like you'd find in Mario Party / Crash Bash or did they just tweak stuff onto the existing maps and call it a new mode of play? 

Even though they took existing maps and remixed them into new modes of play, I found the new modes are fun and different enough if you want a break from fighting other players online.

Granted you still need to have good teamwork in order beat the rounds, collect the Boss Tokens to unlock the Bosses (which are also just remixed assets from the main game), and defeat the Bosses.

Spoiler

Technically, the "Dig It"'s Boss isn't really a Boss and is more of the "Floor is mostly Lava" while you have to still dig and collect large bones that require more than 1 person to carry.

 

...really hope they fix the resetting customization to default glitch soon though...

[Sonictrainer]

A couple of awesome Events going on

First off, there's a Halloween Event going on, where every Stage has a Halloween variant and players can collect Candy to unlock new cosmetics, including a cool Skeleton Outfit for every Character.

Second, a new stage called Jazz Junction is now added to the Rotation. It's based on the New Orleans inspired Stage from Crash 4.

Finally, Ripto's Early Access Event starts today!

You can collect Horn Fragments to unlock him and some of his cosmetics, including his own Skeleton Outfit.

Also, a new comic was released 2 days ago.

[Jake Heaton]

Crash Team Rumble was not what I was expecting at all. Originally, I thought it was going to be a Crash Bash remake or a form of "Crash Party" game. But, it's kind of like it's own thing. The gameplay is really addictive and fast-paced, trying to score as much Wumpa Fruit as you can. And it's fun to play as many different characters from the Crash universe. My favourites being Crash, Tawna and Ripper Roo. I do know it has it's flaws, but I'm hoping others are having as much fun as I am. I wonder what else could be in store for the Crash franchise? What's your favourite Crash game? And what would you like to see from the series next?

[Sonictrainer]

The Adventure continues in Season 3

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We're ALL FIRED UP for Season 3 of #CrashTeamRumble. Available December 7!

 

[mayday2592]

I wad just wondering when we'd hear more about future content lol. Personally looking forward to Season 4, aside from Male N.Tropy, we'll have seen all the character initially teased on the website by that point.

[Jango]

On 12/10/2022 at 10:49 AM, Jango said:

A leaf (Elora?????)

Called it.

[Sonictrainer]

Season 3 is live, starting with a Spyro Early Access Event

Hopefully, we get a more detailed Season Calendar soon

EDIT

Here's the Event Calendar for Season 3

Edited December 9, 2023 by Sonictrainer

[DaBigJ]

Rest in piss not even a year in

[Sonicka]

Yup, not surprised. Glad I waited and didn't purchase (yet). 

However, I think this move has more to do with Toys for Bob's announcement that they are splitting off from Activision / Microsoft to become it's own indie company / studio again. 

Upswing - fantastic news for them in getting away from the big boys to become independent game creators - they can hone their talents than be wasted on farming devs towards Call Of Duty. 

Downside - loss of access to IP's to continuing working on a Spyro 4 &/or Crash title (unless they have a deal in the works with Microsoft to publish). 

Edited February 29 by Sonicka

[Tornado]

THANK YOU PHIL SPENCER! THEY ARE FREE FROM THE CALL OF DUTY MINES!