The Bandicoot Returns (and It's About Time!) Crash's Nitro-Fueled Smash Thread

[Ben Holt]

Banjo-Kazooie and King K. Rool got my votes back in the 2015 Smash ballot and like Chuck Mangione's most famous song "It feels so good !!!"

Not that it means much now, But I wish I can go back in time and throw in a vote for Crash Bandicoot, But I was just so focused on the other two, I didn't think I'd get both, But yet here we are, Here's hoping Crash makes it.

Only your last vote counted unless you used multiple IPs. Lol.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Tried my hand at a Crash trailer a while back. Thought I'd share this with you guys.

Spoiler: It's About Time

Cross flair intro

The trailer begins the way K. Rool and Banjo's trailers began, only this time, after showing Donkey Kong and K. Rool, it shows Sephiroth and Cloud before the TV turns off. We then cut to Donkey Kong's mouth as he yawns for a bit before we get a full shot of the inside of the house, with the right-side wall looking hastily boarded up from the Banjo trailer. Donkey Kong is relaxing in front of the TV, Diddy is hanging from the tire, K. Rool is having his beauty sleep, Banjo is using the Kremling's belly as a makeshift pillow and Kazooie is, amusingly enough, playing Smash on a Nintendo Switch. And judging from her scrunched-up beak, she's losing.

Suddenly, a cartoonish POW! sound is heard and something flies past the screen as it smashes through the right wall, jolting Banjo & K. Rool awake. Kazooie pauses her game for a moment and whirls her head to the side from where the thing flew from. Donkey Kong hops onto his feet and turns to the hole in the wall before the camera cuts to the 5 popping their head out of the hole in the wall, looking around for who is presiding. A shadow jumps from the top of the screen and lands in front of them, causing them to squint. The camera pans up to a familiar figure with large ears and a pair of long arms...only for the figure to spin and reveal he's Incineroar, who lets out a roar before flashing a smug grin.

The five are left in shock as Incineroar belts out uproarious laughter. Suddenly, out of nowhere something whirls from the right and knocks the Heel Pokemon the heck off the screen with a spinning attack. It then looks over its shoulder and reveals a familiar marsupial...

CRASH Goes For A Spin!

The five are then shown looking at one another in shock and confusion as Crash has been known for fighting various humanoid animals like Dingodile and Ripper Roo before Crash leaps into the house and the sound of loud cartoonish fighting is heard.

We then cut to gameplay taking place on the Wumpa Islands stage, where Crash Bandicoot is shown to have a mobile playstyle involving crates, Wumpa fruits, and of course, spinning. We then see him taunt a bit, showing Aku Aku who smiles at Crash as a doting father would. We then see his Final Smash, which involves Crash putting Aku Aku on and charging forwards, catching multiple opponents. We are then shown a cutscene where Crash runs into a TNT crate that begins a timer. The timer runs out and the crate explodes creating a chain reaction with multiple other Nitro crates and TNT crates as Crash keeps running towards the captured fighters before he smashes past them, leaving them to their explosive demise.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate X Crash Bandicoot

We then show a final CG cutscene where Crash is calmed down and happily making up with his supposed adversaries, playing Smash with Kazooie all the while. Banjo, K. Rool, and the Kongs are watching evenly rooting for Crash or Kazooie. Donkey Kong then looks at the hole in the wall and back at the TV before it cuts to the outside of the Kongs' hut, where the TV is promptly thrown out of the house, where the screen promptly breaks and the machine itself is left in ruins.

@ 2018 Nintendo
Original Game: © Nintendo / HAL Laboratory, Inc.
Characters: © Nintendo / Hal Laboratory, Inc. / Pokémon. / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc. / SHIGESATO ITOI / APE inc. / INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS / Konami Digital Entertainment / SEGA / CAPCOM CO., LTD. / BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. / MONOLITHSOFT / CAPCOM USA., INC. / SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. / ATLUS / Microsoft / SNK CORPORATION. / Mojang AB / Activision Publishing, Inc.

Added detail: In my mind, the trailer music would differ per region: West will get a remix of Crash 1's theme, Japan will get the masterpiece that is Crash Banji-kyuusu.

Great trailer idea. It would start like this just like you said:

Somebody already put Cloud and Sephiroth in this style before Nintendo did lol!

 

[rfarleydude97]

Ok Crash fans, the time has come.

Crash is being re rated in Rate Their Chances. Please come show your support. Just give a brief explanation (~2 sentences) for your scores to count. Right now, he is the crown holder for chance, but we could swing it a little for want. Stay strong yall and have fun.

Gave my response in that thread. Here's to hoping he makes it in within this FP!

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

Here's one of Nintendo's latest advertisements about "Adventures with familiar faces" or in other words "Iconic Video Game Characters" and our boy Crash Bandicoot and even Spyro the Dragon are featured on there as the only major 3rd party franchises, Though Sonic appears too via his crossover with Mario.

I also like that they gave Donkey Kong some screentime with "Tropical Freeze". Amazing game.

 

[JustASora/CrashSupporter]

Here's one of Nintendo's latest advertisements about "Adventures with familiar faces" or in other words "Iconic Video Game Characters" and our boy Crash Bandicoot and even Spyro the Dragon are featured on there as the only major 3rd party franchises, Though Sonic appears too via his crossover with Mario.

I also like that they gave Donkey Kong some screentime with "Tropical Freeze". Amazing game.

Given how Nintendo has acknowledged Crash to be a be gaming icon (twice) it just makes too much sense to have Crash in Smash. Like, the idea of him not being in Smash at this point feels very odd.

 

[Enigma735]

Here's one of Nintendo's latest advertisements about "Adventures with familiar faces" or in other words "Iconic Video Game Characters" and our boy Crash Bandicoot and even Spyro the Dragon are featured on there as the only major 3rd party franchises, Though Sonic appears too via his crossover with Mario.

I also like that they gave Donkey Kong some screentime with "Tropical Freeze". Amazing game.

Also, this person took the words right out of my mouth.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Seriously, how can they acknowledge Crash's status as an icon and NOT include him in Smash?

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Here's one of Nintendo's latest advertisements about "Adventures with familiar faces" or in other words "Iconic Video Game Characters" and our boy Crash Bandicoot and even Spyro the Dragon are featured on there as the only major 3rd party franchises, Though Sonic appears too via his crossover with Mario.

I also like that they gave Donkey Kong some screentime with "Tropical Freeze". Amazing game.

I also love how they acknowledge Spyro as well.

 

[DanganZilla5]

When Nintendo gives Crash special mentions and acknowledges him as a gaming icon twice:

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

Not to mention that Crash Bandicoot and to a lesser extent Spyro the Dragon are the only titular characters in that trailer to have yet to make their Smash Debut.

 

[chocolatejr9]

I asked this on the RTC thread, but in case that's changed, is there a Japanese version of that trailer? I saw somebody mention this was probably designed for the West, which would explain why Spyro is here.

 

[Enigma735]

I asked this on the RTC thread, but in case that's changed, is there a Japanese version of that trailer? I saw somebody mention this was probably designed for the West, which would explain why Spyro is here.

I just checked their YouTube account, and they don't. The Reignited Trilogy never got a Japanese release so I'm sure that explains why this video was only uploaded for the West.
Regardless, I don't think this would have anything to do with it. All of the franchises in that video, except for Spyro, are pretty popular in Japan as it is and Smash has wide popularity in the West as well, so I don't think this necessarily means that Nintendo Of Japan doesn't see Crash as an icon like Nintendo Of America does.

 

[Ben Holt]

Given how Nintendo has acknowledged Crash to be a be gaming icon (twice) it just makes too much sense to have Crash in Smash. Like, the idea of him not being in Smash at this point feels very odd.

I remember way back in like 2010 where high up Nintendo employees like Iwata and Miyamoto were asked to say something nice about PlayStation, and almost all said that they enjoyed Crash Bandicoot.

My biggest doubt with Crash is that he was MIA for the entire 7th Generation of consoles (Wii, PS3, 360), and the Smash Fighter Ballot was in 2015, just before Crash's big return in 2016.
Not to brag about my longevity of being a Crash supporter, but he was all but written off during the Fighter Ballot for being irrelevant and totally eclipsed by Banjo after Phil Spencer expressed support and Rayman with the Rayman Trophy in Smash 4 as well as Artsy I'm I'd infamous leak.
Hell, even I changed my vote from Crash to Banjo when Phil Spencer came around.

I just know that Sakurai explicitly mentioned using the Fighter Ballot as a reference, so if Crash gets in, it'll have to be based on post-ballot popularity.

 

[magiciandude]

I remember way back in like 2010 where high up Nintendo employees like Iwata and Miyamoto were asked to say something nice about PlayStation, and almost all said that they enjoyed Crash Bandicoot.

My biggest doubt with Crash is that he was MIA for the entire 7th Generation of consoles (Wii, PS3, 360), and the Smash Fighter Ballot was in 2015, just before Crash's big return in 2016.
Not to brag about my longevity of being a Crash supporter, but he was all but written off during the Fighter Ballot for being irrelevant and totally eclipsed by Banjo after Phil Spencer expressed support and Rayman with the Rayman Trophy in Smash 4 as well as Artsy I'm I'd infamous leak.
Hell, even I changed my vote from Crash to Banjo when Phil Spencer came around.

I just know that Sakurai explicitly mentioned using the Fighter Ballot as a reference, so if Crash gets in, it'll have to be based on post-ballot popularity.

The fighter ballot that was used for Smash Wii u wasn't the only ballot that was used in the history of Smash. There was also the popular vote for Smash 64 in a hypothetical sequel in which Crash got three votes (one over Sonic believe it or not) and on the most requested characters following Melee's release according to Sakurai. Besides, the actual votes for the fighter's ballot has never been released so we don't know how well Crash actually did.

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

I remember way back in like 2010 where high up Nintendo employees like Iwata and Miyamoto were asked to say something nice about PlayStation, and almost all said that they enjoyed Crash Bandicoot.

That's probably my most "N.Sane" wild card theory that not a lot of people mention when it comes to debating Crash Bandicoot, Of course this is all just pure speculation, But still sounds pretty reasonable.

We know how much Sony likes to "Pretend" they still own Crash Bandicoot which I don't blame them seeing how he uses to be the defacto mascot of their Playstation brand and because they currently have a close relationship with Activision, Despite previously not being able to reacquire the rights to use Crash as a fighter in "Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale".

The way Crash Bandicoot has been getting coverage and promotion on Nintendo Switch, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the longtime older executives at Nintendo probably still have some beef with Sony because of the whole Nintendo/Playstation partnership fallout of the early-mid 90's and have brought him up as a candidate to Sakurai and the Smash team to get the "Former Playstation Mascot" and use it as a somewhat of a sly, But intentional "Low Blow/Cheapshot" at Sony.

Let's not forget that Sakurai said that Nintendo chose the fighter's this time around and if that's what it takes to get Crash Bandicoot into Smash then so be it.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Very unlikely to happen, but imagine if Activision got Nintendo to sign a deal where both Crash and Spyro appear as characters in Fighter's Pass 2. I know a company double dipping in the same Pass is very unlikely especially for a western company, but I could see Nintendo and Sakurai going along with this for these legendary PlayStation icons.

 

[Ben Holt]

Very unlikely to happen, but imagine if Activision got Nintendo to sign a deal where both Crash and Spyro appear as characters in Fighter's Pass 2. I know a company double dipping in the same Pass is very unlikely especially for a western company, but I could see Nintendo and Sakurai going along with this for these legendary PlayStation icons.

This would be beyond ideal.

 

[Enigma735]

Very unlikely to happen, but imagine if Activision got Nintendo to sign a deal where both Crash and Spyro appear as characters in Fighter's Pass 2. I know a company double dipping in the same Pass is very unlikely especially for a western company, but I could see Nintendo and Sakurai going along with this for these legendary PlayStation icons.

I love both Crash and Spyro, but unfortunately I think only one of them is gonna get in. Given Crash's immense popularity in Japan, he seems like the more obvious choice, especially considering Spyro's polar opposite popularity their.
However, I do think Spyro could get something if Crash gets in. I'm personally betting on a Mii hat for him, or maybe even a Spirit as part of Crash's Spirit Board.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I love both Crash and Spyro, but unfortunately I think only one of them is gonna get in. Given Crash's immense popularity in Japan, he seems like the more obvious choice, especially considering Spyro's polar opposite popularity their.
However, I do think Spyro could get something if Crash gets in. I'm personally betting on a Mii hat for him, or maybe even a Spirit as part of Crash's Spirit Board.

That's why I said "Very unlikely to happen" above.

 

[Some AT-AT]

I keep hearing about this "five-year-plan" time to time in smash speculation ever since late 2020 and how it got all of the things right so far with the only thing left being the bandicoot in smash what do you guys think on this?

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I keep hearing about this "five-year-plan" time to time in smash speculation ever since late 2020 and how it got all of the things right so far with the only thing left being the bandicoot in smash what do you guys think on this?

I don't know all the details, but the "5 year plan thing" came from documents from Activision's servers that were illegally dropped and leaked online. That's all I remember hearing. People were talking about this late last year around Crash 4's release I think.

 

[DanganZilla5]

I keep hearing about this "five-year-plan" time to time in smash speculation ever since late 2020 and how it got all of the things right so far with the only thing left being the bandicoot in smash what do you guys think on this?

First, welcome to Smashboards!

I believe it is real because not only are most Activision leaks real, but it also makes a lot of sense. Activision seems to be pushing Crash as one of their big IPs right now and putting their own character in Smash would be free marketing.

 

[GolisoPower]

I keep hearing about this "five-year-plan" time to time in smash speculation ever since late 2020 and how it got all of the things right so far with the only thing left being the bandicoot in smash what do you guys think on this?

Honestly, that's pretty much the one thing that has me convinced that Crash is gonna be in FP2 at this point, ideally as the next fighter. For one, pretty much EVERYTHING about it thus far has been true. For another, Nintendo seems to hold Crash in high regard, calling him a gaming icon on several occasions, too!

As to when he'll be revealed (I say "when" because of what Dangan just said), we don't have many days left, but I'm honestly hoping this leak about Japanese 7-11 ads and all that will hold up because this most recent one...

Newest 7-11 ad doesn't feature Sephiroth. It lasts until the 24th of January. pic.twitter.com/byq7f40Dfw

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) January 9, 2021

...is getting taken down next Sunday (January 24th), and pretty much every instance beforehand with Hero, Banjo and Steve has played in favor of this. While it seems like such a short time because we just got Sephiroth about a month ago, said One-Winged Angel somehow not included in this ad, we should also keep in mind that we had Hero out for a month and a half before Terry was revealed.

 

[MattX20]

As of right now, anything beyond FP10 seems unlikely since Crash is one of those characters you'd want to be revealed before the end and not the bookend of the pass.

 

[Some AT-AT]

First, welcome to Smashboards!

I believe it is real because not only are most Activision leaks real, but it also makes a lot of sense. Activision seems to be pushing Crash as one of their big IPs right now and putting their own character in Smash would be free marketing.

Thanks for the welcome dude! i also think it's real for the same reasons you said and due to next amiibo wave coming next march and if amiibo theory still stans up we could see him as the next DLC for SSBU

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I think if we don't see Crash at E3 or during the Summer time, he's out. Because E3 is the perfect and only place I could see them revealing a giant of a icon as Crash.

 

[Some AT-AT]

Man if crash got revealed in june where E3 2021 is going to start that would be one of the best late gifts i'd ever got

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

Honestly I can see Crash Bandicoot appearing in any of the last 3 spots, But my gut like most fans think E3 would be the best chance of it happening because Crash is definitely the type of character that can carry that big announcement weight as a big time E3 reveal.

I feel the last character is gonna be a "Left Field" type of character, Just because of the way they revealed "Fighter Pass 2" and showed off that last slot like almost a "Bonus character", Just looks weird that the 2nd pass has an extra character. History tells us the last character is always underwhelming, But seeing how this is Ultimate we'll just have to wait and see.

That being said, I'll admit my confidence will drastically drop if Crash Bandicoot doesn't get revealed at E3.

 

[rfarleydude97]

Surprised no one has talked about the two tweets Walmart Canada has tweeted out about Crash Bandicoot. Granted it can easily be about something else and not about Smash, but since they have a high tendency of doing these type of tweets before about a lot of ideas that later get revealed (highly documented if you look up the track record) it's possible we'll get some Crash Bandicoot related stuff (maybe just the N-Sane trilogy ports to PS5 and the new Xbox, Crash 4 ports to the Switch/PC) or it can be absolutely nothing and I'm just looking too much into it xD

links to said tweets:

https://twitter.com/WalmartCAGaming/status/1351326069341773827

https://twitter.com/WalmartCAGaming/status/1351541218686205955

 

[Some AT-AT]

Hey did anyone realize that none of the DLC fighters never overlap the same month?

 

[CannonStreak]

Honestly, that's pretty much the one thing that has me convinced that Crash is gonna be in FP2 at this point, ideally as the next fighter. For one, pretty much EVERYTHING about it thus far has been true. For another, Nintendo seems to hold Crash in high regard, calling him a gaming icon on several occasions, too!

As to when he'll be revealed (I say "when" because of what Dangan just said), we don't have many days left, but I'm honestly hoping this leak about Japanese 7-11 ads and all that will hold up because this most recent one...

Newest 7-11 ad doesn't feature Sephiroth. It lasts until the 24th of January. pic.twitter.com/byq7f40Dfw

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) January 9, 2021

...is getting taken down next Sunday (January 24th), and pretty much every instance beforehand with Hero, Banjo and Steve has played in favor of this. While it seems like such a short time because we just got Sephiroth about a month ago, said One-Winged Angel somehow not included in this ad, we should also keep in mind that we had Hero out for a month and a half before Terry was revealed.

So, are you saying we might be getting a new 7-11 Japanese ad soon after the 24th?

 

[GolisoPower]

So, are you saying we might be getting a new 7-11 Japanese ad soon after the 24th?

Not exactly. I'm saying we hopefully will get a new Fighter reveal before the 24th. Hero was released July 31st, the ad featuring him got taken down August 4th. Banjo was released September 4th, his ad got taken down September 15th. Steve's announcement date was October 1st, with a preliminary announcement on September 30th, and his ad got taken down on October 4th.

 

[CannonStreak]

Not exactly. I'm saying we hopefully will get a new Fighter reveal before the 24th. Hero was released July 31st, the ad featuring him got taken down August 4th. Banjo was released September 4th, his ad got taken down September 15th. Steve's announcement date was October 1st, with a preliminary announcement on September 30th, and his ad got taken down on October 4th.

I figured. Well, I just wanted to make sure, that's all.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Not exactly. I'm saying we hopefully will get a new Fighter reveal before the 24th. Hero was released July 31st, the ad featuring him got taken down August 4th. Banjo was released September 4th, his ad got taken down September 15th. Steve's announcement date was October 1st, with a preliminary announcement on September 30th, and his ad got taken down on October 4th.

Dude we just got our last fighter last month (year). Too soon don't you think?

 

[GolisoPower]

Dude we just got our last fighter last month (year). Too soon don't you think?

A fair point, but keep in mind we've had Hero for about a month before Terry was revealed. Granted we already knew Banjo was coming after Hero, but you can't deny the short amount of time between Hero release and Terry reveal.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

A fair point, but keep in mind we've had Hero for about a month before Terry was revealed. Granted we already knew Banjo was coming after Hero, but you can't deny the short amount of time between Hero release and Terry reveal.

That that release-wise though. I'm talking about reveal-wise.

 

[GolisoPower]

That that release-wise though. I'm talking about reveal-wise.

Then Piranha Plant and Joker? Granted, Piranha Plant is not a FP character and was generally meant for the base roster, but he's still for all intents and purposes a DLC character like Joker. Piranha Plant revealed November 1st, Joker revealed December 6th. That's still a very small gap between reveals there.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Then Piranha Plant and Joker? Granted, Piranha Plant is not a FP character and was generally meant for the base roster, but he's still for all intents and purposes a DLC character like Joker. Piranha Plant revealed November 1st, Joker revealed December 6th. That's still a very small gap between reveals there.

Reminder of amiibo theory which for the most part has been spot-on.

 

[Some AT-AT]

Reminder of amiibo theory which for the most part has been spot-on.

I don't think amiibo theory is even a theory anymore pretty sure it's just fact

 

[Perkilator]

Time to bring up this meme once again:

 

[MattX20]

The only time that a Japanese 7/11 ad that featured Smash DLC didn't have a reveal was the one in March/April of last year, but it was clear MinMin was intended for April of last year and around that time there was the mini direct that confirmed FP6 was an ARMS rep, so the track record otherwise has been flawless.