Crash Team Rumble Review: A Raucous Good Time

mmorpg.com:

Back at Summer Game Fest Play Days, one demo seemed to elicit more cheers and shouts from attendees than any other: Crash Team Rumble . Every match played throughout the weekend sounded like the final minute of an NBA Finals game, with loud whooping and anguished cries of defeat echoing through the entire pavilion. If the demo was that fun, surely the full release will be the same, right? Well, yes, Crash Team Rumble can be that entertaining now that it's launched, once the online connection decides to function properly. 

Crash Team Rumble is a 4v4 competitive multiplayer game where players select characters from Crash Bandicoot's history and try to gather Wumpa fruit and deposit it at their team's base faster than the other team. Players can attack other players to hinder their progress, as taking damage results in lost fruit. Each stage is an open arena filled with power-ups, obstacles, and activated abilities which teams can unleash against each other. The first team to 2000 fruit through all of this madness wins. It's a clever format for a multiplayer game, one that feels less like serious competition and more party fun. 

Matches can be played with bots, in private rooms, or through ranked competitive play. All of these, however, require an internet connection that is tenuous at best and non-functional at worst. The initial connection to the game's online services upon booting up the game is unbearably slow, sometimes to the point where I feel I have to restart the game. One time I was able to get up, use the facilities, and get a bite to eat before the game connected, and while I appreciate the game giving me some time to recharge, it's not supposed to let me do that!

Once connected, the game ran smoothly. I