Crash Bandicoot Game Confirms First Non-Binary Character
No matter where they hail from or their background is, representation can be extremely gratifying for all gamers.
One such form of representation comes in the form of the latest Crash Bandicoot game and even draws upon David Bowie (deceased).
Crash Team Rumble provides fans of the franchise something different than its usual platforming and kart racing offerings: instead it serves up a party game brawler similar to Super Smash Bros, rendered entirely in 3D rather than two dimensions. Clash Team Rumble pits four players against one another; players battle it out by exchanging punches before stockpiling as much Wumpa Fruit as possible before collecting victory!
At launch, Crash Team Rumble features several iconic playable characters from its franchise such as Crash (of course!), Coco, Dingodile and Tawna; there’s also newcomer Catbat that has joined this fight, reported by TheGamer and this will likely become today’s topic of conversation.
Recently in an interview with Kotaku, Toys For Bob creative director Dan Neil and co-studio head Paul Yan confirmed Catbat is non-binary – making them one of the first non-binary characters ever appearing in any Toys For Bob series! Additionally, Crash Team Rumble will refer to them using they/them pronouns when speaking of Catbat.
Since November 2022, games character artist Nicholas Kole stated that Catbat would be imagined to be non-binary; now this concept has come true. Additionally, inspired by David Bowie himself, Yan explained: “On an aesthetic side of things there was this desire for something David Bowie-ish.”
Yan continued: “Bowie had this charismatic rock star-androgynous look which we especially admired. As we developed his design further and created his model sheet, our team started referring to Catbat as they instead of him, which proved very natural.”
“There was never any thought put forth about organizing an official meeting or having one about creating that character; the process took shape gradually.
Crash Team Rumble won’t officially launch until later this month, but we got to try it in its beta test phase. Based on our playthrough we concluded it’s fun in short doses but lacking longevity due to its PS34.99 price point.
“Crash Team Rumble’s success at such an affordable cost remains to be seen. While its gameplay may be enjoyable, its monotonous repetition necessitates adding extra features in its full launch version to convince potential purchasers that purchasing it would be worthwhile – something I think may prove difficult from what I’ve witnessed thus far.”
Crash Team Rumble will be released for Xbox and PlayStation on 20 June 2023. Sadly, in May 2023 the original voice actor for Crash Bandicoot, Brendan O’Brien passed away at 60 years of age.
