In 2022, Activision collaborated with Mattel to make Hot Wheels cars. Two character cars were designed: Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. Above are some product photos I took of the Crash Bandicoot car.
I did not work with Mattel or Activision and clame no ownership over anything, but I did want to photograph and show off this fun novelty car I bought at a candy shop. The photos were taken in a lightbox and then superimposed over screenshots from the N. Sane Trilogy.
Crash doesn't like to see Coco get frustrated, so he helps out by working his magic! Crash himself probably doesn't even know what he did to help, lol.
I've never really done a comic-type thing like this so this was more a challenge for me to draw characters interacting and also attempting to draw them consistently. It was a fun exercise :)
I was playing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane trilogy recently, it reminded me of Crash's relationship with his sister and I found myself comparing it to Dr Neo Cortex's relationship with his niece Nina, they have such different dynamics lol
One of the major complaints about Catbat and Alt Tawna now is how their backstories are too angsty and dark for a Crash Bandicoot game and all Crash games should be silly and goofy and fun.
Y'all wasn't it one of the major criticisms of the Radical era that things were too goofy and immature and trying way to hard to be funny?
And isn't one of the main complaints about the N Sane Trilogy is that it became too cartoony thus undercutting the serious moments of the original trilogy?
Anyway, so yeah back to Crash 4 Tawna and Catbat, charecters in Crash have always had really messed up backstories. Nina got her hands cut off by her own uncle, Crash 1 Tawna was litterally created to be a sex slave, N Brio screwed his head bolts in himself to punish him for disobeying cortex, N Gin is litterally on failing life support powered by the nuke in his head, and I can write an entire essay about how fucked up Cortex's backstory is.
The point is Crash has always had Serious moments and themes while also being incredibly goofy and cartoony. Simalar to other franchises like Kirby or Sonic, do these dark moments define a series as a whole? No of course not. But I think they're neat regardless and give the series as a whole more depth.