Crash Team Rumble Interview - Ripto’s Ragin’ Rumble

[CrystalBlazier]

Around Ripto's Early Access release in Crash Team Rumble, I reached out to Toys For Bob and asked them a couple of questions about our favorite, short and evil conquerer.

1. What inspired you to bring Ripto, one of Spyro's iconic villains, into Crash Team Rumble?
Crash Team Rumble offers us a unique opportunity for us to bring together an eclectic collection of heroes and villains together around team sport. We knew we wanted to pull from the Spyro universe and Ripto is a fresh magical addition to our cast of mutants and mad scientists.

2. Were other villains from the classic Spyro series considered for the game, like Gnasty Gnorc and the Sorceress?
Yes, of course. The wonderful thing about the Spyro and Crash universes is that they are so rich - there's no shortage of great characters to choose from. The downside to that is it makes it so difficult to choose because there's always someone great that isn't getting the attention they deserve!

3. What were the inspirations for Ripto’s moveset in Crash Team Rumble? Did you look at past classic Spyro games for reference?
Great question, and yes! Here's what our Senior Hero Designer, Jesse, had to say: "The key inspiration came from how Ripto fought in the final boss battle in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. We knew right away that we wanted his Fireball attack, but we also wanted to make sure he had a unique mobility option and something that would help him control space in Gem fights. In the Spyro 2 boss fight, Hunter drops orbs that augment Spyro and Ripto in ways that felt elemental. That felt like something we could latch onto for his two other moves, which ended up being a water based rising attack, and a lightning based anti-air, explosive attack."

4. I noticed Ripto makes a reference to Spyro 2: Season of Flame in the recent Rumble digital comic with mentions of "fireflies" and the "Rhynocs". Are certain Spyro games canon now, or is it just a shoutout for the fans?
I love your attention to detail! You know, I really don't want to be the litigator for what's canon and what's not. From my perspective, Crash Team Rumble is a fun spinoff focused on team sport and with these comics, where we can have some fun showing new layers to different personalities and pairings, we will!

5. Can we expect Ripto's archenemy, a certain purple dragon, to make an appearance in Rumble soon?
Spyro is certainly a dragon. Purple, in fact!