Crash vs Spyro Racing Original XBOX Prototype Found!

[@Danyq94CrashZone]

I am the author of that Crash Bandicoot Zone article. I thank you immensely for the huge discovery you have brought to the both Crash and Spyro fan bases. We finally have some more information about what was supposed to be the first real crossover of the two franchises!

[@Khodeus]

Sei entrato nella storia, man "/

[@Emmy_8888]

Aspetto un tuo video con trepidazione 😁

[@louspowels7120]

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy: "As production finished on Crash Nitro Kart, Vivendi Universal Games contemplated the next handheld game in the Crash Bandicoot series. Hoping to do something different from what has been done before, Vivendi Universal Games approached Vicarious Visions with the concept of bringing Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon together for the first time. Liking the idea, Vicarious Visions collaborated with Vivendi Universal Games in filling out the concept to what would become the two games."

[@Danyq94CrashZone]

​@@louspowels7120 Crash vs Spyro Racing would be released before the two Fusion titles, probably.

[@AttitudeIndicator]

why are you yelling!

[@aurimasm]

Makes you think how many lost prototypes demos we've lost over the years

[@zoeherriot]

Tons. I’ve worked on a number that have never seen the light of day.

[@zpacula]

Sadly, the sometimes-artificial scarcity of dev kits caused similar situations like with old cartoons that got wiped and painted over in 1940s

[@msab4883]

More like a project pitch, doubt there are many prototypes we never heard of since they involved many devs and marketing members

[@wreagfe]

What do you mean lost? They were never meant to be made public.

[@Fuuntag]

Sadly lots, I’ve seen plenty of undocumented finds come and go even just on eBay over the years.

[@faradise3819]

1:02 Actually, Spyro never had his own kart racing title. But, he does crossover into Crash Nitro Kart GBA port (2003) as a guest character and eventually became a guest character again in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (the remake of CTR) in 2019. The kart engine sound do sound similar from Crash Team Racing (PS1). but if this was developed in 2004, it was already a year after Crash Nitro Kart was released, on Xbox too!

[@Kdot98]

yuuuup i remeber beating the gba game and unlocking spyro. wow i havent played it in years

[@Ruler3001]

The GBA port of Crash Nitro Kart was such a great version, playing as Spyro was awesome! You could play as the boss characters too, something you couldn't do in the console versions.

[@cookiesontoast9981]

Yeah I was about to comment the same thing. Unfortunately Spyro never had his own racing game.. which I would have loved. Just imagine CTR but it's entirely Spyro characters and levels... I'd never need another racing game.

[@captaincommando2602]

And I still remember the Spyro cameo in Crash Twinsanity.

[@nathanblevins158]

A sprite razing game would be good.

[@Alien_Bob]

This almost feels like an april fool's joke. what a find

[@ditto_arts]

Feels like a fever dream

[@ItemlabelOtto]

That was my first thought until I saw the "Released 1 hour ago"

[@zeturkey4107]

Imagine if MVG had actually stumbled across someone else's elaborate April fools joke

[@Alien_Bob]

@@zeturkey4107 I'm not saying extremely talented people should fill up old dev kits with frauds and hoaxes, but it'd be a good bit, ngl

[@JohnnyLt]

They maybe knew but don't want to be related to this topic

[@user-yu1lq7oe9w]

Hello - great article! My name is Andrew Parsons and I ran LT Studios. I have in my hand the Xbox demo disk of the single seaside track for Crash vs Spyro Racing. The version in your video was a slightly later version that was created to produce a promotional video and to show off some of ideas for the game (such as deformable tracks). The seaside track was created in under a month from scratch including all Crash and Spyro assets as we could not obtain any of these from the Publisher (this was also true of the later materials). A PS2 and Xbox version was built - unfortunately I only have the Xbox disk. The demo showed off the basic game dynamics with two versions of kart physics. I hope that helps - it was a great little game and we always regretted that it didn't progress. Unfortunately the collapse of Argonaut took LT Studios with it so we closed up shop and went our separate ways. All the best, Andrew

[@frog9304]

Nice :)

[@kitterbug]

Malice on it's own had a very troubled development history. Went from PS to Xbox exclusive in early 2000, publisher changed to Sierra, cancellation, random resurrection, publisher change again, now on PS2 and Xbox, and all of that for it to come out when the developer goes bankrupt. I wonder what it's early prototypes may be like, I hope one of the Sierra versions or maybe even a PS1 version is found.

[@zenksren8206]

A partially overwritten build of the Sierra Xbox version has been found and released, prototype builds of the PS1 version have existed in the wild since at least the late 2000s but haven't been released. Both versions are radically different from the final game, the PS1 version using the same engine as Argonaut's other PS1 games and featuring a much younger design for the title character, and the Sierra Xbox version while more closely resembling the final release has a completely different story and many levels that were cut because of the game's development hell

[@Manic_Panic]

PS1 version of Malice looks great.

[@chillmolder]

I mean Crash Bandicoot and Spyro had their troubles in this time period. NaughtyDog sold the Crash IP. I think Spyro got merged to another one. Wait, both franchises were owned by Vicarious Visions at this point. I thought a game like this was made back then...

[@shadowluigithirtyseven5950]

The LT Demo was actually something that had gameplay posted to KZbin in the past as being a “crash nitro kart prototype”.

[@shadowluigithirtyseven5950]

The video in question for context reasons kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnysoqSAd9WEl5I

[@shadowluigithirtyseven5950]

Seems the guy that uploaded the video sent you the hard drive for dumping.

[@HammerStudioGames]

Nice detective work, thanks

[@supermaster1325]

​@@HammerStudioGameswas that satirical? lol

[@HammerStudioGames]

@@supermaster1325 it's sad that you would think that.

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

Seems like the test course was based on the Dragonfly Dojo level from Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. It also looks like the Crash Bandicoot model from the FMV was based the ReSaurus toy, just like that infamous Pakistani McDonalds ad.

[@JordanFringe94]

Outstanding work man!

[@lonewolfsstuck]

I spot a wild fringe! Love your channel lol.

[@MiltonKeens]

SPYRO!

[@That-Ninja]

​@@lonewolfsstuck More than the other thing ? Or no? Bee honestly!!!!! 🐝

[@sbplankton_1999]

CRASH!

[@sykotiksonik]

As a massive Crash AND Spyro fan, this would've absolutely been the coolest game of all time if it actually came to the fruition

[@jinxterx]

if it had actually come to fruition.

[@PhillipLoughney]

I would have played this to death! Especially for the time, it would have sold SO well

[@adamfrancissmith5511]

ite Philly lid

[@ComicusFreemanius]

They would've never gotten close to the same feel as CTR, even with better hardware, The OG Crash programmer was an actual wizard.

[@sayingnigromakesyoutubecry2647]

​@@ComicusFreemaniusi agree. The original CTR was TOO GOOD. I think that's the best kart racing game ever. And it's so full of content and so hard to 100% complete. And so satisfying

[@ctrdexter9369]

...CTR is what separates the men from the boys. It takes real skill to become a pro.

[@That-Ninja]

Don't say the Z word.

[@RicksterLPs]

This would’ve been insane to see as a kid and a fan of both crash and spyro. Sad to see it never left prototype build, but to see it today is quite a surprise and amazing to see

[@filgaia1]

THIS IS SO COOL. As a kid I would have FLIPPED over a Crash vs Spyro kart racer. Ahhh I wish this game came out!!

[@1Soniccool]

I think that Universal Interactive Studios (before they were renamed to Vivendi Universal Games)wanted a racing game that had Crash and Spyro in a racing game so they went to LT Studios to work on this game but when Argonaut Software bought them they were in bad shape and both LT Studios and Argonaut Software closed their doors. But now Spyro is in CTR Nitro Fueled

[@crazyone3494]

Wait, Argonaut? The same Argonaut that developed the SuperFX chip for the SNES?!

[@man_man...]

​@@crazyone3494yez, them. I mean me. I was part of argonaut studios, then we shut down. But I helped develop the original croc on playstation :-()

[@James-cr8mt]

@@crazyone3494 that argonaut.

[@AbdelkaderSokkah]

@@crazyone3494 yup.

[@sbplankton_1999]

Oh My Bandicoot!!

[@KooperMKW]

Thanks to all the information uncovered here, as a Spyro fan from the late 2000's this would of been a legendary game. I wonder if anyone can make this a reality! Someone get to me with information on that!

[@dmoehling]

Appreciate the effort. I know this is ALOT of time spent. Your love for the OG Xbox will never die! Thanks for making the video and for sharing with all of us as well. I quite enjoyed it.

[@Mattened]

OG = original ganster. Original*

[@staticfanatic]

@@Mattened microsoft often refer to the original xbox as "OG". it's cringe, but there's no point fighting it this far down the line.

[@novaleader7305]

A crossover like this is less unheard of when you remeber they started putting demos of Crash on Spyro disks and demos of Spyro on Crahses disks

[@sonicfanfirst]

I don't remember having Spyro demos on a Crash game, maybe I didn't notice them, do you remember which Crash game had those demos?

[@novaleader7305]

@sonicfanfirst Of course in Crash Warped you can press Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, square on the title screen Keep in mind this is only on the OG ps1 verson

[@sonicfanfirst]

@@novaleader7305 I just found this out on another video, thanks for giving me that cheat code, it will make things easier for me when I give a try!

[@ThiefOfBaghdad]

@@sonicfanfirst in Crash Twinsanity, there is a "Spyro: A Hero's Tail" trailer in the Hidden Gems menu

[@CommanderWiggins]

There was also the crossover games Crash Purple and Spyro Orange for the GBA. No one really remembers or talks about those ones, for a good reason.

[@Magicjam10]

The FMV song is "Drugs and Girls" - by Grand Theft Audio

[@untitledjunk03]

As a huge fan of both Crash and Spyro, I gotta say that this is an awesome find!

[@DA-te7xe]

I actually recommended they make this kart game a year or two ago

[@themagicbeanbag]

Agreed, incredible find. It's crazy how a lot of these unreleased games will just disappear

[@BagzAndPresident]

No one cares

[@higueraft571]

@@BagzAndPresident Funny, PLENTY of people seem to care... Do we care about your comment though? :V

[@memezanimates5897]

@@BagzAndPresidentwho asked?

[@EliasPapp2]

2:33 I would like to point out that the engine sound either really resembles the Crash Team Racing PS1 engine sound or it's the exact same sound effect but in a higher pitch (due to the velocity of the kart).

[@DEEZENUTZ69]

Always love your discoveries mate

[@AMD2600]

Feels like over the last decade or so, there has been an accelerated amount of beta or unreleased content found. What a time to be a nerd over this stuff!

[@DarkCloudVA2]

This is true! Honestly cant wait to see what else is found this decade.

[@faceurhell]

Thank you MVG for continuing to speak up for and support game preservation! This is so sick!

[@IvanKowalenko]

Rocking out as a genuine historian. Not just preserving the games, but the history behind and around them.

[@trinitybingham2406]

This is absolutely amazing… massive kudos to you for not only digging deeper and getting this insight as to why it wasn’t seen, but to preserve it and share it is such an awesome thing to see. Great find, great video.

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

The opening movie is gloriously janky. It reminds me of those pakistani McDonald's commercials from that time period.

[@zobblewobble1770]

The “Racing” in the title being written in comic sans was the chef’s kiss of jankiness

[@Rogue_Console]

I love these kinda finds

[@CrystalFissure]

This is incredible! Thanks for sharing.

[@davidanttila9305]

Given how game development works. It was probably more like they was working towards a build and got ordered to start over in different direction.

[@Mineralbob]

MVG absolutely killing it at the moment with this content. Wow!

[@crashtefano]

Thanks for the shoutout to our forum! I kind of love this build, I wish the crossover racing game with Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon was a thing, especially after the success of CTR Nitro-Fueled in relatively recent years

[@DA-te7xe]

I don't see why they don't try make this game, continuing the CTR:NF format could easily be a success if they improve the online aspects. It could get fans of both franchises and they could simply port over characters and tracks from NF to it as well. I actually wanted to make a kart game myself but didn't start as it means learning the game development software and I think I'm not techy enough so I didn't go further from the design stages but I put a lot of design X effort into it.

[@Mankey619]

Interesting that they were going to make a crossover racing game between Spyro and Crash. It’s indeed a very good discovery here.

[@That-Ninja]

I'm not interested. I'd rather waste an entire can of whip cream on a sleeping homeless nibble.

[@Vinicius_Berger]

0:28 "Which is mostly known for the NASCAR racing titles" I'd say they're more infamously known for Ride to Hell: Retribution

[@ShanetheFreestyler]

I find it mildly ironic Crash vs Spyro was being developed on an Xbox SDK. I say "mildly" since by this point in time, both Crash and Spyro had long since stopped being PlayStation exclusives; even Universal gave them up around this time, if I recall correctly. Of course, it'll be more ironic if a future Crash or Spyro game releases exclusively on Xbox with no PlayStation or Nintendo release ever.

[@hurricane7727]

Actually Spyro Season of Ice was a Gameboy Advance Title too and not Playstation

[@ShanetheFreestyler]

@@hurricane7727 Really? You don't say! I would have never known if you hadn't so helpfully mentioned!

[@tronguy93]

Graphic design is my passion

[@eternalsword1999]

As someone who's been with the Crash and Spyro fan community for many years now, this is honestly a dope find for a project I knew very little about, but thanks to your video we've learnt what the original crossover between Crash and Spyro would have been, way before Crash Purple and Spyro Orange were a thing.

[@BagzAndPresident]

Wasnt that long before

[@TheCoolDave]

Too many lost possible games.... so sad...Thanks for sharing...

[@1xsandrax1]

Thank you for preserving these and putting them up on the archive, MVG 😊. What a great find!

[@aceofhearts573]

This is insane but a few days ago I was thinking that it would have been cool if Crash and Spyro had a kart game or a party game made back in the day.....and then we get this reveal. I better play the lottery

[@monsterlovers100]

Found your channel because of the dump video you did on this. This is an awesome snapshot of the wild 2000s games industry 😅 Thank you for your efforts to preserve it ❤

[@PH96Official]

Then what could have been if it's actually released... seems to be a fairly detailed Alpha. A real shame that the team behind this game never got to see it get fully realized and release. But it's better to have this it's confirmation that it existed, even in its most basic form nice job MVG.

[@hurricane7727]

Activision could make This Game

[@Brylvor]

Did u notice this was built on the BIG RIGS engine? Compare the little details like the GO! sign, the HUD, etc. What a bizarre find lol.

[@ap3xplayground583]

Not what I expected to see when I opened KZbin. Absolutely awesome finding here!

[@IllusionMaster17]

Its looks so early in development that probably was just and idea that managed to reach basic generic modeling and physics. This is so crazy but so cool at the same time. Its a wonderful discovery!

[@AED_001]

the black impact font italicized with the white border reading "press start" goes hard

[@neocaron87]

I wish we could get a devkit of Project ego before it became Fable or an advance prototype of BC. It would be pretty cool.

[@party_boy69]

A piece of history uncovered and preserved. Love to see it!

[@rockstopsthetraffic]

When I read the title, I didn't expect it to be a video from MVG! Thanks for this news!

[@l.kingdon4531]

Love the fact you left this image up. Preserving legends like a legend!

[@boydpukalo8980]

Another fascinating look into game development. Great video.

[@DessertArbiter]

the fact that "Racing" is in Comic Sans, definitely early 2000s vibe lol

[@BigTea]

Never stop the incredible work, I really appreciate having these videos around to preserve this stuff

[@weinerschnitzel7]

Wow! I scored an argonaut debug kit some years ago with a debug build of powerdrome. Now I wonder if there was more on it

[@m----]

Send the hdd to mvg

[@jinxterx]

@@m---- it was years ago so she probably doesn't have it anymore but you can ask him.

[@weinerschnitzel7]

The kit had some use after I got it, along with a 2005 Dev Kit from Point of View Inc, which still has the cellophane on the power buttons... I can try the same tool to get a sector by sector dump of the hdds, but it is very possible any deleted content that was there got overwritten.

[@rancid_]

Wow, loved this video. Ty for everything you do for the community, brother!

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

Better add this to the ever growing list of canned games & unsuccessful pitches related to the Crash Bandicoot & Spyro the Dragon franchises. Maybe someday someone will find more info about the various failed attempts to reboot Crash & Spyro in the 2010s, as well as that Crash Bandicoot MMO (yes, really).

[@MrLind87]

What a cool find, this will maybe be the find of the year in the OG XBOX's preservation history. Despite the fact of how cool this is I feel sad about all those hidden gems being hoarded by greedy collectors who only care about money rather than preservation, I hope more kind hearted people like that absolute legend who sent you that dev kit's HDD approaches to you with more hidden goodies in the future.

[@BagzAndPresident]

Nerd

[@MrLind87]

@@BagzAndPresidentSays it the guy who watched the same video as me out of personal interest. You know you'll be here when MVG leaks out another cool thing from those hard drives, so you're also a nerd in that context. Anyways, that's not a term which I would qualify myself with either.

[@miragebangbravern]

​@@BagzAndPresidentVery odd that you have around a thousand subs and a PayPal link yet have no videos whatsoever. Very suspicious behaviour.

[@daleford9157]

Once again, thank you MVG for everything you do for the community!

[@aoiyozoraa]

This is awesome. Your neverending passion led you to this moment. Thank you !

[@jaayrodstaar5878]

Awesome find!! I wish games would released prototypes or early demos years later just like how bands release demos or b sides on anniversary’s

[@willrobinson7599]

Great video fella. Amazing the details u managed to un earth

[@tamoghnapal6619]

Hey MVG, I recently found around 30 discs in my house, all from the early 2000s era. They contained everything from flash games, game demos to forgotten software and Intel socket 370 drivers. I dumped all of them (except for 3 due to CD Rot issues) using Alcohol 120. So how do I preserve them? Should I upload them to internet archive? Also amongst there was a copy of "Oxford Advanced learner's compass", but unfortunately it had DRM, i.e. the software would only launch with the original disc, not with the disc image, so is there any way I can remove the DRM, as the disc can't be preserved unless the DRM is removed. Although I made a copy, the copy is useless with the DRM intact.

[@mccarthy5825]

Hey mate I don’t know what to tell you but I wanted to say thank you for being a total legend and for doing your bit in preserving software and keeping history intact. People like you are the best for the preservation community and the opposite of the greedy miserly ‘collectors’ who refuse to dump ROMS. You are one of the good guys. . Fair play and I hope you get all that stuff preserved as you want. All the best from Dublin 👍✌️☀️🇮🇪

[@NaoPb]

About the Internet Archive: yes, upload it. That is exactly what IA is for. Also: thanks. You're a legend.

[@Neopumper666]

Regarding the Drm, contact one of the cracker teams, the type of disc Drm used then should be very easy to crack by modern standards

[@HAGSLAB]

Just archive the image with DRM intact, chances are someone are able to remove the DRM check later at some point and the image will work fine.

[@98SE]

Great video as always!

[@Polowogs]

Amazing discovery, thank you for the legwork and trying to pin point origins. Up to the community if they want to know more, you laid great groundwork. Thanks for the in depth look!

[@ChaunceyGardener]

That's some Clouseau levels of detective work on this. Looking at a video file for evidence, contacting people then deciding to look at the second file.

[@ZeroDxyt]

Imagine how many Crash prototypes have been made in those crazy years 😮

[@FlavioCrusiGrisari]

Community italiana di Crash, questa è rarità scoperta

[@user-lc5xp5xd2i]

Great work and much appreciated!

[@Eggsnbaconbits.]

Not only did they take I-Ninja 2 away from me but now a Crash vs Spyro game.

[@deathraven1380]

There was a crossover between Crash and Spyro. I played those Game Boy Advance games called Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy. Yes those two games are crossover plot of each others situation to deal with. They even promoted a crash and spyro super pack for the game boy advance. Do I'm not suprise this was going to be the next step.

[@evilcrashbandicootthetouho2753]

I remembered this thanks for the memories

[@Ritzrfx]

MVG is going to be the ultimate "Video Games Historian", way to go!!!

[@MonoGrinded]

Wonder if a Donkey Kong Racing prototype will ever surface

[@OgreJoe]

I'd love to see Saberman Stampede

[@bioodfox7805]

You're a g for this video. And for uploading the contents. Seriously, thank you for preserving this technological footprint. I'm kinda shocked there's not a museum of sorts for this kinda stuff.

[@BagzAndPresident]

Nobody goes to museums anymore NERD

[@cyphaborg6598]

I remember hearing about a possible crossover between the two back in those days. it's probably because of the article. (Or other rumors around that time since the article is from 2022) Could also have been this: *Crash Bandicoot & Spyro Adventure World* April 2004 In-universe link: Crash Bandicoot and Spyro are connected trough a direct crossover or elements from them appeared together outside both series Crash Bandicoot Dash Spyro *Crash Bandicoot & Spyro Adventure World was a browser game created as a cross promotion by snacks company Nabisco, promoting the release of Crash Bandicoot Purple and Spyro Orange.* So IDK, but there always has been speculation about the two being in the same game.

[@BuddyWright93]

Anyone else trying to identify the other racers in the intro video? Besides Crash and Spyro, I can only make out Cortex and Ripto.

[@reaper15a]

Bro, if this would have been released, I would have played this till my disc wouldn't work anymore.

[@Moulin13]

The X Files game that came out for PS2 it was going to be released for Xbox, I wonder if there is a prototype somewhere, that's a good game

[@idgaffub]

Thanks mvg you are doing great work just like hard4games etc youtubers showing unreleased games demos

[@MaxPanic]

Amazing discovery! Excellent digital archeology, mate.

[@Heath109x]

4:10 that neck turn with the nose bounce is everything

[@jtr159]

What an amazing find! MVG you are the MVP!

[@Kiyuja]

can we just take a moment and appreciate the "racing" part of Crash vs Spyro racing is written in Comic Sans?

[@overlordalfredo]

Wow, that would be incredible to finish and release 😮

[@cooperkellis2659]

The track in the demo looks like its based upon the first level of spyro enter the dragonfly

[@tyraelhermosa]

Thanks MVG. This is so cool, this look into what might have been!

[@TheChaoticWolf]

This is really cool, awesome find!

[@foamyserver]

So glad I subscribed - this is awesome.

[@Armm8991]

That opening cinematic lol It looks so 90s 3D

[@ricjimurcid]

loved the comic sans in the FMV intro movie

[@danielcordero901]

What a time to be alive.

[@wilhelmscream3813]

And now I want prototypes for the other cancelled Crash Bandicoot games (that made it into production anyway) to be leaked! I feel Crash Landed or CTR 2010 are the best bets

[@fridgeffs5662]

nooooooooooooo way this was a thing. I loved crash team racing as a kid. and played the hell out of spyro. This would have been amazing. Another great racing game was the muppetmania one. Holy hell. Games used to be amazing back in the 90s. you got what you paid for, didnt need to worry about downloading patches and DLC, you just got home and played your game.

[@TPD]

major find!

[@Stoooopid]

Xbox Dev Kits always have the best stuff. Sonic Extreme, South Park, and now this!

[@aerithxx]

The crossover I always wanted. 😭 Thank you for sharing! 🧡💜

[@K113-A]

So many cancelled games, so many we don't know...

[@KerberosTV]

Therapist: Crack Bandicoot isn't real, he can't hurt you. Crack Bandicoot: 4:00

[@TheZelda360]

😂

[@midnightlygames]

Excellent video. 6:08 that logo it's similar to devialet speakers

[@FrogFraction]

that intro omg, i'm in tears. spyro's expressions look like kermit the frog. The title has "racing" in comic sans looking font. fun to see

[@flamesdivde]

Worth the wait for the follow up. Great story.

[@ShinyShinyIsAlwaysBeingSerious]

These lost game projects are absolutely fascinating