CRASH IS KING

With the launch of his new mobile game, Crash Bandicoot: On the Run, one of the biggest names in gaming history is now fully unleashed on mobile—and out to prove he’s still got the speed and skills to capture the world’s attention. Just don’t call it a comeback. He’s been here for years.

- Matt Tuthill

Maybe choosing Top of the Rock for Crash Bandicoot’s Men’s Journal cover shoot wasn’t the smartest choice logistically speaking. It’s cramped up here. The photographer’s assistants are wrestling with lights and a reflective umbrella, looking like they might puke any minute, nauseated by the dizzying height. But the famed photographer insisted this New York landmark wasn’t just a great option, it was the only one.

“Crash Bandicoot is larger than life,” she says matter-of-factly. “You don’t capture the hugeness of his persona, his influence, or his place in gaming lore by taking his portrait in a studio. For a quarter of a century, the world has been at his feet. And that’s exactly what we’re here to portray.”

Her subject—that affable marsupial—is draped comfortably in a director’s chair, munching a Wumpa fruit as a hairstylist fluff s up his shiny orange coat.

“Not too much, darling,” the photographer warns. “Neat is fine, but this bandicoot is a creature of raw, untamed energy.”

A smile cracks across his face. It’s typical for Crash to let his action do the talking since he burst onto the scene in 1996 in the original Crash Bandicoot for PlayStation One. A smash hit, Crash’s first game redefined the platforming genre for the 3D realm. Two sequels followed, then Crash showed off his versatility, branching out into racing and party games.