Crash Bandicoot is back in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, a fast-paced colorful kart game. Similar to Mario Kart and Team Sonic Racing, Activision delivers their take on the genre. It’s a complete remake of the classic and adds enough new elements to keep everybody entertained. This isn’t just a copy and paste racer, Crash Team Racing offers a unique take at the genre and comes with its own set of rules.
Better go fast
When booting up the game for the first time, you’ll see that Activision knows what the fans want. You can go for two options. If you want the classic experience, you can boot the game with only one racer and no way to change the level of difficulty. Just like the normal Crash Bandicoot games, this level of difficulty is rather high and mastering the techniques isn’t that easy. Crash Team Racing is a lot harder than Mario Kart since you’ll have to time your boosts and airtime precisely right in order to take advantage of a small boost. It’s a lot harder to master and activate at the right time, especially when your opponents are extremely fast and take advantage of your slightest mistake. Playing it in this classic mode won’t be for everybody, so Activision decided you could also go on an adventure.
Adventure mode is the campaign of the game and is a lot more forgiving towards the new crowd. In this mode, you can select the driver you want, change the vehicle and its appearance, and you can lower the level of difficulty too. I’m guessing this will be the mode most new players will prefer as it gives you a bit more time to breath while learning the ropes. Adventure mode is nicely crafted, offering you tracks in different sections of the map. In between levels, you can drive on the map, finding some extra secrets or just having fun discovering everything there is to see. It’s similar to what Diddy Kong Racing, that other classic, brought to the table in the past.
A glorious remake
Although the level of difficulty and higher speed of the other racers might scare you off the first time playing, you’ll want to improve your skills no matter what. That’s because this is easily the best-looking kart racer currently on the market. The team went all the way to recreate this classic and it results in one of the most colorful and best-looking games in the genre. Right from the start, you’ll be amazed by the character models, the colorful tracks (including some brand-new ones), and the variety in the scenery. Not one track resembles another, all tracks offer a different take and different layout on anything you’ve seen before.
Playing the game will bring a smile to your face no matter what and that’s a big achievement. It’s easy to see that a lot of love and time went into this recreation of a classic and it really sets the bar extremely high for any other remake releasing after this one. Combine this with the visual extravaganza of the many power-ups and you know you’re playing a quality product. The game runs extremely smooth, even in the (online) multiplayer mode. It’s something I really appreciate a lot. The game is strong on nostalgia but even surpasses my fond memories. It’s not just a classic game, it’s a game that can stand next to the best of our era, which is rather impressive for a remake if you ask me.
A lot of content
Although the Adventure mode is fun to play, it won’t take that long to complete, just like in any other kart game. Racing through the adventure will offer some worth for your money but most fun isn’t found there, it’s found in the other modes. You can challenge yourself trying to defeat high scores, set times, or race against others. Multiplayer is where the most fun is since you can test your skills against other human players, both offline and online. Activision also revealed the fact that they’ll bring some post-launch content to the game in the coming months.
For a kart racer, this is a rather complete deal as it offers everything you would expect and even more. With a high amount of unlockable characters and costumes, it will take a while to complete this game completely. It’s safe to say that this is one of those games that gives you a lot in return for your money. If you’re into kart racing games, you can’t really go wrong with this one.
But, it’s not perfect
Until now, everything I said about the game is positive, and to be honest, it’s just a great game to kill some hours together with your friends. That being said, it’s not the perfect game. The loading times are a bit long and the technique might be a bit too hard for most to master. If you’re used of playing Mario Kart on any Nintendo console, you’ll immediately spot the differences. Crash is a lot more technical and the luck factor of winning is kept to a minimum, a huge change compared to Mario Kart of course.
Obviously, I lot of people will see this as another win for the game but I found it hard to really get into it. In my opinion, Mario Kart is still the better racer but since I tested the PlayStation version, this is without a doubt the best in its genre on non-Nintendo console. If you look at it that way, it’s a great game although there’s still no excuse for those absurdly long loading screens. I hope those get fixed in a future patch.
Conclusion:
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled brings back a classic to the modern days of gaming. It’s a perfect remake and offers everything fans hoped for. If you’re looking for a colorful racer that isn’t too easy on you, this will be the perfect fit. Keep in mind that the loading times are long and the techniques aren’t always that easy, but once you master them, the game’s a blast.
