The 90’s nostalgia run we’ve been living in for the past couple of years continues this week, with the release of Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. A ground-up remake of the 1999 PSOne original, Nitro-Fueled has given the source material a fresh coat of paint, some new characters, more tracks and a bunch of modern features. Yet just below the surface lies the same frantic, tight and addictive kart racer that most of us remember playing on our old TVs two decades ago. Crash Bandicoot is back in a big way, and he’s running laps around the competition.
The original Crash Team Racing was an interesting idea at launch all those years ago. Following the genre-defining original Crash Bandicoot trilogy, fans were a bit hesitant when series creators Naughty Dog announced that their 4th (and ultimately final) Crash adventure would be a kart racer. CTR proved to be an absolute hit however, becoming a big fan-favourite that had us all wondering why it hadn’t been done sooner. The colourful racer had it all: a full adventure mode, couch multiplayer, a bunch of well designed tracks and some of the best racing mechanics seen at the time. The instantly recognisable characters and the fact that Sony’s console had little in the way of similar racers also didn’t hurt CTR‘s rise to glory. Fast forward 20 years, and there’s no question that Nitro-Fueled is absolutely brimming with nostalgia. There’s been so much attention to detail throughout – from the remastered soundtrack through to the perfectly recreated racetracks – and it’s hard to imagine any fan of the series arguing that the remake hasn’t been tuned to perfection.
Aiming to be more than just another faithful nostalgia trip, CTR‘s character roster and track list have both been greatly expanded, thanks in part to some additions from 2003’s Crash Nitro Kart. These extras are a nice little bonus and bring some variety to what we’d otherwise expect from a remake. You’re also able to customise the look of any driver or vehicle, with hundreds of options to unlock using coins earned through racing through any of the game’s several modes. Characters and karts aren’t the only things that look a bit different however, as you’ll notice that the biggest change is in just how fantastic everything looks this time around. All of the tracks and locations glow with colour and detail, each with the exact same design as the original but now so much nicer on the eyes. Some cool new ideas have been put into the remake’s tracks as well, such as hidden extras and recognisable details in the background for keen-eyed fans of the series. The care and detail that has gone into every course is fantastic, but it’s important to note that the general mechanics and layouts of each track are unchanged. Each race is still won or lost based on your ability to nail every corner, track down the best shortcuts and turbo boost your way to the front.
Mastering these elements is more important in CTR than it is in many other casual kart racers, as big power-ups and weapons are far less likely to score you an easy win. That being said, there are a number of items that can be used to keep you in the race, such as homing missiles, explosive crates and invincibility masks. These can be effective when used well, however their impact is generally pretty minimal. Even when hit by an explosive or hazard, racers generally maintain their momentum and roll out of damage very quickly. This means there’s less reliance on random pickups and more on building your skills with each character and track – plus it helps to keep each race flowing with a decent pace when you’re not constantly stopping and starting. On top of this, it won’t take long for you to learn that the real key to victory in CTR is through its speed boost system – something that you’ll want to get your head around as soon as possible. With an easy to use, difficult to master powersliding mechanic, you’re able to trigger a shot of speed at just about any point on a course. Getting the most out of each turn takes some practice and timing, but it becomes second nature quickly and is an absolute must when racing online or within the later sections of CTR‘s quality adventure mode.
While admittedly being a cool and fun concept in a racing game, the plot of this single-player adventure offering is fairly barebones. It plays out with hothead alien Nitrous Oxide arriving on Earth looking for some worthy competition, quickly threatening to obliterate the planet if Crash and the team are unable to beat him. It’s up to you to race across every track in a number of different zones – ultimately proving that you’re the competition worthy of taking Oxide down. While the plot remains unchanged from the 1999 original, Nitro-Fueled allows you to switch your character at any time throughout the adventure – a big plus as most drivers will have their own strengths and weaknesses on each track. You can also try your hand at a few additional challenges for each course, such as collecting hidden items or beating the clock with some insane lap times. Once you’ve knocked out every race in an area, you’ll have won your chance to take on one of the game’s multiple bosses. These returning enemies from the first few Crash games are pretty brutal, challenging you to a one-on-one race where they have limitless weapons and ridiculous speed. The idea is to knock the boss down in order to overtake them, then hold them back with items long enough to cross the finish line – a task that’s generally easier said than done. The whole process repeats a few times on the way to the story’s end, with the adventure ultimately being a short but cool feature not generally seen in other games in the genre.
Once you’re done with the single-player mode, Nitro-Fueled becomes all about the local and online multiplayer side of things. Online races are available right out of the box, but be warned that there’s some tough competition out there. Fans of the original have been clamouring for a chance to race those around the world for years now, so it’s worth really nailing the tracks and mechanics first if you’re looking to take out the top spot. This mode really is where CTR will shine after release, so it helps that Activision have announced an ongoing schedule of free extra content – with the game set to receive a number of new tracks, racers and customisation items over the next few months. They even have Spyro the Dragon joining the roster in September, just in case this game hadn’t already won over every 90’s kid.
Catering to both the long time fans and an entirely new generation of players, Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled proves that Crash can really do no wrong now that he’s back on the scene. With the perfect combo of nostalgic charm and rock-solid racing design, the game is great for a casual house party or a super competitive match between top players (and everything in between). The game marks CTR‘s triumphant return after a 20 year absence, and with very little decent competition to match it, it’s shot straight to first place.
Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is available now on PS4, XBOne & Nintendo Switch.