Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is Back!

Nostalgia is nothing new, it seems to have accelerated in this current generation of consoles. HD remasters and "built-from-the-ground-up" remakes litter store shelves, and we are invariably delighted to lap up these colorful reminders of our gaming past. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled has modern updates in the right places it feels as good today as the original did 20 years ago.

There was a danger Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled would show its 1999 progenitor up to be a dated game best left in the past. Instead, developer Beenox has proved how impressive and durable Naughty Dog's original work was while also tweaking it in the right ways.

In the original game it had a list of 18 tracks has been expanded upon with 13 more from its sequel, Crash Nitro Kart, and these provide an extended list of topographically and visually distinct circuits, from desert pyramids, to ice caves to underwater tunnels. Those visuals have of course also been given a face lift, and while no track looks bad, Alot are stunning. Coco Park has pink flowers strewn across the road, for example, while Tiger Temple looks like it was taken directly from Uncharted 4.

It takes a bit of getting used to play, mind you. For anyone who's played any amount of Mario Kart, for example, over the past few years, Crash Team Racing's power slides will feel decidedly alien, at times too sensitive and at others not sensitive enough and this leads to quite a few missed crates or headlong collisions with stationary objects. However, once you learn the mechanics it is quite a enjoyable game. You can chain boosts for even faster acceleration with the risk of spinning out, so while it's harder to get to grips with, Crash Team Racing's power sliding nets bigger rewards for those willing to dance with the drifting devil.

Nitro-Fueled's array of power-ups are the other obstacles in your path to the finish line. They are derivative of Mario Kart's selection Crash's green beakers are Mario's bananas, Crash Team Racing provides an interesting twist. Collecting Wumpa Fruit both speeds you up and turbocharges your power-ups. Green beakers transform into the more deadly red beakers, TNTs which can be shaken off become the instantly detonating Nitros, and so on. When the power-ups, boost pads, and handling combine, Nitro-Fueled boasts an exhilarating sense of speed.

In a attempt to modernize the mode, Beenox has added a Nitro-Fueled variant of Adventure. This allows you to switch characters between races and adjust the difficulty, which goes a long way to resolving the campaign's irritating moments. Mercifully, the game autosaves after every race, though those giant green screens are still around if you fancy saving there for old time’s sake. also you are able to switch between the revamped version and the original PlayStation audio

Outside of Adventure, there are of course the standard single races or cups, as well as an extensive Battle mode. Within this are varied game types such as Capture the Flag and a battle royale style Last Kart Driving. These are fun, Following a day one patch, online races can readily be found and run smoother than before, however some lobbies still suffer from half a second of lag you'll sometimes find yourself blowing up just a split second before your bomb nemesis rolls into view.

As well as Adventure mode, character customization has also been modernized. As in the 1999 game, you can choose characters depending on your preference for higher top speed, quicker acceleration, or better handling. However, you can now also change your kart and character's appearance, with a selection of skins, badges, paint jobs, outfits, and whole new karts and characters to choose from. These are unlocked through normal play, but can also be purchased with in-game currency via the store cha ching! While they are, mechanically meaningless, more cosmetic if you want to spend more money why not!

It's good to have Crash back!

who was your favorite character and course

let me know below!

- Larman