Review: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (PS4) unites nostalgia and fun

Table of Contents

1. Two (beautiful) Crash Team Racing in one
2. Adventure with karts
3. inspired arcade mode
4. A few points outside the curve

As a pleasant surprise, the Activision, current holder of the rights of the marsupial Crash Bandicoot, announced during the 2018 edition of the event aimed at gamers The Game Awards, that the character would return to current-gen consoles, with a racing game titled Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

After a well-received remake (term for when a game is completely remade) for the current generation of the first three games of Crash, originally released for the first PlayStation, it's time for a revamp of the classic Crash Team Racing (also PS1 original), racing game with cheats à la Mario Kart. Will the Beenox, developer of the work, manages to win the dispute between the new Team Sonic Racing and the already consecrated Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?

Two (beautiful) Crash Team Racing in one

The proposal for Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, from the beginning, was very clear: to bring to the current generation a kart game from the marsupial Bandicoot with a strong appeal to nostalgia. The game works almost like a remake of the Crash Team Racing, released in 1999 and exclusive to the first PlayStation. Additionally, clues and characters from another game in the franchise, Crash Nitro Kart (this one, in turn, multiplatform), were also reimagined. Thus, the impression that long-time fans will have is that they are playing two games in one.

The work of redoing all the tracks from the first title had its positives and negatives. Beenox has done a superb job of reimagining the old building. Now, in addition to the obvious textures in high definition and which well simulate the materials they represent, the scenarios are rich and full of movement.

In addition, smoke, fire, explosions, water effects and even the transparency of some tracks are pleasing to the eye. The end result is a visually very beautiful game. However, for better or for worse, comparisons with its main competitors are indispensable – especially with Mario Kart, Nintendo's franchise that remains to this day as the pinnacle of the genre.

Crash Team Racing runs on PlayStation 4 (platform used for the production of this review) at full HD resolution (1080p) (4K on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X), against 900p on the Xbox One version and 720p on Nintendo Switch. The development team, however, chose to set a goal of 30 frames per second on all platforms.

The game maintains a stable performance even when played in local multiplayer, without the gaming sessions being disrupted at any time. Despite Team Sonic Racing having slipped when trying to hit 60 frames per second on PS4 and Xbox, with constant performance drops, the most obvious comparison is with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which runs at an enviable 60 frames on Switch.

Another valid comparison with Mario Kart refers to the design of the tracks. Loyalty is the best word to describe Beenox's work with Crash Team Racing. By faithfully reproducing the tracks, the company ended up adapting them only for the visual aspect. As a negative point, we have very short circuits, which, added to the high difficulty of the game, often leave the feeling that it would be possible to achieve victory if they were longer.

Beenox lacked attention to the games of Mario Kart, which since the Nintendo DS version (from 2005) has old tracks, but which are always adapted to suit the characteristics of the new iteration.

Adventure with karts

Just like the original CTR, Nitro-Fueled brings an adventure mode. The plot is very simple and only serves the purpose of having an excuse for disputes: the villain Nitrous Oxide challenges Crash and the gang to races, on the condition that if he wins, he will turn the entire planet Earth into one big parking lot. .

The adventure mode boils down to an area in which the chosen character roams freely with his kart, which interconnects the available competitions (available as the player wins the disputes). Upon completing all of them, a new area is opened, while races won will have special challenges. You must come first in each match to unlock the next challenge.

The difficulty level of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is high, and it is essential that the player master the drift technique, which allows turns to be made faster and guarantees a turbo at the end. Racing on the same tracks again to complete the special challenges is a good way to get the hang of the trick.

Eventually, during the campaign, new characters will appear to challenge you, becoming available when defeated. With each new appearance, there will be a pre-rendered scene with the new character, and it is worth mentioning the concern with the Spanish localization of Spain, with audio and voices entirely in our language. The performances, however, are expendable.

As the player explores the adventure, which is unfortunately not available for multiplayer, new vehicles and customization items are unlocked. There are great options to customize the character in races, but unfortunately they are nothing more than cosmetic items, since only characters influence acceleration, speed and corner statistics.

inspired arcade mode

Perhaps the brightest Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled be your arcade mode. In it, you can compete with up to four players on the same console, or eight online. The mode is divided into free races (it is worth noting that all the tracks are already available from the beginning, without having to release them in adventure mode), championships, time count and battles, which have their own shine.

In battles, the objective is to use in-game items to use them against opponents. There's the classic mode — whoever hits the most runners wins —, a kind of battle royale, in which the last one left on the track wins, among others. There are many special circuits reserved for the mode, which, despite being very fun, is limited to the small amount of items available in the game (which also ends up affecting the races).

It will certainly be in arcade mode that players who enjoy Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will spend most of their time enjoying it.

A few points outside the curve

Despite all the care bestowed on Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, in some aspects the game slips, and a lot. The range of items available is small, and it is common for races to take place almost entirely with bowling bombs, missiles or turbos, even when the player is a few positions behind. It lacks variety, something essential in the genre.

Another valid (negative) point is the control system. The layout designed by Beenox is messy and hard to get used to. To give you an idea, the X button is used to accelerate, while the circle is used to release the item. The upper shoulder buttons (R and L) are used together to perform drifts, while the lower ones (R2 and L2) change the camera. There isn't any button mapping option, so it's just a matter of getting used to the default layout and hoping that an update will allow for changes.

Speaking of updates, Beenox is constantly adding content to the game. In the main menu there is an option to buy cosmetic items, which are temporary and constantly replaced. No need to worry, as they are all sold for virtual coins, earned by playing the game. In addition, there are online challenges that reward the player with new characters and vehicles.

Despite the slips, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a great game, which adds quality to the library of new generation consoles, especially PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Nintendo Switch owners have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is the best experience in the style, but even there, the marsupial title brings variety to those who want something other than Big N's mustachioed plumber gang.