Arcade go-kart racing was once a more frequent genre, but slowly disappeared from the market. This is obviously not because of their popularity, as sales show us that millions of players still go after these games. Gone is the time of Wacky Wheels, Diddy Kong Racing and many others. Today, only Mario Kart, who reigns and seems to discourage most of the competitors, is definitely a pity. Sonic waited a long time to return to these waters, and recently we finally got it as Team Sonic Racing. However, another icon was also preparing to return to the starting field, calling for even more fans than Sonic.
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is finally here and it's more than just a remake of the original 1999 CTR in just a few ways. It is from the content point of view, as the new game offers content not only from CTR, but also from Crash Nitro Cart and also from Crash Tag Team Racing. So you can count on the fact that there is a really huge portion of content, both tracks and characters. This is how remakes are to be made - putting everything available in them. But then there is also a glimpse of a huge amount of brand new and honest robots put in by Beenox guys who have been shown up again (recently they were just one of the CoD studios).
If you have ever played a similar game, you will immediately get into playing CTR as the gold standard follows. On the contrary, it offers proven entertainment so you can bite it with your friends even if you put the controller in your hands for the first time in your life. So nothing happens at all if you haven't missed similar kart games yet. This can be your gateway and at the same time one of the best, whose control and gaming mechanisms will immediately get you into the blood. It's all simple, accessible, intuitive and catchy in the very first moment.
The game already offered story mode in its original release 20 years ago, but now the authors have expanded it. Although the basis remains the same, there is more, including new prestige scenes. Crash even on the race track has no peace from enemies and this time it is up to save the world. However, it is not against Dr. Neo Cortex, but against the new intergalactic villain Nitros Oxide. He sees himself as the fastest racer in the galaxy, and you and Crash have the task of taking him out of this mistake. But it's not just that you challenge and win the moment they first give you a checkered flag at your destination.
The game borrows the concept of story mode from its skeleton predecessors, so there is one central hub from which you set off into diverse "worlds". There is a series of races awaiting you, and eventually a boss duel. Only in this way do you win the process further and not just that. At the same time, you unlock new characters (with which you can ride) or new possibilities of editing your karts - chassis, wheels, colors and stickers. But there is something else about Crasha. Of course, all you have to do is win the race and move on. Well, it doesn't stop there. There are other options where you collect gems, special tokens, or ride tracks on time. Only then can you pass the game 100%.
You can also ride Adventure mode in two settings. The first is classic, what the memorials know from the original game. So you have one character and one go-kart and with that you go to the end. It just limits you to the fact that the characters have different characteristics, so some are faster, others are better twisted and so on. As far as go-karts are concerned, they offer rather visual changes. And so you can find a combination that you like and also suits your driving characteristics. You will appreciate this later especially in multiplayer, either local or online, where you will differentiate from other competitors.
Even though in Story Story mode you can spend a few hours and unlock some of the content to grapple with other players, the core of the gameplay is something else. The best of you gets the game just when you are not sitting in front of it, but there are friends next to you. The next three rounds will decide whether they will remain your friends. Because you have the most fun here together and it is great that the game supports a local split screen for four players. There is no better feeling in the game than to fire a friend's rocket right in the back, and when you get in front of him, put his crate with TNT in front of him again.
First of all, you get ahead of your opponents thanks to your riding skills, where it is not enough just to keep your foot on the throttle, but you also have to learn to jump correctly and especially drift, which the game is based on maybe a little too. Drifts and jumps are connected by game mechanisms and bring something more complex into the game. But there are moments where it's not just about abilities, but about coincidence that is represented in the game by crates. The more Wumpa fruits you have, the faster you go. Well, I don't need to explain in detail what it means when the power-ups of a rocket are on at the top of the screen. There are more of these, and you can use them for both defense and attack.
In multiplayer you can play simple races, but also short cup championships, but there are also battle modes, when players split into teams and it is not the first who cuts the finish line, but rather who gets the victory in the arena more . Offering specific regimes is fairly standard, but can entertain. All of them can be used not only in local gaming, but also in online multiplayer. Unfortunately, it is gnawed at the bone. Here are just three choices - friends, private game and fast game. there are no ranks, voting is limited, you can't play online on a split screen, and overall, this part of the game, especially on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, is far from catching. What a shame, because Crash is subject to something that we might already demand as a standard.
In addition, it creaks in another area and it is the design of the tracks, where some really age, even if they look graphically top. However, the visual is deceiving and the design has really become obsolete somewhere, and you may not be surprised that this is often the case with the tracks from the very first game. If a passage is difficult, it is based only on relatively cheap tricks, blind turns at right angles and the like. The challenge can be brought into the game in a more intelligent and especially imaginative way, which in turn prove other tracks in the game, after which you will be happy whether you are first or last place.
Graphically there is nothing to talk about. CTR remake is the most beautiful game in the genre, and from time to time, for example, just watching friends in a tournament and sipping beer, you begin to notice the incredible amount of detail that each track has in its modern coat. You are sorry that players may not even notice it when the authors have invested so much effort. It just looks great and it sounds great. I am not only talking about music that is perhaps not even old in its foundation, but also about dubbing characters that will return you in time. In the technical field, the pity is perhaps only 30 fps, as I think that the game on the current hardware could get more.
There are many things you can love at Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. Moreover, it is very simple. Just look at the images around. Just look at the game and you must like it. After so many years, gameplay is still catchy and addictive. Riding, liquidating opponents and drifting will win you. All of this is backed up by a truly huge portion of content right from the three games, so don't worry about having fun on the first weekend and then overwhelming the games. If you can also invite a bunch of friends to join her, the game will show you its magic in its fullest when you deal wounds on the track and on the couch. At the same time, however, it is an example that some things are already today. It may be a track design that in some cases is no longer ideal. It can be a really shallow online experience. But also some other things (smaller bugs, occasional online lags ...), which is not helped by the fact that while you get some of the content as a reward for your results, for the second part you have to grind and buy these things for the game where they are not even all but rotate there.
