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Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled Review


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1459455323_CrashTeamRacingNitro-Fueledboxart.png.876633059bfac6c96d1b7e8065cd9e79.pngFirst Team Sonic Racing in May and now Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled—it seems like the Switch just can't get enough wacky kart racers. But while Sonic's team-focused racing experience was entirely new, Nitro-Fueled is actually a remake of a 20-year-old PlayStation game, now with a new coat of paint and a few tune-ups to suit the online landscape of 2019. Fans of the original may love getting the chance to revisit familiar courses and characters, but new players might feel a bit burned by the steep learning curve.
 
A racing game hardly needs to even bother setting up a storyline, but Nitro-Fueled opens with a planetary invasion from an alien named Nitros Oxide who claims to be the fastest racer in the galaxy. He challenges Earth's best driver to a one-on-one race with the fate of the planet in the balance, and so Crash steps up to prove his mettle against four boss races before taking on Oxide. Aside from brief intros and outros to each boss race there isn't much else to the story, but it's nice to have a reason to race—aside from the glory of a first-place trophy.
 
As a kart racer, Nitro-Fueled has all the basics you'd expect from the genre: you'll race across a variety of elaborate tracks, picking up items to attack other racers in order to take first place in the end. There are some great track designs here (which actually draws from the original Crash Team Racing as well as its sequel, Crash Nitro Kart) which make good use of the game's drifting boost and aerial boost mechanics without bogging down the tracks in too much confusing fluff. There's also enough depth to most tracks that you'll want to replay them over and over to fully master the ideal path. Some courses do seem to drag on a bit with nothing more exciting than a few turns and jumps though, and those tracks probably could've been a little shorter.
 
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The game also has a decent number of playable characters, though there are only a few real "class variations" that impact a racer's speed, acceleration, and turning ability, but it's still enough variety that you can spend plenty of time figuring out your perfect fit in terms of both stats and looks. The item selection feels somewhat limited though, especially since half the items are rather similar to one another. But the game does spice things up with a unique item mechanic: if you collect ten Wumpa Fruits during a race (usually found inside crates, or scattered on the track) all items will take on slightly stronger properties. It's a good incentive to collect Wumpa Fruits, not to mention the fact that you'll go faster with more fruits in your pocket.
 
Possibly the most defining aspect of Nitro-Fueled is the way drift boosting works here. Instead of just holding the drift button down or wiggling the control stick back and forth, you have to press either L or R then press the opposite (R or L) at the right time to activate the boost. If you time it perfectly you'll get a bigger boost, plus you can chain up to three boosts in one drift. The timing is based on a small gauge in the lower right corner of the screen, plus this remake makes things a little easier by making your tires glow when the time is just right to hit the boost button. Ideally you'll eventually just know the timing perfectly by heart, but these visual cues are invaluable to new players, because this drifting system is undoubtedly one of the more complicated ones you'll find in a kart racer, especially one that otherwise appears to be a very kid-friendly. In fact the complexity of this drift system can make the single-player adventure mode extremely challenging, even on normal difficulty, since you kind of have to master it to get over the AI racers' perfect performances. It's definitely frustrating for new players to try to jump into Nitro-Fueled, where the AI is relentless (and sometimes appears to be rubberbanding when even a speed boost item isn't enough to put significant distance between you and them) and you unfortunately can't change the difficulty level without restarting adventure mode entirely.
 
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Nitro-Fueled also has some more technical issues that weigh on the experience, such as some truly horrendous load times. It might be more tolerable if they were less frequent, but every time you start or finish a race you'll be treated to a good thirty or forty seconds of loading screen. That kind of constant annoyance is a real drag on the otherwise fast-paced action of the game. The system for unlockables is also a bit annoying. You'll unlock several characters, karts, and other customization options just by playing adventure mode, but many items must be bought with Wumpa Coins, which you earn from every completed race, whether you're playing solo, multiplayer, or online. The catch here is that you have to be connected to the internet to actually earn the coins—if you're, say, playing on the bus, you're not going to be accruing any coins. It's already a huge grind to earn enough Wumpa Coins to unlock items, so missing out on the chance to earn coins while not connected to the internet is disappointing.
 
Regardless of whether or not you're raking in the coins, there's plenty to do in Nitro-Fueled. Adventure mode can be completed in just a few hours, but there's also a "true ending" that requires you to tackle additional challenges. And of course there's the endless potential of multiplayer to stretch out the game's length, including both local and online multiplayer. The online connection was fairly smooth for me—one or two minor lag issues but nothing out of the ordinary—and there's already a decent number of players to race online. There will also be planned online events that give players the opportunity to earn DLC items (via challenges or by spending Wumpa Coins) so Nitro-Fueled should see plenty of long-term support.
 
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With Crash Bandicoot in the lead role, you can expect some charmingly goofy and colorful graphics in Nitro-Fueled. The game's cartoony style is well preserved from its PS1 origins, now with higher quality. The Switch version does look a bit rougher compared to other consoles, but it's only really noticeable during the slower moments of the game—when you're in the middle of a race, the graphics look fine and run at a stable 30 frames per second. The soundtrack is also fun and cartoony in its own way, though it has fewer standout moments than the art design.

 
Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled offers up yet another solid kart racer for the Switch, complete with colorful tracks and wacky item action. Despite that cartoony appearance though the gameplay requires a fairly significant investment of practice before a player is going to be able to race competently, largely thanks to the game's unique drift boost mechanic which is indispensable for winning, even against the AI. Long loading times also have a way of preventing the game from maintaining top speed, but anyone willing to overlook those faults should enjoy the frenetic kart-racer action.
 
Rating: 7 out of 10 Wumpa Fruits
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I'd give it an 8/10 for the PS4 edition. Yes, there are some problems with, but it comes with a retro track, and it controls like the original game. As for the AI and difficulty... it's because the rubberbanding is next to nonexistent, the items don't offer any true way to catch up to first place, and it's more skill-based than luck, which Mario Kart is known for. Yes, I'm going to say the "get good" argument here. Even though I know I've come across a hacker or two on my end. As a fan of the original, I'd say it supersedes it in almost everywhere else. The characters look nicer, the customization is through the roof, the boss introductions and losses are a lot better (they just sat in their karts in the original), the locations are a lot more vibrant, about 80% of the music has been given an upgrade, and the amount of content and content coming soon is phenomenal. I didn't expect the Nitro characters to appear as well, and I can't wait for Spyro to appear. The first tour mode comes out this Wednesday as well, so be prepared. The 7/10 should be for newcomers, but for those who know what they're getting themselves into, it's a great attempt. 

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https://ninfora.com/forums/index.php?/topic/3027-crash-team-racing-621/

 

Discussion thread here on the game itself.

 

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My long story long with the game is:

 

WAY back in the day I had played the PSX demo at a KMart and liked it a lot.  When I eventually got a PS2, it was my lone game I bought for it.  When the GC got its game I bought it and I liked it but at some point I got rid of it for whatever reason I don't recall.  I did find aspects of the game annoying like some of the challenges requiring darn near perfect technique to execute on CTR tokens and purple crystals.

 

 

When I heard the Switch was getting it back and it had the original game + plus a TON of extras in terms of racers, courses, and DLC so I got in a PO in before my GCU ended at BBY.

 

Thoughts:

 

I'm probably half way done with story mode.  i really like the tracks, the music, and the customization options with the karts, paints, decals, and tires.  I kind of like its homage to Diddy Kong Racing with the story mode, boss races, and hub world.

 

What I don't like is that even on Medium difficulty, you have to be darn near perfect in everything you do and to mentally break away from the MK way of doing things is also a hurdle (at least for me).  I think the drifting mechanic is a little much to keep tabs on while also having to focus on the other racers and the track layouts.  I have also noticed  that a lot of the racers have nearly identical stats.

 

I would say to anyone looking at the Switch version of the game it is an incredible value for a Kart Racer and it has tons of content.  If you are tired of MK8, this is a solid go to.  Just be prepared to lose, a lot.

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