Review: Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled

Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled (CTR) for the Nintendo Switch is a remastered video game of the highest order. The developer, Beenox, took the best elements from the Original Crash Team Racing (1999), as well as its sequels, Crash Nitro Kart (2003) and Crash Tag Team Racing (2005), to create the best game in the franchise yet.

The gameโ€™s story is pretty straightforward: An alien, who claims to be the best racer in the universe, arrives on Earth to challenge the worldโ€™s best racer for control of the planet. So now Crash, his friends, and his enemies, have to compete against each other to decide who the best racer on Earth is, and take on the new alien threat.

Featuring 26 characters from the classic Crash Bandicoot series, as well as some guests, each one has different levels of Speed, Acceleration, and Turn. The information for each character is readily available as well, so selecting the best one for your racing style doesnโ€™t become a guessing game. It also means that characters have various advantages on different stages, so getting stuck on your favorite is not necessarily the best idea.

CTRโ€™s gameplay is very similar to that of its predecessors, where races are wild, the controls arenโ€™t complicated, and crazy shenanigans are not only allowed, but encouraged. And, like most other cartoonish racing games, thereโ€™s a beauty in a game that doesnโ€™t take itself seriously. However that does not mean the game is easy, or simplistic at all. Itโ€™s very fast-paced. The learning curve is not high, but  the challenge level is. Very quickly you are required to have an above average control over the gameโ€™s mechanics and features, otherwise youโ€™ll find yourself losing every race. Fortunately, understanding of these elements is relatively quick, yet winning every race is still not a guarantee. The game pushes you to become better and better on every stage, which makes the whole experience more enjoyable, and each victory that much sweeter, though it does cause a few headaches along the way.

Courtesy Activision

The game has a variety of features that I found extremely enjoyable. Not only can you acquire items during races, which either help you or hinder your opponents in various ways, but you also have the possibility of upgrading your items mid-race. Which can be very beneficial, and the difference between victory or defeat. Another feature I enjoyed was the drift boost mechanic. This feature can, if timed correctly, give you up to 3 speed boost while performing a drift. Which means the game rewards you with more speed if youโ€™re willing to take on riskier forms of driving.        

Like most racing games, CTR has multiple game modes, including: Adventure, Local Arcade, Online, and Grand Prix. Adventure is basically story mode. Local Arcade has a variety of multiplayer/splitscreen available options, including: Races, battles, trials, and various challenges. Online is the same thing as Arcade but you can play with other players online. And Grand Prix offers a variety of seasonal events and challenges. 

In many ways the Adventure mode is a spiritual successor to the N64โ€™s Diddy Kong Racing. With a similar โ€œopen worldโ€ field where, when you arrive at a new stage, you can drive around exploring it, then compete in several races to acquire boss keys, and then take on that stageโ€™s boss to move on to the next level. It also shares a similar cartoonish charm and storyline. This makes going through the whole Adventure mode a more enjoyable experience. Which is an especially good thing considering itโ€™s where you unlock most of the gameโ€™s characters, vehicles, tracks, and customization items.

Courtesy Activision

The body of the game resides in the Local Arcade or Online Mode, so that is where youโ€™ll be spending the majority of your time after youโ€™ve acquired all the unlockable elements from Adventure mode. The Battle option in these was particularly enjoyable. Mainly because itโ€™s more than just a straight up item fight, it also possesses various team related challenges, including capture the flag and gem collection.

The advantage and convenience of playing it on the Switch cannot be understated either. It made enjoying the game with family and friends, or with strangers online, an extremely easy process. So you never feel stuck or limited in any way unless you choose to be.

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Overall, I found the game to be a great upgrade to a throwback classic. Very entertaining, challenging yet rewarding, with great replay value, and with the Bandicootโ€™s charm. CTR is a great alternative for people looking for a racing game that doesnโ€™t take itself seriously, yet possesses a higher level of difficulty. It is definitely well worth your time and money.

Review

Game Review

RN review of Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled

Overall I found the game to be a great upgrade to a throwback classic. Very entertaining, challenging yet rewarding, with great replay value, and with the Bandicootโ€™s charm. CTR is a great alternative for people looking for a racing game that doesnโ€™t take itself seriously, yet possesses a higher level of difficulty. It is definitely well worth your time and money.

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Dario Gonzalez

The producer and editor of "The Show's Podcast Network," and member of Rock 105.3's morning show "The Show." Darรญo is also the creator and host of the podcast "Super Dario World," where he covers everything entertainment. TV shows, movies, science news, geek topics, video games, books, etc. Basically, anything that crosses Darรญo's mind that day will be discussed and debated.

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