| Crash Team Racing | |
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| Developer(s) | Naughty Dog |
| Publisher(s) | Universal Interactive Studios |
| Distributor(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Artist(s) | Charles Zembillas (character design)[1] Joe Pearson (character design)[1] |
| Composer(s) | Mutato Muzika (Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell)[1] |
| Series | Crash Bandicoot |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release date(s) | NA September 30, 1999 PAL 1999[2] |
| Genre(s) | Racing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ELSPA: 3+ ESRB: E (Everyone) OFLC: G PEGI: 3+ |
| Media | CD-ROM |
Crash Team Racing is a 1999 racing video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game was released in North America on September 30, 1999 and in the PAL region later the same year. It was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on 2000 and for the Platinum Range on January 12, 2001.
Crash Team Racing is the fourth installment in the Crash Bandicoot series. It is the first Crash Bandicoot game in the racing genre and the last Crash Bandicoot game to be developed by Naughty Dog. The game's story focuses on the efforts of a ragtag team of characters in the Crash Bandicoot series, who must race against the egomaniacal Nitros Oxide to save their planet from destruction. In the game, players can take control of one of fifteen Crash Bandicoot series characters, though only eight are available at first. During the races, offensive and speed boosting power ups can be used to gain an advantage.
Crash Team Racing was praised by critics for its gameplay and graphics, though the audio was met with mixed opinions. Since its release, it has sold more than two million units worldwide. An indirect sequel, Crash Nitro Kart, was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and N-Gage.
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Crash Team Racing is a racing game in which the player controls characters from the Crash Bandicoot universe, most of whom race in karts. While racing, the player can accelerate, steer, reverse, brake, hop or use weapons and power-ups with the game controller's analog stick and buttons.[3] Two distinct forms of crates are scattered throughout the tracks and arenas of Crash Team Racing. Crates with question marks (?) on them hold power-ups and weapons, which can be obtained by driving through and breaking apart the said crates.[4] When the player collects a weapon or power-up, it will appear in a box at the top of the screen.[5] The player can then activate the weapon or power-up to wreak havoc on the other racers or help the player go faster respectively.[4] "Fruit Crates" carry "Wumpa Fruit" that increases the speed of the player's kart and strengthens the player's weapons and power-ups if ten of them are obtained.[5][6][7]
A crucial maneuver in Crash Team Racing is the power slide, which the player executes by holding down one of the shoulder buttons to perform a hop and steering before the kart lands.[6] While sliding, the "Turbo Boost Meter" on the lower-right corner of the screen fills up and goes from green to red.[7] At the same time, the exhaust gas from the player's kart turns black.[6] To get a speed boost, the player quickly presses the opposite shoulder button while the Turbo Boost Meter is red. The player can execute three speed boosts in a row during a power slide, with the third speed boost being more powerful than the previous two.[7] However, if the player waits too long into the power slide for a boost, the kart back-fires and the chance for a speed boost is lost, and if the player power slides for too long, a spin-out occurs.[6][7] Aside from power slides, speed boosts can be obtained by gathering hang time when leaping over gaps in the track. The longer the player is in the air, the bigger the speed boost will be when the kart lands.[7]
Crash Team Racing features five racing modes: Adventure, Time Trial, Arcade, Versus and Battle. In each mode, the player initially selects one from eight characters to take control of.[8] A PlayStation multitap can be installed to allow three or four-player games.[9] The "Adventure Mode" is a one-player game in which the player must race through all of the tracks and arenas in the game and collect as many Trophies, Relics, Boss Keys, CTR Tokens and Gems as possible.[8] The objective of the Adventure Mode is to save the world from the story's antagonist Nitros Oxide by winning races on 16 different tracks in levels throughout the game's island. The player enters the tracks by driving into the "Warp Pad Vortexes" scattered throughout the island. In the beginning of the game, the player only has access to two levels.[10] As the player wins more races, more Warp Pads open.[4][10] In addition to the main hub world where Oxide's spaceship is located, there are four more secondary worlds with four Warp Pads each. Open Warp Pads sparkle because their vortex is active, while closed Warp Pads don't sparkle and cannot be entered. The player can begin a race by driving into a sparkling Warp Pad. When a race is finished, the player is returned to that level's world.[11] Open Warp Pads can be found through the use of the radar on the lower right corner of the screen. Open Warp Pads appear as small, flashing silver dots on the radar.[4] In each level, the player must win a Trophy by coming in first in front of all the racers.[4][12] When the player receives all four Trophies in a world, the "Boss Garage" of that world can be accessed. In the Boss Garage, the player competes in a one-on-one race against a boss character. If the boss character is defeated, the character will relinquish a Boss Key, which the player uses to access new worlds and ultimately to face Oxide inside his spaceship.[13]
If the player re-enters a level in which a Trophy is already won, the Relic Race can be entered, in which the player races through the track alone and complete three laps in the fastest time possible. To aid the player, "Time Crates" are scattered throughout the level. When the player drives through a Time Crate, the clock freezes for whatever number of seconds is indicated on the Time Crate. If all of the Time Crates are destroyed, the player's final time will be reduced by ten seconds. The player wins a Relic by beating the time indicated on the screen.[12] The CTR Challenge is played like a normal race, except that the player must also collect the letters C, T and R scattered throughout the track. If the player manages to collect all three letters and come in first place, a "CTR Token" is awarded. These tokens come in five different colors. If the player collects four tokens of the same color, the player will be able to access the Gem Cup of the corresponding color. Gem Cups are racing tournaments held against computer-controlled opponents and are accessible in a secret area in the "Gemstone Valley" world. A Gem Cup consists of four tracks in a row, in which the player must race for points. If one of these cups is won, a Gem is awarded.[14] To win the game, the player must collect all 16 Trophies, all four Boss Keys, all 18 Relics, all 20 CTR Tokens and all five Gems before finally facing and defeating Nitros Oxide in a one-on-one race.[13]
The "Time Trial" mode is a single-player mode where the player attempts to set the best time on any of the tracks in the game. There are no other racers to hinder the player and no power-ups, making the mode a suitable way to practice kart handling. When the Time Trial is finished, the player has the option to save a "ghost", a replay of that race. The next time that track is accessed in this mode, the player can load the ghost, allowing the player or others to compete with the ghost in a race.[8] In the "Arcade" mode, the player can quickly scroll through and race on a selection of tracks. The player can choose to select a Single Race or enter a Cup, in which the player races on four tracks in a row for points. In both the Single Race and the Cup Race, one or two players race with the remaining computer-controlled drivers. The difficulty of the race can be set to easy, medium or hard, the track can be selected and the number of laps can be set to 3, 5 or 7. In a Cup Race, the player can choose which Cup to race in and set the difficulty to easy, medium or hard.[15] The "Versus" mode is similar to that of the Arcade mode with the exception that two or more human players must be involved.[9]
In the "Battle" mode, up to four players can fight customized battles, launching weapons during combat in one of seven special battle arenas.[10] The type and length (the latter modifies how many hit points or minutes the battle will have) of the battle can be adjusted beforehand, allowing for three types of battles. In a "Point Limit Mode" battle, the first player to achieve 5, 10 or 15 points wins. In the "Time Limit Mode" battle, the player with the highest points after 3, 6 or 9 minutes wins. In the "Life Limit Mode", each player has a set number of lives (3, 6 or 9) and the battle has a time limit (3, 6 minutes or forever). The player with the most lives at the end of the time limit wins. If "forever" is chosen as the length, the battle lasts until only one player is standing. Three and four players can team up for two-against-one, two-against-two, three-against-one or one-against-one-against-two battles.[16]
Fifteen characters are playable in Crash Team Racing, although only eight of them are playable from the start.[8] Crash Bandicoot, the main protagonist of the series, is an all-round racer with balanced acceleration, top speed and handling. Doctor Neo Cortex, Crash's archenemy, is a mad scientist who wants to stop Nitros Oxide so that he may conquer the world himself. Like Crash, his kart is an all-round performer. Coco Bandicoot, Crash's younger sister, is a computer genius who installed computer chips into her kart to increase its acceleration prowess. Doctor N. Gin is a rocket scientist who, like Coco, added custom parts to his kart to improve its acceleration. Pura and Polar pilot karts with low speed but improved handling, allowing them to navigate tight corners. Tiny Tiger and Dingodile control karts built for top speed at the cost of turning prowess.[17]
The main antagonist of the story, Nitros Oxide, is the self-proclaimed fastest racer in the galaxy who threatens to turn Earth into a concrete parking lot, forcing the player character to defeat him in a final one-on-one race.[17] Preceding Oxide are four boss characters who possess "Boss Keys" that are needed to access Oxide's spaceship. In order, the bosses consist of Ripper Roo, a deranged straitjacket-wearing kangaroo;[18][19] Papu Papu, the morbidly obese leader of the island's native tribe;[20][21] Komodo Joe, a Komodo dragon with a speech sound disorder;[22][23] and Pinstripe Potoroo, a greedy pinstripe-clad potoroo.[24][25] The four boss characters, along with an imperfect and morally ambiguous clone of Crash Bandicoot named Fake Crash, become accessible as playable characters if the Adventure Mode is fully completed.[26]
Appearing as the player's tutors in the game are the sentient twin witch doctor masks Aku Aku and Uka Uka, both of whom give hints that help the player develop their racing skills.[6] They double as obtainable power-ups during the races, temporarily protecting the player from all attacks and obstacles while increasing the kart's speed. However, their power does not protect the player from chasms or deep water.[27]
The inhabitants of Earth are visited by an extraterrestrial named Nitros Oxide, who claims to be the fastest racer in the galaxy. Challenging Earth to a game called "Survival of the Fastest", he beckons Earth's best driver to race him. If Earth's driver wins, he promises to leave Earth alone, but if Oxide wins, he will turn Earth into a concrete parking lot and enslave the Earthlings.[28] In response, the player character gathers all four Boss Keys needed to access Oxide's spaceship and races him in a one-on-one match. Upon Oxide's defeat at the hands of the player character, he temporarily leaves Earth, but promises that he will return when all of the Time Relics have been gathered.[29] Oxide faces the player again after all the Time Relics are gathered. After losing once more, Oxide keeps his word and angrily leaves Earth forever.[30] An epilogue is relayed during the end credits, explaining what the characters of the game did after the events of the story. Nitros Oxide himself returns to his home planet of Gasmoxia and secludes himself from society. After undergoing years of therapy to cope with his loss, he takes up unicycle-racing, only to get into a gruesome accident.[31]
Naughty Dog began production on Crash Team Racing after the completion of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. The engine for Crash Team Racing was created at the same time Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was produced. The turbo system that gives the player boosts of speed during power slides and by gathering hang time was integrated to make Crash Team Racing feel more interactive than older kart-racing games and involve the player further.[32] The characters of the game were designed by Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson, who designed the characters of the last three installments of the series.[1] The Nitros Oxide character was originally a mad scientist obsessed with speed who plotted to speed up the entire world until the end of time.[33][34] However, having exhausted human, animal, machine, and various combinations thereof for Crash Bandicoot bosses in the past, it was decided to have Nitros Oxide be an otherworldly character.[35] The original "speed up the world" plot is referenced in a promotional comic (written by Glenn Herdling and drawn by Neal Sternecky) featured in the Winter 2000 issue of Disney Adventures.[36] Crash Team Racing went into the alpha stage on August 1999 and went into the beta stage on September.[37]
The soundtrack of the game was produced by David Baggett and composed by Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell of Mutato Muzika, while the sound effects were created by Mike Gollum, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears of Universal Sound Studios. The voices of Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka were provided by Clancy Brown while the voices of Doctor N. Gin, Tiny Tiger and Pinstripe Potoroo were provided by Brendan O'Brien. Additional voices were provided by David A. Pizzuto, Mel Winkler, Michael Ensign, Hynden Walch, Billy Pope, sound effects artist Mike Gollum, Michael Connor and Chip Chinery.[1]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 91.73%[38] |
| Metacritic | 88%[39] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Allgame | 4/5[40] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9.3/10[41] |
| GamePro | 5/5[26] |
| Game Revolution | B+[42] |
| GameSpot | 8.4/10[43] |
| IGN | 8.5/10[44] |
| Official PlayStation Magazine (US) | 5/5[45] |
Crash Team Racing received favorable reviews from critics. Official PlayStation Magazine described Crash Team Racing as "the game that made kart racing cool" and proclaimed that "nothing has ever matched its quality."[45] Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that the game was "heavily inspired by Mario Kart, but still an amazing multiplayer racer."[41] Doug Perry of IGN stated that the game was "rock solid" in playability and graphics, but was critical of "the insanely capitalistic smile of Crash."[44] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot called the game "a great Mario Kart clone, and it succeeds where the likes of Mega Man, Bomberman, Diddy Kong, the Chocobo, and even Mario himself have failed."[43] Johnny Liu of Game Revolution concluded that despite the fact that the game "doesn't add much to the tired genre, it manages to do everything well."[42]
The game's controls were well-received. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro praised the controls as "nearly-perfect" and explained that "the transparent controls allow you to concentrate on racing and blasting your opponents, and so the races are faster, more fluid and more fun."[26] Johnny Liu of Game Revolution concluded that the controls "feel very natural, with an emphasis on maintaining speed rather than fighting lousy controls."[42] However, Joe Ottoson of Allgame ("All Game Guide" at the time) said that the inability to reconfigure the controls was "the only real drawback to Crash's presentation."[40]
The graphics of the game were positively received. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro, while noting that the graphics were not too complex, cited the "cartoony look and the ingenious use of textures and colors" as high points in the graphics department.[26] Doug Perry of IGN commended the "sharp looking" environments as "clean and fully formed" and the characters are "full of funny animations and cleanly designed".[44] Jeff Gertsmann of GameSpot said that the environments "are reasonably large, and they convey the cartoon-like attitude of the game very nicely."[43] Johnny Liu of Game Revolution stated that the graphics were "smooth and seem to push the Playstation's limits."[42]
Critics expressed mixed opinions of the game's audio. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro said that the "whimsical" background music is "quite enjoyable" and the character sound bites are "varied enough to avoid becoming annoying."[26] Doug Perry of IGN had a more mixed reception, saying that the "classic bouncy, xylophone-heavy beat" is "not necessarily great", and that after a few courses, "you either stop hearing it, or the incessant simplicity of it makes you want to cry or pull your hair out". On the subject of the voice acting, he concluded that there is "nothing really that cute, clever or memorable" in the game, and noted that Crash's voice in the game is extremely similar to that of Luigi from the Mario Kart series.[44] Jeff Gertsmann of GameSpot stated that while the music and sound effect "push the game's cartoon theme," "it's not too over the top, so the cutesy themes never really get shoved down your throat."[43] Johnny Liu of Game Revolution passed the music off as "standard kitschy fare" and added that while the sound effects "add to the cartoon quality of the game", some of the character voices were unsatisfactory.[42] Joe Ottoson of Allgame noted that the characters "are all quite vocal", and the music "sets off the whimsical mood nicely".[40]
Crash Team Racing has sold approximately 2 million units worldwide, including 1.9 million in the United States and 100,000 in the United Kingdom.[46][47] As a result of its success, the game was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on 2000 and for the Platinum Range on January 12, 2001.[2] An indirect sequel titled Crash Nitro Kart was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance and N-Gage and was the first full motion video based game in the Crash Bandicoot series.[48]
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Crash Team Racing | Table of Contents |
Walkthrough
| Crash Team Racing | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Naughty Dog |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Japanese title | クラッシュ バンディクー レーシング |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| System(s) | PlayStation, PlayStation Network |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
ESRB:
 Everyone |
| Followed by | Crash Tag Team Racing |
| Series | Crash Bandicoot |
Crash Team Racing is a Crash Bandicoot PlayStation game based on racing around in cars and using various weapons to win races
Crash Team Racing was the fourth game for the Crash Bandicoot series. In this game, a lot is different. While there are still "levels", the whole game revolves around racing more than anything.
   | Crash Team Racing on GameFaqs - Crash Team Racing Release Information for PlayStation - GameFAQs |
| | The Offical Crash Team Racing Website - SCEA: Crash Team Racing(tm) |
| | ''Crash Team Racing'' (PlayStation) at GameSpot - Crash Team Racing for PS - Crash Team Racing PlayStation - Crash Team Racing PS Game |
| | Crash Team Racing Time Trial Site - Welcome to ctr4ever!!! |
| | Gamespot - Crash Team Racing Review for PlayStation - GameSpot |
| | Crash Team Racing at IGN - IGN: Crash Team Racing |
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