Crash Nitro Kart

"You crazy bandicoot drivers!! Wait...Bandicoots!?! O_o"

A sequel to an awesome kart racing game...Crash Team Racing. So anyway I got some extra money a couple of days ago and said why not? I loved the first! So I picked up the last copy today at my local Toys R Us. I wasn't disappointed!

17 tracks,tons of game modes. Five different battle modes. Multiplayer. GCN to GBA connectivity.Awesome adventure mode.Tons of characters. *deep breath* Hehe...

Now let's get to the details.

~*cue Indiana Jones Music*Adventure Moooodddee!~

Wow. This is quite good for a racing game. It keeps the same style of the first with courses you actually drive to and a hub n stuff. And there's a story. So yeah it goes the extra step. ^_^ There are 12 courses to go through until the end. And four worlds. The end. NOT!! That's just the icing on the cake. The real good stuff is getting 100%! First, CNK tokens. CNK tokens by doing two different things. One, complete a "CNK" mission to get one. And the other is by completing all of the crystal arenas. To unlock a crystal arena and the option to try the CNK missions you have to beat that said world. CNK missions are like this: Race around the course and try and collect "C","N", and "K". They are placed in tricky spots. On top of collecting them all you have to still come in first place. Quite challenging. And Crystal Arenas work like this: 20 crystals are spread out around the arena and there's a time limit. Collect them all before the time runs out and another CNK token is yours! There's even more!!! There are "Relic" missions. You can also choose those along with the "CNK" missions as said before. Relic missions are basically like time trials. Zoom around the course and beat the record that's set for you! To aid you on the relic race are time crates. They stop time for you. They don't regenerate and there is a preset amount on the track,(some in the open,some in hidden shortcuts)so you gotta plan which ones to use on each lap. Oh and the maximum number of seconds they can stop the clock for is 3. But don't worry there are alot and they are essential to getting good times. Earning relics is also pretty tricky. But no where near frustrating. Now you are probably thinking, wow,there's alot to do. But there's STILL more!!!!! Collect the four CNK tokens of a world,(four worlds,four courses each) and you unlock a the gem cup for that world. Complete the Gem cup and you win one of the four rare gems. (green,blue,red,and purple) Phew. And there are hidden characters and stuff to be found. Lots to do. The main game may be somewhat short but the extras will keep you busy forever.Now that was JUST adventure mode.

~Vroom,Vrooom! The Racing!~

So how does the racing stack up against other kart racers. Very well! Lots of tracks with lots of shortcuts. Lots of characters. Everything that makes a racing game good. Great Course design. Fast and crazy. Several items you can use to destroy your opponents! From Missiles to Swirling Cyclones! Oh and there is wumpa fruit around the track in crates. Get 10 wumpa fruits and everything levels up so to speak. Like you can use advanced items and you get a higher top speed. And it's for the entire race or if you lose some wumpa fruit. But you can always earn the fruit back. Oh and there are team blasts. You get designated a partner in a race. Even if he/she wins though you still lose the race, but the partner is helpful. Stay close to the partner and your team gauge slowly fills up then once it's full press Y and you get unlimited items for a short period of time. It's awesome and very helpful! Oh and um er every character handles differently so find your favorite character!! That's some of it but there's alot more to it.

~Multiply the chaos!~

Multiplayer. Racing and Battle modes. I haven't really got a chance to play multiplayer but I'm sure it's a blast. I can name the battle modes for you though.

-Limit Battle:Hitting other players scores points. Get to the set score and victory or have the highest score when time runs out. Play with teams or free for all!
-Last kart Driving:Aim for the kill. Use items to take away all the opposing karts lives! Teams or free for all.
-Crystal Grab:Collect all the crystals. Hit others to make them drop some of their crystals. Teams or free for all!
-Capture the Flag:Teams only. Get to the others flag and bring it on home! But don't let your own get stolen in the chaos!
-Steal the Bacon:Heh...Just like CTF but instead there is only one flag... er...bacon. It's located in the middle so get to it and ruuuuuunnnn!!! Sizzle that bacon!

There you go. Battle modes for ya. Oh and btw you can have up to four players.

~Get groovy with the gadgets~

Graphics and sound. Graphics are pretty good for a kart racer. There's plenty of detail and you can explore lots of nooks and crannies. Not too many invisible walls. The Movie scenes are pretty good too. Now the sound is okay but sometimes I don't even notice it but when I do it's pretty catchy. But the bad thing is the tiki dude. He sounds...."special". But that doesn't matter. It's more comic relief.

~The Conclusiony conclusion of all conclusiony things known as the conclusion.~

Sorry for all the lame titles and stuff and if you got a thing for kart racers and don't mind some cartoony antics then all is well. ^_^ If you want a deep customizable high graphic game then don't come looking here. But if you want a very addicting and great racer similar to Mario Kart then look HERE. Hehe. Well I hope you enjoyed my review and I hope you get this game. It's really good. ^____^

~Buy,rent,forget?~

|Buy|

Well......er.....um....uh.....BYE!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/05/04