Crash Team Racing

"A superb reincarnation of Mario Kart."

As of late, many video game producers have been trying to jump on the Mario Kart bandwagon, after observing the games' success. Square put out "Chocobo Racing", using their not-so-unknown "mascot" from the Final Fantasy series, and it was utter crap when compared to the 16-bit Mario Kart. Now, another seemingly pointless mascot cart racer has come out; but let me assure you that this game is a lot more than it seems.

Presentation: 8

The usual Crash Bandicoot game introduction style presentation. You can pick from Adventure, Arcade, VS., Time Attack, and Battle mode. Plenty of good features to play.

Graphics: 8

Maybe not as ground-breaking as Mario Kart, but a helluva lot better than Chocobo Racing. Characters have full 360-degree animation, power-ups and other visual effects look great. Although the courses and overall visualizations of the game look on par with any other PlayStation game, Naughty Dog has done a good job making them look great.

Sound: 8

Most people aren't a big fan of the sound, because of it's kiddish appeal. I for one, think the sound/music is perfect for each course. You'll hear lots of comments from the racers, who include Crash, Tiny, Polar, and more. My personal favorite, "TINY SMASHES LITTLE CARS"

Gameplay: 10

Great and easy-to-learn controls. You have your acceleration button, break button, power-up button, and jump button (which is held to boost speed/powerslide). The courses don't have any unfair suprise turns or drops, so you'll almost never find yourself throwing controllers across the room. The bosses are really hard, but not impossible; they all require a different technique to beat.

Lasting Appeal: 10

A big game with 8 racers and 20 courses. Adventure Mode requires that you get a gold trophy in 16 courses in order to race the last boss (5 in all - last is Nitrous Oxide). While the regular courses aren't a tough challenge, you won't beat Oxide the first 10 times around. Beating bare-bones adventure mode only gets you ~35% through the game, so you'll be playing this great cart racer for a while if you plan on accomplishing everything.

Overall: 9

A really great cart racer for anyone, fan of Crash Bandicoot or not. If you have ever played a cart racer and wasn't too satisfyed (Chocobo Racing?), you'll definitely want to give CTR (Crash Team Racing) a shot. CTR does a great job of reminding people how great and fun cart racers can be.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99