Crash Tag Team Racing

"The bandicoot is taggin', teamin' and hitting the gas!"

Your favorite marsupial is back. It's Crash Bandicoot! And he returns in his, correct me if I'm wrong, twelfth game! The game shows great promise, as you guide Crash through five levels, each with their own unique set of race tracks, a special arena and minigames. This game, for the first time in Crash's history, lets you platform and fight against enemies while also allows you to race through some of the most violent and stupid (in a positive way, as in CRAZY!) race tracks. Not only can you race, it also lets you replay tracks to do other challenges, such as "shoot the target, "run over the target" and beat the clock. Now, let's get to the review!

Graphics
8/10
Ah, on the PSP. Am- az- ing. This game bore brilliant graphics, and the FMV sequences were at the same level of quality as Pixar's animated movies! Every little detail dazzled me, but of course, not everything is perfect. This game CAN get really glitchy, but that's counting the fact it's graphics almost compete with the PS2. I have, however, experienced circumstances in which I was playing the bowling minigame, and somehow fell through the floor. What puzzled me more, however, was the fact that beneath the floor, there was everything that should be lying under the floor, wooden layers, and cogwheels. Did the developers program a glitch? Hmm....

Story
7/10
Oh noes!!!! The black power gems that power up the park's power systems of power have been stolen! Who could have done such a horrible thing? Ebeneezer Von Clutch, owner of the great racing amusement park which he... owns... offers the deed to the park to whoever can relocate all of the power gems. Besides that, his own source of power (and life), his own black power gem, is missing! And who arrives at the scene? You guessed it. Crash Bandicoot. Now, Crash, with the help of Crunch, Coco, new character Pasadena, and Von Clutch himself goes after the black power gems. Meanwhile, Cortex isn't far behind on the adventure either. He, Nina and N. Gin want their own grubby little hands on the deed. "To plant a new seed.... OF EVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!!!!!!!!"

Gameplay
8/10
Holy crash! This game is brilliant! It combines action/ adventure with racing, and around the world are scattered minigames, such as the additictive bowling, frustrating falling target, and the easy, simple, not-hard protection minigames. There are little cutscenes for you to watch scattered around the world called Die-o-Ramas, in which Crash "dies" in a classical comical way which will bring back memories of "Tom and Jerry" days... sort of. If that isn't enough, you can also have Crash pull pranks on the Park workers and bully them. There are a small number of drivers, I believe eight, but they each have three cars, and some of them get a fourth one if you link up to the PS2. Hardest of all this are the Chicken challenges, which, I, personally, have not beaten ONE. Urgh!

Audio
7/10
Great. The voice acting is good, the music is good, the explosion sound effects are okay, but could use some improvements. A few memories of "Crash Twinsanity" are there, namely the remix of the main Twinsanity theme. I love that theme. :)

Playtime/ Replayability
4/10
NO! The game was doing so good until here. It took me four days to beat. Not only that, but replaying won't be very enjoyable either. First time round: brilliant, but once you beat the story it's someting to leave in the attic. This is the game's major downside. Fortunately, there are lots of sidequests if you're a 100% guy, and that could take a while. Other than that, this is NOT the game's big special.

Should I Buy It?
Are you a perfectionist? Or are you the kind of guy who only plays for story? These two questions determine the final answer. Take your pic. For perfectionists, (who love adventure games and driving games, BTW) this game is a decent add-on to your collection. For the people who only want to see the ending, drop it in your rent pile. This game is nowhere as good as Twinsanity, Nitro Kart, or the PS1 predecessors, but is definitely better than "Wrath of Cortex".

Final Rankings/ Summary
Graphics: 8/10
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Audio: 7/10
Playtime/ Replayability: 4/10
Should I Buy It?: Depends on you.
Final Score: 8/10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/07