GBAtemp Recommends #97: Crash Team Racing (By Bortz)

Hadrian

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Welcome to the 96th issue of the GBAtemp Recommends Revival Project! This is a weekly feature where we talk about some of our past favourites. Some may be famous, others have been ignored when released against larger titles but all are a worth your time.
6oipa0.jpg

It's been a while but Bortzy is back with another recommendation and this time one that is a rip off of another game that is actually better! Well better than the SNES/N64 & Wii versions...up yours, I love Double Dash![prebreak][/prebreak]​
Crash used to be the fearless mascot of Sony, way back when the digital polygon was invented. Most of you remember the orange bandicoot and his furry friends. Sony pumped out 3 platformer games for the little guy as well as an answer to Mario Party, Crash Bash. But probably the best thing on the PS1 with Crash in the title is their arguably superior kart clone, Crash Team Racing.​
CTR was the kart game to have for the PS1. The mechanics were solid if not excellent, fantastic texture and polygon work, and a great cast of characters to select from. Introducing another N word villain, Nitrous Oxide, He planned to take over earth and make the whole thing a... parking lot. Only a few steps down from the villain's plot from Ratchet and Clank to cobble together a planet from other planets. Anyways, its up to you and your animal pals (and foes) to defend your planet.​
The game has the obvious game modes where you can choose single races to go head to head, or blister your thumbs by playing a whole cup of 4 races with rollover scoring. There is also an additional "story mode" (strangely missing from SMK64) where you play all the race tracks in the game collecting cups, gems, time boxes, and even the letters "C" "T" and "R". While the story itself isn't all the in depth, the game play is. Many of the tracks come easy at first, but as you progress, you might need to take a few minutes and memorize the layouts of the road. Challenges are exactly that, challenging. Not only that, once you finish a world, there are even boss races to complete. For a kart game, there sure is a lot of content.​
The characters you can choose from are your typical balanced, acceleration, speed, or cornering builds. Completing the story modes unlocks characters and tracks. If you have your old PS1 or 2 laying around, find yourself a copy of the gem. I would suggest PSP, but I think it suffers from some heavy bug issues with popsloader, and its not on PSN to my knowledge.​
If you want to submit a game, please let me know first and we'll discuss it.

For a look at all the games we have covered, please visit our Wiki page for a complete list with links.
 

Thomas83Lin

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Funny you should mention this, cause I've been playing this on and off the past couple days since modding my psx. I like how its got different area's along with area bosses. Haven't made too far yet, I'm only on the second area
 

Oswarlan

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GBAtemp Recommends one of my favorite games? Awesome. Seriously, the game is pretty great.

Sequels... not so much though.
 

Hanafuda

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I'll agree that CTR is better than MK64. It's a well done game for the genre and one of the top games (IMHO) that makes it worthwhile to keep an original playstation around. Hate the load times vs. playing on an N64 though.

I don't think it's fair to compare CTR against SNES Mario Kart. Too big of a tech jump between the consoles. The SNES version was great for what it had to work with.

And pushing a HotWheels car with one broken tire around on the floor is better than playing MK Wii, so yep.

But what I wanted to say is, the OP is right on about Double Dash .... best ever. After years of never getting too serious with it, I finally tackled this game over the past month. I've beaten the all-cup tour and still have mirror mode to beat before I unlock the parade car. And it must be said, Double Dash kicks ass. The AI for this game is better - more competitive and more brutal - than any other MK game (IMHO). MK7 is a lot of fun for the online play, but when it comes to taking on the computer, Double Dash will probably always be king.


.
 

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START YOUR ENGINES, a SonyComputerEntertainmentAmerica production!
Fasten your seatbelts for another NAUGHTY DOG CREATION!

Love this game, PS1 best Sony console ever. These were the times when Sony really rocked making games that were actually fun to play! :lol:
 

Huntereb

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God damn this thread brings back memories of my first console. Me and my twin sister would play this game togethor for hours. We never played the adventure mode, we would just do arcade with each other.

"SO YOU PESKY EARTHLINGS LIKE TO RACE, AY? WELL I, NITROUS OXIDE, AM THE FASTEST RACER IN THE GALAXY! I TRAVEL THE STARS, LOOKING FOR CREATURES TO TEST MY SKILLS. IT'S A LITTLE GAME I CALL 'SURVIVAL OF THE FASTEST', HERE'S THE WAY WE PLAY: I CHALLENGE ONE DRIVER FROM YOUR WORLD TO RACE FOR THE FATE OF YOUR PLANET. IF YOUR DRIVER WINS, I'LL LEAVE YOUR MISERABLE LITTLE ROCK ALONE. BUT IF I WIN, I'LL TURN YOUR ENTIRE GLOBE INTO A CONCRETE PARKING LOT, AND MAKE YOU MY SLAVES... MUHAHAHAHAHA! GET READY TO RACE FOR THE FATE OF YOUR PLANET..."

1-up'd, RodrigoDavy. :P
 
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Ahhhh, brings back memories of this awesome game.

One of the very few games i have ever completed 100%.
 

Hadrian

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I don't think it's fair to compare CTR against SNES Mario Kart. Too big of a tech jump between the consoles. The SNES version was great for what it had to work with.
.

It's not unfair at all, I enjoy SNES Mario Kart a lot more than MK Wii and some other kart games.
 

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