Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a 2019 kart racing game developed by Beenox and published by Activision. The game is a remastered version of Crash Team Racing (1999), which was originally developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. Gameplay focuses on players using one of several characters from the Crash Bandicoot series to tackle races, each of which includes power-ups to sabotage opponents. The game includes additional content from Crash Nitro Kart (2003) and Crash Tag Team Racing (2005), alongside adjustments to the original gameplay, including kart customization, two adventure mode variations, and an in-game shop.

Like the original Crash Team Racing, Nitro-Fueled is a racing game featuring characters from the Crash Bandicoot series. Players must avoid obstacles and navigate the various tracks to reach the finish line, performing boosts via power sliding and jumping to gain speed, and using power-ups scattered across the track to give themselves a boost or hinder their opponents. The game supports local quick races and grand prix circuits, multiple battle modes, and online multiplayer, as well as featuring a full adventure mode with new areas, characters and boss battles being unlocked as the player progresses. Nitro-Fueled includes all of the content from Crash Team Racing.

Along with several new features not present in the original game, including online multiplayer and the ability to choose different karts, which can be customized by the player. The adventure mode has also been tweaked: in addition to new cinematic cutscenes being added, players can choose between “Classic” and “Nitro-Fueled” adventure modes, the latter of which allows players to change their character and kart between races, as well as choose between three difficulty levels. An additional “Ring Rally” mode was added as part of a post-launch update, in which players must pass through rings on a track to gain time extensions and prevent a timer from expiring. Nitro-Fueled also adds a substantial amount of content from Crash Nitro Kart, including all of its characters, race tracks, battle arenas, karts and battle modes.

Additional characters, karts and character skins from Crash Tag Team Racing are included as well. This and other new content is accessible via the Pit Stop, an in-game shop that allows players to purchase unlockables using Wumpa Coins earned through gameplay or obtained via microtransactions. Nitro-Fueled featured limited-time Grand Prix events that took place monthly following the game’s launch. Each event was accompanied by a free update that added a new race track to the game. Players could compete in special challenges on these new tracks during the event period to earn Nitro Points; by acquiring a certain number of points, they would be able to unlock new characters, karts, and customization items.

If players were unable to obtain enough points before the event concluded, the content was made available for purchase in the Pit Stop three months after the event’s conclusion. A total of eight Grand Prix events were held between July 2019 and March 2020, though one final wave of new content was released after their conclusion. Nitro-Fueled features 56 playable characters, including every racer from the prior Crash racing games. This includes characters who previously only appeared as boss opponents and as console-exclusive characters like Spyro. Only the eight base characters from the original Crash Team Racing are initially available to players.

The other Crash Team Racing characters can be unlocked by progressing through the game’s adventure mode and completing challenges, while all other characters are unlocked via purchase from the Pit Stop. The game featured 26 playable characters at launch, consisting of all the racers featured in Team Racing and Nitro Kart. Several additional characters have been added as part of free post-launch game updates, and can be unlocked through progression in Grand Prix events or via the Pit Stop. This includes all the playable racers from Tag Team Racing and Nitro Kart 2, along with several characters making their first playable appearance in a Crash racing game. 

New racers include Tawna, N. Brio, Koala Kong and the Lab Assistant from the original Crash Bandicoot; Komodo Moe from Cortex Strikes Back; Baby T. and the Iron Checkpoint Crate from Warped; Ami, Isabella, Megumi and Liz, who appeared as non-playable characters in Team Racing; two versions of Rilla Roo from Bash; Megamix from The Huge Adventure; Chick and Stew, who appeared as non-playable characters in Tag Team Racing; baby versions of Crash, Coco, Cortex and N. Tropy (the latter two having been seen previously in Warped’s true ending); guest characters Hunter and Gnasty Gnorc from the Spyro series; and two original characters, King Chicken and Hasty.