Crash Team Racing

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Crash Team Racing
CrashTeamRacingNACover.png
North American box art
Developer(s) Naughty Dog
Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment
Producer(s) Grady Hunt
Designer(s) Evan Wells
Artist(s) Bob Rafei
Bruce Straley
Composer(s) Josh Mancell
Series Crash Bandicoot
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release
  • NA: October 19, 1999
  • EU: October 20, 1999
Genre(s) Kart racing
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Crash Team Racing (stylized as CTR: Crash Team Racing) is a 1999 kart racing video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fourth installment in the Crash Bandicoot series. The game's story focuses on the efforts of Crash Bandicoot, Doctor Neo Cortex, and other ragtag team of characters in the Crash Bandicoot series, who must race against the egomaniacal Nitros Oxide to save the Earth from destruction. In the game, players can take control of one of fifteen Crash Bandicoot series characters, though only eight are available at first. During the races, offensive and speed boosting power-ups can be used to gain an advantage.

Contents

Crash Team Racing was released on October 19, 1999, [1] in North America, and on October 20, 1999 in Europe. It was praised by critics for its gameplay and graphics, though the audio was met with mixed opinions. A successor, Crash Nitro Kart , was released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and N-Gage. A remaster of the game, titled Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled , was announced at The Game Awards 2018 and was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on June 21, 2019. [2] [3]

Gameplay

An example of a race in Crash Team Racing CrashTeamRacingGameplay.jpg
An example of a race in Crash Team Racing

Crash Team Racing is a kart racing game in which the player controls characters from the Crash Bandicoot universe, most of whom compete in karts. While racing, the player can accelerate, steer, reverse, brake, hop or use weapons and power-ups with the game controller's analog stick and buttons. [4] Two distinct forms of crates are scattered throughout the tracks and arenas of Crash Team Racing. Crates with question marks on them hold power-ups and weapons, which can be obtained by driving through and breaking apart said crates. [5] When the player collects a weapon or power-up, it will appear in a box at the top of the screen. [6] The player can activate the weapon or power-up to wreak havoc on the other racers or supplement the player's own performance. [5] "Fruit Crates" carry "Wumpa Fruit" that increase the speed of the player's kart and strengthen the player's weapons and power-ups if ten of them are obtained. [7] [6] [8]

A crucial maneuver in Crash Team Racing is the power slide; the player executes the slide by holding down one of the shoulder buttons to perform a hop, and steering before the kart lands. [8] While sliding, the "Turbo Boost Meter" on the lower-right corner of the screen fills up and goes from green to red. [7] At the same time, the exhaust gas from the player's kart turns black. [8] To get a speed boost, the player quickly presses the opposite shoulder button while the Turbo Boost Meter is red. The player can execute three speed boosts in a row during a power slide, with the third speed boost being more powerful than the previous two. [7] If the player waits too long into the power slide for a boost, the kart back-fires and the chance for a speed boost is lost; power sliding for too long causes a spin-out. [7] [8] Aside from power slides, speed boosts can be obtained by gathering hang time when leaping over gaps in the track. The longer the player is in the air, the bigger the speed boost will be when the kart lands. [7]

Modes

Crash Team Racing features 5 racing modes: Adventure, Time Trial, Arcade, Versus and Battle. In each mode, the player selects 1 from 8 characters to control. [9] A PlayStation multitap can be installed to allow three or four-player games. [10] The "Adventure Mode" is a one-player game where the player must race through all of the tracks and arenas in the game and collect as many trophies, Relics, Boss Keys, CTR Tokens and Gems as possible. [9] The objective of the Adventure Mode is to save the world from the story's antagonist, Nitros Oxide, by winning races on 16 different tracks. In the beginning of the game, the player only has access to two levels. [11] As the player wins more races, more tracks on multiple worlds become available. [11] [5] [12] In each level, the player must win a trophy by coming in first place. [5] [13] When the player receives all four trophies in a world, the "Boss Garage" of that world can be accessed. In the Boss Garage, the player competes in a one-on-one race against a boss character. If the boss character is defeated, the character will relinquish a Boss Key, which the player uses to access new worlds and ultimately to face Oxide inside his spaceship. [14]

After beating levels, new modes become available, such as the Relic Race, in which the player races through the track alone and completes three laps in the fastest time possible. "Time Crates" scattered throughout the level freeze the game timer when a player drives through them. If all of the Time Crates are destroyed, the player's final time is reduced by ten seconds. The player wins a Relic by beating the time indicated on the screen. [13] Another mode, the CTR Challenge, is played like a normal race, except that the player must also collect the letters C, T and R scattered throughout the track. If the player manages to collect all three letters and come in first place, a "CTR Token" is awarded. These tokens come in five different colors: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Purple. The Purple CTR tokens are awarded for beating the Crystal Bonus Round by collecting 20 crystals under a certain time limit. If the player collects four tokens of the same color, the player will be able to access the Gem Cup of the corresponding color. Gem Cups are racing tournaments held against computer-controlled opponents and are accessible in a secret area in the "Gemstone Valley" world. A Gem Cup consists of four tracks in a row, in which the player must race for points. If one of these cups is won, a Gem is awarded. [15] To win the game, the player must collect all trophies, Boss Keys, Relics, CTR Tokens and Gems before defeating Nitros Oxide in a one-on-one race. [14]

The "Time Trial" mode is a single-player mode where the player attempts to set the best time on any of the tracks in the game. There are no other racers to hinder the player and no power-ups. When the Time Trial is finished, the player has the option to save a "ghost", a replay of that race; the next time that track is accessed in this mode, the player can race against the ghost. [9] In the "Arcade" mode, the player can quickly scroll through and race on a selection of tracks. The player can choose to select a Single Race or enter a Cup, in which the player races on four tracks in a row for points. In the Single Race and the Cup Race, one or two players race with the remaining computer-controlled drivers. The difficulty of the race and number of laps can be customized. [16] The "Versus" mode is similar to that of the Arcade mode, with the exception that two or more human players must be involved. [10]

In the "Battle" mode, up to four players can fight customized battles, launching weapons during combat in one of seven special battle arenas. [11] The type and length (the latter modifies how many hit points or minutes the battle will have) of the battle can be adjusted beforehand, allowing for three types of battles. In a "Point Limit Mode" battle, the first player to achieve 5, 10 or 15 points wins. In the "Time Limit Mode" battle, the player with the highest points after 3, 6 or 9 minutes wins. In the "Life Limit Mode", each player has a set number of lives (3, 6 or 9) and the battle has a time limit (3, 6 minutes or forever). The player with the most lives at the end of the time limit wins. If "forever" is chosen as the length, the battle lasts until only one player is standing. Three and four players can team up for 2-vs.-1, 2-vs.-2, 3-vs.-1 or 1-vs.-1-vs.-2 battles. [17]

Plot

Characters

Fifteen characters are playable in Crash Team Racing, although only eight of them are playable from the start. [18] Crash Bandicoot, the main protagonist of the series, is an all-round racer with balanced acceleration, top speed and handling. Doctor Neo Cortex, Crash's archenemy, is a mad scientist who wants to stop Nitros Oxide so that he may conquer the world himself. Like Crash, his kart is an all-round performer. Coco Bandicoot, Crash's younger sister, is a computer genius who installed computer chips into her kart to increase its acceleration prowess. Doctor N. Gin is a rocket scientist who, like Coco, added custom parts to his kart to improve its acceleration. Pura and Polar pilot karts with low speed but improved handling, allowing them to navigate tight corners. Tiny Tiger and Dingodile control karts built for top speed at the cost of turning prowess. [19]

The main antagonist of the story, Nitros Oxide, is the self-proclaimed fastest racer in the galaxy who threatens to turn Earth into a concrete parking lot and make its inhabitants his slaves. Oxide appears only as an opponent in the game's final race and time trials, and cannot be controlled by the player. [19] Preceding Oxide are four boss characters: Ripper Roo, a deranged straitjacket-wearing kangaroo; [20] [21] Papu Papu, the corpulent leader of the island's native tribe; [22] [23] Komodo Joe, a Komodo dragon with a speech sound disorder; [24] [25] and Pinstripe Potoroo, a greedy pinstripe-clad potoroo. [26] [27] The four boss characters, along with an imperfect and morally ambiguous clone of Crash Bandicoot named Fake Crash, become accessible as playable characters if the Adventure Mode is fully completed. [28] Doctor Nefarious Tropy appears as the player's opponent during the Time Trial races and an unlockable playable character, [29] while a bonus character, Penta Penguin, can only be unlocked via cheat code. [30]

Appearing as the player's tutors in the game are the sentient twin witch-doctor masks Aku Aku and Uka Uka, both of whom give hints that help the player develop their racing skills. [8] They double as obtainable "Invincibility Mask" power-ups during the races, temporarily protecting the player from all attacks and obstacles while increasing the kart's speed. However, their power does not protect the player from chasms or deep water. [31]

Story

The inhabitants of Earth are visited by an extraterrestrial named Nitros Oxide, who claims to be the fastest racer in the galaxy. Challenging Earth to a game called "Survival of the Fastest", he beckons Earth's best driver to race him. If Earth's driver wins, he promises to leave Earth alone, but if Oxide wins, he will turn Earth into a concrete parking lot and enslave the Earthlings. [32] In response, the player character gathers all four Boss Keys needed to access Oxide's spaceship and races him in a one-on-one match. Upon Oxide's defeat at the hands of the player character, he temporarily leaves Earth, but promises that he will return when all of the Time Relics have been gathered. [33] Oxide faces the player again after all the Time Relics are gathered. After losing once more, Oxide keeps his word and angrily leaves Earth forever. [34] An epilogue is relayed during the end credits, explaining what the characters of the game did after the events of the story. Nitros Oxide himself returns to his home planet of Gasmoxia and secludes himself from society. After undergoing years of therapy to cope with his loss, he takes up unicycle-racing, only to get into a gruesome accident. [35]

Development

Clancy Brown provided the voices of Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka. Clancy Brown by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Clancy Brown provided the voices of Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka.

Development of Crash Team Racing started with block-headed characters with no Crash or otherwise related personalities. Naughty Dog showed their development to Sony, and showed interest in having the game be Crash-themed, to which Sony agreed, and made a deal with Universal. The game could have had original characters in case the deal did not come through. [36] Naughty Dog began production on Crash Team Racing after the completion of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back ; the game engine for Crash Team Racing was created at the same time Crash Bandicoot: Warped was produced. [37] Development took place over the course of eight months on a budget of $2.4 million [38] [39] by a team of 16–18 staff. [40] The characters of the game were designed by Charles Zembillas and Joe Pearson, who designed the characters of the last three installments of the series. [41] Nitros Oxide was originally a mad scientist obsessed with speed who plotted to speed up the entire world until the end of time. [42] [43] However, having exhausted human, animal, machine, and various combinations for Crash Bandicoot bosses in the past, it was decided to have Nitros Oxide be an otherworldly character. [44] The original "speed up the world" plot is referenced in a promotional comic (written by Glenn Herdling and drawn by Neal Sternecky) featured in the Winter 2000 issue of Disney Adventures . [45]

During the game's prototypical stage, the team built a replica of the "Crescent Island" course from Diddy Kong Racing to test whether a racetrack of the same scope and scale was possible on the PlayStation. [46] To address the complication of potentially having up to 64 kart tires on a four-player split-screen, programmer Greg Omi developed a method of rendering the tires as camera-based two-dimensional sprites. [47] The turbo system that gives the player boosts of speed during power slides and by gathering hang time was added to make Crash Team Racing feel more interactive and involving than older kart-racing games. [37] The central antagonist character Oxide was never intended to be playable in the game due to the PlayStation console's memory limitations. Said limitations further affected the game's roster of playable characters; Polar and Pura were originally to ride in the same kart and be played as a single character, but were ultimately split into separate characters, and both Komodo Brothers were to appear in the game before Komodo Moe was omitted. [46]

David Baggett produced the game's soundtrack, with Josh Mancell of Mutato Muzika composing the music. Sound effects were created by Mike Gollum (who also provided some voice-acting), Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears of Universal Sound Studios. [41] The voice of Crash was provided by Chip Chinery, [48] while Clancy Brown voiced Doctor Neo Cortex and Uka Uka, and Brendan O'Brien voiced Doctor N. Gin, Tiny Tiger and Pinstripe Potoroo. Additional voices were provided by David A. Pizzuto, Mel Winkler, Michael Ensign, Hynden Walch, Billy Pope and Michael Connor. [41] Crash Team Racing went into the alpha stage of development in August 1999, and the beta stage on September. [49] NASCAR vehicle No. 98 was given a custom Crash Bandicoot-themed paint job in promotion of the game. [50] A playable demonstration was included on a promotional compilation disc released by Pizza Hut on November 14, 1999. [51]

Reception

Crash Team Racing received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [52] Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine described Crash Team Racing as "the game that made kart racing cool" and proclaimed that "nothing has ever matched its quality." [60] Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that the game was "heavily inspired by Mario Kart , but still an amazing multiplayer racer." [54] Doug Perry of IGN stated that the game was "rock solid" in playability and graphics, but was critical of "the insanely capitalistic smile of Crash." [58] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot called the game "a great Mario Kart clone", and opined that it succeeded where similar games like Mega Man Battle & Chase , Bomberman Fantasy Race , Diddy Kong Racing , Chocobo Racing and Mario Kart 64 had failed. [57] Johnny Liu of GameRevolution concluded that despite the fact that the game "doesn't add much to the tired genre, it manages to do everything well." [56]

The game's controls were well received. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro praised the controls as "nearly-perfect" and explained that "the transparent controls allow you to concentrate on racing and blasting your opponents, and so the races are faster, more fluid and more fun." [28] Johnny Liu of GameRevolution concluded that the controls "feel very natural, with an emphasis on maintaining speed rather than fighting lousy controls." [56] However, Joe Ottoson of All Game Guide said that the inability to reconfigure the controls was "the only real drawback to Crash's presentation." [53]

The graphics of the game were positively received. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro, while noting that the graphics were not too complex, cited the "cartoony look and the ingenious use of textures and colors" as high points in the graphics department. [28] Doug Perry of IGN commended the "sharp looking" environments as "clean and fully formed" and the characters are "full of funny animations and cleanly designed". [58] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot said that the environments "are reasonably large, and they convey the cartoon-like attitude of the game very nicely." [57] GameRevolution's Johnny Liu stated that the graphics were "smooth and seem to push the PlayStation's limits." [56]

Critics expressed mixed opinions of the game's audio. The D-Pad Destroyer of GamePro said that the "whimsical" background music is "quite enjoyable" and the character sound bites are "varied enough to avoid becoming annoying." [28] IGN's Doug Perry had a more mixed take, saying that the "classic bouncy, xylophone-heavy beat" is "not necessarily great", and that after a few courses, "you either stop hearing it, or the incessant simplicity of it makes you want to cry or pull your hair out". On the subject of the voice acting, he concluded that there is "nothing really that cute, clever or memorable" in the game, and noted that Crash's voice in the game is extremely similar to that of Luigi from the Mario Kart series. [58] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot wrote that while the music and sound effects "push the game's cartoon theme," the themes were not too "over the top" or incessant. [57] Johnny Liu of GameRevolution passed the music off as "standard kitschy fare" and added that while the sound effects "add to the cartoon quality of the game", some of the character voices were unsatisfactory. [56] Joe Ottoson of Allgame noted that the characters "are all quite vocal", and the music "sets off the whimsical mood nicely". [53]

Crash Team Racing was nominated for Console Racing Game of the Year at the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. [61]

Sales

Crash Team Racing has sold 1.9 million units in the United States and over 300,000 units in Japan. [62] [63] As a result of its success, the game was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up in 2000 and for the Platinum Range on January 12, 2001. [64] An indirect sequel titled Crash Nitro Kart was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and N-Gage and was the first game in the Crash Bandicoot series to feature full motion video. [65]

Notes

  1. Kennedy, Sam (October 19, 1999). "Crash Team Racing Ships". GameSpot . ZDNet. Archived from the original on June 17, 2000. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  2. Frank, Allegra (6 December 2018). "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is the PS1 fan favorite, remastered". Polygon . Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  3. Dornbush, Jonathon. "Crash Team Racing Remaster Announced, Release Date Revealed". IGN . Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  4. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 3.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 11.
  6. 1 2 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 20.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 9.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 23.
  9. 1 2 3 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 5.
  10. 1 2 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 7.
  11. 1 2 3 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 8.
  12. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 10.
  13. 1 2 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 12.
  14. 1 2 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 14.
  15. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 13.
  16. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 6.
  17. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 19.
  18. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 55.
  19. 1 2 Instruction Booklet 1999, pp. 24–25.
  20. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Ripper Roo's Challenge. Ripper Roo: Are you crazy enough to race me? I'll show you wild driving! Last one across the finish line is a rotten brain!
  21. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Ripper Roo's Challenge. Ripper Roo: You are crazier than me! Have a key. Good luck! You'll need it!
  22. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Papu Papu's Challenge. Papu Papu: Papu much tired of watching puny slugs race so slow. Papu want in action, to lay boom down big and prove Papu is world's best driver. Papu move so fast, you munch tracks.
  23. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Papu Papu's Challenge. Papu Papu: Ugh... Papu not himself today. Maybe Papu not eat enough big breakfast. You are fast for be so small. Here is key to help. Oxide much bigger problem for you. Him not as big, but he is much more grumpy...
  24. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Komodo Joe's Challenge. Komodo Joe: Ssssso, you've beaten all the other racersssss on these tracks. Well, now you'll sssssee why I'm the most feared driver on the cccccircuit. I'll earn the right to face Oxide by crushhhhhing you into brickdussst. Let'sssss raccccce.
  25. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Komodo Joe's Challenge. Komodo Joe: You're not so slow after all. Surprisssed me, you did. Here'sss a key for the win. Ssstill, I think you're not fassst enough to outrace Oxide. We're going to lossssse our planet, and it will be all your fault.
  26. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Pinstripe's Challenge. Pinstripe Potoroo: Whah, you... you call that racin'? Forget about it. If you's gonna face Oxide, you's gonna have to get past me foist! I'm the speed champeen here, and I'm gonna save the woild... for a sizable fee, o' course! (laughs hoarsely)
  27. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Pinstripe's Challenge. Pinstripe Potoroo: So, you's beaten me fair and square. I doubt you'll be this lucky with Oxide. Here's a key for your troubles... Oh, brother...
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 The D-Pad Destroyer (November 24, 2000). "Review : Crash Team Racing [ PlayStation ] - from GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  29. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Sony Computer Entertainment America. Level/area: Epilogue. Text: N. Tropy began tinkering with his time machine hobby again. He was last seen entering a time warp ball traveling to some ancient rain forest. Alas, rust is timeless.
  30. "Behind the Scenes: CTR (Crash Team Racing)". PlayStation Underground . Vol. 3, no. 4. Sony Computer Entertainment America. 1999.
  31. Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 22.
  32. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Universal Interactive Studios. Level/area: Opening cutscene. Nitros Oxide: So, you pesky Earth slugs like to race, eh? (chuckles) Well I, Nitros Oxide, am the fastest racer in the galaxy! I travel the stars looking for creatures to test my skill. It's a little game I call "Survival of the Fastest". Here's the way we play. I challenge the best driver of your worlds will race for the 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. (laughs) Get ready to race for the fate of your planet.
  33. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Sony Computer Entertainment America. Level/area: Ending cutscene. Nitros Oxide: Aaaaargh! I can't believe you beat me! I never lose! How embarrassing. I'll be the laughingstock of all Gasmoxia. Fine! Your miserable planet stays gushy and green. At least you still haven't gathered all my Time Relics. Until you've collected all of those and raced me again, you'll never be able to claim you are the fastest. This won't be the last time you'll face Nitros Oxide. We will meet again!
  34. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Sony Computer Entertainment America. Level/area: Ending cutscene. Nitros Oxide: Aaaaargh! You beat me once again! Now I have to go back to the planet Gasmoxia a complete loser! I must be getting slow in my old age. That's it! I'm finished racing in these mushy backward worlds. Keep your miserable planet! I'm outta here for good!
  35. Naughty Dog (October 19, 1999). Crash Team Racing (PlayStation). Sony Computer Entertainment America. Level/area: Epilogue. Text: Nitros Oxide went back to the planet Gasmoxia a broken alien. After years of therapy, Oxide emerged from seclusion to begin racing again. Unfortunately, the unicycle was a poor vehicle choice, and his resulting accident was too gruesome to detail here
  36. DoubleFineProd (2016-01-07), Devs Play S2E08 · "Jak and Daxter" with Jason Rubin and Tim Schafer, archived from the original on 2021-12-12, retrieved 2017-06-04
  37. 1 2 Perry, Douglass (October 19, 1999). "IGN: Interview with Jason Rubin". IGN. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  38. Jason Rubin (2004). "Fear: An Appropriate Response To The Future Of Video Game Development". Morgan Rose. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  39. Superannuation (January 15, 2014). "How Much Does It Cost To Make A Big Video Game?". Kotaku. Retrieved November 23, 2015. Crash Team Racing - $2.4 million - Jason Rubin said $2.4 million was spent developing this kart racer, which was Naughty Dog's last Crash Bandicoot game.
  40. Halverson, Dave (December 2001). "Dynamic Duo - Jason Rubin interview". Play (US Magazine) Issue 1. p. 17. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  41. 1 2 3 Instruction Booklet 1999, p. 26.
  42. Sam Kennedy (May 6, 1999). "First Look at Crash Team Racing – PlayStation News at GameSpot". GameSpot . Retrieved September 30, 2009. Here's how the story goes... There's a new mad scientist in town named Nitros Oxide and he's about to wreak his own havoc on this little island paradise. He's absolutely obsessed with speed, so he concocts a crazy idea to speed the whole world up forever!
  43. Perry, Douglass (October 5, 1999). "IGN: Crash Team Racing Preview". IGN. Retrieved September 30, 2009. Starring a new evil force of polygonal madness, a scientist named Nitrous Oxide, Crash Team Racing finds Crash immediately placed in dire straits. Obsessed with speed, Nitrous claims that "fast just isn't fast enough," and plots a strategy to tear down the little island paradise in which Crash and his friends live. Nitrous cooks up an experiment to "speed up" the entire world until the end of time, a rather edgy theory that physicists would certainly counter. In a classic case of videogame (read: cartoon) logic, Crash and his friends must race to save the planet from a premature death.
  44. "[ Crash Gallery – Character Sketches Crash Team Racing ]". Naughty Dog. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  45. Herdling, Glenn; Sternecky, Neal (2000). "Crash Team Racing: Turbo Time!". Disney Adventures (Winter 2000): 61–64. Doctor Neo Cortex: Of all the indignities! Having to "befriend" Crash so he'll help me steal the X Device from Nitros! But it will be worth it—for with the X Device I shall finally speed up the entire world! No more waiting—for anything!
  46. 1 2 "Pop-Fiction Episode 27: Crash Course". GameTrailers. September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  47. Naughty Dog Staff (2014). The Art of Naughty Dog. Dark Horse Books. p. 38. ISBN   978-1-61655-477-4.
  48. "CHIP CHINERY booking - Comedians - Corporate Entertainment Booking". Richard De La Font Agency. Retrieved July 2, 2019. Hear Chip Chinery's voice on . . . . The new "Crash Bandicoot" SONY Playstation CD-ROM, as "Crash" (Released Oct. 19, 1999. This game is "huge" with kids. Yes, kids, Crash now has a voice!)
  49. "[ Crash Bandicoot – Time Line ]". Naughty Dog. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
  50. Naughty Dog Staff (2014). The Art of Naughty Dog. Dark Horse Books. p. 41. ISBN   978-1-61655-477-4.
  51. "Game Rave Presents: Pizza Hut: Disc 1". Game Rave. Archived from the original on March 20, 2005. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  52. 1 2 "Crash Team Racing for PlayStation Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved January 15, 2009.
  53. 1 2 3 Joe Ottoson. "Crash Team Racing – Review – allgame". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  54. 1 2 "Review Archive: GBA/PS1/N64". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 174, no. Ultimate Reviews Issue. January 2004. p. 188. Heavily inspired by Mario Kart, but still an amazing multiplayer racer.
  55. プレイステーション - クラッシュ・バンディクー レーシング. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.14. 30 June 2006.
  56. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnny Liu (October 1, 1999). "Crash Team Racing review for the PS". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  57. 1 2 3 4 Jeff Gerstmann (October 19, 1999). "Crash Team Racing for PlayStation Review – PlayStation". GameSpot. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
  58. 1 2 3 4 Doug Perry (October 29, 1999). "IGN: Crash Team Racing Review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 13, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
  59. Charla, Chris (January 2000). "Finals". Next Generation . Vol. 3, no. 1. Imagine Media. p. 99.
  60. 1 2 "Crash Team Racing review". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. March 2002. p. 34. The game that made kart racing cool. Nothing has ever matched its quality.
  61. "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Detail Crash Team Racing". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  62. "US Platinum Videogame Chart". The Magic Box. December 27, 2007. Archived from the original on April 21, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  63. "ELSPA Sales Awards: Platinum". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  64. "Crash Team Racing for PlayStation Crash Team Racing". GameSpot. Retrieved August 29, 2007.
  65. Martin McEachern (April 2004). "Crash Course". Computer Graphics World. Retrieved February 27, 2010.

Bibliography

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<i>Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back</i> 1997 video game

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a 1997 platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is a sequel to Crash Bandicoot (1996), and is part of the Crash Bandicoot series.

<i>Crash Bandicoot: Warped</i> 1998 video game

Crash Bandicoot: Warped, known in Europe as Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, is a 1998 platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the third game in the Crash Bandicoot video game series following Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.

<i>Crash Bash</i> 2000 video game

Crash Bash is a 2000 party video game developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software in association with Cerny Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fifth title in the Crash Bandicoot series and the first in the party genre. The game includes a collection of 28 mini-games playable within three modes of gameplay, as well as eight playable characters from the Crash Bandicoot series.

Naughty Dog, LLC is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. Gavin and Rubin produced a sequence of progressively more successful games, including Rings of Power and Way of the Warrior in the early 1990s. The latter game prompted Universal Interactive Studios to sign the duo to a three-title contract and fund the expansion of the company.

<i>Crash Nitro Kart</i> 2003 video game

Crash Nitro Kart is a 2003 kart racing game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance; versions for the N-Gage and mobile phones were released in 2004. It is the second racing game in the Crash Bandicoot series after Crash Team Racing and the first game in the series to feature full motion videos.

<i>Crash Tag Team Racing</i> 2005 video game

Crash Tag Team Racing is a 2005 kart racing game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games under the Sierra Entertainment label for the GameCube (GC), PlayStation 2 (PS2), Xbox, and the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The game was released in North America on October 21, 2005 and in Europe on November 4, 2005. The PlayStation 2 version was re-released in the three-disc "Crash Bandicoot Action Pack" compilation in the United States on June 12, 2007 and in Europe on July 20, 2007. Crash Tag Team Racing is the third racing game in the Crash Bandicoot video game series, following Crash Nitro Kart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crash Bandicoot (character)</span> Fictional video game character

Crash Bandicoot is the title character and main protagonist of the Crash Bandicoot series. Introduced in the 1996 video game Crash Bandicoot, Crash is a mutant eastern barred bandicoot who was genetically enhanced by the series' main antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex and soon escaped from Cortex's castle after a failed experiment in the "Cortex Vortex". Throughout the series, Crash acts as the opposition against Cortex and his schemes for world domination. While Crash has a number of offensive maneuvers at his disposal, his most distinctive technique is one in which he spins like a tornado at high speeds and knocks away almost anything that he strikes.

<i>Crash Bandicoot</i> Video game franchise

Crash Bandicoot is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series consists predominantly of platform games, but also includes spin-offs in the kart racing and party game genres. The series was originally produced by Universal Interactive, which later became known as Vivendi Games; in 2008, Vivendi merged with Activision, which currently owns and publishes the franchise.

<i>Speed Freaks</i> 1999 video game

Speed Freaks is a racing video game developed by Funcom Dublin for the PlayStation released in 1999. It supports up to two players.

Michael Ensign is an American actor who mostly played small roles. One of his most-known roles was Benjamin Guggenheim in the 1997 film Titanic.

<i>Crash Bandicoot</i> (video game) 1996 video game

Crash Bandicoot is a 1996 platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The player controls Crash, a genetically enhanced bandicoot created by the mad scientist Doctor Neo Cortex. The story follows Crash as he aims to foil Cortex's plans for world domination and rescue his girlfriend Tawna, a female bandicoot also created by Cortex. The game is played from a third-person perspective in which the camera trails behind Crash, though some levels feature forward-scrolling and side-scrolling perspectives.

<i>Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D</i> 2008 video game

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D is a 2008 racing video game developed by Polarbit and published by Vivendi Games Mobile for iOS, N-Gage service, and Zeebo. The game is the fifteenth installment in the Crash Bandicoot video game series, and was released on the App Store in Europe on June 9, 2008 and in North America on July 9, 2008. The game's story centers on a racing tournament held by antagonists Nitros Oxide, Doctor Neo Cortex and Ripper Roo in an attempt to banish the titular character, Crash Bandicoot, and his friends from their island home. The game was followed by a sequel, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2, in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor Neo Cortex</span> Character from the Crash Bandicoot series

Doctor Neo Periwinkle Cortex is a character and the main antagonist of the Crash Bandicoot video game series. He has appeared in every mainline game in the series as Crash Bandicoot's archenemy, as well as a playable character in several spin-off titles. Cortex is an egomaniacal mad scientist who seeks to achieve world domination with the use of the Evolvo-Ray, a machine capable of creating genetically enhanced soldiers from ordinary animals. Crash was one such subject but thwarted the scientist's plot; Cortex is subsequently determined to eliminate Crash as an obstacle to world domination.

<i>Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2</i> 2010 video game

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 is a 2010 racing video game developed by Swedish studio Polarbit and published by Activision for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and a sequel to Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. The game is the seventeenth installment in the Crash Bandicoot series. Unlike the original, Nitro Kart 2 has been given an online multiplayer mode. The game was released on May 27, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kart racing game</span> Video game genre

A kart racing game, also known as cart racing game or go-kart racing game, is a subgenre of racing games. Kart racing games have simplified driving mechanics while including unusual racetrack designs, obstacles, and vehicular combat. Though the genre has its roots in the 1980s, Super Mario Kart (1992) popularized the genre, with the Mario Kart series still being considered the foremost kart racing franchise.

<i>Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled</i> 2019 video game

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, which was originally developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation in 1999, and focuses on players using one of several characters from the Crash Bandicoot series to tackle races, each of which includes power-ups to help with combatting opponents. The game includes additional content from Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Tag Team Racing, alongside adjustments to the original gameplay, including kart customization, two adventure mode variations, and an in-game shop.