Crash Team Racing 📽 Through the Lens

There are few things that give me such a visceral feeling of childhood. It's actually surreal how unique and how strong that feeling is. Kinda scary. 😱

Mario cart? Pfft. Baby game made for babies. This right here is where the real Gs lie. 😎

So, without any further adieu - in this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we will take a look at a racing game that set a dangerous precedent for quality racing, developed by Naughty Dog (those mad lads) in 1999: Crash Team Racing, Roll it! 📽

🚩 UP TOP 🚩

EDIT: Quick note here at the start. I will be using screenshots from "Nitro-Fueled the remastered version of the game. But this is an article about the original release. Don't get it twisted.

CTR introduced me to competition. 😤

Without it I would be a shell of my now glorious gamer self. I remember stealing money from my grandparents (small change, don't get dramatic) so I could afford another half hour, another race, another lap. I would mostly get my @$$ kicked, but I was addicted all the same. 🔥

Something about how the car felt to control the wacky stages, and the fun cast of characters. Along with that traditional Crash soundtrack, we've all grown to love.

_{Obligatory soundtrack link for the people that want that good 'ol nostalgia.}

I've played thousands of hours of this game - despite never owning a PlayStation. There was always a console with it somewhere. Always a friend willing to lend a gamepad or something.

It's like the game had its hooks in me and wouldn't let go regardless of the circumstances. Let's see how this extraterrestrial being came to be, and how it gained its sentient powers of mankind (or kids, mostly kids 🤔)

🎮 NEED FOR SPEED 🎮

Don't judge em for this chapter title, I had to get that pun in (if you would even consider it that) w/e man don't judge!

IMHO: these types of racing games are much more fulfilling than the titular Need For Speeds or what have you. 😇 I'm talking CTR and Mario Kart over here. But that's not the whole truth, it's just that these games provide an arcade feeling to racing that is distinct and just plain fun. 🙌

And out of the two giants of this genre, Mario Cart is definitely the more casual option (which actually probably means its the better game, since this is a casual genre, kinda) and CTR is much more precise and mechanics driven. It has its Mario Kartisms, but it also has driving that is its own - it's hard as %&@# 🚗

🚓 DRIFTING 🚓

So this mechanic is what separates the boys from the men. When done properly, drifting in this game grants additional speed and superior positioning. If you can master this mechanic you will master the game. EZ. It can be performed in one of two ways: either through two button inputs, one of which is pressed at the precise 'engine rev-up time'; the other is through jumping and button input. You will have to use each depending on the situation. It's hard, it's fun and it's also the trademark of this game.

A few rapid-fire remarks about CTR's uniqueness: 👇

• The tracks are also super well-made. They have a lot of shortcuts that require extensive knowledge of the track to get right. If you miss a shortcut you'll end up last instead of first - which is a great incentive to pay attention to the map and your place in it;

• There are also boost pads as with every arcade racing game. How CTR breaks the mode is that you can access your own personal boost pad by falling from great heights. The bigger the height - the bigger the boost;

• Finally, there are the power-up abilities that you get from crashing into mystery boxes. Another staple mechanic of this genre, but CTR stands out with its well-balanced, and fun abilities;

👺 CRASH OF CHARACTERS 👺

If you played the crash games at all, then you will be familiar with the wonderful cast of characters. From the lovable Crash to the despicable Cortex - from my personal favorite Tiny to the pompous and arrogant Coco - if you're a type of character, this game will ahve someone to match. 🙃

The world of Crash just screams the 90s to me. When Naughty Dog was still finding themselves, they decided to copy Mario Cart and make a version for their biggest IP at the time - Crash. They didn't mean to make the game actually be better than Mario Kart, that was just a happy accident. 😜

Each driver has their own stats like: steering, acceleration, speed etc. There are actual, factual stats that impact the gameplay, not just placeholders or dead stats like in other games. Each driver handles it differently, and that's a great touch that they didn't have to add.

In addition, this game has a super cool campaign! Racing games like these rarely have a campaign, especially one as good as this one. You pick you character (stats included) and are set in an over-world where you get to pick your stage. Win stages in certain times to receive certain keys and rewards that let you advance the story.

When there wasn't a 2P, I would play the campaign. Once I saw everything there was to see, I started perfecting my laps in the Time Trial mode. 💯 There is also a Battle Mode as well as Point/Time/Life Limit Modes. This game has so much to offer.

🏆 LEGACY 🏆

Its good to have another game worthy of this Legacy section. Cuz brother, this game has it.

For many its the best, myself included. Mario Kart is, of course, a baby game made for babies. Whereas this? A Man's (hey, or Woman's!) game made for Men (or Women 😁).

Casual without being for babies, and competitive enough to stoke the fires of the fiercest Dota player. It struck such a cord with players that it has remained in the cultural zeitgeist enough to earn itself a decent remaster. You know how rare that is in gaming? Pretty rare dude (or! dudette).

I say this often, because it's true. Even more so with this game. It's in a league of its own. Don't care what nobody says. 😄

If you can get your hands on nitro-Fueled, and have buddies to play it with... what are you waiting for? 😁 Granted, the original is a smidge more responsive with a smidge better tightness to the controls. But its no biggie. The remake is still a worthy successor to the best darn arcade racing game ever made. Whaaa. 😨

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

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Have a great day! 🙌